A legally blind Toronto woman has successfully landed front row tickets to an upcoming Stevie Wonder concert on account of her vision impairment.
CBC reports Tracy Whitfield secured two front row tickets to the Nov. 25 show at Toronto's Air Canada Centre after bringing her case to the media earlier in the week. Live Nation Canada contacted her yesterday, Sept. 23, with news they were holding a pair of seats for her.
According to NewsTalk 1010 on Tuesday, Whitfield said she needed front row seats to get the full concert experience. Whitfield has some vision now after being blind for a year as a teenager.
"We have this understanding and this assumption about what it means to be disabled or what it looks like for someone to have a vision impairment," Whitfield told the Toronto radio station. "So walking down the street people probably think there's nothing going on. My disability is definitely an invisible one." She also says people have to "get right up in front of me" before she can recognize them.
Whitfield called to purchase tickets and pressed the button for "accessible seats." However, she says those seats are dedicated to those with mobility issues only. She was able to see get tickets to a Molly Johnson show next Monday, Sept. 29, at the Royal Alexandra Theatre due to her blindness, paying full price for one ticket while receiving a complimentary ticket for a friend.
Live Nation originally placed tickets on hold in the 21st row for the Wonder show for Whitfield. However, Whitfield declined the tickets and they went back up for sale. Tickets six rows back were also offered but in a CBC interview Whitfield said they were the equivalent to the "50th row" for her given her vision.
Wonder is staging a North American tour this winter where he'll be performing his album "Songs In The Key Of Life" in its entirety. The tour kicks off in New York City on Nov. 6 and concludes in Oakland, California on Dec. 5. It will also be the third time Whitfield has gone to a Stevie Wonder concert after attending previous shows in Montreal and Toronto.
