Elton John fans line up at Wings Stadium, Tickets scarce online by 10am
Saturday, February 11, 2012 12:19 p.m. EST
Elton John's Wing's Stadium concert sold out in 20 minutes Saturday morning.
Tickets for Sir Elton John's performance at Wings Stadium in Kalamazoo went on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday morning. Wings Stadium opened up their parking lot and lobby area early Saturday morning.
People lined up to be the first to purchase tickets. By 10:01 a.m. fans using the internet based Ticketmaster system were already getting the no more tickets available message. A website check late Saturday morning showed no tickets available through Ticketmaster and just over 450 tickets still available at ticket reseller Stub Hub.com.
Elton John concert in Kalamazoo sells out in 20 minutes;
hundreds lined up outside Wings Stadium for hours (with photo gallery)
Published: Saturday, February 11, 2012, 2:12 PM Updated: Saturday, February 11, 2012, 2:57 PM
Kim Powell, of Three Rivers, was first in line Saturday to buy tickets for Elton John's March 21 concert at Wings Stadium. She waited nine hours; the show sold out in 20 minutes.
KALAMAZOO — Kim Powell was the equivalent of a lottery winner Saturday morning.
Her prize was being the first to purchase tickets to Elton John's March 21 concert at Wings Stadium, where the high-in-demand commodities went on sale at 10 a.m.
The 54-year-old Three Rivers resident, bundled in multiple layers of clothes, originally showed up at 5 p.m. Friday to begin her wait, but was told by security that waiting in line would not begin until 2 a.m.
"I came back about 1 a.m. and just sort of mixed in with the crowd that was leaving (a performance Friday night at the stadium)," she said. "Nobody asked me what I was doing so I just stayed put and wound up being first."
In hindsight, Powell's strategy paid dividends, as the majority of the people who showed up later in the morning — Wings Stadium opened its doors to the lobby at 6:30 a.m. — left empty-handed; the show sold out in 20 minutes. A crowd of more than 500 people filled the lobby area by the time tickets went on sale.
Andrea Pluta, Wings Stadium events coordinator, said about 600 of theshow's 6,000 tickets were sold at the box office. The rest were purchased either over the phone, online or at other Ticketmaster locations.
The few lucky ones at Wings Stadium included a trio behind Powell. Sonja Smith and Tim Koquom, both of Battle Creek, and Mark Fritts, of Wyoming, brought folding chairs and were bundled in layers as they started their wait around 1:30 a.m.
Fritts said the long, overnight wait allowed him to grab front-row seats when John played at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids about a decade ago.
Smith, meanwhile, expressed thanks that a 24-hour Speedway gas station and an all-night McDonald's were walking distance from Wings Stadium.
Likely the youngest on hand, a trio of co-workers was next in line. Megan Boyle, 20; Hilary Solleveld, 21; and Kaila Hull, 20; said they owe it to their moms for being Elton John fans.
"We grew up listening to mom play Elton John records and (audio cassettes), so we know a lot of his music," said Solleveld, a recent WMU graduate. She and Boyle, a Kalamazoo Valley Community College student, agreed "Bennie and the Jets" will be the highlight of next month's show.
Hull, a Jackson-area native and KVCC student, said "Tiny Dancer" is her favorite track from the 64-year-old entertainer.
The three crammed into a two-person tent and benefited from a portable space heater while they waited outside. They said the 14th-row tickets they eventually secured were worth the wait.
Kim Wilcox, of Vicksburg, said he learned from an experience he'll never forget to not pass up the opportunity to see a legend.
Wilcox, 58, said he declined a friend's offer to see Elvis Presely in Indianapolis back in June 1977. The performance, of course, proved to be the King's last concert.
"I didn't want to tell people I blew a chance to see Elvis and then Elton John 35 years later," Wilcox said, noting he hasn't been to a concert since 1976, when Nazareth, Heart and Ted Nugent toured together and made a stop in the area. "This is a big deal and for me to be here, it's not just any musician I'd do this for."
Wilcox arrived about 2 a.m. and passed the time talking to the people in line behind him, Tim Lucas, 42, of Battle Creek, and Dan Klein, 51, of Coopersville.
Klein may have cemented the award for "Husband of the Year," as he isn't planning to attend the concert. He said he offerd to wait and buy the tickets for his wife and her two cousins.
"I got here around 3:45 and I don't mind waiting," he said, adding his wife has seen John more than a dozen times. "Everybody's pretty mellow … we were cold before we came inside but it's been fun."
Despite his intimidating looks and rock-star long-hair, Lucas said he's a fan of John's mellower songs. He said he's looking forward to hearing "Rocket Man," "Candle in the Wind" and "Your Song."
Mike Dee, associate director of engineering, said in his 20 years as a Wings Stadium employee, John is the biggest name he's known to play the venue.
Dee helped with crowd control once the clocks hit 10 a.m. and the roar of cheers and clapping erupted within the lobby.
"Very well-behaved, a good group of people here in line," he said. "I got here at 4:30 and opened the doors at 6:30, and despite the cold and waiting, everybody acted fine."
Pluta, meanwhile, said the show will start promptly at 8 p.m., there's no opening act and there will be no intermission.
"He has a lot of songs to cram into one show," she said. "It'll be interesting to see what he does and doesn't perform."
She said tickets to John's show at a larger venue in Madison, Wisc., – where he performs the night after his Kalamazoo concert – went on sale Friday and sold out almost as quickly as they did Saturday.
Gallery: Elton John tickets sell out
Description: Hundreds of Elton John fans waited in line to buy tickets to his March 21 show at Wings Stadium in Kalamazoo.
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