Tom Reid's Hockey Bar

My wife and I were down at the Xcel Energy Center yesterday checking to see if the Xcel Energy Center Box Office had any good Wild Tickets for the Minnesota Wild hockey game on 12/31. After getting shutout on the Minnesota Wild Tickets, we decided to grab a few appetizers at Tom Reid's Hockey Bar. It was the first time that I had been there on a non Minnesota Wild game night. The place was empty so I had a chance to check out all of the great NHL and Minnesota Wild memorabilia on the walls. There is some great stuff to check out. I knew that Tom Reid's was an excellent place to grab a cold beer and an order of cheese curds but I had no idea that it was filled with so much hockey memorabilia. Tom Reid's Hockey Pub is definitely worth checking out next time you are at the Xcel Energy center in Saint Paul.

Xcel is all about hockey

The Xcel Energy Center is all about hockey right through the new year. The Xcel hosts the Minnesota Wild four more times in December – click for Minnesota Wild Schedule and then hosts high school boys hockey in the seventh annual Schwans cup December 26th – 28th. –click for Schwans Cup Tournament information. If you love music at the Xcel Energy center, you will have to wait until January 11th when Barry Manilow takes the stage. Happy Holidays Minnesota hockey and Xcel Energy Center fans!

Disney High School Musical

Disneys High School Musical Tour on Ice will be at the Xcel Energy Center this weekend starting on Friday December 16th performing through Sunday December 17th. I know my kids love the High School Musical Characters and are looking forward to singing along to all of their favorite songs. It amazes me how Disney continues to dominate the world of children’s entertainment and how they are so adaptable to our changing society. Whether it’s Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck or Raven and Hannah Montana, Disney has been bringing solid entertainment to the lives of kids for generations. Be sure to buy your High School Musical tickets today!

Xcel Energy Center Superior to Target Center

After going to a recent Timberwolves game at the Target Center, I realized how thankful I am for the Xcel. I know the Xcel Energy Center is newer, but the Target Center just feels so much more dated and there is a different energy at the Xcel in St Paul than at the Target Center Minneapolis. Maybe it’s because the Wild have actually won a few games and the Timberwolves keep coming up short. Regardless of the circumstances, St Paul definitely hit a gold mine with the Xcel Energy Center!

Xcel home to Minnesota Wild 12/5

The Xcel Energy Center is home to the Minnesota Wild NHL hockey team. The Minnesota Wild boast regular sell-outs at the Xcel Energy Center and even call the full Xcel the Wild team of 18,000. Minnesota Wild tickets are hard to fine, but local ticket brokers like Ticket King can always help you out. You pay a little bit more, but if you want to see a Minnesota Wild home game at the Xcel Energy center, you only have a few choices: 1. Join the Minnesota Wild Season Ticket waiting list and be prepared to pay thousands of dollars for a season ticket package 2. Wait in line for days outside of the Xcel Energy Center before the single Wild game on-sale or 3. Buy from local ticket brokers like Ticket King.

Two Bon Jovi Shows

Just as I suspected, there are now two Bon Jovi shows confirmed at the Xcel Energy Center in March. Around twenty minutes after the show on 3/18 went on sale through Ticketmaster, the next show on 3/19 went on sale. There are still seats available for both shows through Ticketmaster if you are picky about your ticket location. For those of you that are big fans, you will need to buy your seats in the after market and you can find really good Xcel Energy Center Concert Tickets for either Bon Jovi seats at just over the face value of the tickets. As I wrote in a previous post, 36,000 Bon Jovi tickets is too much supply for this market to handle and the low prices are proof of this. Unless you are dying for the best seats in the house, make sure that you don't pay too much because I suspect that the prices will drop.

Bon Jovi Rocks Xcel 3/18

Bon Jovi has announced a concert at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. The concert is scheduled for 3/18/2008. However, there is a rumor that he will actually play two shows. I don't think that Bon Jovi will sell out both shows even though they historically sell tons of tickets. It will also hurt the Bon Jovi demand that Bruce Springtseen Tickets have already gone on sale for the Xcel Energy Center and the show is 3/16/2008. There is definitely cross-over between the two groups of fans and there is only so much entertainment money to go around. My recommendation is to be picky about seat location and price for Bon Jovi because 36,000 Xcel Energy Center Tickets is a lot to sell.

Bruce Springsteen Coming Back

Bruce Springsteen announced another show at the Xcel Energy Center. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are set to come back to the Xcel on March 16th for an encore performance. He obviously loves the Twin Cities and the Xcel Energy Center because this show is the only announced show after his winter tour wraps up in a couple of days. My hunch is that the ticket demand won't be what it was for his last show. With only four months between shows, there will be a Bruce Springsteen "overdose" on the Twin Cities concert fans. My advice is that if you aren't picky about ticket location, don't pay too much for seats because there should be plenty of supply. Check back to the Xcel Energy Center Tickets web site for Bruce Springsteen tickets.

