Jason Mraz Xcel Energy Center

Jason Mraz will perform at Xcel Energy Center on Thursday, August 20th at 7 p.m. as part of his
Gratitude Café Tour. Joining Jason Mraz on the Xcel Energy Center show ticket will be G. Love & Special Sauce, K’naan and Bushwalla.

Mraz is doing a standard Xcel Energy Center end stage set-up with a general admission floor. The standing room only floor will be a mess of youngsters so if it were me, I would plan on buying tickets in section 118 or 102 lower level by the stage.

Jason Mraz has plenty of star power and with hits like “I’m Yours” and with all the great songs from his latest album, “We Sing. We Dance. We Steal Things,” you can bet the best Xcel Energy Center tickets will sell quickly. I am sure the Xcel is glad to add Jason Mraz to their list of hot summer concerts.

Keith Urban Pictures and Review

Thanks to Shawna Robertson Photography for the awesome Keith Urban pictures. Shawna went to the Xcel Energy Center show and sat in the 9th row on the floor. She said her seats were amazing and that Keith Urban put on one of best shows she has ever seen. His stage set-up was interesting as was his dialogue and he connected with his audience on many occasions. She said the Xcel Energy Center may be a big venue, but Keith Urban made it feel like an intimate jam session.

If you haven’t seen a show at the Xcel Energy Center, you are missing out and if you have then you know exactly how awesome it can be.

Keith Urban Xcel Energy Center 2009:

Xcel Energy Center Show Recap with Photos

I think the Xcel Energy Center is trying something new with concert fans. A friend of mine went to the Elton John Billy Joel show on Tuesday night and said he had a great time and imagine his surprise when on Wednesday he got a “Thank You” email from the Xcel Energy Center, Billy Joel and Elton John including a link to “exclusive photos.” My friend sent me the link since he knows I write an Xcel Energy Center blog.

I must say the Thank You email is an interesting marketing idea, but I get irritated with all my incoming emails the way it is, I would choose to unsubscribe in a heartbeat and the exclusive photos weren’t any more special than the pictures in the Pioneer Press.

I didn’t make it to Elton John Billy Joel show, but plenty of other people did. The sold-out crowd was reported as 19,960 –that’s a lot of people and a lot of dollar signs for Elton and Billy especially since each St Paul concert ticket was $150 or more!

Here's a photo from the "exclusive" link:

Aerosmith Xcel Energy Center

I guess the Xcel Energy Center heard my plea for more big concert announcements because they just announced that Aerosmith and ZZ Top will be in St Paul on Tuesday September 8th. Talk about a rockers dream ticket. KQRS has been promoting the heck out of the show and it hasn’t even gone on sale to the general public yet. Aerosmith Tickets go on-sale on Saturday April 18th.

The Aerosmith ZZ Top tour is creating a stir in the music industry and is promising to be one of the "best live shows of the summer." Aerosmith is famous with many top hits and to pair up on the ticket with the bearded legends of ZZ Top is phenomenal.

Xcel Energy Center St Paul is proud to host Aerosmith and ZZ Top, but Aerosmith Tickets aren’t cheap! Face value for the Aerosmith St Paul show is $60 - $200 with most tickets priced closer to the $200 range. I am wondering if the steep price will cause the show to sell out quickly or not. Either way you can bet ticket brokers will have their hand in the mix with seats available right up until show time for over face value. This just shows that Rock ‘N Roll is here to stay.

No Doubt and Paramore at Xcel Energy Center

Music venues around the nation are trying to book hot summer concerts and the Xcel Energy Center is no exception. No Doubt with Paramore is slated on Sunday, July 5 at 7:30 p.m. You can bet that plenty of people will be making a stop at the Xcel during their July 4th holiday breaks to see No Doubt return to the big stage. Gwen Stefani is quoted as saying the whole reason for the No Doubt tour is just to have fun, sing their old favorite songs and get inspired to make new music.

I feel like the Target Center Minneapolis is getting a leg up on booking acts right now. The Xcel St Paul gets my vote for a better place to see and hear a concert so I hope they get busy and book more summer shows.

Keith Urban at Xcel Energy Center

When looking over the Xcel Energy Center Schedule, I realized I have not had a chance to “announce” Keith Urban at the Xcel Energy Center on my blog. So here is the “official” Keith Urban Xcel Energy Center announcement:

Keith Urban will be at the Xcel Energy Center on Thursday, May 14 at 7:30 p.m. Opening for Keith Urban will be the Zac Brown Band.

I don’t claim to be a country music expert, but from what I can tell Keith Urban is a pretty big deal. I have read reviews of his live performances before and they are always positive. It looks like the Xcel Energy Seating Diagram has the Keith Urban stage in a horseshoe type pattern with a catwalk out the middle. Keith Urban has won several Grammy Awards and he is married to Hollywood starlet and fellow Australian Nicole Kidman so I doubt country music fans will be disappointed with the music or his on-stage storytelling.

Keith Urban has dubbed this years tour “Escape Together World Tour” and has collected major sponsors such as KC Masterpiece and Kingsford - I think those are fitting sponsors for a country music event - LOL! I checked on ticket master and all I could find was obstructed view tickets so if you haven’t bought your tickets yet, I would recommend using a local broker like Ticket King. Here is the Keith Urban Tickets link. Looks like prices start out at $49 each - not bad, but if you want really good floor level tickets expect to pay $200 or more per ticket.

Hockey Hockey Hockey at Xcel Energy Center

It’s not just the Minnesota Wild skating on the Xcel Energy Center ice in the month of March. The Minnesota State High School Hockey Tournament takes over March 11 – March 14. Minnesota is known for having the most widely attended high school tournament in the nation! Often times the championship game sells-out. Local broker, Ticket King, has even been on the news due to the demand of over face value priced high school tickets. It’s not cheap if you love High School hockey and you aren’t a student at one of the participating schools, but you are guaranteed a great hockey experience.

Also skating on the Xcel Energy Center ice will be the best of college hockey during the WCHA Final Five Tournament on March 19 – March 21. The Gophers hockey team will need to beat St Cloud State this weekend in the first round of WCHA playoffs at Mariucci Arena in order to take the Xcel Energy Center ice this year. Let’s hope they can do it!

Other hockey games in March:
Minnesota Wild vs. Colorado Avalanche Tuesday 3/17/2009 7PM
(St Patrick’s Day)

Minnesota Wild vs. Edmonton Oilers Sunday 3/22/2009 2PM

Minnesota Wild vs. Vancouver Canucks Tuesday 3/31/2009 7PM