Post by danlirette on Dec 20, 2007 18:36:59 GMT -5
Ozzy concert sells out in just three hours
Heavy metal fans stand outside for 24 hours for tickets and put in
BY ALAN COCHRANE
TIMES & TRANSCRIPT STAFF
Metro Moncton fans of heavy metal hero Ozzy Osbourne did their rock 'n' roll duty Saturday by snapping up all available tickets for the Jan. 24 show in less than three hours.
Tickets for the concert by the so-called "Prince of Darkness" went on sale Saturday morning at 9 a.m. and were sold out before noon. The Moncton Coliseum has a seating capacity of about 7,000. The Coliseum box office confirmed late Saturday that all but a few of the VIP ticket packages were sold out.
Tickets for the show were $95 for the lower bowl, upper bowl and floor; and $80 for the upper bowl. VIP packages for the show range from $333 to $999 per ticket and include seats in the front rows, gift bags and access to a backstage shopping boutique for Ozzy merchandise. The $999 tickets include a meet-and-greet with Ozzy for a photo opportunity and a T-shirt to take home.
The price of tickets seemed to be the last thing on the mind of the 1,000 or so people who gathered at the Coliseum to stand in in line Saturday morning, and the few hardy souls who camped out for a full 24 hours to be first in that line.
Scott Maxwell of Moncton arrived at the Coliseum about 2 p.m. Friday and spent a long, cold night shivering outside. Many Ozzy fans waited through the night until they were allowed into the building around 6 a.m. A weary Maxwell had to be helped to his feet when the time came to form a single file line shortly before 9 a.m., but he danced with glee as he displayed his tickets for the show.
"It was worth it," he said.
Brandon Richter, who brought along an autographed photo of Ozzy for inspiration while waiting in line, said he couldn't pass up an opportunity to see the legendary rocker onstage in his home town.
"I would do it again in a minute. I enjoy standing out in line. You get to meet a lot of people and when the concert comes you meet up again with the people you stood in line with and it makes it a lot more interesting."
Justin Wood of Moncton, who was fourth in line for tickets, said the quick sellout proves that Metro Moncton has a strong rock audience that deserves to be heard. He, along with many others in the crowd, called for more rock shows at the Magnetic Hill concert site.
"Look what we did for the Rolling Stones. We had 80,000 people for that, but for the last two years they've had country shows at the hill. Nothing against country shows, but give us another rock band, like AC/DC, U2, Metallica, Van Halen. There's a lot of new bands out there too and they could sell out the venue no problem."
Richter actually arrived a few hours earlier than Maxwell, but decided to stay in the car to escape the cold. After a while, Maxwell went up and became the first in line when he was interviewed by radio station C-103. Richter was happy to take second place.
And even though he waited about 24 hours in line, he only came away with seats 20 rows back. It's presumed the front-row tickets went to people who purchased them online.
Others in the line yesterday said they felt it was their duty as true rock fans to buy tickets to see Ozzy.
"He's not making any money off this show," Wood said. "He's coming here for us, and it's up to us to go see him. It's gonna be great."
Osbourne is best known as former leader of 1970s metal icons Black Sabbath and a Grammy-award winning solo artist since the early 1980s. He is known for hit songs like "Crazy Train", "No More Tears" and "Mama, I'm Coming Home" as well as his eccentric antics and hit reality TV series The Osbournes.
While Ozzy fans rejoiced in the news the legendary performer would be making his first appearance in Moncton, there were others who took the opportunity to scoff and scold.
News of the show appeared in the Times & Transcript last week. Almost immediately there were comments on this newspaper's website denouncing Ozzy and the people who would buy tickets to see him.
In a comment to the newspaper's website, Dan Lirette of In Christ Ministries said:
"Experts come out with a new diagnosis for mental illnesses each hour... and yet the majority of these "experts" don't realize that satan is a real force to be reckoned with if one doesn't know the Lord Jesus!
"This type of music and the lifestyle accompanying it are a major part of the problem of violence and intolerance in our young people.
"It's time we took this type of music and throw it in the trash can where it belongs!"
In response, an anonymous reader replied:
"Stop blaming society's problems on silly things like peoples choice in music. If you don't like the music or don't agree with things that the artists have said or done, that's fine.
"The fact is that society is not all messed up because of Ozzy or Marlyn Manson or Rob Zombie and the music they create... it's this kind of backwards thinking that makes me ashamed to be a human being. Why don't we go back to the days when a certain musical interval known as the flatted 5th was banned because some people believed it opened the gates of hell...what nonsense.
"Society is all messed up because not enough parents out there are teaching their kids this thing called RESPECT. I grew up on Ozzy's music and I don't drink, I don't do drugs, I don't worship the devil or murder people. I'm a well mannered and respectable person because my parents raised me to be that way."
