Foo Fighters fans in Birmingham, England have set up a Kickstarter campaign in the hope of bringing the band to the city, with nearly £120,000 being raised so far.
The campaign was launched following the intimate gigs the band played in small venues in Brighton and London. However, the creators of the campaign have yet to approach the band and confirm whether or not they would play in the city if the campaign’s £150,000 goal is reached which, with over 50 days to go, it seems incredibly likely that it will be.
The campaign’s organisers state that if the band refuse to play the show, they will “cancel the project immediately, no credit/debit cards will be charged”, claiming that there is “nothing to lose” if they fail to sign an agreement after the goal is reached.
In a statement published on the Kickstarter campaign’s page, the organisers have written:
“Are you sick of losing out on those golden tickets? Setting the alarm to find them sold out in 3 minutes? Ticket companies reselling tickets minutes after ticket launch at 10 x the price? In light of the recent documentary by the BBC programme ‘Watchdog’ investigating the secondary ticket market along with artists such as Gene Simmons declaring “Rock is finally dead” – we are here to prove to the industry that Rock will never die, but we hope that the ticket touting industry does! New measures were introduced in June 2014 to help protect second hand ticket buyers meaning sellers have to advertise the face value of the ticket and how many seats are available. Politicians have warned this will not be enough to stop the touts, and we agree. By doing this we are putting the power of ticket sales back into the hands of the fans, not the touts. We are hoping to get support from politicians to raise awareness of the ticket touting business within the UK and hope to get media coverage to not only promote our event but to help get the laws changed against ticket touts. So not only will we hopefully complete our project successfully we will also raise awareness within the UK about legal changes that need to be made.”
While backers can pledge a minimum of £5 to support the campaign, tickets will only be given to those who pay £50 or more.
Foo Fighters have previously performed at a crowdfunded gig after fans in Richmond, Virginia raised $70,000. Speaking of the band’s decision to take the Richmond organisers up on their offer, frontman Dave Grohl said at the time: “For the past 20 years we always decided who we’re going to play with and where we’re going to play. But now, if we hear that people want us to come somewhere, maybe we’ll come there.”
Photo: Johnny Firecloud
