With a number of different artists touring in 2026, complaints with Ticketmaster and individual artists have been at an all time high. While the company has always been under fire for high fees, reselling issues, and general site process issues (like waiting rooms and queues), many fans have become exhausted by the difficulty of trying to see live music. Recently, people experienced issues with Noah Kahan, facing “wars” just as bad, if not worse, than getting tickets for Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour.” I know this first-hand, because I fought the ticket war myself. Let’s review some of the details and fan complaints over what went down over the week of presale and general sale.
Presale selection
To be eligible for Noah Kahan’s artist presale, all fans had to do was click a link on his website to indicate their preferred show(s). It was that easy. From there, fans would either be all set to log in using their Ticketmaster account on presale day, or they would receive a code to allow them access the sale. While it is fair for all people to be able to have a shot at presale, the concept of anyone being able to be in the queue is questionable. Some people on TikTok argued that it’s just another general sale if there were virtually no prerequisites for getting in. The results were that hundreds of thousands of fans were in the line for each show, and not many people past the first ten thousand actually had access to presale seats.
Overwhelming demand and additional dates
I was looking to get a ticket for Citi Field. An Instagram post showed that there were at least 180,000 people in the queue as well. On my first attempt, I didn’t get through, but 50 minutes into the sale, Ticketmaster announced that Noah Kahan had added another date. The demand for “The Great Divide Tour” was beyond what was expected, and many other venues, like Fenway Park, T-Mobile Park, Wrigley Field, and the Kia Center, also added dates.
Ticket Policies
Noah Kahan is using Ticketmaster’s Face Value Exchange for his latest tour, which means that tickets can only be resold on Ticketmaster at face value. Tickets are also non-transferrable. However, many purchased tickets through baseball stadium specific sites, such as MLB.com, and they may have different policies. Because of this policy, many of the overpriced listings available on resale websites like StubHub, SeatGeek, and VividSeats may not be real. As with most other concerts today, scalpers have been a major concern, so it is important to know the policies in place for each show before paying extremely marked up prices for tickets that may not even exist.
There were a wide range of prices available for each show. The lowest priced tickets were available for about $69, while the most expensive were close to $500. This large range allowed Noah Kahan to attract a wide variety of fans depending on budget, but the downside was that tickets may not have been available in fans’ price ranges once they had the chance to select tickets.
all sold out
Most of the venues that Noah Kahan is playing at are baseball stadiums and typically hold around 40-50,000 people. Because the demand was so high, a number of fans did not even get a chance to enter ticket selection. At this point, all venues are sold out, and Noah Kahan became the first artist to play and sell out four consecutive nights at America’s Favorite Ballpark, Fenway in Boston.
What do you think?
Recent concert ticket prices, like that of Harry Styles, have created a ton of conversation on social media. As with everything else in the world, the cost of supporting artists and seeing live music has gone up exponentially. Do you think the prices for Noah Kahan’s tour were fair? Due to the size of the venues, I would say that it was fair for today’s standards, though they are still pricey considering the cost of tickets over time. Personally, I am not willing to pay more than $150 for a concert ticket to anyone, so I take whatever area of the venue that can get me. I have been in general admission pits for less than a hundred dollars for smaller bands, while that price got me just shy of upper bowl for Noah Kahan.
Along the same lines, should everyone have been given access to presale, or should artist revert back to giving out codes to those who listen to them? After all, Spotify does have listening percentages available every year when Wrapped releases. I was lucky enough to be able to get a ticket for Noah Kahan, but many fans lost multiple times, even for venues that added dates. There may not be a correct answer in how to handle concert sales in 2026.