“Usher thrills packed crowd at Ocean Center” |
| Usher thrills packed crowd at Ocean Center Posted: 04 Sep 2010 12:10 AM PDT Usher performs in front of nearly 7,000 fans at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach on Friday as part of American Music Festival. N-J | Nigel Cook DAYTONA BEACH -- Three songs into Usher's Ocean Center concert Friday night, the pop-R&B star kicked his red high-top sneakers up behind him and sprang into a head-hand stand while singing into his head-set microphone: "You remind me of a girl that I once knew." But it was fans and concert organizers who Usher sent into headstands, if only of the metaphorical kind. Miami cosmetologist Raynelle Malcolm knows there's a recession going on. Her friend Adrianne Williams, also a Miami resident, knows that, too. But that didn't stop the 36-year-old Williams from buying a $300 VIP ticket to see Usher perform as part of the American Music Festival. "Usher plus $300 equals the very best," Williams said outside the Ocean Center arena before the five-time Grammy winner took the stage before a crowd of 6,983 fans. "It was a no-brainer for me," said Williams, who runs an online store selling shoes and handbags. "It's worth it. Usher is my favorite. He's the best entertainer alive at this moment." Malcolm settled for a $65 ticket, which meant she was relegated to a different line before the show than the VIP crowd, but the two friends stayed in touch via cell phones. Williams wasn't alone in wearing an LBD -- little black dress. For female fans, the concert was something of a fashion show as hundreds sported black minis or other glamorous short dresses, as well as high heels. Never mind that their hero took the stage wearing those red sneaks, white pants, a gray vest-hoodie and a gray T-shirt -- with a drawing of a bare-breasted woman guzzling milk that cascaded down her chest. Manuel Bornia, the main organizer of this weekend's festival, was pleased with the attendance. The 6,983 fans included only 250 comp tickets, he said. The capacity of the show was 7,900 people, due to the huge video screens on either side of the stage, the size of the stage and other aspects of Usher's glitzy production. The back two-thirds of the floor of the Ocean Center, which was standing general-admission, was only half-full. However, Bornia said those tickets were actually sold-out: Fire code regulations limited that area to only 2,000 people. Ocean Center parking, including the garage and two lots, was filled to capacity, a concerned Bornia said. The concert start thus was delayed for 45 minutes to give late-arriving fans time to find parking, he said. This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read our FAQ page at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php |
| You are subscribed to email updates from Content Keyword RSS To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
No comments:
Post a Comment