Photos Galore!

Although the blog has fallen victim to busy schedules, our Flickr page is more active than ever. A picture is worth a thousand words, and with the amount of pictures I have been uploading, I think I could fill a novel. The exciting thing is that I have had a lot of photos sent to me by many fans with steady picture-taking hands.

I have added all the Blue Man Group Photos to our corresponding collection on Flickr. As per the norm, there are a lot of great shots by one of our house photographers (James Crisp) and then some other photos I snapped “from the stands,” which will offer a different angle and perspective on the event.

In addition to the Blue Man Group there have been a lot of people coming forward with their photos they took at the Keith Urban & Carrie Underwood concert this past month. Let me tell you, some of their photos are B-E-A-Utiful. If you are a Keith and/or Carrie (or Nicole Kidman…) fan, then there is plenty for you to check out in that collection since we have photos of both artisits, From the Stands shots, and a bunch of crowd shots. Below are some choice photos from the Blue Man Group and some fan photos (taken by Jennifer Thoune) that I picked out to put up on the blog. All of them are available for viewing on our Flickr photostream.

For more great photos from both of these events, stop by our Flickr page and click on the collection you would like to view on the right. Upon clicking you will be able to check out floor shots, ones from the seats and a variety of fan photos that were sent our way. Enjoy!

Keith & Carrie’s Carnival Ride

On my way to my computer to put the Keith & Carrie concert pictures on Flickr I got kidnapped and blindfolded. Apparently the pictures are highly sought after. I was held prisoner for a week in a secret hideout which I could only assume was the basement of an eccentric fan. I managed to break free and run away with my captors chasing me. Just as I cut a corner to escape for good I heard them yell “Don’t show those pictures to anyone, or else…” Despite the gruesome threat, I have decided to accept my fate and post them all up on Flickr for everyone to see. Yes, it is a week later than I would have liked, but at least I have a good excuse right? [Lame? Really? At least I tried...]

Below are a few pictures from the concert that you can find in our Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood Flickr Collection. Since we had a guest blogger with iPhone in hand, myself with my camera at the ready, and our house photographer Michael Wright on point, there are plenty of pictures from a variety of different angles (and devices) for your viewing pleasure.

Last but certainly not least, there are a few treats for you to check out. If you have been keeping up with the blog, I may have noticed I love to make panoramics from concerts and events. Luckily, this one did not escape my obsession so there are two below for you to click on and view.

If you happen to be one of the 17,000 people in attendance and took some photos of your own then we would LOVE to see them. Please email them to us at rupparenablog@gmail.com. With your permission, we will put them up in the Fan Photos set on our Flickr site, and give you credit.

Keith & Carrie Concert Recap

“What the Hell are They Drinking in Hazard?” as Said by Keith Urban, of Course.

So I have to admit, I am not really a country music fan. But after watching the Carrie Underwood/Keith Urban show tonight, I can no longer say that. I liked both acts so much that I will be buying their CDs.

The night started out with Carrie Underwood. The fans were screaming so incredibly loud as she made her way up through the floor, even if I tried to speak, I wouldn’t be able to hear myself. She was dressed in all black except for the coolest looking belt that was made of some kind of rhinestones. The way they had the stage positioned allowed her to kind of “walk through” the crowd and let everyone see her up close. I had attended a 3 Doors Down concert a couple years back and they just had the one stage up front. So there would be no way, unless you had one of the first rows that you would actually get to see what the band looked like. That’s why at tonight’s show, almost everyone on the floor and all around the bottom of the arena gave you an up close and personal view. Not only did they have the cool stage, but they had two big hanging projection screens. So if you were unable to see Carrie as she moved around, you could always watch her on the bigger-than-life screens.

Carrie’s song set included most of her hits songs from her two CDs. I think the song that I like most from her was “I Ain’t In Checotah Anymore.” She told the audience that on the big screen behind her were pictures she took herself in her hometown of Checotah, Oklahoma. It’s so easy to forget that she actually is a real person, who has a life outside of performing. I really enjoyed seeing pictures of where she was from and knowing that she took them herself. Her set tonight was really amazing; there is definitely a reason she won season four of American Idol!

