Van Halen scalping its own tickets?

Van Halen may be scalping dozens of tickets for shows on its upcoming 2008 live schedule, according to TicketNews.com. A report claims that tickets for the band's March 17th, 2008 show at New York's Madison Square Garden, which went on sale Monday (December 3rd), began showing up at vastly inflated prices at Ticketmaster's TicketExchange auction site less than 10 minutes after going on sale. TicketNews says that would be impossible unless the seats were held back from the public and posted separately by the band or promoter.

It is not clear from the auction where the tickets come from, and it's still possible that they're not being generated by Van Halen. But one anonymous ticket broker said, "It's impossible for those tickets to be from anyone but the artist and promoter. They were up on the exchange within minutes."

Some seats at TicketExchange were going for as much as $2,885 each.

Representatives for Van Halen did not respond to queries regarding the report. Ticketmaster recently bought a controlling interest in Frontline Management, which handles the band's affairs.

Artists traditionally hold back tickets for guests or for another wave of sales. In recent times, acts such as Beyonce have been auctioning tickets, while others have offered VIP packages at higher prices.

Van Halen's reunion tour, its first in 22 years with singer David Lee Roth, has been one of the top-selling events of the year. The 2008 leg of the trek begins on January 22nd in Oklahoma City.