One of country music’s hottest acts right now helped set a first-day ticket sales record at the South Okanagan Events Centre.
Florida Georgia Line tickets went on sale to the public at the SOEC box office at 10 a.m. Friday, but the lineup started at 7 a.m. By the time the countdown started there were about 70 people in line.
“We had a really good lineup at the box office which is always fun. The lineup was comparable to Motley Crue and those went really fast as well. It is really exciting,” said Carla Seddon, director of marketing at the SOEC. “I think the ticket prices are at a good price point and they were just on the American Country Awards and won six of the seven awards they were nominated for. I don’t think you can get a better band that are hotter right now.”
Florida Georgia Line is bringing their canadian tour to Penticton on April 10. Seddon said earlier this year Motley Crue and Keith Urban had great on-sale days, but FGL is outpacing those concerts.
Helping them is the fact the country duo has released multi-week No.1 smash hits in the U.S. and Canada with Round Here, Get Your Shine On and the six-times platinum Cruise. Florida Georgia Line is the only artist in history to join Brooks & Dunn in having their first three singles hit No. 1 for multiple weeks each.
Seddon said there are not a lot of tickets left for the concert right now. She said it is normal for the band and management to have some holds on tickets that will then be released at a later date, but there is never a guarantee of how many will be released and when.
Seddon encourages people to check back often.
“We try to keep people informed through social media to let people know as well. Sometimes we get day- of tickets to sell as well, because you are never quite sure of the stage set up and once we can physically see sight lines we can sometimes sell side-of-stage tickets that we weren’t necessarily sure we could do. There is always the potential of that, but it is never a guarantee that is why we always tell people to get them while you can. For this concert for sure there was a lot of disappointed people out there right now,” said Seddon.
Global Spectrum, which manages the SOEC, has the capability to track where ticket sales are coming from and through what means — telephone, box office or through their website. Seddon said all three of those purchasing points were used a lot on Friday. Still, she suggest in person as the best means to purchase tickets because of the expert advice you receive.
“If you tell them you are really short or you don’t like to be on the floor, they know where to place you. When you are buying online you don’t physically get to pick your seat, it is based on best available or by price point. We always encourage people to come down and get them in person and speak with our box office,” said Seddon.
Joining Florida Georgia Line on tour is rising Canadian country star Dallas Smith and Chris Lane.
Smith is from B.C. and brings a dose of rock and roll power to his brand of lively country music.His breakout Canadian country debut, Jumped Right In, netted five 2013 Canadian Country Music Award nominations.
Lane also brings an upbeat rocking twist with his North Carolina band, which includes his twin brother on drums.