
Tickets for this year's Spring Fling concert sold out early yesterday afternoon, only two days after they were made available.
On Monday, the first day of sales, SPEC sold 1,143 tickets. The 2,857 remaining tickets were gone by about 12:45 p.m. yesterday, said Social Planning and Events Committee's Concert Committee co-Director Matt Mizrahi of the April 13 show, which features Ben Folds and Third Eye Blind.
"We had no idea the tickets would sell this fast," said Mizrahi, a Wharton and Engineering senior.
And despite loud student demand, a larger venue doesn't seem to be an option.
While this year's concert will be held in Wynn Commons, where it has been held for the past two years, Franklin Field housed the 2003 and 2004 shows.
But moving this year's concert to the higher-capacity Franklin Field would be "impossible, because it is unavailable for the date," Mizrahi said.
SPEC Concerts co-Director Kellyn Goler added that "coordinating things like lighting, sound - all the sort of production and venue logistics - . would probably not be able to happen within the time and budget constraints."
She added that "Wynn Commons has worked well in the past. . We were just trying to appeal to as many students as possible, which I think is clearly what we've done."
In the moments leading up to the sell out, there was "mad chaos," said College freshman Alexandra Berger, who bought ticket 2,346.
"People were yelling and holding the [remaining] tickets up," she recalled. "They were sold out soon after, and people were screaming, 'Sold Out!'"
"At this point last year, we had sold no more than 300 or 400 tickets," Mizrahi said.
Last year, about 200 tickets were still available during into the day of last year's concert, which was headlined by O.A.R.
A year earlier, SPEC sold only 400 tickets total when Fling featured Sonic Youth, Cat Power and Citizen Cope.
The popularity of this year's bands and the rush on the first day seem to have led to the fast disappearance of tickets.
And to frustration, it seems.
"This is the first year [I can't attend the concert], and it's my favorite band," said College senior Dan Feldman. "I was kind of pissed."
More tickets will be available during a limited sale on the day of the show, but, "for logistical reasons, we will have to hold onto them until that day," Mizrahi said.
These tickets will cost $30 - $5 more than the price on Locust Walk.
But there are no guarantees.
"Currently, we actually don't have those tickets available," said SPEC Concerts co-Director and College junior Tony Rizzo.
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