Led Zeppelin reunion: ticket ballot finally closes

Fans have one in 50 chance of getting into reformation show

Registration for the ticket ballot for Led Zeppelin's reunion show has finally closed this afternoon (September 19).

Organisers said there have been 1,000 million page impressions on the site Ahmettribute.com, with one million people registering to be in with a chance of getting one of the 20,000 tickets for the gig, to be held at the London O2 Arena on November 26.

At one point, it was receiving 5 million hits per hour, a total of 80,000 hits per minute.

Tickets cost £125 each and will be limited to two per person. Successful applicants will find out if they have been picked after October 1, with organisers warning that any tickets appearing on online auction sites will be immediately cancelled.

The ballot was due to close on Monday (September 17), but was extended to noon today due to the exceptional demand.

"We are absolutely overwhelmed with the number of hits received," declared promoter Harvey Goldmsmith.

He added: "In the first day alone, we received an unprecedented number of hits that literally knocked the website out. Over the last seven days we have recorded over 1,000 million hits. This response is amazing and from it we have had over one million registrations. We would like to thank all the fans for their support and we hope that all those fortunate to be successful will keep the tickets out of the hands of touts."

Led Zeppelin are set to top a bill on November 26 that also includes Pete Townshend, Foreigner and Paolo Nutini, with Bill Wyman And The Rhythm Kings backing those three acts as well as playing their own set.

The show is being held to raise money for the Ahmet Ertegun Education Fund, which pays for university scholarships in the UK, US and Turkey.

The fund was created in honour of the Atlantic Records founder who died last year. Ertegun also helped further the career of a host of acts, including Led Zeppelin.

"For us he was Atlantic Records and remained a close friend and conspirator," explained Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant of the band's decision to reform. "This performance stands alone as our tribute to the work and the life of our long-standing friend."

[via nme.com]

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