November 17, 2008 ANDRE Rieu has sold only 35,000 tickets for his two Adelaide concerts tonight and tomorrow, half the number needed to break even.
The Dutch violinist's son and production manager, Pierre Rieu, would not say how much money the two massive performances at AAMI Stadium would lose, but said the shows would go on.
The 700-tonne replica of Vienna's Schonbrunn Palace, complete with a ballroom, ice-skating rinks, fountain and horse-drawn carriages, cost $6 million to create.
Each show costs another $5.6 million to stage.
YOUR SAY: Has apathetic Adelaide blown another chance to get big concerts to come here?
"The amount of tickets we've sold is not enough to cover the costs," Pierre, 27, said at AAMI Stadium yesterday. He said ticket sales would need to double to 70,000 to break even.
"As we saw that the sales weren't that good, we could have skipped half of the castle, left it at home and had an opportunity to make some money. "But that's not the way we want it.
"We've made the commercials with this, told the people that this is what they are going to expect."
The concert features 350 performers on stage, including Rieu's Johann Strauss Orchestra and Choir, dancers and ice-skaters.
Offstage are another 250 crew brought out from Europe and 100 local workers hired to construct and transport the stage.
Adelaide concert promoter Brian Gleeson said national tour organisers would look at the sales results when deciding whether to bring other acts here.
"Most promoters will look at how outdoor concerts go as a whole, because we don't have that many outdoor concerts," Mr Gleeson said.
"In the past we've had a good run outdoors with Robbie Williams and U2."
Andre Rieu will fly to Adelaide today from Brisbane, where he is editing a DVD of his Melbourne concert.
He will fly back to Brisbane to continue editing tomorrow morning, before returning to Adelaide for his second concert that night.
Tickets, ranging from $99 to $299, are still available from Ticketek.PATRICK McDONALD, ARTS EDITOR of The AdelaideNow
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