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And Finally Artist News Gigs & Festivals
More people in Norwich than expected are willing to watch The Maccabees play live if it’s free
By Andy Malt | Published on Tuesday 16 December 2014
Around 100 people were apparently turned away from a Maccabees-headlined gig at Norwich Arts Centre on Sunday. The show was put on by the NME to celebrate the venue being named Britain’s Best Small Venue by the magazine’s readers. It therefore seems pretty appropriate that not everyone who wanted to go could fit in, but not everyone seems to see it like that.
Although the gig was free, fans were asked to apply for tickets in advance of the show at the 290-capacity club. But when they arrived, many found that they were unable to get in, despite having tickets in their hands.
According to the Eastern Daily Press, a rep for the NME explained that their ticketing system had allowed for an expected 40% of ticketholders to not show up. The ticketing system, it seems, did not account for almost 400 people in Norwich actually being quite keen to see The Maccabees.
In a statement published by the BBC, the NME said: “[It] was a free show and when calculating ticket allocations we have to factor in that some confirmed guests will not attend. Unusually … and due to truly exceptional demand, it seems more than usual did indeed come along. We are deeply sorry for those of you who travelled to the show and did not make it in, and we really want to look into how we can make it up to you”.
Norwich Arts Centre tweeted: “We want to say a big thank you to everyone who came down for The Maccabees and we are genuinely sorry that not everybody was able to get in”.
