On Friday the Foo Fighters played a late-night show at the O2 Ritz here in Manchester. Whilst the prospect of seeing perennial stadium botherers in a 2,000-capacity venue is in itself unique, its most noteworthy point is how they managed ticket distribution. There was no mad internet dash for tickets, no ludicrous presale (there is no such thing as a presale, tickets are either available or they are not) and no secret codes and loops to jump through. You simply queued up last Sunday at the Ritz and from midday and a REAL person sold you a paper ticket. It was like the last thirty-odd years hadn’t happened, and instantly they did away with all the issues around touts, bots, scammers or fakes.

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