Our photos just went up today from the eRUPPtion event his past Friday. There are some load-in shots, some shots “from the stands,” as well as some excellent photos from our house photographer, James Crisp. There are some really cool action shots that show the intensity of the matches, from well places kicks and punches to carefully controlled body holds. There are photographs of their entrances that included but were not limited to smoke, Hannibal Lector replica masks, and even a live rapper. The “bombshell beauties” are even shown displaying the round cards around the caged ring. In addition to the photos, our Video Event Technician, Joseph Lloyd, put together a great video recapping all the matches and the feel of the whole night. Enjoy!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8ntQxIcPdU]

Head on over to our Flickr page to have a look at all the shots. If you were able to attend the event and took some photos then be sure to email them to us at rupparenablog@gmail.com.

Last Friday, Rupp Arena played host to a mixed martial arts cage fighting event where local and national competitors sparred off against each other in a kick-boxing/wrestling type format. Mixed martial arts is a combination of various kick-boxing techniques as well as wrestling. It is definitely a violent and intense sport, but it much more than just thrown punches and swung legs. Lots of training is required to become proficient at the sport, as well as a large amount of physical endurance. Boxing is quite possibly the most physically exhausting sports. Combine that with wrestling and trying to pin someone to the floor, and you can quickly figure out why all the competitors were toned and muscular.

With cage fighting, people automatically think of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. There is a certain barbaric association to that arena. It also may not help that the fighters themselves sometimes act barbaric and often don multicolored hair with Mohawks. All preconceived notions are cast aside though, when you see the professionalism of the fighters during their match, as well as the amazing sportsmanship after it is all over. You have to have an incredible amount of respect for someone who could match wits and fists with you for nearly 15 minutes.

There will be lots of shots from one of our house photographers, James Crisp, as well as a bunch of photos I took “from the stands” that should be available in the next few days. Until then, here is a taste of the photos to come. If you were able to make it, we would love to know what you thought as well as see any photos you took. If you weren’t able to attend then take a look at the photos, and perhaps you will consider coming next year.

Things are in place for everything tonight. The stage is set, the lights programmed, and there are willing people ready to beat the snot of out each other, gracefully of course. It was very interesting watching them setup since a cage match isn’t like any other show. It is sort of like the offspring of professional wrestling and boxing. It has an entrance stage which leads to the cage where the fight takes place, but has less emphasis on the performance and dialog, and more on the fight itself like boxing.

I hope to see you all there, but regardless of your attendance, you can check out a recap and photos I will put up in the next few days following the event. Be sure to post your comments and let us know what you thought of the show, good or bad. We are always looking for honest feedback. To tide you over, here are a few shots of the ring from the floor.

Tickets went on sale today for the Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood Concert coming April 26. As we do with most large events, we had a ticket lottery outside the box office. People braved the weather and showed up to grab their seats. Everyone here is looking forward to the concert a lot and I think all attendees are sure to enjoy it. Stay tuned for more coverage on the show as we get closer to the date.

Things are coming together for the eRUPPtion event tonight at Rupp Arena. The mixed martial arts (also sometimes referred to as “ultimate fighting”) event will be going on at 8 PM tonight. If you would like to attend then you can buy some tickets online or grab some at the ticket office when you walk up. They are setting up the stage now as you can see in the photo above. It should definitely be an exciting night. Be sure to take lots of pictures if you go and send them our way. I will likely post some more behind-the-scenes shots today, and then will have a recap of the event up in the next few days.

Part of the fun of my job and this blog is to interact with people who attend (or plan to attend) events at Rupp Arena and get feedback from them as well as photos they took from their perspective. As the famous saying goes, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” and despite the best efforts from our house photographers and myself, we still pass over parts of concerts or events that would be great to have photos of. Sometimes it is the timing, other times it is the angle of the shot, but it is always great to view someone else’s photos and put yourself in their shoes and see what parts of an event they took pictures of.

During my call-to-arms for fan photos from the Linkin Park concert, someone by the name of Kevin Foster sent me twenty photos he took of the concert. It turns our he was sitting in the stands on almost the opposite side of myself, so he got to capture a few rock poses that I never knew existed. My thanks goes out to Kevin for the great shots and for sending them to us. You can view Kevin’s pictures in the Fan Photos (LP) set under our Linkin Park collection on Flickr. If you have some pictures you took of the Linkin Park concert, George Strait, or Monster Jam, send them along to us at our email, rupparenablog@gmail.com. Not only would I love to take a look at them, but I will toss them up on our Flickr page for everyone to see.