Xcel Energy Center Entertainment Schedule

The Xcel Energy Center is one of my favorite venues in the nation to see a concert and I am not just saying that because I am from St Paul. It has great sight lines, easy parking options, great sound system, wonderful concourses – it’s the total package. When I was looking over the Xcel Energy Center Schedule, I noticed a lack of entertainment besides hockey for the month of December. I have relatives coming to town for the Holidays and I was sorely disappointed that the “X” didn’t have anything that I could dazzle them with. I know last year Martina McBride was here for a holiday concert, but this year I guess the Xcel didn’t sign any entertainment acts. I did notice there were a lot of Wild hockey games to choose from! Even without music, it will be a busy December for the Xcel Energy Center.

What's up with Rascal Flatts Tickets?

The country music sensation Rascal Flatts visits the Xcel Energy Center tomorrow night and ticket prices are sky high! The rule of thumb is that tickets to country music shows don't fetch the same kind of dough as tickets to rock shows. However, there are always possible exceptions to this rule and Rascal Flatts Tickets at the Xcel Energy Center is definitely one of them.

When was the last country concert where it was impossible to buy a ticket in the first ten rows the night before the show? When was the last country show where "mediocre" lower level tickets were selling for over $200? When was the last country show where there wasn't one group of four tickets available in any location? If you answered Rascal Flatts at the Xcel Energy Center to the above three questions, you were correct. So, if you don't already have your Xcel Energy Center Tickets for Rascal Flatts, you just might be S.O.L!

Bruce Springsteen Show Coming Up

Bruce Springsteen is coming to the Xcel Energy Center on November 2nd and Springsteen fans are definitely excited. Reserved tickets are expensive and hard to find, but it should be a stellar show at a stellar arena. If you plan on going, you better buy your Bruce Springsteen tickets soon! Even waiting until the last minute may not yield cheaper ticket prices from ticket strapped brokers.

Rascal Flatts Still Hot

Rascal Flatts Tickets are still hot hot hot in the Twin Cities. Their Xcel Energy Center Show is Saturday October 27th and is SOLD OUT! Local ticket brokers have a few options left, but not many. In fact, the average ticket price is higher for Rascal Flatts than for Hannah Montana at the Target Center (she seems to be getting ALL the media these days). If you want to see the St. Paul Rawcal Flatts show, you better scoop up tickets fast because they won’t be getting any cheaper!

Minnesota Wild at Xcel Energy Center

I realize this is my third post in a row about the Minnesota Wild, but let’s face it, they are hot right now. The Wild will face off against division rival Edmonton Oilers on Wednesday night on their home ice at the Xcel Energy Center St Paul. The Wild are going into the game 2-0, while the Oilers are 2-1. The Oilers will give the Wild their first taste of playing a super competitive team. I am not discounting the efforts by the Blackhawks or the Blue Jackets, but Edmonton is just simply a tougher team. The Wild will need to lace up their skates and get ready to battle because every win counts. You can still get tickets for cheap from Ticket King and I know they have an office just down the block from the Xcel that makes picking tickets up a breeze. Go Wild!

Minnesota Wild Regular Season

As a resident of Saint Paul, nothing makes me happier than seeing an extra 18,000 people downtown St. Paul on a Thursday night. Thanks to the Minnesota Wild, there was a reason for that to occur downtown St. Paul tonight. The Minnesota Wild opened their regular season schedule tonight versus the Chicago Blackhawks and the streets around the Xcel Energy Center were packed with Minnesota Wild fans. If you weren't lucky enough to be at the Minnesota Wild home opener tonight, don't worry. There are 40 more opportunities for you to buy Minnesota Wild Tickets and experience St. Paul and the "State of Hockey".

Minnesota Wild Preseason Ends

The Minnesota Wild ended the preseason tonight at the Xcel Energy Center with a 5-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. Normally, I don't pay much attention to the Wild Ticket market for the preseason games but I couldn't help but notice that there was actually demand for them this year. Most notable, was the fact that Minnesota Wild Tickets for the game tonight were actually being sold for close to face value. I checked Ticket King's website this afternoon and they only had two seats left. If there was big demand for Wild Tickets for the preseason, I can only imagine what the demand will be for the regular season. GO WILD!!!

October Xcel Energy Center Schedule

The Xcel Energy Center has a busy October schedule with the NHL Minnesota Wild back on the ice, a variety of concerts and even a college hockey tournament. Buy tickets to your favorite Xcel Energy Center events early because the best seats always sell out fast. The month of October will be busy for the Xcel and the city of St Paul!

