Metallica are doing some booming business in Halifax these days.
The metal icons headline the city’s Rock The Hill festival next month and promoters tell Metro that the show is on its way to selling out.
"The capacity is 30,000 for the hill, and we are certainly on our way to having a full house for the show," Michele MacKay, a promoter from Rock The Hill, told Metro on Tuesday. "It's one of the strongest numbers that we've had for a show I would say in this area."
MacKay, who is promoting the show along with her husband Harold, said between 75 and 80 per cent of tickets are now sold, which works out to a high of 24,000, or 6,000 below capacity.
Metallica is set to perform on the Garrison Grounds July 14, with ticket prices $99.50, plus tax and fees.
Opening for Metallica are Matt Mays, Protest the Hero, Seether and Coheed & Cambria.
“It’s a different mix to what’s been here before,” McKay said about reasons behind the strong ticket numbers. “Metallica is one of those bands – like a Kiss show – that has that real strong following.”
“It’s always a hit-or-miss,” she later added. “You would think a show as large as Sir Paul McCartney, the numbers would’ve been twice what they were, but it’s always a gamble. This one certainly seems to be working well.”
About 26,000 tickets were sold for McCartney on the Halifax Common in July of 2009.
MacKay also noted the 1,500 VIP tickets sold out in 30 minutes for Metallica, and over 12,000 of the tickets already gobbled up and from people living outside of Halifax.
The Halifax gig is just two days before Metallica’s appearance at Quebec's Summer Festival (Festival d'été de Québec) on July 16 in Québec City. Joe Satriani will open that concert, part of the 44th edition of the event, which runs July 7-17 and features 300 shows spanning 11 days, making it Canada's biggest outdoor artistic event.
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