Beatles fans who didn't jump at the chance to buy tickets to Paul McCartney's Aug. 2 concert at Target Field were given a swift "Hello Goodbye" message from the Twins box office Monday morning. The 36,000-plus seats were sold out about 20 minutes after becoming available to the general public at 10 a.m.
"I think it went as well as we could've asked for," Twins spokesman Kevin Smith said of the sale, which ended as quickly as sales for Target Field's prior two concerts with Kenny Chesney.
A limited number of VIP seats remain for the concert, but they are part of the "Front Row" and "Hot Sound" packages that cost $1,500-$2,000 and include memorabilia and access to the concert's sound check.
Before Monday's general on-sale, thousands of McCartney seats had already been scooped up in various pre-sale offers that started as early as last Wednesday, including access for Macca's fan club members, Twins season-ticket holders and American Express cardholders. There's a good chance more seats will be released as the concert nears once the particulars of the stage production and seat layout are finalized.
Of course, fans who still want the non-VIP tickets can now turn to the resale market, which is already in full swing. More than 3,500 seats — originally priced $26.50-$250 — were available on Stubhub.com at prices ranging from $127 to more than $2,700 (the latter probably unrealistic).
Despite the steep markups already in place, Smith said, "I think in this case, the fans got most of the seats."
CHRIS RIEMENSCHNEIDER
