Culture Fiend

Red Hot Chili Peppers to Play KeyArena in November

Are they still relevant? Discuss.

Posted by: Seth Sommerfeld on Apr 16, 2012 at 02:00PM 0 Comments

Red Hot Chili Peppers still rocking after all these years.

Photo courtesy Focka/Flickr.

KeyArena continues to bring the rock this year. With Radiohead in the rearview mirror and Coldplay, Roger Waters, and The Black Keys already on the horizon, LiveNation announced that Red Hot Chili Peppers will swing through Seattle on November 15. It’s a bit unclear how relevant RHCP remains since the departure of guitarist John Frusciante a few years back. The band’s latest album, 2011’s I’m with You, hasn’t caught on as much as previous efforts did. But even if the band is in its twilight, Flea and co. still have a catalog of great, arena-ready singles to crank out. It just seems a bit silly that tickets are going on sale seven months before the show.

Then again, it’s not as absurd as the other KeyArena show with tickets going on sale this Saturday: British boy band One Direction’s July 23 concert. Oh, wait, that’s July 23, 2013. And while most non-14-year-old girls or frequent Saturday Night Live viewers probably haven’t even heard of One Direction, tickets to the group’s show will sell waaaaaaaaay faster than RHCP (One Direction’s Madison Square Garden show last December sold out in 10 minutes). Rock ‘n’ roll in the modern era, ladies and gentlemen.

Tickets to see Red Hot Chili Peppers go on sale this Saturday at 10am at livenation.com.

Red Hot Chili Peppers
Nov 15 @ 8, $75, KeyArena

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Tags: Concert, Music, Ticket Alerts, KeyArena

Madonna to Play KeyArena in October

And tickets are already going on sale.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Feb 07, 2012 at 02:00PM 0 Comments

Madonna previewed new single “Give Me All Your Luvin’”—featuring M.I.A. and Nicki Minaj (pictured)—during the Super Bowl.

Turns out Madonna’s Super Bowl halftime show was just a warmup for a year of stadium concerts. Madge and Live Nation announced today that she’s hitting the road on Memorial Day, touring behind her new album MDNA (due out March 26)—and she’ll be in Seattle on October 2. (UPDATED 2/13/12. A second show on October 3 has been added; tickets go on sale February 21 at 10am.) Her KeyArena show is bound to be a high point of Seattle Center’s 50th anniversary celebration of the World’s Fair, which runs April through October and already includes appearances by Radiohead, Coldplay, and the Black Keys.

But if we had to hold out for one show, it’d be the Material Girl’s. Who else will bring along an army of backup dancers dressed as gladiators? She’s still got it at 53—and she can draw a larger audience than the biggest game in American sports. According to the Nielsen ratings, more than 114 million tuned into her halftime show on Sunday night, while Manning v. Brady drew 113.3 million viewers. Madonna, 1. Football, 0.

Madonna World Tour 2012
October 2, KeyArena; tickets go on sale February 13, 10am, at ticketmaster.com

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Tags: Concert, Ticket Alerts, Seattle Center, KeyArena

Radiohead to Play KeyArena on April 9

Tickets go on sale this Saturday.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Jan 11, 2012 at 10:30AM 0 Comments

Thom Yorke and crew come to Seattle this spring.

Very interesting. First Coldplay announces an April 25 concert at KeyArena. And now Radiohead is coming on April 9 as a warmup to their mid-April headlining gig at Coachella Music Festival in California. It doesn’t matter if you’re a fan of ‘90s arena rock—this is good news all around. It means that KeyArena bookers, in the thick of planning a spring/summer concert season to coincide with the 50th anniversary celebration of the Seattle World’s Fair, are getting the big national acts over Tacoma Dome.

And with Bruce Springsteen, Madonna, and the Rolling Stones considering a North America tour this year—in addition to the Black Keys, who already have a Portland date on the calendar (UPDATED and now a local date!) —Seattle could be in for a very big spring. Here’s hoping.

Tickets ($70) to see Radiohead at KeyArena on April 9 go on sale this Saturday at 10am at ticketmaster.com.

KeyArena shows confirmed:

Blake Shelton, Mar 9
Lady Antebellum, Mar 20
Coldplay, April 25
UPDATED The Black Keys with Arctic Monkeys, May 8, tickets on sale Jan 20 at 10am
Roger Waters: The Wall Live, May 24
Neil Diamond, July 23

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Tags: Concert, Ticket Alerts, KeyArena

Guns N’ Roses: A Lamentation

We had the LA rockers on repeat for about a decade—but we can’t bring ourselves to see them in concert this Friday.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Dec 15, 2011 at 11:00AM 0 Comments

It just ain’t the same anymore.

I’m not afraid to say that Guns N’ Roses helped me make friends. I had just started a study abroad program in Melbourne, Australia, and was living in a dorm full of locals who weren’t as enamored with my accent as I was with theirs. It’s not like I had moved to Tokyo, but yeah, there was a little culture shock. Start with the guy on my hallway who actually used all the Aussie slang printed on coffee mugs in tourist shops: “chockablock,” “good on ya,” “fair dinkum.” They slathered tar on their toast and called it Vegemite. They hated peanut butter.

The only common ground I found in the beginning was “beer”…until I heard Slash’s guitar solo to “Sweet Child o’ Mine” through my next-door neighbor’s walls. I knew that solo. I loved that solo. Not back when they first debuted Appetite for Destruction— I was only six, and Slash wasn’t the greatest role model —but through high school and college, when I played GNR on repeat for the better part of a decade. It was “Welcome to the Jungle” and “Paradise City” before every soccer game, and “November Rain” when I was mad at my mom for not letting me wear man-sized flannel shirts to school. And when I daydreamed about fronting a rock band, I always started my set with a cover of “Sweet Child o’ Mine.” If Axl could hit those falsetto notes, imagine what a girl could do!

