This weekend saw quite a significant first in ticket sales for live music in the UK as the Red Hot Chili Peppers introduced ID restrictions for their November tour.

Put simply, all fans buying tickets to the shows will have to bring the card they used to purchase the tickets with when they enter the venue and everyone who they bought tickets for will have to enter the venue with them at the same time.

This has one obvious advantage of effectively ruling out touting, which is something to be applauded, especially as it is not in the immediate interests of the promoters Kilimanjaro Live (a subsidiary of AEG).

However, as Dave Ball rather brilliantly explains in this extensive article, the potential downsides for fans are much more numerous.

One of the highly likely scenarios that could befall ticket holders is when one member of your group is delayed and you face the dilemma: go in without them and leave them in the cold, or wait and risk missing part of the set.

Despite the several drawbacks, the Chilis tickets have sold out in a matter of days, so it seems that fans have not been deterred. I very much doubt that this system will catch on, however.

A much simpler solution that I could suggest would be to have each individual’s name printed on each ticket (like they do for Glastonbury), so that people could arrive separately, but they would still need ID in order to gain entry, thus thwarting the touts.

There are still plenty of obvious drawbacks to this system, but the fact that Kilimanjaro Live and the Chilis have taken this first step, is very encouraging indeed.

Red Hot Chili Peppers will be touring the UK in November (see below for dates) in support of their new album I’m With You (due out August 30th), which will feature the single The Adventures of Raindance Maggie – Listen now.

Mon November 7th 2011 – The O2, London
Wed November 9th 2011 – The O2, London
Thu November 10th 2011 – The O2, London
Sat November 12th 2011 – SECC, Glasgow
Mon November 14th 2011 – Manchester Evening News Arena
Tue November 15th 2011 – Manchester Evening News Arena
Thu November 17th 2011 – Motorpoint Arena Sheffield
Sat November 19th 2011 – Birmingham NEC
Sun November 20th 2011 – Birmingham NEC