I do have to say though, my main motive for wanting to come to this concert tonight was to just see Carrie Underwood. I knew who Keith Urban was, and had heard of a few of his songs here and there, but never have been a real big fan. All I can say after watching him perform live tonight is, WOW! He is an awesome performer, and not to mention one of the best guitarists I have heard. I could have just sit there and listen to him play guitar all night. He wasn’t all that bad to look at either…

Right up front, Keith let everyone know that they were filming tonight’s show for an upcoming DVD. Therefore, the show was going to be extra long and that we are all to be on our “worst behavior.” And trust me, some of the people in the crowd definitely were. There was one girl behind us that was just dying to get backstage and was doing everything in her willpower to do just that, if you know what I mean. How cool is it that they picked Lexington to be the place to film their DVD?? The crew had all of these handheld cameras in the crowd taping everyone. I am sure there will be a lot of people who watch the DVD that will recognize at least one person.

One of the coolest things that happened during the show though was someone from the crowd got to come up and play guitar with Keith as he sang! Evidentially a few people in the crowd all had the same sign. “Let her play your guitar” and were all pointing to this teenage girl. After Keith was done playing one of his songs, he said okay, if you want to play my guitar, then come up here. So this young girl comes up on stage and says her name was Leslie from Hazard. Keith asked her what she wanted to play and she said she knew the solo of one of his songs. So she played the lead guitar and he played backup guitar and sang. How cool is that???? I was amazed that he asked her to come up on stage and even more amazed that she was so freaking good! As she was walking off stage, Keith asked the crowd, “What the hell are they drinking in Hazard?” He was really amazed that she was so good; I am sure like the rest of us were too! All I can say is that I am glad I stayed to listen to Keith Urban; otherwise I definitely would have missed out. I can guarantee that even non-country fans would have liked tonight’s show!

Editor’s Note: The above recap was written by Julie Johnson for use on the Rupp Arena Blog. All photos shown were taken by house photographer Michael Wright. More photos will be posted up here in the next week.

Keith & Carrie Giveaway Winner!

We have a winner for our Keith Urban & Carrie Underwood Ticket Giveaway that ended last week. Her name is Daena, and her favorite song is Jesus Take the Wheel by Carrie Underwood.

Congratulations Daena on being the first winner on the Rupp Arena Blog and snagging yourself a pair of great seats and some concert shirts. I will be on-hand at the concert with camera in tote ready to snap some shots of our winner and her guest to put up on the blog.

To everyone else who entered, thanks a bunch. The contest had a much larger response then we could have ever expected and it is safe to say that there will be many more to come. In fact, there is a Blue Man Group giveaway going on right now up until this Wednesday, April 23rd at 5:00 pm EST. There will be many more ticket contests in the future, as well as some giveaways of other items. Stay tuned… same blog time, same blog channel.

$10 Keith & Carrie Tickets!

UPDATE: More sections opened up for the $10 ticket deal including the some in the endzone section of the upper arena. Remember, you still only have until Saturday at 9:00 PM to purchase them, or while they last.

Guess what? The promoter just gave us a heads up that there will be a limited number of seats available for the Keith Urban & Carrie Underwood concert for ONLY $10 for a limited time! It should be known that these seats are in the double letter rows of the upper arena on the sides (wider portions of the arena). This deal excludes sections 213 and 231. Those seats are pretty high up, so you may want to stock up on food with lots of iron in it to prevent your nose from bleeding. That being said, they are $10 tickets! Normally those tickets are $60. You could see a movie on Saturday night, or you could spend the same amount of money and be at a live concert with two great musical artists. We actually got a call from the Arena Manager from another venue who was raving about the show and said it was in the top 5 of best shows he has ever seen. See the seating chart below for $10 ticket sections. The $10 tickets are shown in red.

The $10 seats will go on sale starting tomorrow, April 16th at 10:00 am, and will be available until Saturday, April 19th at 9:00 pm or while supplies last. You can pick them up at all locations: Lexington Center Ticket Office, Ticketmaster outlets, via phone, or on the internet.

