http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Londo.../13/285705.html
Shania tickets go in record time
With about 175 fans in line when the box office opened, the show was sold out in seven minutes.
PATRICK MALONEY, Free Press Reporter 2003-12-13 04:19:27
Any man of Cortney Farrell's better wait in line 12 hours -- even if it's freezing -- to get Shania Twain tickets. Though her boyfriend Ryan Thornhill, 20, doesn't like the Canadian superstar's music, he spent Thursday night camped outside London's John Labatt Centre to ensure they got tickets to her concert.
Much to his girlfriend's delight, they were second in a line of about 175 fans when the box office opened, getting eight of the 10,200 tickets that sold out in a record seven minutes yesterday morning.
"You've got to do it at least once. And wear warm clothes," said Thornhill, who waited the 12 hours.
The couple was joined by her mother, Mona, who says the effort was worthwhile.
"It was absolutely freezing. Now that we're second in line, hey, it's worth it."
Getting to the front of the line was a family affair for frequent concert-goers Rob and Kim Styles of London.
They, their kids and a family friend split up 24 hours of waiting to be the first ticket buyers for Twain's May 10 show.
The $120 tickets, which will be Christmas presents, weren't the first Rob Styles waited hours to get.
"We've done it for other concerts - wrestling, Backstreet Boys, 'N Sync," he said. "It's an adventure. If it's something you enjoy."
Ticket demand yesterday was the most intense in the John Labatt Centre's history, said Brent McNamee, box office manager.
"It's definitely the most popular show we've had," he said. "We (sold) hundreds of tickets a minute."
Twain will play the JLC on a centre-ice stage, he said, so there's no front row. The setup lets more people squeeze into the arena than for any previous concert.
Still, inevitably hundreds of fans were turned away from the box office yesterday.
Kim Gillies of Grand Bend -- who waited at the JLC, dialling Ticketmaster by cellphone while her husband worked its website at home -- was disappointed, but not too put out, over missing out.
"My daughter is seven and she just loves her. (She) will be disappointed," Gillies said. "We should have been here earlier."
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10,200 tickets in 7 minutes - about 1458 tickets per minute - Gee, what took them so long.