Who: Faith Hill
Where: Whistler Creekside
When: Saturday, Aug. 7, 7 p.m.
Tickets: $65/$86/$118
Superstar country-pop music vocalist Faith Hill has chosen Whistler as the site of her first concert after a four year hiatus from performing.
Hill will sing outdoors at the base of Whistler Mountain in Creekside on the evening of Saturday, Aug. 7, rain or shine.
The show is an exclusive engagement before Hill heads down to Las Vegas for a four-show run, Aug. 10 through 14, in the venue normally used by Celine Dion at Caesars Palace.
"Its a real coup for us and for the resort that weve managed to get her to open ahead of Caesars Palace," said promoter Dennis MacDonald, whose Shout Resort Concerts was contracted by Intrawest last year to bring big-ticket, internationally recognized entertainment events to the companys various resorts.
"She doesnt know the resort. She doesnt know anything about the mountains. Shes never been there before. To go to a place youve never played at after youve been on hiatus for four years is a big decision for her and her management team to make."
In the end MacDonald said it was Whistler that sold the concert to Hills management.
"As much visibility as Whistler/Vancouver gets, its still not a lot in a lot of American markets," said MacDonald. "When our agents in Los Angeles and Nashville flew up I think they were expecting to see a couple of rope tows but they were completely blown away.
"This is by far the biggest show thats ever happened at Whistler. Shes one of the biggest superstars in the world."
The show will use the slope of the Whistler Mountain at Creekside as a natural amphitheatre, with the stage erected at the base of the hill.
The venue has been designated to have a 15,000 capacity. Tickets for the event went on sale Monday, July 12 through TicketMaster for $118, $86 and $65. All 750 of the most expensive "gold" tickets, which include general admission seating and the closest proximity to the stage, sold out early, prompting Shout to add another 250 gold tickets. The second release of gold tickets was declared sold out as of Tuesday, July 13.
Local print media outlets were not notified of the event in time to announce the concert prior to Monday.
The remaining 14,000 tickets 12,800 "silver" tickets and 1,200 "bronze" nosebleed section tickets require concertgoers to bring their own seating.
MacDonalds history of event promotion in Whistler began with the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra performances at the top of Blackcomb Mountain in the late 1980s. He also co-produced the 1999 Altitude gay and lesbian ski week and the 2000 summer version, Cabin Fever. Prior to forming Shout Resort Concerts he produced the off-Broadway show Naked Boys Singing at Vancouvers Vogue Theatre last summer.
The upcoming concert was originally intended to headline Tourism Whistlers first annual Whistler Arts and Music Festival, which took place in various locations throughout Whistler Village last weekend. However, negotiations between Shout and Hills management could not be completed in time.
Both Shout and Tourism Whistler have confirmed that with plenty of time now to look ahead to summer 2005, the intention is to co-ordinate the second annual festival with a follow-up entertainment event of comparable magnitude.
Ms. Hill is leaving some awfully big Jimmy Choos to follow in. The Nashville-based singer has sold 30 million records worldwide, and is a four-time Grammy award winner and winner of numerous other music and video awards. Her previous two albums, 1999s Breathe and 2002s Cry , both debuted at #1 on the Billboard record charts for Top Album and Top Country Album. A new album, her sixth, is expected later this year.
The statuesque, all-American blond also enjoys a healthy career as a model, gracing the covers of magazines such as Style, People, Country Weekly, Redbook, Glamour and more and as one of the many "Cover Girl" faces of Cover Girl cosmetics. She is married to fellow country music star Tim McGraw. The couple has three daughters.
SIDEBAR Faith on Film (with image)
While Faith Hill has been off the performing circuit for the last four years, she managed to pop up on the big screen in the recently released remake of 1975 sci-fi feminist satire The Stepford Wives.
Hill plays Sarah Sunderson, one of the title characters whose squeaky clean, model housewife is later revealed to be a cyborg created in a bizarre plot by the Stepford husbands who want ideal, non-aging, non-thinking mates.
One scene required Hills character to short circuit during a square dancing scene and spin out of control.
"The character was great fun to play," Hill is quoted as saying on her Web site. "I mean, when I malfunction, things go a little crazy and the sparks really fly. It was an electrifying experience all around!"
Stepford is Hills feature film debut.
Free Faith!
Pique Newsmagazine is giving away four pairs of Faith Hill tickets.
Enter online at www.piquenewsmagazine.com.
Moe Joes will also be giving away a pair of tickets to the cowboy or gal wearing the best pair of shit-kickers at their weekly Cowgirls Inc. club night this Tuesday.
The night features classic rock and modern country music and bartender antics immortalized by the 2000 film Coyote Ugly. Doors open at 9 p.m.