In just two minutes after golden circle tickets to Canadian singing sensation Justin Bieber’s Joburg concert went on sale, they were sold out.
By 10am on Monday, tickets at the FNB stadium’s east and west stands, north standing middle tiers and upper tiers were also sold out.
And by 11am it was clear by the flurry of ticket sales and commentary on social networks that Bieber fever had hit the city, despite the concert being five months away.
“We got here at 5am and were still number 39 and 40 in the queue,” said 15-year-old Edie Hutchison, who was clutching her prized ticket, for which she was only too glad to part with R315, at Cresta mall’s Computicket outlet.
“We don’t even have golden circle! Those were sold out in two minutes!” Shaelin Hampson said. “But it’s okay as long as we got the tickets,” the girls said in between screams and giggles.
They were among more than 100 people in a meandering queue outside the mall’s Computicket on Monday, eager to secure their seats at the concert.
Alexis Oosthuizen, 15, excitedly explained how her love for the teen megastar began.
“We [Shaelin, Edie and Emily Bernhardt] all went through a phase when we hated him because everyone liked him. Then we saw the video for Long as you love me, and he was just a sexy beast!” she said, giggling.
The four friends all plan to have a makeover prior to the concert and have already decided on their dress code. “We’re going to wear Justin Bieber tank tops written ‘I love Justin’ in front… we have to look amazing at the concert,” Emily said.
Essmay Swift and Suzie Flemming were constantly being checked via BlackBerry Messenger by their daughters to see if they were at the front of the queue yet.
Meanwhile, a very nervous Tiani Ngobeni, 11, stood beside her equally anxious mother Moitheki as they heard from more and more people ahead of them that tickets were sold out.
“I had set the watch for midnight to remind my mom that we had to wake up to come wait here [to buy tickets]. But I forgot to remind my mom,” Tiani said as she stared at the dozens of people ahead of her.
“The concert is on my birthday next year… I’ve been a fan of Justin since last year. He’s so hot,” she said shyly as her mother gave her a side-eye look.
The girls in the queue agreed that they wanted Bieber to sing One Less Lonely Girl so that he could pick a girl from the audience to sing it to on stage.
By 2pm, tickets to the Joburg concert were all sold out.
The ticket office said on Twitter yesterday: “The demand is higher than the supply.”
Tickets for the Cape Town leg went on sale on Tuesday.