Madonna Ticket Frenzy

I just read and watched a Folha Online report about the messy first day of ticket sales for Madonna shows on Dec. 14 at Maracanã Stadium in Rio and Dec. 20 at Morumbi Stadium, in São Paulo.

Yesterday in São Paulo, irate Madonna fans who had spent a night and a hot day in line booed the elderly and special needs customers who went to the front of the line, supposedly being paid to obtain their full quota of six tickets for others.

Tickets to the shows range from R$ 180- R$ 600 (about $ 105-$ 352). The internet and telephone sales systems are not working properly and a 20% "convenience tax" is being added to the price at some offices, which hasn't stopped people from buying. Right now, lines are more calm, but Folha online reports that scalpers near the ticket offices are already offering the R$ 600 tickets (which in fact cost R$ 720) for R$1,500. That's about $ 870.

I'll pass. I'd like to see Mercedes Sosa or Vanessa da Mata, two of my favorite singers, in upcoming concerts at HSBC Brasil. But I don't think I would seriously blow my budget or camp overnight for tickets to anything. Would you?