Come Together & Worship Tour dates already selling out

Anticipation for the upcoming Come Together & Worship Tour co-headlined by Michael W. Smith and Third Day with very special guest Max Lucado, was confirmed with recent ticket-sale reports. Since the announcement of the 16-city co-billed tour in April, promoters, managers and booking agents have received consistent, positive response for tickets -- and even requests for more dates to be added to the schedule. With still four weeks left before the first date in Atlanta on November 1, one venue has already sold-out!

Giant Center in Hershey, PA, which sold-out at 10,000 seats, had over 8,000 seats sold in just eight hours. Karen Sprengel, concert coordinator for Creation Concerts in Lancaster, PA notes, “The itickets box office sold out of the seats consigned to us, which was 3,600, within three hours with the majority of sales going to church groups, some purchasing over 100 tickets at a time. Because of the incredible demand, we opened up an additional 1,600 seats this past week, and those sold out in just one day. There is a huge amount of excitement from the churches in the area with groups accounting for over 60% of the ticket sales.” This event is the second sell-out in the Giant Center, the first being the Cher and Cyndi Lauper tour scheduled for October 15.

Premiere Productions also received favorable ticket response to the tour. “We have six dates on this tour and all are doing well. Tickets for most of our shows went on sale August 23 and we’ve seen great success with our ‘on sale’ promotions, our initial numbers averaging 3,000 tickets per event sold on the ‘on sale’ dates. As of October 1, the shows we’re promoting (Philips Arena-Atlanta, GA; The Pyramid-Memphis, TN; BJCC Arena-Birmingham, AL; and the Palace of Auburn Hills-Auburn Hills, MI) have sold a total of 41,054 seats. The largest number being in Atlanta with over 14,000 sold. What we find very encouraging is that the majority of these shows are still five to six weeks away and sales are still very strong,” says J. Len Bagwell, media relations, Premiere Productions.

In addition to the remarkable response to ticket sales, title sponsor, Chevrolet begins its promotional program this week. The Chevrolet Southeast Region is introducing a month-long promotional program including a targeted, direct-mail campaign inviting potential customers to test drive Chevy products at local dealerships where they can receive a limited edition, collectible CD.

Chevrolet has scheduled its direct-mail campaign to impact the Atlanta, GA, Lexington, KY and Winston-Salem, NC markets to support the Come Together & Worship Tour stops. Two weeks prior to each of these events, those who receive the direct-mail piece are invited to their local Chevy dealership to take a test drive where they can receive this special CD. The limited edition disc includes songs from Third Day and Michael W. Smith as well as an audio chapter of Max Lucado’s new book, A Love Worth Giving. This CD will be available only at a local Chevrolet dealership and will not be sold in stores.

Family Christian Stores is on board as the exclusive partner for the Christian retail market. The chain is prominently featuring the Come Together & Worship Tour, and its related products, on endcaps in all 325 stores nationwide. In addition, the chain has provided extensive placement in fall catalog mailers resulting in more than six million impressions nationwide, and supported the tour with regional postcard mailings, email blasts and Internet campaigns. Come Together & Worship retail events are slated in Family Christian Stores in markets including Lexington, KY; Winston-Salem, NC; Dallas, TX; and Auburn Hills, MI.

David Austin, director of marketing and creative services for Family Christian Stores comments, “We’ve been looking forward to hosting these events and are proud to partner with Michael W. Smith, Third Day, Max Lucado, and their respective teams in support of Come Together & Worship Tour.”

"Thiis tour presents some interesting and exciting opportunities to cross promote some of the biggest names in our industry. We are all looking forward to making these events a special moment for their fans,” notes Jimmy Wheeler, senior director of national Christian sales, Zomba Label Group. Mainstream retailers including Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, Books-A-Million, and Borders are planning events in Houston, TX; Madison, WI; and St. Louis, MO in support of the tour.

Pictured (l-r) are: Brad Avery, David Carr, Mac Powell, Max Lucado, Michael W. Smith, Mark Lee, and Tai Anderson.