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Fans queue all night to buy tickets for U2
"YOU in the queue for tickets?"
"Yeah, U2?"
The sign on the doors at Sheffield Arena box office said 'No Overnight Queuing'.
But the bins, overflowing with fast food cartons and cardboard coffee cups, indicated the rule had been ignored by the hundreds of U2 fans desperate to get hold of tickets to see the biggest rock band in the world.
But not all of those who braved the cold did so to see the show. Some were there to make a fast buck on tickets with a face value of 35 to 150 - but selling on the internet for 600 and upwards.
First in line was Barry Bartle, aged 51, a security guard from Killamarsh.
"I've been here since 4pm on Thursday," he said, minutes before the box office opened at 9am yesterday. "I'm buying two tickets for myself and two more to sell on."
It was a common concept. Concerts of this magnitude seem to bring out the spiv in people.
Waitress Natalie Roberts, 24, from Stannington, skipped work to stand in the queue for 15 hours.
"I don't even like U2," she confessed. "I'm buying the tickets to sell on. You have to pay the bills don't you?"
Tom Clark, 16, from Clowne near Chesterfield, queued for 14 hours.
"I love U2 despite my age," said Tom, who is studying welding and fabrication at Chesterfield College. Again he was buying tickets for himself and others to sell on.
But U2 fanatic Pauline Lambert wouldn't part with hers.
"I've been here all night and it was cold," said the 57-year-old support worker from Stannington. "But I had a bottle of wine to keep me warm. And there were some bushes for when nature called!"
Lisa Milner, 42, a health care worker from Clowne, also queued all night and can't wait to see the concert.
She said: "I've seen U2 four or five times already but I wasn't going to miss out on this. I love U2 but my 12-year-old son Adam hates them. He's always telling me to turn it down when I listen to their CDs."
First out of the box office clutching a long chain of ticket receipts was Ian McDonald, aged 38, a steel melter from Ecclesfield.
He told The Star: "I took the day off work to queue since 8pm on Thursday night. It was definitely worth it - this is going to be more an event than a concert. I'm off home to bed now!"
But maybe those who queued all night at the Arena could learn a thing or two from punter Peter Kay.
He bought his tickets at the box office at Sheffield City Hall in Barker's Pool yesterday morning - and there wasn't even a queue.
"I simply walked up to the window and bought them," said Pete.
U2's 360 degree tour calls at Don Valley Stadium on Thursday, August 20.
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Weather for Sheffield
Saturday 26 May 2012
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Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
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Wind direction: East
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