Bruce Springsteen Nov. 2nd

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band are coming to the Xcel Energy Center, Saint Paul on Friday November 2, 2007 07:30 PM. Springsteen will have an end stage set-up with a general admission floor. “The Boss” is well known for his marathon shows in which he and the E Street Band revolve amongst intense ballads, rousing anthems, and party rock and roll songs, with Springsteen telling long whimsical or deeply emotional stories in between.

Bruce Springsteen was just at the Xcel not too long ago when he featured songs from his Seeger Sessions album, influenced by the radical musical activism of Pete Seeger. The tour did great in Europe, but some US cities, particularly conservative cites, reported sparse attendance. Bruce Springsteen is hitting the road again to promote his newest album entitled Magic that is set to come out October 2nd. Bruce Springsteen has sold over 60 million albums in the U.S. alone and is sure to sell out the Xcel Energy Center so be sure to buy Bruce Springsteen tickets early.

Gopher Hockey at the Xcel

It is no secret that the Xcel Energy Center is one of the best locations to watch a hockey game. As home to the NHL Minnesota Wild, I think Minnesotans often take the "X" for granted. The awesome sight lines, the open concourses, the ease of parking, the light and sound system and the energy of watching hockey at the Xcel Energy Center is an experience to remember. On Friday October 12th and Saturday October 13th, the Xcel Energy Center will smooth it’s ice for the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers and three other top notch hockey teams for the Ice Breaker Invitational. The University of Minnesota will be representing the WCHA, Boston College from Hockey East, University of Michigan from the CCHA, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) of ECAC Hockey. Buy your Ice Breaker Invitation tickets now!

Friday, October 12
Michigan Wolverines vs. Boston College Eagles - 4:30 p.m. CDT
RPI Engineers vs. Minnesota Golden Gophers - 7:30 p.m. CDT

Saturday, October 13
Consolation - 4:30 p.m. CDT
Championship - 7:30 p.m. CDT

Andre Rieu

Classical violinist and conductor Andre Rieu will be performing live at the Xcel Energy Center St Paul on October 17th 2007 at 7:30 p.m. Rieu is rated as one of Billboards top classical artisits and is known for his spirited violin playing that encourages concert goers to waltz in the aisles. Tickets for Andre Rieu are often hard to come by for an average fan as many of the seats are reserved for public television pledges. Known as the "Modern King of Waltz", Andre Rieu is sure to put on a great St Paul Concert, but buy tickets early or you may be disappointed with the seat selection. Andre Rieu Xcel Energy Center.

Rascal Flatts in Concert 10/27

For those of you starved for a solid show at the Xcel Energy center, I have good news. Rascal Flatts is set to invade the Xcel Energy Center October 27th. The show is going to be the normal set up with the stage at one and and three main floor sections. It looks as though it sold extremely fast through Ticketmaster on Saturday and that the Ticket Brokers are asking substantially over the face value for seats up close. Last year, Rascal Flatts played at the Minnesota State Fair and you couldn't find a seat the week of the show so don't delay buying your Rascal Flatts tickets at the Xcel Energy Center.

Minnesota Wild Pre-Season

The Xcel Energy Center is home to the NHL Minnesota Wild and the Minnesota Wild Hockey Season is right around the corner. The first Wild pre-season game is just one month away on September 18th vs. rival Detroit Red Wings. Wild tickets are pretty cheap for the pre-season games so it’s a great chance to get out and see a great NHL hockey game at the top-notch Xcel Arena in St. Paul. You can get tickets from local Minnesota ticket broker Ticket King for around $20 and sit in section 229 row 5. That’s an upper level seat, but any one who has been to the Xcel Energy Center knows there really isn’t a bad seat in the house. From section 229 you can see all of the fast Minnesota Wild Hockey action and you can see the Wild goalie make all the big saves in the first and third periods and see Wild hotshots score on the Detroit Red Wings during the second period. Let’s go Wild!

American Idols Tickets

What is up with the crappy shows this summer at the Xcel Energy Center. The American Idols come to the Xcel Energy Center on 8/4 and it appears as though tickets to this show are just as easy to find as the Jackfest seats were last week. Would someone please announce a tour that matters so that I have an excuse to get a babysitter for my kids and head down to the St. Paul Xcel Energy Center for some solid entertainment. However, if you are bored tomorrow and you are looking for some super cheap entertainment, the American Idols Concert is a good option. I expect seats to be selling for less than 1/2 of the face value outside the X.

Worthless Jackfest Tickets

The Jackfest concert at the Xcel Energy Center tonight was one of the most worthless concert tickets that I have ever seen at the Xcel Energy Center. Where did the promoter of this show get off charging close to $100/ticket for a bunch of 80's performers well past their primes? They obviously realized their mistake when they started selling the tickets for 1/2 price. When that didn't work, the Xcel Energy Center Box Office actually lowered prices to $10.41. What a joke! If they had simply started out charging around $50/ticket, they wouldn't have scared off the majority of people that were willing to buy tickets. I hope that the Xcel Energy Center learned their lesson and won't get greedy the next time that they schedule such a mediocre show.