Psst… yeah you… I have an inside tip for ya. Just a heads up to all those Keith Urban and/or Carrie Underwood fans out there (wow, that covers a lot of people, right?), you may want to join our First in Line list if you haven’t already. I just overheard some people talking about the pre-sale code for the Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood concert being sent out via email to the First in Line subscribers.

First in Line is free and basically to inform people of shows coming up as well as give them pre-sale information for them. Even if you are just interested in Keith and Carrie, it is a good way to get your tickets early. No need to miss out on getting them in advance when the concert is looking like it will sell out.

I will keep you up to date on this specific concert as well as other pre-sales happening in the future. Time is of the essence for Keith and Carrie, since the email goes out tomorrow so be sure to put your name on our list so you will get one.

Monster Jam roared in to Rupp Arena this past Saturday less than 20 after Lexington played host to George Strait. Monster truck enthusiasts and new-comers shows up in force to get a chance of the action and get to see the original Driver of the infamous Gravedigger, Dennis Anderson, sit behind the wheel and show of his skills. O boy do we have a load of content from that event. The photos have been added up to our Flickr page with great action shots by one of our house photographers, James Crisp. In addition to the in-your-face intensity those shots provide, there are some shots from the stands like we did with our previous shows.

Now for some extremely special. I was able to interview Dan Evans, the driver of the Destroyer, as well as Dennis Anderson himself, the original driver of Gravedigger (who drove for the show). Text seems to lack some of the track-side grit that the audio conveys, so to spice it up I whipped together an audio segment with the interviews for your listening and/or downloading pleasure.

Click to listen, or right click and select “Save As” to save.

As for the show itself, it never lacked excitement. Of course monster trucks are all thrill, but to fill in the gaps between competitions there were nail-biting ATV races which pitted our home team against the likes of South Carolina. There was even an interstellar battle that took place on the floor. Below are some sample pictures of all of the above.

As with all of our events at Rupp Arena, we would love to know what you thought about it. Was there something that could have been done better? Please tell us. Also, be sure to email us your photos from the event so we can add them to a fan section on our Flickr page. Stay tuned for more interviews like the one in this recap for more events in the future.

Things are finally starting to settle down from this past weekend. There are even more events just around the corner, but in this calm before the storm, it may be nice reminisce about that Friday night which seems like just yesterday. George Strait came, he saw, and he played guitar. It almost seemed contradictory that his songs are so mellow and soothing, yet evoked so much emotion from the crowd. It is safe to say no one will forget that night, but here is a gift from me to you to make that memory that much sweeter.

You may remember Michael Wright for the amazing photos he took of the Linkin Park concert just one week ago. We have all sorts of great shots (like the one above of Phillip Sweet from Little Big Town) of all the members of each act (Sarah Johns, Little Big Town and of course George Strait) courtesy of Michael’s good vision and speedy shutter. Be sure to stop by our Flickr page for shots of last Friday concert. Within the George Strait collection, there are sets of Sarah Johns photos, Little Big Town photos, George Strait himself, and some more shots from the stands. As with Linkin Park, we would love to see your photos from this event. Please email us any shots you took to rupparenablog@gmail.com. Who knows, you may get your pictures added to our Flickr page.

There’s just something about a man in a cowboy hat; and there’s definitely still something about country legend George Strait. At 55 years old he still knows how to rock arenas and pull at your heartstrings. There wasn’t a woman in attendance who didn’t leave the show a little more in love with the crooning Texan, or a man who wasn’t proud to don his cowboy hat and sing right along.

With over 50 No. 1 hits since his debut album in 1981, it was easy to see why so many fans were on their feet, screams filling the air as each song’s opening riffs introduced another country classic. Of course, the “Pure Country” star couldn’t play every radio-hit but he did touch on a little of the old plus a little of the new.

“Check Yes or No,” “Amarillo By Morning,” “Give It Away,” “Run,” “I Hate Everything,” “Wrapped,” and “It Just Comes Natural” were some of
the night’s picks––although I have to say, I was disappointed I didn’t get to hear “All My Exes Lives in Texas,” “Clear Blue Sky,” or “Cross
My Heart”––but the concert was so good, I’m really not complaining!

I have to say something about his band as well, because they were flawless. And the set was really nice too; the free-floating stage allowed everyone an unobstructed view of George and his band, plus the guys did a really fine job of staying mobile and keeping the audience engaged.

When the lights finally faded and George left the stage, it didn’t take long for his screaming Kentucky fans to call him back out. And back he came. To play his usual ending song, “The Cowboy Rides Away…”

“Oh the last goodbye’s the hardest one to say, This is where the cowboy rides away.”

I love you, George. Feel free to ride back into town again soon.