Brooks Fans Survive Crush For Good Tickets Friends With Right Numbers A Must For Admission To 5 Shows In July

Spokane, it seems, has gone country.

Nearly 4,000 noisy fans lined up at the Spokane Arena Saturday morning to cash in their purple bracelets for Garth Brooks tickets.

Brooks’ unique method of ticket distribution had fans picking up the numbered bracelets at several locations Wednesday.

Drawings held Saturday determined which number would start each of the eight rows leading to the Arena’s ticket windows. All those with lower numbers headed to the back of the crowd.

The system is supposed to weed out scalping and camping out in front of ticket outlets.

“We don’t want to become a shantytown for two weeks,” said Amy Brown, assistant director of the Arena.

But the jam-packed lines left many Brooks devotees, well, in pieces.

“This is a nightmare,” said Andy Samek of Athol, Idaho, who was crammed near the front of the first row outside the Arena. “I thought they’d be more organized.”

By 8:35 a.m., those at the front of the line began chanting, “Move back!” to those behind.

“It wasn’t unsafe - it was just uncomfortable,” Brown said. “It makes for a long day for people, but it’s safe, it’s efficient and it’s fair.”

Rebekah Smick, 17, and Crystal Shane, 16, went home frustrated, leaving before tickets started passing hands.

“We couldn’t breathe,” said Smick. The two had bracelets that would put them near the front of Row B. But they couldn’t maneuver their way to the front of the line by 9 a.m., when the $20 tickets went on sale.

There was more elbow room in Coeur d’Alene, where about 1,000 people waited patiently at the Rosauers on Appleway, and another 300 queued up at North Idaho College.

Kim Denison didn’t think her luck could get much better after picking up wristband No. 867 Wednesday afternoon without a wait.

That was until ticket distributors called that number Saturday morning, catapulting the 41-year-old Post Falls woman from the weeds behind Rosauers to the front of the line.

Denison didn’t immediately realize she had the lucky bracelet. But her longtime friend did.

“She started screaming, and I go, ‘I do!”’ Denison said.

Cindy Harsch’s hopes of being first in line were dashed when Denison’s number was called.

The Coeur d’Alene woman held the ticket immediately in front of Denison, meaning she would now be last.

“First I thought I had gotten it,” Harsch said. “Then I said, ‘Oh wait.’ This is the pits.”

In the end, though, the hassle paid off. Everyone lined up got tickets, with G&B announcing there will be five Garth Brooks shows in Spokane, Thursday, July 23, through Monday, July 27.

There are “very limited” numbers of tickets remaining for the shows, Brown said.

Not a problem for 17-year-old Eric Carver of Spokane, whose new lucky number - 224567 - was drawn Saturday, propelling him to the very front of the line.

The surprise left him nearly speechless.

“I’m nervous,” he said. “That’s all.”

Staff writer Brian Coddington contributed to this report.