Tickets to Elton John's upcoming gig in Sudbury, Ontario were predictably hard to come by. Sudbury Arena manager Ray Mensour confirmed at least one million hits to the website the morning the tickets went on sale. Of those million hits, more than 6000 tickets were sold to approximately 1200 buyers within 45 minutes. That leaves quite a hefty number of Elton fans out in the cold, jonesing for a live fix of "Tiny Dancer."
To compound the frustration of Sudbury citizens, the Sudbury Star reported that city councillors snapped up over 100 tickets before the box office was opened to the public. Mayor John Rodriguez is at the centre of the controversy, dubbed "Ticket Gate" by the press, having bought ten tickets himself and made the call to offer advance tickets to councillors.
To quell public ire, Rodriguez stated at a city council meeting last Wednesday, "My decision to offer so many advance purchase tickets to council was rushed and not given sufficient consideration. For that, I apologise."
Instead of offering to make amends by putting the tickets back on sale, Rodriguez only expressed that the concert should be a "very positive event for our city and our citizens," adding that he deeply regrets that "this controversy has been such a distraction."
According to the Sudbury Star, city councillors are worried that the scandal will become more than just a distraction. Paranoid councillors fear their ticket-buying greed may cause the event promoter, Live Nation, to consider cancelling the concert and think twice about bringing more big-ticket events to Sudbury. So far there's been no word from Live Nation to confirm or deny whether or not the controversy will affect any current or future concert plans.
Elton John "Tiny Dancer
To compound the frustration of Sudbury citizens, the Sudbury Star reported that city councillors snapped up over 100 tickets before the box office was opened to the public. Mayor John Rodriguez is at the centre of the controversy, dubbed "Ticket Gate" by the press, having bought ten tickets himself and made the call to offer advance tickets to councillors.
To quell public ire, Rodriguez stated at a city council meeting last Wednesday, "My decision to offer so many advance purchase tickets to council was rushed and not given sufficient consideration. For that, I apologise."
Instead of offering to make amends by putting the tickets back on sale, Rodriguez only expressed that the concert should be a "very positive event for our city and our citizens," adding that he deeply regrets that "this controversy has been such a distraction."
According to the Sudbury Star, city councillors are worried that the scandal will become more than just a distraction. Paranoid councillors fear their ticket-buying greed may cause the event promoter, Live Nation, to consider cancelling the concert and think twice about bringing more big-ticket events to Sudbury. So far there's been no word from Live Nation to confirm or deny whether or not the controversy will affect any current or future concert plans.
Elton John "Tiny Dancer
