THUNDER BAY – Anyone looking to score a VIP ticket to this summer’s Thunder Bay Blues Festival is out of luck.
Organizer Bob Halvorsen on Thursday said the reaction from the ticket-buying public was like nothing he’s seen before, buoyed by a crop of headliners that include the likes of Sarah McLachlan, Sheryl Crow, Melissa Etheridge and Pat Benator.
Add in acts like Arkells, Alan Doyle, Big Wreck and Magpie Salute – a band founded by former Black Crowes guitarist Rich Robinson that includes several members of the popular ‘90s rock group – and it really shouldn’t come as a surprise.
Then again, when VIP tickets normally last until the week of the festival, scheduled for July 6 to July 8 at a revamped Marina Park stage area, selling out in three days is a bit out of the ordinary.
“The 17th annual Thunder Bay Blues Festival has had the best start in its history with ticket sales,” Halvorsen said on Thursday.
“It’s going remarkably well. Currently we’re at the point where VIP is completely sold out and regular VIP passes are about a third of the way sold out. It’s doing very, very well.”
The names at the top of the bill are what’s driving interest, he added.
“It’s no different that this building,” said Halvorsen, the general manager at the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium.
“If you put the right show on people come and it sells out. Obviously the Thunder Bay patrons are reacting well to the lineup and it’s showing in the ticket sales.”
The message to music fans is to buy general admission weekend passes ahead of time. Halvorsen predicts they will sell out as the festival nears and cautions that single-day tickets are likely not going to go on sale at all this year.
Tickets are available online through the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium box-office site.
Notes: The concrete stage pad at the festival site has been torn out, making way for a mobile stage the city discussed last fall. City officials are expected to officially announce the project in the coming weeks.
