Show tickets selling like hot cakes

Tickets for two international music acts set to perform in Rotorua are selling fast - and organisers expect sell-out crowds.

America, a 70s soft rock band and Grammy Award winners who have been making music for 35 years, will perform at the Energy Events Centre on December 14 as part of their Live in Concert tour.


TV's Britain's Got Talent winner Paul Potts is also headed for Rotorua. He's scheduled to perform at the Energy Events Centre on April 11.

The former cellphone salesman became an international star after winning the talent competition. The video of his audition has become one of the most watched clips on video sharing website YouTube.



Event Venues Rotorua general manager Peter McLeod said "hundreds"' of tickets for both concerts have already been snapped up.


"We're thrilled at where they are this early stage," he said.

Mr McLeod said the biggest show the Energy Events Centre had hosted so far was the Glen Campbell show, but he believed the two up-coming shows would be bigger because they were "stronger".

Campbell attracted about 2500 people when he performed in Rotorua in March.

"Every indication is that both of these will be bigger than [Campbell's show]."

Mr McLeod said America had performed in New Zealand a few times and proved to be a success, while Potts was a man who had come out on top against all odds.

He described Potts as a "fantastic story".

"Paul Potts has just captured everyone's imagination."

He was excited about the acts Rotorua was hosting because of the Energy Events Centre and believed people would need to get in quickly to secure tickets.

"I think there's a fair chance that they will be sold out."

Meanwhile, the stage show Thomas and Friends Live! is at the Rotorua's Energy Events Centre on October 18. Mr McLeod expected that show would also be bigger than the Campbell show. He said there was still five weeks to go but believed there was a good chance that show would be another sell out.