Before we get into this, here’s a public service announcement for y’all – we here at ATV (along with several of our friends) have organized something pretty cool that metal and music fans will be stoked to hear about.  Our friend Bill Peters will have the details tomorrow night on his legendary Metal on Metal radio program (which airs from 6:30pm-9:30pm on 88.7 WJCU and streams at www.wjcu.org).  Tune in for the announcement and also enjoy Bill’s annual “Album of the Year” listener countdown show!

Now, we know that times are tough and money is tight….which is why Manowar, the “Kings of Metal” are returning to Cleveland to save the day and play their first North American show in 6 years on March 12th at the Cleveland Agora, featuring a performance of their classic Battle Hymns album in its entirety!

Sorry, let’s try that one more time using the official announcement text from the band’s web page:

On March 12, 2011, Manowar will crush all disbelievers and tear the roof off at the Agora, in Cleveland, Ohio.

For $75 dollars per ticket.

*gulp*

Believe it or not, the response to the show announcement has been huge, according to Cleveland metal impresario (and the previously mentioned) Bill Peters.

Peters says on his Facebook page:

I just spoke to a representative from the Agora. They have already pre-sold via phone orders over 100 tickets and have received calls from every state in the Continental United States (except North Dakota) inquiring about the show. Tickets …officially go on sale via Ticketmaster tomorrow (Friday). The Agora is reporting no one outside of the Cleveland area has complained about the ticket price. One woman in a wheelchair called from California to buy 5 tickets as I was on the phone with the Agora. MANOWAR fans are very dedicated and will travel anywhere to see the band play. This is their first North American show in 6 years.

Trust me, I have seen how rabid their fan base is during my travels to metal festivals in Europe. As I mentioned in a comment above, the bright side is the show is in our own backyard and we do not have to pay any travel expenses to see this event. I can definitely understand everyone’s concerns about the high ticket price though but early indications are they are going to have a very big turnout at the Agora on March 12. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

The old statement, “as long as the people are willing to pay…” certainly rings true on this one.  It will indeed be interesting to see how this one plays out.