Highly Anticipated Coldplay Concert Sparks Ticket War, Frauds, and Homophobic Debate in Indonesia

Liputan6.com, Jakarta - The November concert in Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) Stadium will mark the first time the band Coldplay is performing in Indonesia. Coldplay fans in Indonesia felt nervous and could not relax as they prepared to buy the tickets on 17 May 2023. 

They tried their best, but some didn't succeed. For many people, the tickets were flying away from their reach too quickly. Social media users posted screenshots that they could not even access the ticket website because over 500,000 people were on the waiting list already. 

Through chaos as the ticket war swirled, it became us against the world situation. The ticket war in Indonesia has been very fierce in recent years; Tickets for K-pop concerts are usually fully booked within minutes. Last month, ticket sales for the Japanese band Radwimps also quickly booked. (Radwimps was the opening act for Coldplay's concert in Japan.) 

Life goes on, it gets so heavy for some fans. Struggling with the feeling that the ticket isn't theirs, some choose to find ticket resellers on Twitter. Buying tickets on Twitter is often a risky venture, but for some it is too tempting. And dozens of people were defrauded. 

Last week, the police said there were 14 people who collectively lost Rp30 million ($2,015) as they tried to buy the Coldplay tickets on social media.

After all the scams that occured, police said at least 60 people became victims per Tuesday. They lost Rp183 million ($12,293) in total.

The Jakarta Metropolitan Police also arrested a young couple aged 22 and 24 who scammed people with Coldplay tickets. 

Spokesperson of the national police, Brigadier General Ahmad Ramadhan, said the police received reports of fraud in the Jakarta area, Riau Islands, and Middle Java. Vice President Ma'ruf Amin also reminded the public to be careful.

"Regarding the Coldplay tickets, yes, I suppose it's not just Coldplay, but also in everything that the public be careful so not to be duped easily," said the 80-year-old VP.