Thousand of Irish fans have been left disappointed after tickets for comedian Peter Kay’s upcoming Dublin gigs sold-out this morning.
Tickets for Kay’s comeback shows went on sale on Ticketmaster at 10am and were all gone in less than two hours.
"It has been an incredibly busy morning. We are all out of tickets for Peter Kay,” Ticketmaster said.
“Sorry to anyone who missed out this time.”
Huge demand for the three Dublin gigs next year, led to tens of thousands of Irish fans waiting in online queues this morning.
Within minutes of the sale opening, over 30,000 people were place a queue for the 3Arena, April 6,7 and 8 gigs.
Availability for all three concerts was classified as “low” on Ticketmaster by 11.15am, with 15,000 people still in the queue, while a note on the website stated that: “Due to demand, ticket availability is limited and ticket options may vary throughout the venue.”
The rush for tickets for Kay’s UK and Ireland tour was felt on both sides of the Irish sea, prompting the hashtags #PeterKayTour and #Ticketmaster to begin trending on Twitter.
Many fans reported seeing messages on the Ticketmaster website telling them there were more than 200,000 people ahead of them in the virtual line earlier today.
Within two hours tickets were already appearing on resale sites, with a single ticket to a London show selling for up to £350 on Viagogo.
Kay also announced he had added more shows to the tour, taking it up to the end of 2024.
The 49-year-old stand up announced his return the stage following a 12-year hiatus during an ad break in the series launch of I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! on Sunday night.
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“It’s good to get back to what I love doing best, stand-up comedy and if there’s ever a time people need a laugh it’s now,” he said.
Demand for presale tickets crashed several apps and websites when they went on sale during the week, and some are already being touted on resale sites for several hundred euro.
The Bafta winning star of hit TV shows including Car Share and Phoenix Nights will also be performing at the SSE Arena in Belfast on February 23 and 24.
Tickets for his Irish shows were priced at €48.05 for the Dublin shows, while Kay said tickets would be priced the same as the last time he toured.
A poster for the event featured the Bolton native holding a sign reading, “Better late than never” and described a ticket to his shows as an “ideal Christmas gift”.
It will be Kay’s first live tour since 2010, when he scored the Guinness World Record for the biggest selling run of all time, playing to more than 1.2 million people.
He returned to the stage in August 2021 for two special charity events to raise money for Laura Nuttall, a then 20-year-old with an aggressive type of brain cancer called glioblastoma multiforme.
There was also a brief return in January 2021 when he appeared on BBC Radio 2 to chat to Cat Deeley – who was filling in after Graham Norton left the station – about his love of music, mixtapes and the musical Mamma Mia.
He also made a surprise appearance at a charity screening of his series Car Share in 2018.
Kay previously expressed deep regret at having to cancel his 2017 tour due to “unforeseen family circumstances”.
"My sincerest apologies. This decision has not been taken lightly and I'm sure you'll understand my family must always come first," he said at that time.
Kay will begin his new tour on December 2 at the Manchester AO Arena before visiting locations including Birmingham, Liverpool, Sheffield, Belfast, Newcastle, Glasgow and Dublin.
His run will end on August 11, 2023 at the Sheffield Utilita Arena.
Additional reporting by PA Media.
