Rod's big concert just the ticket

By ROSALEEN MacBRAYNE

Tickets for Rod Stewart's Mission Estate Winery concert in Napier next February were sold out within an hour yesterday - and then the scalpers started to surface.

Soon after ticket agencies were cleaned out, advertisements began appearing on the internet offering passes for double their original price.

The promoters are unhappy about the profiteering.

"There is no law in New Zealand against scalping, but we are looking at whether, for instance, we can take civil action against website owners," Sports and Entertainment Ltd (SEL) director of operations Garry Craft said from Australia.

"We have a problem with people buying tickets and profiting by it and we will be targeting them where we can."

On one website an advertiser had posted a photograph of two $89 tickets for auction. By late afternoon, 20 bids had pushed offers to $360.

"They are not very smart scalpers. Now we know what tickets they have," said Mr Craft.

Bidding for another two tickets was up to $435.

Mr Craft warned that anyone buying concert passes from unregistered dealers risked receiving counterfeit or stolen tickets.

"We will be on the lookout for those. You could buy a ticket in all good faith over the internet or at the local pub, but we have a tracking procedure so we can physically find them."

Holders of illegal tickets faced being turned away on February 12 or handed over to the police.

"They will be removed from the venue, which will certainly be embarrassing."

More than 100 eager Rod Stewart fans in Napier and Hastings started queuing on Sunday morning and spent a chilly night waiting for Ticketek offices to open yesterday. Most tickets were snapped up in internet and telephone sales.

The Mission venue holds an audience of 25,000 and tickets ranged from $285 to $89.

Drawcards since the inaugural concert featuring Kiri Te Kanawa in 1993 have included Ray Charles, Shirley Bassey, The Beach Boys and Sir Cliff Richard.

Mr Craft said he was surprised how quickly the tickets sold for Rod Stewart.

"But it does not surprise me that there are individuals looking to exploit the situation.

"We will just do our best to stop them and make it as difficult as possible for them."