Fans queue overnight for gig tickets

[Brian Cady]

http://www.leedstoday.net/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=39&ArticleID=1555046
(has photos of queue)

Fans queue overnight for gig tickets

THEY'RE the diehards whose loyalty proves there's no
Substitute for class, even in the shallow world of
rock 'n' roll.

Yorkshire was basking in a long-overdue heatwave
yesterday when fans of music legends The Who began
queuing for tickets for the band's eagerly-anticipated
gig at the University of Leeds.

But with temperatures set to cool overnight, the
faithful had come prepared in a bid to make the wait
until the university's box office opened for business
at 9am today as comfortable as possible.

James Clement, who was first in line after arriving at
11.30am, had brought along a sleeping bag, a camp
chair and a waterproof jacket as well as beer and a
biography of the late Who drummer Keith Moon.

The 23-year-old chef travelled down from his home near
Darlington after his university student girlfriend
informed him that the My Generation superstars were
returning to the venue where they recorded their
classic 1970 album Live at Leeds.

James told the YEP: "I couldn't believe it when I
heard. I just told my boss 'I need two days off' and I
was gone. I'm not sure I'll even have a job when I get
back!"

He was joined at the front of the queue by Dennis
Strudwick, a 58-year-old retired social worker from
Kirkstall, Leeds.

Dennis is no stranger to Who concerts – he has already
seen them ten times – but admits next Saturday's gig
in the no-frills surroundings of the university's
2,000-capacity Refectory will be something special.

He said: "I think there's a good chance it's going to
be every bit as good as the original.

"My 14-year-old son has told me I am crazy for coming
down here so early. He says they're good, but not that
good!"

The university date will be one of the band's most
intimate shows in years, and comes eight days before
they are due to play to an estimated 20,000 fans at
Leeds's Harewood House, when Roger Daltrey and Pete
Townshend, the two surviving members of the original
line-up, headline the second day of the O2 Wireless
Festival.

paul.robinsons at ypn.co.uk


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com