DENNIS ODA / DODA@STARBULLETIN.COM People waited in line overnight to buy U2 tickets yesterday at the Aloha Stadium box office. STAR 101.9 disc jockey Maleko, left, Jayson Lee and Sean Souza showed off their tickets. Lance Rae, the exception in the group, did not buy any tickets, as the general admission tickets he wanted were already sold out by the time he got to the window.

Beautiful Day

Most U2 fans find what they're looking for: tickets to the band's April concert

IF YOU ARE READING this now and haven't bought tickets for U2's April 8 Aloha Stadium show, they're probably all gone.

Though several hundred $95 tickets remained when the stadium box office closed at 5 p.m. yesterday, sales via Ticketmaster phone lines and the Internet continue after hours, said Aloha Stadium spokesman Patrick Leonard.

Leonard didn't know yesterday if a second show on April 9 will be added. Show presenters did ask whether the stadium is available that day, he said, and it is. But no contract has been signed or announcement made by presenters The Next Adventure, RZO Productions, Live Nation and Shep Gordon, Leonard said.

The "cheap" seats (15,000 at $49.50 to stand on the field) and the pricey seats ($165) were gone within 20 minutes of sales opening at 9 a.m. yesterday, with about 150 people in line at Aloha Stadium.

Because of sales by Internet, phone and at other locations, some people who camped out at the stadium since 1 a.m. Saturday didn't get the tickets they wanted.

Maleko, a STAR 101.9 disc jockey who goes by one name, said he was shocked that he couldn't get $49.50 field tickets -- despite being in line all night. "You figured they'd have reserved something for the people at the stadium," he said, but he wasn't too bummed about upgrading to a $95 seat.

David Lucus of Salt Lake and Alvin Okubo of Mililani started their box-office camp-out at 4 p.m. Friday. The "die-hard U2 fans," got the seats they wanted for themselves and a group of friends with whom they work as volunteers for the Salvation Army.

Rema Wong, 35, said seeing U2 live was on her "life to-do list," but she thought she'd have to fly to the mainland to accomplish it. "I didn't think I'd get to see them here," said the Pauoa Valley resident.

The whole camping-in-line at the box office isn't what it used to be even a few years ago when the Rolling Stones or Michael Jackson appeared at Aloha Stadium, said usher captain Siaki Mane.

Michael Jackson took four hours to sell out two Aloha Stadium shows on his 1997 "History" tour, Leonard said. Those concerts were set up to seat 35,000.

By contrast, the U2 show puts 15,000 people standing on the field and 20,000 into stadium seats.

"I'm excited. I thought I'd never see them," said Lara Gerber, 44, who called herself a fan "from the beginning."

Gerber said she got the general admission ticket to stand, "so I can get right up to the stage." Her sister Kim Kalani and brother-in-law Ralph Palmiera, both 48, elected to pay $95 for seats.

The trio agreed that waiting in line since about midnight was not a hardship, since they played cards and even slept, then had a hot breakfast from the stadium concession stand.

"It was mellow," said Kalani. "There were a lot of people our age."