Velvet Revolver and Alice in Chains

The schedule of mediocre shows at the Xcel Energy Center just got more mediocre with the addition of Alice in Chains and Velvet Revolver on August 29th. This show is similar to the Maroon 5 show in that Xcel Energy center is too big. What happened to he days when fringe bands played at small intimate venues? If you are interested in seeing this show, you can buy average lower level tickets for around $50/ticket directly from the Xcel Energy Center Box Office or excellent lower level seats on any number of online sites for $119/ticket. The floor is general admission which generally ads some demand for the best lower level seats.

Maroon 5 Announces Xcel Energy Center Date

Maroon 5 just announced a show on 10/1/2007 at the Xcel Energy Center. The Xcel Energy Center seems a little big for Maroon 5, especially because they are charging $180/Ticket for the first ten rows on the floor. Who do they think they are, the Rolling Stones? I would recommend buying the second price level which is around $50/Ticket and still offers an excellent view of the stage. However, If you are dying to be in the first ten rows on the floor, I would hang tight and wait for them to lower the price because there is no way that the young Maroon 5 fans can afford that kind of money.

Police Ticket Supply Tightens Up?

If you live in the Twin Cities, you couldn't help but catch one of the numerous TV stories or newspaper articles on how Xcel Energy Center Tickets for the Police were worthless. The media darlings at Ticket King were all over the news claiming that the prices were going to continue to drop as the Police Concert approached. They were dead wrong! My buddy went down to the "X" at concert time and couldn't find a ticket at any price. Apparently, the word got out that there was going to be an abundance of Police Tickets available the night of the show which totally increased the demand for the tickets. It sounds like a lot of people got left out on the corner of 7th. and Kellogg. I hope that they played Police music at the Eagle Street Grilles. I guess that this is just another example of the power of the media.

Tool at Xcel Energy Center 6/26/2007

The prices on Tool Tickets for the show tomorrow at the Xcel Energy Center have plummeted in recent weeks. It is now possible to buy tickets in section 102 or 118, which is the best lower level section, for as little as $69/Ticket. I think that is basically face value and is around half as much as the same seats were selling for a few weeks ago. These prices are a far cry from what Tool Tickets were selling at for the show last May at the Orpheum Theatre in Minneapolis. This is definitely a prime example of what happens when you more than triple the supply. Show should be great and the tickets are cheap so go check out Tool at the Xcel Energy Center.

Kelly Clarkson Cancels Show at Xcel Energy Center

The Kelly Clarkson show scheduled for 7/27 at the Xcel Energy Center has been canceled due to a lack of ticket sales. I was told by the Xcel Energy Center that they will be giving full refunds for everyone who purchased tickets directly from the Xcel Energy Center Box Office and that those people who purchased tickets through Ticketmaster have to contact them for a refund.

Tim McGraw and Faith Hill

Tim McGraw and Faith Hill are scheduled to play this Friday at the Xcel Energy Center. The show is going to be in the round where the main stage is placed right in the center of the main floor. My experience tells me that the place to sit for this show at the Xcel Energy Center is between sections 102-105 or 115-118. There is no reason to spend more money for main floor seats when slightly elevated seats give you a better view of the entire stage.

By the looks of things, there aren't any super bargains to be had on tickets to this show. I am sure that the fact that last time the two of them were here, they played multiple shows, has a ton to do with the increased ticket demand this time around. You might just want to open your purse strings now in order to guarantee good seats to this show.

Ticket Scalping Legal 7/1/2007

For those of you who didn't hear, the sale of a ticket at over the face value will become legal in Minnesota starting 7/1/2007. It will be very interesting to see what effect the change in the law will have on the Minnesota Wild and the Xcel Energy Center Ticket market. My hunch is that other than the opening of a few store front ticket operations, the consumer won't notice the change in law. The Internet has allowed people the opportunity to sell tickets at over face value to consumers in the Minnesota for a long time. I am happy that Minnesota finally got with the times and recognized that tickets are no different of a commodity than anything else and that the market should dictate what they are sold for, not the government.

American Idols Live Tickets

American Idols Live is coming to the Xcel Energy Center 8/4/2007 at 7:30. In years past, that tour has been an extremely tight ticket. This year, it appears as though seats to this concert will be much easier to come by. As of today, there are still plenty of tickets available through Ticketmaster and it possible to buy great main floor and lower level tickets for prices that are barely over the ticket face value. So, if you dig American Idols Live on TV, you have an affordable opportunity to see all of you favorites at the acoustically superior Xcel Energy Center on 8/4/2007.

Xcel Energy Center is #1