Metalheads in South Carolina expecting a night of high-octane groove metal got a very different kind of “worship” experience this past weekend, thanks to a bizarre listing error on the ticket exchange platform StubHub. Fans who purchased tickets for a December 20 event at the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium believing they were seeing heavy metal titans Lamb Of God were instead greeted by the gentle sounds of Andrew Peterson‘s Christmas tour.
The confusion stemmed from the title of the event: “Andrew Peterson’s Behold The Lamb Of God.” The concert is an annual tradition based on the Christian musician and author’s 2004 conceptual album, Behold The Lamb Of God: The True Tall Tale Of The Coming Of Christ, which retells the nativity story. However, StubHub‘s algorithm—or perhaps a human error—misclassified the show, listing it simply under the banner of the Richmond, Virginia metal band.
Realizing the potential for a catastrophic vibe clash, StubHub moved to correct the error and manage the fallout. The company issued a formal apology, acknowledging the misleading nature of the post and offering full refunds to any metal fans who accidentally bought tickets to the faith-based acoustic performance.
“We acknowledge the listing for the December 20 event at Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium was misleading and apologize for the confusion this caused,” the statement from StubHub read. “Ahead of the show we updated the event page and reached out to customers to clarify the event details. Anyone who purchased tickets under the impression this was a different performance is encouraged to contact us—we’ll honor a full refund under our FanProtect Guarantee.”
Lamb Of God vocalist Randy Blythe took the mix-up in stride. With the band having wrapped up their touring schedule for the year back in November, Blythe found humor in the situation. He poked fun at the ticket reseller via his Instagram Stories while sending his best wishes to the confused city.
“We usually play @groundzerovenue NOT Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium,” Blythe wrote. “This why StubHub S*cks. Merry Christmas, Spartanburg.”
Strangely enough, this is not the first time the band’s name or imagery has been conflated with religious celebrations. In a similar incident back in 2014, an Easter-themed event in Salem, Virginia, inadvertently used Lamb Of God‘s distinctive logo on promotional materials, seemingly unaware that the “Lamb” in question was a heavy metal band rather than the biblical figure.
