Backstreet Boys break Rupp's record for selling out show

Back - Index - Submissions - - What is RSS? Date: Sep 27, 2099 Source: Lexington Herald-Leader Submitted By: vh1436 Published Sunday, September 26, 1999, in the Herald-Leader By Jim Jordan HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER Move over, Garth Brooks. The Backstreet Boys are the new hot ticket at Rupp Arena. The Backstreet Boys' Nov. 27 concert sold out in 24 minutes yesterday, eclipsing the previous record of 31 minutes set for the first of Brooks' three Rupp concerts in May 1998. More than 1,600 fans were in line at Rupp when 22,000 tickets went on sale at noon yesterday. Roughly 1,200 left empty-handed. ``You can imagine how happy they were,'' said Carl Hall, director of operations for Lexington Center Corp. The Backstreet fans at Rupp were competing with those buying tickets electronically through TicketMaster. That explained the fast sell-out, Hall said. TicketMaster also put the tickets on sale at noon. Besides unseating Brooks, Backstreet broke its own sales record yesterday, which was set Aug. 14 when tickets for its Nov. 26 Lexington concert were sold out in 37 minutes. About 500 fans were left ticketless after that sale, prompting Backstreet to add the Nov. 27 concert. The five-member group is popular locally, not only for its music, but also because two of the Backstreet Boys have Kentucky roots: Brian Littrell is from Lexington and his cousin, Kevin Richardson, is from Estill County. Fans began lining up before 6 a.m. yesterday to buy the Nov. 27 Backstreet tickets, priced at $29.50 and $38.50, plus service charges. A lottery was held about 10:30 a.m. to determine the order in which fans could buy up to eight tickets each. ``It was over pretty quickly,'' Hall said. ``I would say we got in 350 to 400 transactions before the last ticket was gone.'' Comment on this item. Recent Comments Submitted by: see pron rDaT4q Muchos Gracias for your article. Fantastic. Comment on this item. Next Item: Readers respond to Backstreet Backstabbing (Final) Prev Item: Larger Than Life, but Far, Far Away