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U2: 500 extra tickets for Sheffield gig as fans queue 24hrs - SLIDESHOW
IT'S A Beautiful Day! The biggest band in the world, U2, descend on Sheffield tonight - and for the 50,000 fans with the hottest tickets in town 8.30pm can't come quickly enough.
Click on the green play button to see a slideshow of U2 fans queuing for tonight's big show at Don Valley Stadium
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An extra 500 tickets will be released at 12noon today for the previously sold out concert.
The tickets are priced at 85 and 30 and will only be available to purchase from the Don Valley Stadium Box Office from 12noon.
The tickets were previously on hold to accommodate the show's production but now the show has been built these tickets are now being released.
Click here for all the latest show information on the Don Valley web site
Die-hard fanatics from all over the world were queuing outside Don Valley Stadium in Attercliffe as early as yesterday morning to be first through the turnstiles when gates open at 5pm today.
They were hoping to ensure a Magnificent position in the front row to see the Irish rockers Rattle and Hum their way though their hits, and turn Sheffield into a City of Blinding Lights.
First in the queue was Gemma Lyons, aged 16, and her dad Andy, from Blackpool, who arrived at the stadium at 10am yesterday.
Andy, a builder, said: "We went to Wembley before this and we're off to Cardiff after the Sheffield show – U2's music is superb. We even cancelled our holiday to Florida to come."
Gemma said: "Their music's universal. They've got a really varied repertoire."
To avoid queue-jumpers the fans scrawled their numbers in line in marker pen on their hands and arms. Numbers three and four in the queue were Geordies Philip Wright, 50, and Karen Joyce, 46, who arrived from Newcastle at 1pm yesterday. But they had no tent, so spent last night sleeping on an airbed with no shelter.
"I've never been to Sheffield before," said Philip. "I just Googled 'Don Valley' and here we are."
Next in line were Adrian Ball, 36, an accountant from Leeds, and Ana Karina, 24, a student from Chile. They have been following U2's British tour, camping and sleeping in cars throughout.
"We set off straight after the Glasgow gig but called at Leeds for a shower," said Adrian. "We've been doing this for two months – we are professionals but I have no idea what I'm living on!"
Ana admitted they are hooked on getting to the front of a crowd. "We're addicted to the front – especially at the centre," she said.
Spaniards Ruben Espada, 32, a salesman from Malaga; Rodrigo Caro, 34, a lawyer from Madrid; and Dudu Castro, 32, a salesman from Barcelona who has a tattoo of the boy on the cover of the band's album, War.
Vic Mehta, a 38-year-old management consultant from London, was number 13 in the queue and knows the regulars well.
"I've made many good friends doing this. It's interesting. I do wonder what U2 would make of it.
Are you going to the show? Got a view? Add your comment below.
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">Subscribe to The Star I imagine the band do understand that people do this, and I’d hope they’d appreciate it.”
Around 34,000 of the fans who will make up tonight’s sell-out crowd are believed to be travelling into Sheffield from outside South Yorkshire, and 50 extra police officers are due to work around Don Valley to help visiting fans who are lost.
Officers have also been asked to patrol the surrounding streets, keep an eye out for trouble and car crime, and to stop professional ticket touts working illegally and trying to sell fake tickets for the gig.
Supt Martin Scothern, in charge of the policing operation, said the aim was to help visitors feel safe.
“We think roads will start to get busy at around 3pm today.
“We will be closing local streets surrounding Don Valley and other roads as and when we need to if we have to ease congestion in a particular area.
“We want to be as helpful as possible to give people a good impression of the place.
“It was fantastic for Sheffield to get the gig – the only venue in the north of England – so we want visitors to leave with a positive impression of the city and will be playing our part in that.”
n Log on to The Star’s website www.thestar.co.uk for more pictures from the queue, and for a list of road closures surrounding Don Valley.
n See tomorrow’s Star for photographs of tonight’s amazing concert and a review of the show.
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Weather for Sheffield
Saturday 26 May 2012
Today
Sunny
Temperature: 9 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: 11 C to 21 C
Wind Speed: 14 mph
Wind direction: East
