News: Phelps hates the Irish; Ticketmaster's familiar foe

This year's Kansas City Irish Festival was bigger than ever. About 85,000 people attended the three-day festival, including a crowd of 40,000 on Saturday.

They're even talking about it over in Ireland, but not because of the size of the crowds or the great entertianment. The Metro, a free morning paper in Dublin, ran a news brief on Saturday with the headline: "Anti-Irish Protest in Kansas City." (Download Document.pdf)

The paragraph beneath it introduces Dubliners to Topeka's infamous Westboro Baptist Church, which recently launched a Web site called GodHatesIreland. Why? It's the "land of the Soddomite damned." The church sent some of its protesters to the Irish Festival on Friday to warn everyone that "God hates fag-dominated Ireland."

Ticketmaster v. Live Nation?

One Goliath is about to take on another in the netherworld of ticket sales. According to Billboard, Live Nation msot likely won't renew its longtime agreement with TIcketmaster when it expires at the end of 2008. "Live Nation has appeared to be setting itself up to handle ticketing in-house," according to Billboard.

According to Business Week, Ticketmaster is responding to the eruption of alternative ticket services on the Internet. When Ticketmaster sent Andy Blunt, brother of Gov. Mel Blunt, to lobby in favor of the repeal of Missouri's anti-scalping laws, it's because Ticketmaster has its own "secondary market" service, Ticket Exchange.

Timothy Finn, The Star

Comments

[Gary]

Fred Phelps... What else can be said about him? It's sad that he often "represents" this area with his hate-mongering. He should be sentenced to an I-Pod containing Ethel Merman's disco album.

[Lucas]

Ticketmaster is a blight on the concert-going community. As an avid concert-goer, I find it criminal that a $20 ticket can create 50% in fees to line Ticketmaster's pockets. Live music fans have become way too complacent in letting this go, including myself. I'm really glad that crossroads kc is using another service w/ a much smaller service fee. Death to Ticketmaster, you think Fred Phelps would like to protest this?

[ralphralph]

I hate Ireland, too, ... but mostly because of the food and music ... dreadful, just dreadful.

;)

[tfinn]

Pat O'Neill, one of the founders of the Irish Fest, sent this e-mail about the Phelps gang:

"His people were there Sunday before and during the outdoor Mass (on the Terrace Stage). The Mass was attended by more than 2,000 people (no exaggeration!) and concelebrated by Bishop (retired) Raymond Boland and Father Jim Shea. Boland is from Cork and read some of the Mass in Gaelic. The Phelps bunch could only get as close as the Corner of Pershing and Grand. Some of the Mass-goers responded by handing out Rosaries at the same intersection.

[smartman]

Wow! If Rev Fred hates Ireland and the Irish I can only imagine that his rage will be "Dublin" by the time Sir Elton John hits KC.