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Hawaii residents are getting a 48-hour jump on their out-of-town counterparts, an accommodation that should prevent a repeat of 2014, when mainland ticket brokers were blamed for crowding out local fans in online purchasing. Read more

Four years ago an untimely computer crash foiled Catheryn Nauka’s attempt to secure tickets to see Bruno Mars during his sold-out three-night stand at the Blaisdell Arena. This time around the 28-year-old Waipio resident and devoted Hooligan wasn’t taking any chances.

Tickets for Mars’ Nov. 10 concert at Aloha Stadium go on sale today at 10 a.m. Hawaii residents are getting a 48-hour jump on their out-of-town counterparts, an accommodation that should prevent a repeat of 2014, when mainland ticket brokers were blamed for crowding out local fans in online purchasing.

And while Ticketmaster officials warned that lining up at a physical box office is not a guarantee of being able to purchase tickets, Nauka and dozens of other locals fans nonetheless showed up a day or more in advance to give it their best shot.

GETTING TICKETS >> Concert Date: 7 p.m. Nov. 10

>> Tickets: $49.50 to $125, plus fees. Presales today and Sunday will be restricted to purchases with credit cards with Hawaii ZIP codes for billing. Tickets for the general public go on sale at 10 a.m. Monday.

Nauka and her mother, Renee, were the first to arrive, descending on Aloha Stadium’s main gate with folding chairs, warm clothes, food, a cooler, umbrellas and a yoga mat for sleeping. They later relocated, in acquiescence to stadium personnel, to the sidewalk outside.

“We were out there until about 9 p.m. before other people arrived and camped with us,” said Renee Nauka, 50. “I was looking at (Catheryn) like, ‘Are you sure? I think we’re doing something wrong!’”

By daybreak Friday the impromptu campout community had swelled to a few dozen people. Stadium personnel let in the prospective ticket buyers around 7:45 a.m. and set them up in a shaded waiting area within the stadium gates.

By the time Catheryn Nauka’s fiance, Shane Garcia, arrived later in the afternoon, after finishing a shift working on the Honolulu rail transit project, there were more than 60 people in line.

Garcia said he and Nauka are looking forward to going to the concert with their two children, Rome, 9, and London, 4, both of whom are big fans of the Hawaii-born Mars.

Renee Nauka said she had no qualms about her first experience camping out for tickets.

“The whole family loves him,” she said. “I like the fact that he followed his dream and is inspiring people both young and old. He definitely has the aloha spirit, and he’s very humble.”

Tony Wang, 50, of Kapahulu arrived at Aloha Stadium at 7 a.m. Friday to buy tickets for his son and a friend. “They couldn’t make it and I had the time,” he said. “First and last.”

Like other early-bird buyers, Wang approached the wait with patience and positivity.

“I’m just trying to enjoy the day like everybody else,” he said, reclining in his canvas folding chair. “It’s been OK. Nice people. We talk as we wait and encourage each other to hang in there. Tomorrow at 10 a.m. we get those tickets and we’re out.”

Dave and Michelle Brown and their neighbor Sheri Sakamoto praised the stadium staff for making the wait as pleasant as possible, even providing charging stations for personal electronics.

The friends had previously camped out for tickets to Mars’ 2014 shows. When they learned that he was returning, they knew what they had to do.

“He’s the top entertainer now that Michael Jackson and Prince are gone,” Sakamoto said. “He has the same kind of talent. He’s not one-dimensional.”

Michelle Brown, who’s seen the Spice Girls and Britney Spears with her children, said Mars’ 2014 concert was “the best I’ve ever been to.”

Dave Brown, whose concert-going history includes Frank Sinatra and Queen, begged to differ.

A dutiful husband and friend, Brown cheerfully kept his wife and neighbor company during their long wait for tickets. On the night of the concert, he’ll just as happily drop them off at the show. But he won’t be attending.

“I’m Uber,” he said, laughing.