It seemed my Aussie wallmate had the same daydream. Aaron, a skinny redhead who disappeared behind his electric guitar, had been perfecting the Slash solo in his dorm room—with the door open—for the better part of an hour. I got up the nerve to peek in, offered some kind of lame compliment, and then got to chatting about how amazing it would be to see GNR live. The rest, they say, is ace.

Fast forward to today. A week after Guns N’ Roses entered the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (beating out Northwest favorites Heart, no less), a ghostly shade of the band is slated to play KeyArena this Friday. And it’s killing me. It’s as close as I’ll ever get to seeing them live, but this is imitation GNR. A cover band. Axl Rose, now with cornrows, and his backing seven. Sure, Duff McKagan’s new band Loaded will open, and I hear the concerts are three-hour epics, but when it comes to the international language of Slash’s guitar solo, I’d rather hear the original.

Guns N’ Roses plays KeyArena Dec 16 at 8.

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Tags: Concert, KeyArena

TONIGHT: Cirque’s Michael Jackson The Immortal World Tour

MJ lives! Sort of.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Nov 09, 2011 at 09:00AM 1 Comments

The same week that Michael Jackson’s doctor is found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, Cirque du Soleil rolls into Seattle with a sequined reminder that MJ’s legacy goes beyond the courthouse. For Michael Jackson The Immortal World Tour, Cirque’s nimble dancers and acrobats bound around to a soundtrack of his greatest hits, directed by former backup dancer Jamie King (who also did tours for Madonna and Britney Spears) and Chantal Tremblay (who helped design The Beatles Love show in Vegas). Like most Cirque shows, there’s a very loose storyline, something about a mime walking us through Jackson’s life, but let’s be honest: We’re going to watch zombies dance to “Thriller.” To see MJ’s “Smooth Criminal” moves recreated, and to sing along to “Billie Jean” without fear of retribution. This is actually it. If there’s an oversized dancing glove, so be it.

Michael Jackson: The Immortal World Tour by Cirque du Soleil is at KeyArena on Nov 9 & 10.

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Tags: KeyArena, Guilty Pleasure, Michael Jackson, Cirque du Soleil

Half-Off Tickets for The Lord of the Rings in Concert

My precious.

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Sep 08, 2011 at 02:30PM 0 Comments

Photo courtesy The Lord of the Rings In Concert: The Fellowship of the Ring.

Those of you who’ve peeked at our Fall Arts Preview know I have a soft spot for all things Lord of the Rings, and named The Lord of the Rings in Concert: The Fellowship of the Ring one of seven guilty pleasures this season. (What you don’t know is that my Gollum impersonation is excellent.)

Anyway, you get to watch Frodo start his quest to save Middle-earth on a 60-foot screen at KeyArena as the Munich Symphony Orchestra, Pacific Chorale, and Phoenix Boys Choir perform Howard Shore’s Oscar-winning score live. Any self-respecting fan will be there—this isn’t on the extended version DVDs.

One slight snag: Tickets are kind of expensive, ranging from $40–$170 plus fees, first-born child, etc. But Travelzoo is currently offering a deal for subscribers:

The following seats are discounted to the Oct 19, 7:30pm performance at KeyArena:

- 200 Level seats … $23.50 (reg. $47)
- Floor and 100 Level seats … $36 (reg. $72)

Not sure how long it’ll last, so get on it. I’ll see you there for a round of high-class geekery.

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Tags: Concert, Film, KeyArena, Geekery

New Song from Macklemore and Ryan Lewis: “Can’t Hold Us”

Posted by: Laura Dannen on Aug 16, 2011 at 11:30AM 0 Comments

Livin’ large (From left) DJ Ryan Lewis and Macklemore

Well, this is different—in a good way. The latest from Seattle rapper Macklemore and DJ-producer Ryan Lewis is more of a party track than earnest hip hop, featuring Seattle gospel singer Ray Dalton on the chorus. It’s 11:30am and I feel like clubbing…and I don’t even like clubbing.

Want to see these guys live? They open for rapper Wiz Khalifa at the KeyArena mainstage of Bumbershoot on Sunday, Sept 4, at 8pm.

Macklemore X Ryan Lewis – Can’t Hold Us Feat. Ray Dalton by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis

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Tags: Concert, KeyArena, Macklemore, Bumbershoot 2011, Seattle Music

TONIGHT: Free Ice Skate at KeyArena

The Smuckers Stars on Ice show left the ice behind—now we get to play.

Posted by: Katie Ormsby on Mar 01, 2011 at 10:00AM 0 Comments

Skate for free tonight at KeyArena.

You know that tiny ice rink at Seattle Center that gets overcrowded every winter? This is better—much better. KeyArena is leaving the ice from Friday’s Smuckers Stars on Ice show in place, and opening up the rink to the public for one night only. Unleash your inner Evan Lysacek from 3–5:30 and 6–8:30 tonight. It’s free and all ages are welcome, so this makes the perfect night out with the kids, after-work party, or excuse to practice those triple axels…or figure eights. No one’s judging. Get there early because skates will be distributed on a first-come, first-served basis (sizes: kid’s sizes 6–13, women’s 1–11, and men’s 1–14).

Keyarena.com has all the details.

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Tags: Free Stuff, KeyArena