Tickets for former Beatle Paul McCartney’s first American tour in a decade sparked a stampede among fans on Saturday, selling out by telephone and Internet within 30 minutes of going on sale. A spokesman for the British performer said fans snapped up all 75,000 tickets for the first five shows on the “Driving USA” tour of the United States and Canada.
“Maccamania is here again,” a spokesman for the American promoters, Clearchannel, said. “We knew the gigs would be hot but this demand is boiling.”
The 15,000 tickets for McCartney’s show in Toronto, the first to go on sale, sold out in half an hour. The Washington event sold out in 28 minutes. The other three sold-out shows will be in Chicago, Boston and Philadelphia.
McCartney’s first tour since the 1993 “New World Tour” kicks off in Oakland, California, on April 1 and will visit 19 cities, ending in Florida on May 18. His spokesman said he was expected to perform songs from his new album “Driving Rain,” alongside hits from his time with the Beatles and Wings.
Tickets for the Oakland opener and a show in San Jose both go on sale on Sunday, with events at Rutherford, New York and Detroit going on sale on Monday.