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Yesterday Bon Jovi fanatics rushed to the closest ballparks to pick up their tickets to a free concert on the Great Lawn next weekend. NY1 reports that fans lined up for hours at all four stadiums; the concert is part of the upcoming All-Star Game celebration. One fan declared of JBJ: "Back in the day he was number one and he still is," while others were happy he was doing the show for free and giving back to his other hometown.
Over on Staten Island one man arrived at 7:40 a.m. and said: "I...thought the line was for a big game. Security told me it was for Bon Jovi and to get on line." He lucked out and 2 of the 1500 tickets at the Richmond County Bank Ballpark went to him (the stadium's alloted stack vanished in 46 minutes).
All in all, 60,000 tickets were dispensed yesterday, with a maximum of two per person. SI Live has a photo gallery from the Island's giveaway; they also note that "Lost Highway" has been billed as a prelude to the Major League Baseball All-Star Game (taking place at Yankee Stadium on the 15th).
If you missed out, more tickets are schedule to be given out on July 11th at the DHL AllStar FanFest held at the Javits Center, MLB.com will have more details. Not surprisingly, a lot of tickets have landed on Craigslist as well. For the Simon and Garfunkel show that took place on the Great Lawn in 1981, 400-750,000 people attended, however, the Parks Department has since claimed it can only hold 80,000.
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where did that 750,000 S&G figure come from? According to a NYT piece dated 8/8/97 the largest CP audience ever was for the Paul Simon concert (600K) and that S&G in 81 had around 450K.
Excerpt:
"The Parks Department said yesterday that Paul Simon's concert on Aug. 15, 1991, drew the largest crowd for a concert in Central Park's history, with 600,000 people, 150,000 fewer than the estimate given then."
...
"City officials had predicted that Mr. Brooks would bring in 200,000 to 220,000 people, about half the audience at a Simon and Garfunkel concert on Sept. 19, 1981"
I certainly hope that tickets were dispensed (to distribute) rather than dispersed (to vanish).
Grammar aside, why no mention of the availability of tickets on Ticketmaster? I ordered two tickets (for free) yesterday, but delivery is still pending. The last email that I got from Ticketmaster said that tickets would be available for printing in 24 hours, but that came and went. I know at least a dozen people in the same position.
Lanciano, I agree; 750,000 seems very high, and Google searches only lead me to 600,000, aside from that document on the NYCLU's website, which is referenced in the post. Also, it doesn't seem fair to compare attendance numbers at events at the "Dustbowl" versus the currently well-maintained lawn.
I love free concerts in the park! I went to both the Paul Simon concert and the Garth Brooks concerts. According to my parents I was too young for the 1981 S&G show.
Unfortunately, now I'm too old to deal with these kinds of crowds. if you actually go through the hassle of getting tickets--the legit or CL way--this really is not a free concert at all.
Even the Paul Simon concert with the ~600k was no problem without tickets. Requiring a ticket is a pain in the ass, invites discontent when people start hopping fences, or when tickets turn out to be bogus. This gets turned into a commodity just like everything else. Leave it to Americans to make a profit on a free concert.
Not to mention, a 2 ticket minimum is kind of pointless for most people since park concerts are usually more of a group event than a couple event.
Is it just me or does the "Great Lawn" look so much bigger on t.v.?
I'm excited about the show but not excited to have to deal with 60k people. Ugh!
In 1991, I happened to be wandering through Central Park and discovered Paul Simon et al. setting up for the concert and somehow I found myself part of the crowd, not too far from the stage. I just walked in without any kind of ticket, so now I'm wondering if it was just the rehearsal, but I recall it as a big concert. I had a great time.
lanciano,
In a New York Times by James Barron, "Blanket of Humanity for Simon in the Park : 750,000 on the Great Lawn under an apricot moon," dated August 16, 1991, Mr. Barron wrote: "There were two many people on the Great Lawn to count them one by one, but by the mysterious calculus of police estimates, there were 750,000 in all, 250,000 more than at the concert that Mr. Simon and Art Garfunkel gave 10 years ago."
Correction: "two many people " should have been "too many people." That's what I get for trying to quote the Times while watching some crappy show on TV.