Quickly announced Foo Fighters show draws all night crowd to get tickets

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - In another chapter in the legendary history of the Santa Barbara Bowl as a rare concert venue, the rapid-fire announcement-to-ticket sales blast this week for the Foo Fighters brought out hundreds of people this morning.

Many were ready to line up last night 12 hours before the tickets were going to be released at 10 a.m.

The Foo Fighters are widely viewed as the premier rock 'n roll band in the world. They book and sell out the biggest arenas and stadiums, and are also headlining multi-band festivals.

To play the 5000 seat Santa Barbara Bowl is a stunning shift but it gets to the performers roots in small towns and small clubs. Also, band member and guitarist Chris Shiflett is a graduate of Santa Barbara High which is walking distance from the bowl entrance.

How tough were the tickets to get? One of those hovering around the box office was Michael Shiflett, Chris' brother who was worried if he would get a seat or if his brother could help. Either way he was proud to see his brother's success.
"It is so surreal. I can't even begin to tell ya. It is one of those things that happens to people. You just don't think the lighting will strike here.  I am really  happy  he was so disciplined and so focused and and had the guts to reach out and and try to accomplish a dream," said Michael Shiflett.

A small block of presale tickets were sold earlier this week but they were gone in moments.

The rest of the house was sold out by just after noon today.

Prices were $85. to $155. Resale on line were in a range of $600 to $1400. Some were popping up at even higher prices.

The bowl has a history of getting big acts including this year with James Taylor, Diana Ross, and last night the second of two sold out shows with the Lumineers. In November, Kenny Loggins ends his career of live performances with his final appearance, and that will be on the bowl stage.

Ticket buyer Mia Lum said, "I knew there was going to be one more major announcement but I didn't know it would be this."

The ticket buyers who came out last night after dark but were held off to the side until the Lumineers concert cleared out. The line up at the box office grew all night with "car door slamming" people arriving at all hours. When the box office opened at 10 a.m. the line was up the ramp at the bowl and doubled back to Milpas Street before wrapping around to Anapamu Street.

Raul Cano-Rogers with LiveNotesSB said, "I got here about at 11:45 at night. I was 25th in line by that time but got the tickets."

James Rafferty had to fill in for his daughter who waited for hours but had to go off to work.   "So I get to pay!"

General admission seats were available for those who plan to stand in "the pit."
Heidi Jones said, "we decided we didn't want to be general admission although the energy would be good  but we decided we wanted seats so we got the best available tickets we could."

It was very much like the classic ticket sales scene from years gone by when on line sales were not as prominent.

"They're keeping rock alive and without the Foo Fighters I don't think there would be as much rock as there is right now," said Scott Christoper who runs a site called "The setlist guy."

He was up front in line with his wife who was beaming about her tickets.

Stacy Christopher said "It means everything, they are my band. They have been for years."