By Daniel Hartill,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – Tickets are selling slower than expected for one of music’s biggest live acts, Motley Crue, at one of the band’s smallest venues.

Though 4,700 tickets for the concert at the Lewiston Colisee went on sale in mid-November, only about 1,000 had sold by Monday, said Kelly David, marketing director for the local arena.

Since they went on sale, the Colisee has received almost daily complaints and questions from people checking on the availability of seats and how and where to buy tickets, David said.

Many people have wrongly guessed that the show was sold out, since sellers such as Ticketmaster neither sell the tickets for the concert nor list it among upcoming shows, she said.

“People ask, Where’s the show?'” David said. “Our biggest concern is that people know how to find us.”

And the concert’s success?

“We’re definitely not worried,” said David, who vowed the show would go on. “I think people thought it would sell more quickly. We still have a lot of time, though.”

Over the next few weeks, arena leaders hope to step up advertising for the show, spreading the word that there are plenty of seats and they can be easily purchased online, by phone or at the box office.

“It’s tough because we’re changing people’s assumptions,” David said. Music fans, particularly those outside Lewiston-Auburn, don’t think of this as a concert destination, she said.

It has led to a lot of confusion.

One online company, eSeats.com, is selling tickets to the Lewiston concert at more than double their face value.

Though tickets purchased from the Colisee cost $47 to $77 each, eSeats.com is selling comparable tickets at a range of $110 to $290.

Meanwhile, the Colisee has been building a concert ticket sales operation since Global Spectrum took over management last May. In September, it unveiled phone and Internet sales, allowing people to print their tickets on their home computers.

The Motley Crue concert will be the biggest test. “It’s huge for us,” David said.

Internet company Pollstar listed the band at its pollstar.com site as 11th among the biggest concert draws of 2005, grossing an estimated $39.9 million.

The creators of albums such as “Girls, Girls, Girls” and “Dr. Feelgood” are touring with their original members, including Vince Neil and Tommy Lee.

Before playing in Lewiston, the band will be in eastern Canada, performing shows in St. John, Halifax and Quebec City.

Despite the smaller arenas, ticket prices are staying about average for a popular band. Among the 100 top grossing acts to tour North America in 2005, the average ticket price was $57.

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