RALEIGH, N.C. — There is no doubt about hometown crooner Clay Aiken being a hot ticket.
Tickets for the Raleigh native's Dec. 12 Christmas concert at Raleigh's Meymandi Concert Hall went on sale through Ticketmaster and at the BTI Center box office at 10 a.m.
The show sold out in one minute. A second show was added for Dec. 13., but also sold out minutes later.
The general manager for Ticketmaster said it is one of the fastest sellouts he has ever seen.
Some Clayniacs expected as much and camped out early.
Karen Gilmore arrived at the BTI Center at 10:30 p.m. Thursday.
"I think after the State Fair, we just decided to take a different approach and try to get tickets at the box office," Gilmore said.
At Aiken's request, tickets for the first show were sold only to North Carolina residents.
"I think that it was unfair that people from other states got the tickets and then tried to sell them to people in North Carolina," Carolyn Berlin said. "That was unfair. My daughter was really disappointed."
Web sites like Eventmarketers.com started hawking the tickets from $750 to more than $1,000. Some fans are upset over the jacked-up prices.
However, the combination of Clay and Christmas spirit was something they did not want to miss. Gilmore got the tickets she was hoping for.
"Thank you, Clay, for doing this for your home state. Some of your fans are a little upset, but we really appreciate you thinking of us and doing this show. We love you," Gilmore said.
People who bought tickets over the phone or online for the first show had to have a North Carolina zip code to buy. However, people who paid in cash in person at the BTI Center or walk-up Ticketmaster outlets did not have to show they were North Carolina residents.
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