{"id":56460,"date":"2024-09-17T13:48:07","date_gmt":"2024-09-17T12:48:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/?p=56460"},"modified":"2024-09-20T17:06:22","modified_gmt":"2024-09-20T16:06:22","slug":"live-music-wembley-ticketmaster-accessible-tickets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/blog\/live-music-wembley-ticketmaster-accessible-tickets\/","title":{"rendered":"Just because I\u2019m deafblind doesn\u2019t mean I shouldn’t have equal access to live events"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Unless you\u2019ve been living under a rock for the last few weeks, you\u2019ll have seen the wall-to-wall coverage of the news of Oasis\u2019s reunion tour, scheduled for summer 2025. I was a huge fan of the Britpop band back in the day, seeing them twice, in Manchester and Cardiff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sadly however, the nightmarish ticket booking process for this reunion tour, and the reaction I\u2019ve faced for speaking out about my experience, has left me looking back in anger. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like many others, I was desperate to get tickets for these long-awaited shows. I\u2019m deafblind, so I needed to book a companion ticket, so that someone can come with me and support me at the event.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To book accessible tickets for Wembley Stadium \u2013 for example, if you need a companion ticket like me, or a wheelchair accessible ticket \u2013 you need to phone a telephone line. It\u2019s not possible to buy your tickets online, like everyone else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the day Oasis tickets went on sale, I called the phone line nearly 800 times across a two hour timeframe. (I deserve a medal for persistence if nothing else!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After failing to get tickets, I shared my experience of this frustrating and challenging process with the press. In response, I received a deluge of negative comments. Mainly, these could be broken down into two categories, which I\u2019ve summarised below \u2013 along with my explanations of the misconceptions and misunderstanding behind these hurtful comments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Why do deafblind people want to go to concerts when they can\u2019t see or hear the band?\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This was a really common response to my expression of disappointment at not getting Oasis tickets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“If someone is deafblind, that doesn\u2019t necessarily mean they are totally deaf and totally blind. Many deafblind people are able to see and\/or hear to some extent. Everyone is affected in different ways.”<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In most cases, I think people who say this don\u2019t understand what \u201cdeafblind\u201d means.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If someone is deafblind, that doesn\u2019t necessarily mean they are totally deaf and totally blind. Many deafblind people are able to see and\/or hear to some extent. Everyone is affected in different ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am totally blind, and I have hearing loss. I wear two cochlear implants to help counteract this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In practice, what this means for me is that I can enjoy live music. I recently saw Taylor Swift and had an amazing time!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But I do need support to be able to access these events. Whether that\u2019s a ticket for someone to support me and guide me at the gig, or an accessible ticket booking process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Steven<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2018You just want special treatment \u2013 equality means being disappointed you didn\u2019t get tickets like everyone else!\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This was another common message I received in online comments after sharing my story. But it\u2019s absolutely not the case that I want special treatment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It\u2019s important to remember that disabled people are more likely to be chronically lonely. Making sure that we can access event tickets as easily as possible is one way to reduce isolation, and make us feel like we\u2019re a part of big cultural events, just like everyone else.”<\/p><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The whole point of me sharing my story was that I believe accessible tickets should be sold in exactly the same way as all other tickets. So, in this case, online through Ticketmaster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sense research has shown that 28% of people with complex disabilities report struggling to buy tickets for events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sadly, this isn\u2019t the first time disabled people have struggled getting tickets for events at Wembley. Last year, disabled fans reported struggling to book accessible tickets for Taylor Swift.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s important to remember that disabled people are more likely to be chronically lonely<\/a>. Making sure that we can access event tickets as easily as possible is one way to reduce isolation, and make us feel like we\u2019re a part of big cultural events, just like everyone else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s why I\u2019m calling on Wembley to make their accessible tickets bookable in the same way as other tickets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I went to see Taylor Swift, it was at a different venue, and I was able to book my ticket online, so I know it can be done.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my view, selling accessible tickets in the same way as non-accessible tickets should be the norm. It doesn\u2019t mean getting \u201cspecial treatment\u201d \u2013 just having the same opportunities to enjoy live entertainment as everybody else.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
\n
\n
\n\n

Get our emails in your inbox<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Join over 87,000 others, and be part of the movement driving change for disabled people. <\/p>\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n

\n Sign up now<\/a>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n\n\n\n\n

<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After sharing his frustration at booking accessible concert tickets, Steven got a deluge of negative comments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":56519,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"_searchwp_excluded":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"display_author":[110],"class_list":["post-56460","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","display_author-steven-morris"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56460","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56460"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56460\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56460"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56460"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56460"},{"taxonomy":"display_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sense.org.uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/display_author?post=56460"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}