NEW ZEANLAND – Tickets to U2′s Auckland show sold out within an hour yesterday morning.

In excess of 50,000 tickets  , with prices starting at $39.90, went on sale at 9am and were sold out by 10am. The Irish superband will bring their U2 360 Tour to Mt Smart Stadium on November 25.

Support will be provided for the New Zealand and Australian leg of the tour by Jay-Z. Within minutes of the concert selling out tickets were appearing on the TradeMe auction site with general admission tickets attracting bids of over $400, four times their face value. A Christchurch U2 fan who started an online campaign to see the band play in the city is “gutted” she missed out on tickets to the band’s Auckland gig. Chelsea Daly, from Ilam, logged on to buy tickets this morning but they sold out before she could buy any. “I was on the site at 8.30am and still failed to get a ticket, so gutted.”

Daly had started a campaign on Facebook called Bring U2 and Jay-Z to Christchurch in Nov 2010 last week. The online approach worked for Metallica fans earlier this year when thousands of people joined en masse to convince that band to schedule a Garden City gig. Despite her efforts, Daly had received an email yesterday from concert organisers to say no Christchurch concert would be announced.

“It’s just too hard with 360 stage,” she said. “Hopefully they take notice of the page for next time.”