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Concert ticket sales brisk despite storm, hacking attempt [Bangor Daily News (ME)](Bangor Daily News (ME) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) BANGOR - Neither weather-related difficulties nor an early morning computer hacking attempt could derail Lady Antebellum-Sunny Sweeney concert ticket sales, which started Friday morning. Even before the sticky snowflakes began piling up, Waterfront Concerts had to deal with the shutdown of its website because of a hacking attempt around 5 a.m. Friday. "It seems like someone tried to hack the server and shut down the server. As a security feature, it basically locked itself out, so no tickets could be bought, for any of the shows, and you couldn't access the site," said Robbie Snow, Waterfront Concerts production manager. "Had we not caught it, it could have seriously affected us, but we check our systems periodically and by 8:30 a.m. it was back up and running." Since tickets for the Sept. 5 Lady Antebellum concert didn't go on sale to the general public until 10 a.m., the only sales affected were the presale orders from VIP and insiders club members - who could order as early as Wednesday - and regular orders for other shows including Avalanche-Bumstock (Theory of a Deadman, Skillet, Stone Sour, Halestorm and Art of Dying plus local bands) on April 30; the ZZ Top-Lynyrd Skynyrd Rebels and Bandoleros show on May 19; and Ray LaMontagne and the Pariah Dogs with Brandi Carlile on May 26. Later in the morning, Waterfront Concerts' phone lines, 783- 2009, went down for three hours. "The phone server in Lewiston lost power, but Central Maine Power worked diligently to get it back up and they had it back on around 2:30," Snow said. "I really haven't had to address any serious customer service issues. For the last two hours, I haven't gotten anything." The weather made things inconvenient for fans wanting to buy tickets in person at Mark's Music in Brewer, but it didn't keep them away. "I got here a little after 9 and the line had formed from our door all the way down to the corner," said store owner Mark Braveman of Bangor. "That shows these people are diehards. There were even more people in their cars waiting." Braveman said all the people in line were taken care of in about 90 minutes, but business was steady all day. "Considering the storm, it's been great," he said. "I've had people coming in to buy not just one or two tickets, but four to eight [the maximum number per buyer] all day long. "In general, sales have been really good. ZZ Top and Skynyrd have been killer, but I think Lady Antebellum will beat that. Presales yesterday were really strong." Snow said approximately 5,000 Lady A tickets had been sold by 3 p.m. Friday. "A lot of people are sitting at home today and not doing much with the storm going on," Snow said. (c) 2011 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved. |