FARGO — It is a nail biter for anyone with tickets to see a pair of concerts in the Fargo area later this week amidst a late-season blizzard.
Both the Red Hot Chili Peppers and rapper Lil Wayne have concerts slated for Thursday, April 6 in Fargo.
Fargodome General Manager Rob Sobolik said there are "lots of moving pieces" between working with the airport, the North Dakota Department of Transportation and concert crews.
In previous major concerts, like Elton John's performance last year, the band members flew in on a private jet right before showtime. Semi trucks with crew members and equipment often show up days in advance to have time for set up.
Sobolik told WDAY News much of the equipment for the Red Hot Chili Peppers concert already showed up before the storm started on Tuesday, and about a dozen semi trucks were seen at the Fargodome unloading equipment.
ADVERTISEMENT
Lil Wayne is expected to take the stage at Scheels Arena just a few hours after the Red Hot Chili Peppers begin their performance. Both concerts are expected to bring large crowds from across the region, selling thousands of seats, though many of those tickets are now being resold online.
On Ticketmaster, prices for the Red Hot Chili Peppers were roughly cut in half on Tuesday, with many going for between $40 and $90. Prices were at around $200 when tickets first went on sale.
Shane Engeland is one of those ticket holders who is now pulling the plug on his concert travel plans.
"I was one of those people refreshing the website to try to get the seats that I wanted," Engeland said.
He and his family, who live near Barton, North Dakota, would have had to deal with a roughly five-hour drive through the wintry conditions. He figures it is not worth the risk.
"Of course, I didn't plan for the insurance when I purchased the tickets because I'm an optimist with living in North Dakota, I think you kind of have to be," said Engeland. "So I was like, 'oh no, winter's going to be way over by April 6.'"
Melissa Star has tickets to the Red Hot Chili Peppers and her daughter bought some for the adjacent Lil Wayne concert.
"Ride or die man, I'll crawl from Bismarck to Fargo if I have to on Thursday, as long as the wind is not a factor," Starr said.
ADVERTISEMENT
Other out-of-town ticket holders WDAY News spoke to said their hotels start charging for cancellations at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
Updates about the status for both shows are being posted to the Fargodome and Scheels Arena's social media pages.
The Trust Project
