The hip-hop group Epik High announced their highly anticipated return to North America with Epik High 3.0 earlier this week. The South Korean trio – Tablo, Mithra Jin, and DJ Tukutz – last performed in North America in 2024, and have grown even more popular since then with the success of their YouTube variety show, Epikase, Tablo’s English podcast “Hey Tablo,” and their official fan community space, Epik High HQ.
Best known for their blend of hip-hop, K-pop, and comedy, Epik High celebrates their 23rd anniversary later this year. Throughout the years, they’ve done well on multiple domestic and international charts and have collaborated with Korea’s biggest names, including BTS, IU, Taeyang, Hoshi of SEVENTEEN, Joey Bada$$, Gallant & Eric Nam, Far East Movement, and more.
Now, Epik High begins their tour in New York on September 30 at Terminal 5, and hits 11 other cities after, including Boston, Toronto, Chicago, Washington, DC, Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles, Oakland, Vancouver, Seattle, Las Vegas, and San Diego throughout October. Presales began on Wednesday, with the general sales on Friday.
During this time, fans became frustrated with ticket sales, especially the lack of VIP packages, which the group – and many other K-pop groups – have offered in the past. Many went online to voice their displeasure at being unable to access VIP tickets, which upset Epik High.
Not one to hold back his thoughts, Tablo took to social media to express his frustration with the lack of transparency about the ticket venues, especially for the VIP experience, tagging Mithra Jin and DJ Tukutz as collaborators on the post.
In the post, it’s captioned, “WHO AGREES THAT THESE CONCERT TICKETING SITES ARE A JOKE?!
Dear Epik High fans, I’M SO SORRY some of you couldn’t find the packages/tickets you were looking for. I am literally calling like 50 people to get it fixed. YES, we are offering VIP packages, but you may have to do a little work to find them… 😢”
In the video, Tablo is visibly upset, telling his fans, “These sites are buggy, counterintuitive, or just flat out fucking stupid.”
On many of the sites, there are separate links for VIP tickets, which come in two types – both include soundcheck access and early venue access, but the higher one also includes photos with the members. But it seemed like no one could get tickets when they opened.
“We’re still at the birth of the internet age fuckers who won’t hire some semi-competent devs,” he adds. “How are you making it so hard for fans to purchase tickets and simultaneously complaining about the death of the live performance market? The live market isn’t dying; you just decided to stay dead. You can’t run a restaurant, have people line up hungry every day, and then give them an indecipherable menu or a blank page and expect them to know you actually offer filet mignon.”
He begins to apologize to his fans, placing the blame on the system that handled their tour. Though many of the venues have sold out of VIP 1 tickets, there are still plenty of VIP 2 tickets available. He then apologizes again, “Please go to the ticketing site for your city, and if it’s not visible right there, please try to use filters to find VIP one or VIP two. VIP one might be sold out. It’s sold out in most cities, but VIP two should be available. So, it’s either there or it’s been renamed to Epic High HQ, or whatever the fuck they decided to rename it to. I’m not only sorry to Epic High fans, but also to all music fans and all live fans who have to fucking deal with these sites every day.”
Check out the dates below:
Epik High 3.0 North America Tour Dates:
Sept 30 New York, NY Terminal 5
Oct 1 Boston, MA Big Night Live
Oct 4 Toronto, ON History
Oct 7 Chicago, IL House of Blues
Oct 10 Washington, DC The Howard Theatre
Oct 13 Atlanta, GA Eastern
Oct 15 Los Angeles, CA Novo
Oct 18 Oakland, CA Fox Theater
Oct 20 Vancouver, BC Orpheum
Oct 22 Seattle, WA Neptune Theatre
Oct 27 Las Vegas, NV House of Blues
Oct 29 San Diego, CA Observatory North Point
Epik High has been working all night to have the ticketing situation fixed and has offered their website as a source with links to the tickets. You can find them here.