Motown not such a temptation

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Cliff Richard sold out in 30 minutes, Rod Stewart tickets went just as quickly and Eric Clapton sold out in four hours but Motown is proving not quite so tempting.

Ticket sales for next year's Mission Concert celebrating the 50th anniversary of Motown music are not proving to be as popular as some of the other big-name acts that have featured at the annual summer event in Napier.

Organisers of February's concert said tickets were selling well, however, there were likely to be tickets available right up until Christmas.

Tickets for the concert, featuring The Four Tops, The Temptations, Martha and the Vandellas, The Miracles, and Mary Wilson from The Supremes, as well as Australian acts Jimmy Barnes and Ian Moss and American singer Joan Osborne, have been on sale since early last month.

Concert organiser Garry Craft, operations director for Sport & Entertainment, said half the 25,500 tickets were sold to regular Mission fans before the artists were even announced, and sales had been steady since. "We don't give out numbers but I'm certainly expecting it will be sold out by Christmas," he said.

The hottest Mission sellers in recent times have been Cliff Richard in 2003 and Rod Stewart in 2005 both sold out in about half an hour, resulting in many fans missing out. Eric Clapton sold out in four hours in 2007, but other recent concerts have not quite achieved a capacity crowd. Last year's Lionel Richie concert did not sell out.

Meanwhile, Napier i-Site manager Carolyn Neville said concertgoers from outside the region estimated to number 12,000 should not panic yet if they could not find accommodation in Hawke's Bay for the February 13 show.

"Some motel and hotel places would become available as people cancelled their bookings, and more rooms in private houses would be offered later."

CENTRE-STAGE

2003: Cliff Richard sold out in half an hour

2004: Belinda Carlisle, B52s, John Farnham did not sell out

2005: Rod Stewart sold out in half an hour

2006: Olivia Newton-John and Chris de Burgh did not sell out

2007: Eric Clapton sold out in four hours

2008: Tom Jones did not sell out

2009: Lionel Richie did not sell out (show cancelled because of rain)