Keith Urban / Carrie Underwood Ticket Contest

THIS CONTEST HAS NOW ENDED - CHECK BACK ON MONDAY, APRIL 21 FOR THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE WINNER

Today marks the start of a contest for one lucky person to win a pair of tickets and a pair of concert T-shirts for Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood’s Love, Pain & the whole crazy Carnival Ride Tour coming to Rupp Arena on April 26th. This will be a great way for you to get tickets to the show if you missed out. The tickets we are giving away are in Section 22, Row PP. In case you didn’t know, that is located on the end risers in the bottom half of the lower arena. You will be only a number of rows away from the tip of the stage. Here is a map, since visuals are always better. Check it out!

You need to do the following in order to be able to win the tickets and shirts:

• Leave a comment on this post.
• Include in the comment your favorite Keith Urban and /or Carrie Underwood song.
• Be sure to leave the comment under the email address you want us to contact you at if you win.
• Sit back, wait patiently, and enjoy the ‘whole crazy carnival ride.’

Pretty simple huh? We will then run all the comments through our super-awesome-state of the art-crazy-monkey operated-random-post comment-picker-machine to select a winner. Since it is random, as long as you make sure to post your favorite song by either artist, then you have just as good of a chance as anyone else who enters. Please enter only once as all duplicate entries will be removed and passed along to the worst spam mail site we can find (only kidding, although they will be discarded).

The contest will be running from today, April 11th until Friday, April 18th at 12pm EST. The winner will be announced that following Monday, April 21. The contest will run for a week exactly, and then we will announce the winner almost a week before the concert (technically five days), so there is plenty of time to decide which of your friends or family is going to join you in your extra seat. Not only will you be in some great seats, but you will have concert shirts on your back, all courtesy of the Rupp Arena Blog. With our usual recap of the show, we’ll post a picture of the winners! Think about it, you can be super internet famous as the first Rupp Arena Blog contest winner!

Leave your comment with favorite song(s) below and good luck!

Keith Urban & Carrie Underwood Ticket Contest

I am sure by now everyone knows about the Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood Concert at Rupp Arena two weeks from this Saturday. I am sure some of you already have tickets to the concert as well as some spare cash set aside for a Tshirt or two. Alas, some have neither tickets in hand, and thus no ability to buy merchandise. These unfortunates are stuck at home listening to a studio version of the songs. No need to fret! The Rupp Arena Blog is going to hook you up!

This Friday will mark the start of a contest for one lucky person to win a pair of tickets and a pair of concert Tshirts for Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood’s Love, Pain & the whole crazy Carnival Ride Tour coming to Rupp Arena on April 26th. This will be a great way for you to get tickets to the show if you missed out, or perhaps this could relieve you of the pair you got last minute which are ‘nose-bleeds’ up against the wall. The tickets we are giving away are in Section 22, Row PP. In case you didn’t know, that is located on the end risers in the bottom half of the lower arena. You will be only a number of rows away from the tip of the stage. Here is a map, since visuals are always better. Check it out!

Here is what you need to do in order to be in the drawing for the tickets and shirts. Come Friday, when the official contest is posted, all you need to do is leave a comment on the contest post with your favorite Keith Urban and/or Carrie Underwood song. Be sure to leave the comment with the email you want us to contact you at if you win. Pretty simple huh? We will then run all the comments through our super-awesome-state of the art-crazy-monkey operated-random-comment-picker-machine to select a winner. Since it is random, as long as you make sure to post your favorite song by either artist, then you have just as good of a chance as anyone else who enters.

So stay tuned until Friday, when the contest goes LIVE and you can enter. The contest will be running from Friday, April 11 through Friday, April 18 and the winner will be announced that following Monday, April 21. The contest will run for a week, and then we will announce the winner almost a week before the concert (technically five days), so there is plenty of time to decide which of yours friends and family is going to join you in your extra seat. Not only will you be in some great seats, but you will have concert shirts on your back, all courtesy of the Rupp Arena Blog. We will be sending out an email reminder of the contest to anyone in our First In Line Club, so if you aren’t in the club then you may want to sign up for free.

Through Rain, Sleet, and Snow…

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.

Keith and Carrie Pre-sale

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.