Meet White Williams

Electronics meet art pop with White Williams, the opener for the upcoming Nine Inch Nails show. White Williams doesn’t only have a unique and interesting sound, but they are only opening for Nine Inch Nails for a single show in Lexington, KY. Want to know more? Hit the jump to read a biography about them and and interview. Read more

Sharon Little: Diamond In The Rough

Sharon Little opens for Robert Plant & Alison Krauss on Friday, July 18. Guest blogger for the show, Anne Sabatino, talks about the upcoming show and an opening act you shouldn’t miss. Read more

Day With A Diva: Mickie James

WWE Summerslam was this past Friday, July 11 at Rupp Arena. As with every event, we at the Rupp Arena Blog do our best to get as much behind the scenes coverage as we can available to you. On Friday though, I was able to ride along with WWE Diva Mickie James as she traveled around Lexington to meet up with fans. Read more

Interview With Susan Harris, Horsemen Football Director of Public Relations

The Horsemen are in the hunt for the playoffs and every win counts for a lot. I was able to sit down with their Director of Public Relations, Susan Harris, and ask her some questions about the Horsemen as well as just arena football in general. Read more

One Night of Queen at the Opera House

Gary Mullen and The Works delivered on the promise made in one of the songs they cover, “We Will Rock You.” For many, One Night of Queen was new territory. People were not sure of what to think of a live band, in a building that normally houses broadway, covering one of the most well-known bands of all time. If Queen were shoes, then they would be size 25 boots, and those are some big shoes to fill (see what I did there?). It is definitely not easy to live up to the legend of the band, or the lead singer Freddie Mercury, so you can understand why people were dipping their toe in the water to test it out. Not a single person in the crowd went home disappointed. If you came with low expectations then you were blown away, if you came with high expectations then you were still ‘WOW’ed.

I had the extreme pleasure of getting to sit down with and interview the lead singer of the show, Gary Mullen. He definitely had plenty of interesting things to say (as you could imagine) about cities he had been to before, shows they had done, and inspiration for various moves he does on stage. Listen in on the interview and get a little insight into Gary’s life.

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

Of course whenever I attend something, I bring along a camera that may as well be permanently grafted to my hand. I managed to snap quite a few shots from my seat which will give you a taste of what the show looked like. We also had a house photographer on hand who I am sure got some UH-MAY-ZING photos of the show from a variety of places around the theater. Those photos as well as mine will be uploaded to our Flickr account soon where you can browse through them. In the meantime, here are some photos I captured from the audience.

The show was amazing, and even though some people were not as energetic at first since they were taking it all in, everyone was on their feet begging for more by the end of the show. All the songs got a great reception, but some of the really popular Queen songs made the crowd go wild, such as We Are the Champions, Another One Bites the Dust, Fat Bottomed Girls, and Bohemian Rhapsody to name a few. Gary did an amazing job of keeping the audience involved throughout the night. He had stage-side chats with everyone between songs and got the audience to sing sections of some of the songs. The crowd returned the enthusiasm when they encored by stamping their feet then clapping. It was an intense moment to have the lights out with everyone stomping and clapping in unison, only to see a light shine on drummer sitting on his stool. As the crowd continued, the drummer, Jonathan Evans, started wailing on the drums, matching the crowd’s beat. The other band members all found their way back on stage with Gary holding an American flag as a cape. It truely was a powerful experience.

Lots of thanks and admiration goes out to Gary Mullen and The Works (Davie Brockett on guitar, Billy Moffat on bass guitar, Martin Campbell on keyboards, and Jonathan Evans on drums) for an amazing performance. They are picking up steam and getting more and more recognized and popular around the world. Rightly so since they seem to be the only group that can give a true tribute to one of the greatest bands of all time, Queen. Stay tuned for more photos from the show as they are linked to here, and added up to our Flickr site. Hopefully this won’t be the last time we see Gary and The Works, and maybe we can get more than one night of them some time in the future.

Interview with Julian Tackett - KHSAA Assistant Commissioner

We are right in the thick of Sweet 16 right now at Rupp Arena. Schools of all colors are scattered about the stands like wild flowers in a field. Julian Tackett, the Assistant Commissioner at KHSAA, definitely has his work cut out for him, but fortunately he seems to have a passion for what he does. I was able to ask Julian a few questions pertaining to the National City Bank/KHSAA Boys Sweet Sixteen Basketball Tournament that is going on at the arena right now. Below is our one on one, which will give you some insight into his love for the tournament.

 

Rupp Arena Blog - What unique quality does high school basketball offer that no other level of the sport has?

Julian - It is still the last truly amateur level of play. Playing for the glory of your school, for the memories, not money or fame.

Rupp Arena Blog - What aspect of the KHSAA Sweet 16 tournament do you enjoy the most?

Julian - The reunion/social aspect of the whole thing. First day or so you see people spend more time getting reacquainted than watching the games.

Rupp Arena Blog - It really is amazing that all the teams competing are all located within a reasonable distance from each other. Does this make the rivalries, as well as the intensity of close matches that much more thrilling?

Julian - It does. plus the fact that the better teams play each other through the year through invitational tournaments, summer play, etc., continues to develop stronger rivalries and makes the games more exciting.

 

Rupp Arena Blog - From cheering for your team when you were in high school, to being a part of running the state basketball tournament each year, how do you think your outlook on the importance of Sweet 16 has changed?

Julian - The Sweet 16 is not just a series of games. It is a huge special event in the state. Everyone who is anyone in Kentucky will come through those turnstiles this weekend, and my job is to make sure that they leave here thinking this year’s experience was just a little better than the last one.

Rupp Arena Blog - Along that same subject, what is the most nostalgic moment of the tournament that reminds you of when you were that age?

Julian - It still amazes me to see the kid’s reaction to Rupp. Players who are supposed “stars” in their schools, etc. who come out in awe of the place, taking pictures with cell phones, digital pics of each other, etc., taking that first shot on the floor. It is quite a moment to watch.

Rupp Arena Blog - If you could pass along one piece of advice to high school athletes as they enter college sports, what would it be?

Julian - You never get a second chance to live this particular moment. Don’t always spend your time worrying about tomorrow’s game, next year’s classes, etc. Live and enjoy this moment to the fullest. Spend a few minutes and walk around the facility. See people. Soak it in. After you leave high school, life goes by very very fast.

Thanks Julian for the interview and it is easy to say that you are not the only one that finds so much enjoyment in this experience. It seems that no matter how many of these tournaments people go to, year after year, there is always fresh faces and talent sure to “wow” and amaze.

Monster Jam Recap

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.