LEWISTON — The Colisee box office is readying for a passel of country music fans.
On Friday morning, the Lewiston arena will begin selling tickets for a Sept. 4 concert in Bangor by one of Nashville’s biggest names: Tim McGraw.
“There’s going to be a whole lot of calling and more business online,” said Shawna Romaine, spokeswoman for the Androscoggin Bank Colisee and its growing ticket sales operation. Last month, when tickets went on sale for country mainstay Alan Jackson in Bangor, the Colisee sold about 3,500 tickets that morning.
“I expect they’ll sell double that on Friday,” said Alex Gray, head of Waterfront Concerts in Bangor. “Tim McGraw is as big as it gets.”
He’ll join a slate of other country stars who are playing in Maine this summer, potentially followed by more country shows here in Lewiston.
“An important goal for us is getting some country acts before the end of the year,” Romaine said.
In Bangor, the McGraw show will be preceded by a double bill of Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Charlie Daniels Band on Aug. 5 and followed by two-step king Alan Jackson on Sept. 10.
In Portland, Jo Dee Messina and John Michael Montgomery will headline an Aug. 20 show at the Cumberland County Civic Center with openers Bucky Covington and Jack Ingram.
And in Old Orchard Beach, a show featuring Joe Nichols and Bo Bice sold out the Seaside Pavilion’s nearly 2,000 seats in 12 hours.
The OOB charity show was Portland radio station WPOR’s first step into the concert business. The price of the tickets was set at $5, but the speed of the sell-out surprised even the station’s president and general manager, Cary Pahigian.
“In this economy, that’s a good and hopeful sign,” Pahigian said.
He disagrees with people who say the show’s success is a sign of a recent country boom in Maine.
“Here in Maine, it’s big and it always has been,” he said.
But the ability to bring in big acts has been limited by the size of performance spaces and concerts’ economics.
That’s one of the reasons the Colisee is selling tickets to another venue’s shows.
The local arena has the online and phone capability to handle thousands of sales, and it does it for a smaller fee than the industry leader, Ticketmaster.
“It’s a good alternative to Ticketmaster,” said Gray, who also books shows around the area as the head of New England Concerts.
The only concession Gray has made to Bangor ticket-buyers is to open a local box office at Mark’s Music in Brewer.
Despite selling thousands of Alan Jackson tickets, not one sale has been made at the window at the Lewiston arena, Romaine said.
Lewiston-Auburn’s McGraw fans may show on Friday for their tickets.
McGraw is among country music’s most popular acts, with 22 No. 1 songs on Billboard’s country charts. In several tours, he has sold out some of the country’s biggest venues with his wife, Faith Hill. His current tour, with openers the Warren Brothers, supports the release of his latest album, “Southern Voice.”
McGraw is also an actor, best-known for playing opposite Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side.”
Upcoming country music concerts
At the Bangor Waterfront:
— Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Charlie Daniels Band, 7 p.m. Aug. 5; $41.50-$61.50
— Tim McGraw, Sept. 4, $31.50-$131.50
— Alan Jackson, Sept. 10, $31.50-$81.50
Tickets are available at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee, by phone at 783-2009, ext. 208 or online at www.thecolisee.com.
At the Cumberland County Civic Center, Portland:
— Jo Dee Messina, John Michael Montgomery, Jack Ingram and Bucky Covington, 7 p.m Aug. 20; $35-$55
Tickets are available at www.ticketmaster.com.
At the Seaside Pavilion, Old Orchard Beach:
— Joe Nichols and Bo Bice, 6 p.m. Aug 15; sold out
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