Ryan Quigley
Journal Pioneer
SUMMERSIDE- Selling out the Elton John concert was bittersweet for Summerside, said Event Development Officer JP Desrosiers.
“I’m very, very pleased the show sold out, I mean we got great support for this event, it’s just tough to see all these people who waited in line.”
The highly anticipated concert sold out in two hours, leaving many at Credit Union Place in line to get tickets very disappointed. Those who were left without tickets were put on a list to purchase technical and management tickets if any become available.
Some in the crowd were angry with how the box office was handled.
Tara Snively arrived at 10 a.m. for tickets, while her husband tried using two computers to purchase tickets. She said the city’s organization of the event was bad.
“Why were there not enough tickets allotted to be held at the box office for people that were coming here? It’s ridiculous,” she said. “The people in charge made no effort to keep the 350 people in line informed of what was going on.”
Desrosiers said Live Nation helped them decide how to sell the tickets.
“Our goal was to be as fair as possible from the start and put everything on sale all at one time,” he said. “I really wanted to make sure everybody in line got tickets but at the same time (Live Nation) they want to make it as fair to the true fan as possible, so if there is a fan from Souris, P.E.I. who can’t get to Summerside, should have equal access online.”
Tracy Brown, who was at the Credit Union Place at 6:00 a.m. Friday morning, said she wished the city better regulated the amount of tickets one person could purchase.
“They’re allowing people to buy eight tickets and I feel it should be lower because there is people in front of me buying 16 tickets and it’s not fair to those who came and made an effort to be here and stand in line.”
Desrosiers said the ticket amount per purchase was sent to them by Live Nation.
“I think eight is a good number because if you get in line first and you want to buy for four of your friends, then you’d be able to do that,” he said. “Again, we’re so new at this type of thing it’s not easy for me to say, oh yeah, we should have went with four. But when Live Nation, the biggest promoting company in the world says eight, you go with eight.”
Some people complained they were charged for tickets from the website, but didn’t receive them. Credit Union Place is urging those people to contact the centre to have the issue resolved.
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