Lucky few snap up Duffy tickets

With a number one single, Duffy's performances are a sell-out

She may be top of the charts and all over the radio, but just 220 fans will hear Duffy belt out her number one song Mercy at the start of her Welsh tour.

The soul sensation is playing three dates in her native Wales, starting at the intimate Clwb Ifor Bach, in a side street off Cardiff city centre.

The nightclub says the show has been the most requested it has ever had.

But it sold out its couple of hundred tickets for the singer from Gwynedd, three months ago.

It is a similar picture at the 23-year-old's other two Welsh dates in March, at the Aberystwyth Arts Centre on Saturday - St David's Day - and the Central Station venue in Wrexham on Monday.

"This has been the most requested ticket the club has ever had," said Catrin James, from Clwb Ifor Bach.

We take a gamble and book them, and hope it explodes... in Duffy's case it's paid off Catrin James, Clwb Ifor Bach

"We've been having phone calls from teenagers right through to housewives - from BBC 6 Music to Radio 2 listeners, that's how broad her appeal is.

"We sold out three months ago, but we're still getting phone calls about her."

Venues across Wales were offered the chance to sign up Duffy in the autumn, well before she hit the big time with the songs "Rockferry" and her current single Mercy, which is spending its second week at the top of the charts.

"The agents offer us acts, and tip them for big things," explained Ms James.

"We take a gamble and book them, and hope it explodes.

"In Duffy's case it's paid off, it's a real coup."

Duffy's first album Rockferry hits the shops on Monday, and it is already number one on the pre-order charts for the online retailer Amazon.

Homecoming

But new fans of the singer, who has been compared to a young Dusty Springfield, have been struggling to get their hands on tickets for her other Welsh performances.

Despite switching to larger venues for performances in April, nights at Cardiff University Students' Union Great Hall and at Venue Cymru in Llandudno are already a sell-out.

However, there is hope for those still pining to see the soul siren.

Organisers of this year's Wakestock Festival at Abersoch have confirmed that Duffy will be one of their headline acts for the three day event in July.

The festival is set to be a homecoming for Duffy, as it is only a few miles from her home town of Nefyn on the Lleyn peninsula.

She said: "Coming home to Wales with a finished album is like a dream come true, it will be so exciting to play the songs and share them with everyone."