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Chesney Cancels Ole Miss Gig

Decision Made After Learning of Ticket Distribution Problems

On an informal tour of college towns, Kenny Chesney cancelled a Wednesday night (Jan. 28) appearance near the University of Mississippi in Oxford after learning of problems with the way the tickets were distributed.

The Ole Miss campus newspaper, The Daily Mississippian, reported that only 30 tickets to the show at the Library were actually sold through the authorized ticket outlet, the Rebel Barn. However, even those tickets were priced $5 higher than the $10 advertised locally.

Rebel Barn owner David Sage told the newspaper, "This is a high-profile show. There were only 400 tickets on sale, and 370 were already sold before they got to us." Police told those waiting to buy tickets that the owner of the Library had already given away the 370 tickets.

Noting that the ticket situation was not in line with the spirit of his Keg in the Closet tour, Chesney said, "This was supposed to be about the students and the fans. Having a chance to come into their world where they live their lives every day and bring out music, that's the ultimate way of turning this thing around."

Chesney added, "When we got to town, a fan told me and my tour manager how many people had stood in line to get tickets and how many were turned away because there were not tickets available. To me, that ain't right ... and it's not what we set out to do. This was supposed to be fun, to be about bringing the music back to where it started for us and to raise some money for charity. When it stops being about that, then we needed to re-think what we're doing."

After completing the tour of college bars, Chesney will return to Mississippi for a March 19 show in Tupelo. The concert is part of his Guitars, Tiki Bars and a Whole Lotta Love tour with Keith Urban and Dierks Bentley.

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