Bill Haley & Comets to Rock Wichita's Orpheum
Tickets go on sale May 30

WICHITA, KAN. -- Bill Haley and the Comets - the group that changed the music landscape forever with the legendary "Rock Around the Clock" - will perform in downtown Wichita at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 28, at the historic Orpheum Theatre. Advance tickets go on sale May 30.

There's nothing like the real thing when it comes to good old rock 'n' roll, and that's just what you'll get when you see The Comets, the first band to fuse country and western with rhythm and blues to create rock 'n' roll. The Wichita concert features all three of the surviving members of the original Bill Haley and the Comets, whose hits rocked the charts with such songs as "Shake Rattle & Roll" and "See Ya Later Alligator." The group will also perform new material.

While the actual birth of rock 'n' roll can be debated, music historians do agree on one key event - when rock 'n' roll broke through from being a teen fad with a cult following into mass awareness and acceptance. That happened in the first week of July 1955 when the song "Rock Around The Clock" performed by Bill Haley & The Comets became the first rock 'n' roll record to ever reach the #1 position in the U.S. charts.

The record stayed at #1 for eight consecutive weeks and went on to sell over 45 million copies worldwide. It is the highest-selling vinyl single of all time and paved the way for the tidal wave of rock 'n' roll artists that followed: Elvis Presley, Carl Perkins, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, The Everly Brothers and many more. All of these artists had their first big successes AFTER "Rock Around The Clock" had broken down the barriers.

The Comets' influence didn't end in America. Their landmark first UK tour in 1957 inspired numerous future musicians to start their own rock 'n' roll bands - The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Hollies, The Animals, The Yardbirds, The Kinks, Rod Stewart and many of the others who formed the British Invasion that reinvigorated popular music in the 1960s.

Advance tickets go on sale May 30 through all Select-a-Seat outlets, Dillons Super Stores, online at www.selectaseat.com , or by calling (316) 755-SEAT (7328). Tickets are $68.50, $48.50, and $37.50 on the main floor and $29.50 or $19.50 in the balcony.