Phil Collins claims to have rediscovered his passion for music and performing. Photo / WireImage
Phil Collins claims to have rediscovered his passion for music and performing. Photo / WireImage
The demand for Phil Collins' tickets is so high that promoters say there's potential for a second concert.
The Mission Concert is already close to a full house just seven days after announcing the legendary artist as its top billing.
Promoters said the tickets have all sold apart from "smallallocation" of extras that will go on sale next week.
The Mission concert holds a capacity of up to 25,000 people and due to the demand of tickets, Australian SEL promoter Gary Craft said the possibility of a second concert "could happen".
"Three things have to fall into place for that to happen. One, we need to establish there's enough demand for it, two, people need to be prepared to head to a concert on Thursday, which is not a public holiday.
Thirdly Phil Collins needs to be prepared to stick around for an extra day. But we'll certainly explore that option."
Craft said he was "absolutely stoked" at the demand which was unprecedented for any act since opera diva Dame Kiri Te Kanawa took to the Greenmeadows stage for the first iteration of the event in 1993.
"It's due to the popularity of the act - and the popularity of the Mission Concert."
"We were pretty confident this was going to happen but by far this is the biggest Mission Concert response we've had in terms of demand."
"At 8.45am on Thursday there was an online queue of 7000 and that just kept increasing."
"We were always confident it was an act that would draw a lot of interest that's why we fought so hard to get him here."
The Mission Estate Winery chief executive Peter Holley said he was thrilled with the demand in ticket sales and said a number of factors were involved in setting up a concert of this stature.
Mission CEO Peter Holley is thrilled with the demand in ticket sales for Phil Collins. Photo / File
"There's so many people involved, we're just waiting to see how the ticket sales go and there are plenty of opportunities out there, it's certainly a working progress."
The announcement of Phil Collins tour shocked the nation, as the humble artist was looking to quietly withdraw from the music industry and into retirement.
He rebutted the idea and impulsively named his tour "Not Dead Yet."
"Thanks to my fans, my family and support from some extraordinary artists I have rediscovered my passion for music and performing. It's time to do it all again and I'm excited. It feels just right," he said.
The seven-time Grammy award winning artist will perform on Wednesday, February 6, Waitangi Day, just seven days after his 68th birthday.
