What do you get when you combine a legendary arena, a new rock band, a rock band with a hard core following, and a rock band that is known throughout the world? You get one of the best rock events in recent history, The Dark Horse Tour. The legendary arena, Rupp Arena; the new rock band, Saving Abel; the rock band with a hard core following, Seether; and the rock band who is known throughout the world, Nickelback. Possibly the oddest group of bands that could be conceived, but boy did it work!
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We are counting down hours to the biggest rock show (as far as attendance) Rupp Arena has had in more than five years. The Nickelback concerts starts at 7:00pm tonight, with Saving Abel and Seether opening. Since we are only the second venue on the tour, they moved in yesterday to make sure all their t’s were crossed and all of their i’s were dotted. I took some photos from the same place as the day went by to try to show how elaborate the stage is and how much skill all the workers have to making it all come together seamlessly. Below is a moving image of the setup. You can find the relative time in the bottom right corner. Enjoy, and see you at the show tonight!

A couple nights ago I was able to catch the Buckcherry, Avenged Sevenfold, Papa Roach and Saving Abel concert at the Bank of Kentucky Center on February 23. Not only am I a fan of the bands, but it was a great way to test the waters for when those bands come to Rupp Arena in the next month. Buckcherry, Avenged Sevenfold and Papa Roach will be here on March 27, along with another yet to be announced band. Saving Abel will actually be here this Friday opening for Nickelback and Seether. Hit the jump below to read my thoughts on the bands and the awesome show you can expect to see from each.
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As some of you may have noticed, we have uploaded the photos from the previous weekend (February 13-15) up to our Flickr account and our Facebook page. The weekend was an exciting one with there being a show every night. On Friday night, the country legend George Jones took the stage with an preview of Conway Twitty, The Man, The Music, The Legend The Musical as the opening act. Then on Saturday, on the complete other side of the musical spectrum, we welcomed Slipknot, with openers Coheed and Cambria, and Trivium. On Sunday, to top it all off, Jeff Dunham was at Rupp Arena with his wild and hilarious routine, and opener Guitar Guy Brian Haner. By my count that is three events with seven acts. We had our house photographer, Wes Allen, on site for all three events.

Be sure to check out the photos on our Flickr page.
Also, you can check them out on our Facebook page.
While you are there, become a fan of Rupp Arena.

Jeff Dunham was truly exciting, edgy and invigorating to watch! Between watching the comedy from his puppets, to the opening comedic monologue, to the encore presentation with puppet Bubba J, I laughed so hard my cheeks hurt by the end of the night. His on-stage charismatic personality made the entire night just seem to fly by.

The show began with (I guess you could refer to him as a comedian) Guitar Guy, Brian Haner. His performance started off a little slow as he dove right into ordinary jokes about his family and himself. But as he progressed into his specialty, writing and playing comedic songs, he started slowly gaining my attention. Read the rest of this entry »

For a while, it seemed as if Rupp Arena was losing its rock music audience. There haven’t been a lot of rock concerts lately and those that did hit our stage were greeted by a crowd that was smaller than I would like to have seen. Contrary to the name of last night’s show, not all hope is gone. Yesterday, Lexington showed up in force for the first rock concert at Rupp Arena since Nine Inch Nails last August. Slipknot, Coheed and Cambria, and Trivium took the stage as part of the All Hope Is Gone tour. The seats were packed, the floor was rumbling with excitement, and any thoughts of not having a huge Rupp Arena rock show were extinguished.
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Folks, as a friend so simply said to me, we may have seen 77-year-old George Jones live in concert tonight, but what outweighs that delightful feeling is this: We may have been a part of something greater than that – we may have witnessed history Friday.
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This past Monday it was announced that Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy would be coming to Rupp Arena on April 21, 2009. If you all remember, a while back we had a ticket giveaway for The Blue Man Group that you could enter by commenting with bands/groups/shows you would like to see come to Rupp Arena. After everything was tallied up, Cirque du Soleil ended up being the show that most people suggested. Just proof that we are always looking for suggestions of what you, the reader, would like to see, and we definitely will do our best to get that show/concert. Hit the jump below to read the full Cirque Dreams press release.
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The Rupp Arena Blog and Cosmic in the Fayette Mall are working together on a giveaway for the upcoming Slipknot show, with special guests Coheed and Cambria and Trivium. To enter, sign up at Cosmic, located inside Fayette Mall right next to Dillard’s. The giveaway is going to happen this next Thursday night, February 12. You may be lucky enough to win one of two pair of tickets to the Slipknot show that following Saturday, February 14. Good luck and see you at the show!

Buckcherry & Avenged Sevenfold will be coming to Rupp Arena in Lexington, KY on March 27. They will be joined by special guest Papa Roach. That is not only a solid lineup, but it is at a good price. Be sure to check out our event page for details on the show as they become available. We will also have more info on the blog about each of the bands in the coming month, and possibly a contest. Hit the jump to read the press release for the show.
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