Kim Blair was excited to be in line for Creed concert tickets, but became a little discouraged when she found out about the lottery drawing set up to kick off the sale.
“I’ve been going to concerts for years and you know, you get out here and you wait and you earn your place in line,” she said. “This one kind of makes me nervous. I didn’t know anything about (the lottery). I’m sitting here biting my nails because who knows where you’re going to end up at.”
But Blair’s lucky number came early, as she was the first among hundreds of Bakersfield residents who gathered outside Centennial Garden early Saturday to get tickets to Creed’s Oct. 6 show.
Fans lined up with their sleeping bags, ice chests and radios as early as 4:45 a.m. in hopes of getting good seats.
But they waited for nearly three and a half hours before organizers started passing out wrist bands for the lottery, which determined who would buy their tickets first.
For Ibis Sanchez, it was worth the wait.
“It’s a band that really stands out and they really encourage me in their lyrics and what they stand for,” he said.
“I really think they’re worth being out here early in the morning.”
Some waited in line for the benefit of family members.
“It’s my son’s birthday present, and he decided this is what he wanted,” said Glenn Blakelobb.
Creed hit it big in 1997. According to the band’s official Web site, www.creed.com, their first album, “My Own Prison,” has sold more than 6 million copies.
Their second and third albums – “Jars of Clay,” released in 1999, and “Weathered,” released in 2001 – debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard charts and have sold millions of copies.
Based in Florida, the alternative rock band will bring along opening acts Sevendust and 12 Stones for its first ever Bakersfield concert.
Tickets range from $38.50 to $48.50 and are on sale at Centennial Garden.
Doors open at 6:15 p.m. on the day of the concert.
For more information, call Centennial Garden at 852-7777 or visit its Web site at www.centennialgarden.com.