Harvey Bloggers Surpass 1,000

The number of contributions to the ongoing row over Led Zeppelin tickets that’s been raging away on Harvey Goldsmith’s Web site for more than two weeks has passed the 1,000 mark.

Fans are furious because they say the legendary promoter’s plans to sidestep the touts by holding a ballot for the right to buy tickets had "a massive loophole in them."

Many bought a passcode from a ballot winner who apparently prefers cash, and now they’re complaining because Goldsmith said he plans to cancel their tickets.

They’re also questioning whether he has a legal right to do it, saying they bought the passcodes when there wasn’t a rule against doing so.

"I would be willing to join in class action lawsuits on both sides of the Atlantic," wrote one commenter identified as "kpross."

"I would not have purchased those tickets had it been clearly spelled out in the terms and conditions," moaned "mjgarcia7," asking Goldsmith to "move ahead with the tickets as they stand and don’t punish the wrong people."

They’re saying the amounts they paid show they’re genuine fans of the band, that they bought the passcodes in good faith and that the promoter has introduced a new rule after they’d done so.

The lucky ballot winners were given a passcode that they needed to submit, along with their names, when buying tickets for the November 26 show at The O2 in London.

But some have sold their passcodes to people who have rung Ticketmaster, given the winner’s name and code, and then paid for the tickets with their own credit cards.

When the trend was spotted, Goldsmith appears to have added a rule stipulating the winners had to buy the tickets with their own cards and that he’d cancel any that hadn’t been bought in that way.

It’s also causing a comparatively minor outcry from a few genuine winners who aren’t old enough to have a credit card, and now face having their tickets canceled because they bought them with their parents’ plastic.

So far, Goldsmith – who was awarded the CBE in recognition of his work in the entertainment business in ’96 and has promoted such huge shows as Live Aid and Live 8 – hasn’t said if he intend to do anything about the disgruntled fans’ plea for a compromise.