Sam Fender moves Newcastle ticket pre-sale after reported bot attack
Fans seeking tickets for Fender’s 2027 St James’ Park shows face a 24-hour wait after he said he had been told Gigantic’s site was hit by a bot attack.
Sam Fender moved the pre-sale for his 2027 shows at St James’ Park in Newcastle on Wednesday, 28 October, after saying he had been told the Gigantic ticket site was hit by a ‘sophisticated bot attack’, according to the BBC. Buyers seeking Newcastle tickets will instead have to wait until 09:30 GMT on Thursday, 29 October.
The BBC reported that Fender postponed the Newcastle pre-sale by 24 hours. In a statement posted on Instagram, he said the reported attack was affecting the St James’ Park sale and that moving it would help ensure ‘real fans get the tickets’. The description of the cause comes from information Fender said he had received; Gigantic had been approached for comment, the BBC said.
What changed for Newcastle ticket buyers
The Manchester Evening News reported that the pre-sale opened at 09:30 on Wednesday and that buyers for the Newcastle dates had to use Gigantic. It described complaints from fans who encountered site errors or struggled to access tickets. Those accounts show the difficulties some buyers reported, but do not establish how many people were affected or what happened inside Gigantic’s systems.
The rescheduled window concerns Fender’s homecoming shows in Newcastle. Gigantic was advertising general-sale tickets for Friday, according to the BBC. The Manchester Evening News reported that the tour’s Newcastle concerts are scheduled for 3 and 5 June 2027, giving affected buyers two St James’ Park dates to choose from when the pre-sale reopens.
Were other tour dates affected?
Fender did not give details of any other venues affected by the reported attack, the BBC said. The Manchester Evening News separately reported complaints about stalled online queues for other shows, including Manchester. Those complaints do not establish that the reported problem at Gigantic caused difficulties on other ticket platforms. A source told the BBC they had no trouble buying tickets for the London show.
Fender’s Proper Massive Stadium Tour is also due to visit Cardiff, London, Dublin, Edinburgh and Manchester, according to the BBC. The Manchester Evening News reported that the Manchester leg is scheduled for 15 and 17 July 2027 at the Etihad Stadium. The wider itinerary matters to buyers trying to distinguish the postponed Newcastle sale from access to tickets for the tour’s other stops.
The pre-sale disruption follows a separate ticketing dispute earlier in the week. Fender removed a front-standing ticket category after objecting to its cost for fans, the BBC and Manchester Evening News reported. That pricing decision was separate from Wednesday’s postponement, which Fender attributed to the reported problem at Gigantic.
Read in depth: Entertainment
The Flaming Lips announce The Teardrop Throbs, their first album for Third Man Records
The band’s first album of new material since 2020 is due on January 22, 2027, with a new single out and two shows planned in each of five cities.
Nick Reiner’s trust fight heads to mediation as lawyers seek jail commissary funds
Lawyers set a December mediation date in the Los Angeles trust dispute. A separate request for money for Reiner’s jail commissary account awaits a reported ruling.
Sources and context
- Sam Fender's Newcastle pre-sale moved after 'bot attack'BBC News; report by Samantha Jagger
- Sam Fender forced to halt two 2027 ticket pre-sales after 'sophisticated attack'Manchester Evening News; report by Adam Maidment
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.