Online ticket sales site Ticketek was this morning paralysed by demand for tickets to AC/DC’s Black Ice Australian tour, which went on sale this morning at 9am.
Those visiting Ticketek.com.au at about 10am AEST time this morning were thrown straight to an overflow page which told viewers: “THANK YOU FOR VISITING TICKETEK.COM
TICKETS TO AC/DC HAVE GONE ON SALE TODAY
SYDNEY (9am), BRISBANE (11am) and ADELAIDE (12.30pm)
Due to this major event going on sale we are currently experiencing high demand. AS CURRENT USERS LEAVE THE SITE NEW CUSTOMERS WILL GAIN ENTRY.
AC/DC TICKETS FOR MELBOURNE AND PERTH ARE AVAILABLE FROM TICKETMASTER.COM.AU”
According to the Ticketek site, the maximum number of simultaneous users of the site is restricted in an effort to maintain service levels and fair access to tickets.
Ticketmaster’s site appeared to be functioning normally as at 10:10am AEST this morning.
Repeated calls to both Ticketmaster and Ticket’s Australian operations went unanswered.
However, a number of Twitter users were this morning reporting issues with the site.
User ajcunningham03 reported difficulties half an hour before the 9am on-sale time: "Not having any luck getting on ticketek website to buy AC/DC tickets! On sale in 30 minutes I hope I get access!"
User doughnu7 said: "Ticketek, please learn to balance server load properly. Apple can do it for a keynote stream but you can't handle AC/DC tickets? Ticketfail!"
User MariaCuci said: "Trying desperately to get AC/DC tickets for my husband from Ticketek, but waiting to get on, server crashing from the demand!!"
User NicHalley said: "AC/DC tix go on sale, Ticketek crashes. For those about to rock, we're busy"
User sirpatrickspens reported a second Sydney show may be to blame: "2nd AC/DC show for Sydney just gone on sale from Ticketek..."
User triple5adam said, a third: "3rd AC/DC show for Sydney about to go on sale from Ticketek - 11:30"
According to the ANZ Stadium site, the first Sydney concert was sold out by 9.15am AEST. The venue has a capacity of about 82,000 in oval mode and 83,500 in rectangular mode. A second and third concert has gone on sale.