Long wait pays off for diehard U2 fans

BRUCE CUTLER
They came, they sang, they sat, they waited and when the doors opened, they got lucky.
With the world's biggest rock act coming to play their first concert in New Zealand in 12 years, Hawke's Bay biggest U2 fans camped out on Sunday night to make sure they didn't miss out in the rush for tickets that went on sale at 9am yesterday.
Sleeping bags, mattresses and bean bags lined the entrance to Napier Post Office as 20 diehard U2 fans waited for the doors to open and be among the first around the country to buy tickets priced from $100 up.
With tickets also available on the internet from 9am, fans in the queue realised they were taking a gamble with the more traditional approach.
But huge demand overloaded the ticketmaster.co.nz website and 0800 phone line, and elsewhere around the country, long queues outside New Zealand Post shops and Real Groovy music stores meant many missed out on tickets to the March 17 gig.
A ray of hope was given to unlucky fans when it was later announced a second concert would be held on March 18 at Auckland's Ericcsson Stadium.
Yesterday morning saw Tom Bannister, 18, from Napier Boys High school happily camping out since 2pm the previous day alongside four of his schoolmates at the Hastings Street post office in Napier.
"I'd sacrifice anything for U2. They're the best rock band in the world, without a doubt," Tom said while he and his mates munched on their early-morning fast-food breakfast.
"We spent last night here playing U2 songs and having a singalong. A lot of people came past and asked 'What are you doing here?' and when we told them they said 'Good luck to you'," Tom said.
The legendary Irish band's first New Zealand gig since 1993 has added significance with it being scheduled for March 17, St Patrick's Day.
"It's gonna rock. I'll get a big Irish flag and drape it over me," hardcore fan Tom said.
And Tom's fellow post office camper Mike Harrisson, 17, reckons the rock band is still a class act even though U2's first hit song came out even before he was born.
"They're just getting better with age," Mike said.
"They're aging well like a fine wine, like a fine Hawke's Bay wine."
However elsewhere in New Zealand other fans were not so happy with scalpers advertising tickets for sale on the website TradeMe, only 90 minutes after the first tickets went on sale in shops.
Many tickets were advertised with a reserve price of three times the original price but disgruntled U2 fans were abusing sellers on the site, labelling them greedy and money-hungry and making fake bids in the region of $100 billion for tickets worth $99.
A spokeswoman from TradeMe said they were monitoring the bidding auction for U2 tickets and trying to remove fake bids as soon as they were appearing.
Tickets for U2's second concert on March 18 will go on sale at 9am next Monday.
Already U2's Vertigo tour has played over 100 sold-out shows across Europe and North America since it began grossing more than $260 million.
U2's props are expected to be big for the Vertigo tour when it comes to New Zealand in 32 ocean containers and aboard three 747 planes.
The supergroup is also bringing 100 crew, adding an extra 130 local crew for the show.
The band has had a special relationship with New Zealand since 26-year-old Kiwi roadie, Greg Carroll, was killed in a car accident in Dublin in 1986. The song One Tree Hill, from the 1987 Joshua Tree album, was dedicated to Caroll.