Ottawa Tickets dropping
 

I upgraded about a month ago from Section C Row 26 to Section B Row 9 on the floor. Now I just got Section A 5th Row on the floor and checking now you can get 6th row on the floor.

Matt

Excerpt from an article in the Ottawa Citizen hoping that big name acts will still play the city, even with the bad economy.

http://www2.canada.com/ottawacitizen...tml?id=1260169

Tickets to upcoming shows by Mötley Crüe and Fleetwood Mac are selling well, and most major concerts that hit Scotiabank Place in the last quarter were also well-attended, with Coldplay, Neil Young and comedian Robin Williams selling out.

But, there were also some nights when ticket sales were a little soft. Bob Dylan was the most obvious, with a sparse crowd of 3,000 or so.

It's no secret that observers are predicting a tough year for the industry. In the U.S., Pollstar editor-in-chief Gary Bongiovanni is calling for a correction in 2009.

"It would defy logic to think that (the economy is) not going to impact people's willingness to spend money on things like concert tickets," he said in one interview.

In another sign of the times, two major U.S. festivals, Coachella and Bonnaroo, announced their lineups this week, along with payment plans for ticket purchases.

Another music festival, Langerado, scheduled to hold its 7th annual edition in Miami next month, pulled the plug this week because of slow ticket sales.

Although the Live Nation folks in Canada are playing it cool, there was an underlying sense of apprehension at the news conference.

Will the concertgoers of Ottawa-Gatineau shell out up to $225 each, plus surcharges and parking, to see two '70s pop superheroes play their hits, together and separately?

Oh, probably. If any concerts are recession-proof, it would be Elton John and Billy Joel -- two top-notch artists delivering familiar, feel-good songs that ring with nostalgia for baby-boomers.

Of course, rounding up 17,000 of them might be rather ambitious, even with a top ticket $50 cheaper than the Toronto show. The penny will drop at 10 a.m. today, when tickets go on sale.

Anyway, I'm still not quite sure why the mayor was involved in the announcement, but for the record, he did assure me that Lansdowne Park is available for outdoor stadium concerts this summer.

With that, my hope was renewed. McCartney, U2 and AC/DC are all expected to mount stadium tours this summer, and maybe, just maybe they'll come to Ottawa.

"Never say never," teased Craig, and I can already picture him planning the news conference.

Next time, however, just give us the artist; hold the cheese.

I agree with this article completely. When it was announced early almost two weeks prior to the official news conference on Monday it made no sense as to why they bothered with the conference. I was thinking they were announcing more then just that concert but it was nothing.

Matt