Fans who missed out on buying tickets may still enter to win them through an online contest through the Times & Transcrpt's website at timestranscript.com
timestranscript.canadaeast.com/search/article/144467
Heavy metal fans stand outside for 24 hours for tickets and put in
BY ALAN COCHRANE
TIMES & TRANSCRIPT STAFF
Metro Moncton fans of heavy metal hero Ozzy Osbourne did their rock 'n' roll duty Saturday by snapping up all available tickets for the Jan. 24 show in less than three hours.
Tickets for the concert by the so-called "Prince of Darkness" went on sale Saturday morning at 9 a.m. and were sold out before noon. The Moncton Coliseum has a seating capacity of about 7,000. The Coliseum box office confirmed late Saturday that all but a few of the VIP ticket packages were sold out.
Tickets for the show were $95 for the lower bowl, upper bowl and floor; and $80 for the upper bowl. VIP packages for the show range from $333 to $999 per ticket and include seats in the front rows, gift bags and access to a backstage shopping boutique for Ozzy merchandise. The $999 tickets include a meet-and-greet with Ozzy for a photo opportunity and a T-shirt to take home.
The price of tickets seemed to be the last thing on the mind of the 1,000 or so people who gathered at the Coliseum to stand in in line Saturday morning, and the few hardy souls who camped out for a full 24 hours to be first in that line.
Scott Maxwell of Moncton arrived at the Coliseum about 2 p.m. Friday and spent a long, cold night shivering outside. Many Ozzy fans waited through the night until they were allowed into the building around 6 a.m. A weary Maxwell had to be helped to his feet when the time came to form a single file line shortly before 9 a.m., but he danced with glee as he displayed his tickets for the show.
"It was worth it," he said.
Brandon Richter, who brought along an autographed photo of Ozzy for inspiration while waiting in line, said he couldn't pass up an opportunity to see the legendary rocker onstage in his home town.
"I would do it again in a minute. I enjoy standing out in line. You get to meet a lot of people and when the concert comes you meet up again with the people you stood in line with and it makes it a lot more interesting."
Justin Wood of Moncton, who was fourth in line for tickets, said the quick sellout proves that Metro Moncton has a strong rock audience that deserves to be heard. He, along with many others in the crowd, called for more rock shows at the Magnetic Hill concert site.
"Look what we did for the Rolling Stones. We had 80,000 people for that, but for the last two years they've had country shows at the hill. Nothing against country shows, but give us another rock band, like AC/DC, U2, Metallica, Van Halen. There's a lot of new bands out there too and they could sell out the venue no problem."
Richter actually arrived a few hours earlier than Maxwell, but decided to stay in the car to escape the cold. After a while, Maxwell went up and became the first in line when he was interviewed by radio station C-103. Richter was happy to take second place.
And even though he waited about 24 hours in line, he only came away with seats 20 rows back. It's presumed the front-row tickets went to people who purchased them online.
Others in the line yesterday said they felt it was their duty as true rock fans to buy tickets to see Ozzy.
"He's not making any money off this show," Wood said. "He's coming here for us, and it's up to us to go see him. It's gonna be great."
Osbourne is best known as former leader of 1970s metal icons Black Sabbath and a Grammy-award winning solo artist since the early 1980s. He is known for hit songs like "Crazy Train", "No More Tears" and "Mama, I'm Coming Home" as well as his eccentric antics and hit reality TV series The Osbournes.
While Ozzy fans rejoiced in the news the legendary performer would be making his first appearance in Moncton, there were others who took the opportunity to scoff and scold.
News of the show appeared in the Times & Transcript last week. Almost immediately there were comments on this newspaper's website denouncing Ozzy and the people who would buy tickets to see him.
In a comment to the newspaper's website, Dan Lirette of In Christ Ministries said:
"Experts come out with a new diagnosis for mental illnesses each hour... and yet the majority of these "experts" don't realize that satan is a real force to be reckoned with if one doesn't know the Lord Jesus!
"This type of music and the lifestyle accompanying it are a major part of the problem of violence and intolerance in our young people.
"It's time we took this type of music and throw it in the trash can where it belongs!"
In response, an anonymous reader replied:
"Stop blaming society's problems on silly things like peoples choice in music. If you don't like the music or don't agree with things that the artists have said or done, that's fine.
"The fact is that society is not all messed up because of Ozzy or Marlyn Manson or Rob Zombie and the music they create... it's this kind of backwards thinking that makes me ashamed to be a human being. Why don't we go back to the days when a certain musical interval known as the flatted 5th was banned because some people believed it opened the gates of hell...what nonsense.
"Society is all messed up because not enough parents out there are teaching their kids this thing called RESPECT. I grew up on Ozzy's music and I don't drink, I don't do drugs, I don't worship the devil or murder people. I'm a well mannered and respectable person because my parents raised me to be that way."
Fans who missed out on buying tickets may still enter to win them through an online contest through the Times & Transcrpt's website at timestranscript.com
timestranscript.canadaeast.com/search/article/144467