Does Fresno know Shakira is coming to town?

FRESNO, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE) – Most know her from smash hits ‘Waka Waka’ and ‘Hips Don’t Lie’ – Shakira is performing in Fresno on Aug. 7, but some people still don’t know that.

“Some coworkers I talked to mentioned that she was coming for a concert, so I heard rumors of it,” Fresno resident Cooper Melton said.

“No, I didn’t. That’s the first time I’ve heard about it,” Fresno resident Dina said.

There is less than a week left until Valley Children’s Stadium’s first-ever concert, but those visiting websites like Ticketmaster will notice that tickets are still available in every section. The cheapest runs for $87, while resale websites like StubHub have their cheapest tickets over $100.

“I’m surprised they haven’t dropped those down significantly and try to get more people to fill in the stadium,” Melton said.

Fresno State Director of Athletics Garrett Klassy said otherwise. He tells YourCentralValley.com he believes ticket prices are fair.

“Shakira is the number one selling Latina artist in the world and in history. And so to be able to see an act like that come to Fresno, California, there is a price for that,” Klassy said.

While Ticketmaster shows many available tickets in every section of the stadium, Klassy said nearly 70% of the roughly 30,000 tickets are sold. 

“We’re well over 20,000 at this point and over 500 tickets sold yesterday alone,” Klassy said.

In fact, Klassy is already declaring the concert a success.

“Number one, it already is a big time success, I’ll say, when it’s a big time success. Not if they, yeah, we want to host more. We are open for business,” Klassy said.

Klassy said nothing will get in the way of the show from going on, “The show is happening. Sales are great. It’s going to be an incredible time. You know, this weather is going to be amazing. What is it going to be in the eighties for the start of the show? Like it is going to be an incredible event.”

Some folks say prices and Fresno’s weather are ‘loca’.

“It’s just too hot. It’s Fresno, we’re like a hundred. It’s just too dang hot to be outside. Then I’m in the nosebleeds and I’m paying a hundred bucks. That doesn’t sound fair,” Dina said.

Klassy says he’s not worried about the show going on. He’s focused on more concerts coming to Fresno.

“The show is not going to be canceled. This is here. We’ve been in production meetings all day. If you look out in the parking lot, they’ve set up, you know, all of the you know, all their production trailers,” Klassy said.

Klassy admits he expects ticket sales to ramp up in the final few days before the concert.