A Florida concert promoter is using tickets to encourage Covid-19 vaccinations by charging those without a shot $999
Paul Williams, the man behind the idea, told CNN that it all started when Brendon Kelly, the lead singer for another punk band, The Lawrence Arms, was thinking of kicking off a tour if it was safe this fall.
Williams said he started brainstorming ways to get the band to come to his venue with their manager, Tobias Jeg. Since the show was set for August they still had plenty of time to figure out the details until Jeg pitched the idea of an earlier show for Teenage Bottlerocket in June.
“I said, “Absolutely!” and he said “OK, well we are announcing it in a week, can you make this whole thing happen in a week?”‘ Williams said.
Williams decided that his idea did not violate the order and went ahead with his plan, offering four tickets at almost $1,000 apiece to non-vaccinated people, but offer those willing to verify their vaccination tickets for $18.
The concert encourages vaccinations and helps save history
“I did the math with the number of tickets and the people in the band that would be there, and if everyone was literally crammed in there and all four tickets sell… we would still be at 98.25% fully vaccinated,” he said.
“I just wanted to sell tickets to the show … and I wanted to get some kids vaccinated.”
As of Friday, 210 of the 250 discounted tickets were already sold and Williams said that if someone buys the full price tickets, all of that money will go directly to the band.
To purchase tickets, concertgoers must agree to bring their government-issued photo ID and their vaccination card. When they purchase their tickets, the language states what is required and how to get a vaccine if someone needs one, as well as how to replace a vaccination card.
“They were struggling before the pandemic and we are trying to keep this place alive because it’s a piece of history,” Williams said.
The venue gets most of its money from drink sales and renting out the space so the concert will help bring revenue to the struggling post, Williams said.
