Are you a real fan?

I tried and failed to get Radiohead tickets this morning.

I did everything I was instructed to, yet still the system failed - not just in one place, but several. I made it as far as the waiting room. And having felt like it was nearly a done deal that I might get a glimpse of a ticket, I was ejected.

The band have chosen to use AXS as the platform to sell their tickets.

I saw the screen above several times. With each exposure, I found it more and more aggrevating. Yes. I am a real fan. I’m desperate to see my favourite band live again.

I don’t often find myself getting upset about tickets to things like this, but I guess this morning was a bit different. I went into the process with optimism. I’ve left empty handed and now seeing that tickets are on secondary sites already for upwards of £1500, my confidence is a little broken. Why can’t we have nice things? Why does capitalism break more things than it fixes?

The question began to take on new meaning in my head each time I saw it.

Why real fan? As opposed to what - a fake fan? Surely it would be better to just ask ‘Are you a fan?’?.

Maybe I wasn’t a real fan. That I wasn’t dedicated enough. Or maybe, that I was being judged to not be enough of a fan. Not worthy of a ticket.

As always, remember: everything communicates. And whilst I’m sure Radiohead didnt get down to thinking about what the error message would be when failures emerged in the system, perhaps they could have chosen something might have felt less accusatory in the context in which it was being consumed.