Concert

The Intrust Bank Arena is nominated for the Best New Major Concert Venue award by P ollstar Magazine. A total of four nominated venues were announced last week. Pollstar is a weekly trade magazine for the concert industry. Voting is done by Pollstar subscribers and takes place between November 12 and December 17th. The arena opened in January of 2010 and is owned by Sedgwick County.

Organizers at the Wichita River Festival put on the final touches Friday morning, in preparation for the party's 40th year by the Arkansas River. They checked the booths at the Food Court, which has now moved to west of Century II, they made sure the ticket booths were up and ready and tested the sound equipment. Things officially got underway the same way they do every year, with the Sundown Parade and Admiral Windwagon Smith XXXVIII leading the way. This year, Dr. Jay Decker and the Wichita Symphony Orchestra performed on opening night at the Koch Twilight Pops Concert.

By John Boyd (WICHITA, Kan.) George Strait and Reba McEntire will play to a sold-out crowd at Intrust Bank Arena tonight.  The country duo's show starts at 7:00 tonight. Arena officials tell us the concert sold out in a little more than two hours. 15,000 people are expected to attend the show. Intrust Bank Arena Parking Information The event kicks off a busy weekend for the arena.  The Lipizzaner Stallions are set for two shows on Saturday, then the Wichita Thunder take the ice on Sunday.

Willie Nelson  has rescheduled a Kansas concert that was recently postponed for Sept. 20. The country legend had been scheduled to perform April 23 at United Wireless Arena in Dodge City. But Nelson scrubbed that show and two others around the country last week because of an undisclosed illness. If you had purchased tickets for the show on April 23,  they will be honored at the September 20 show.  If you are unable to attend the new concert date, refunds are available at your point of purchase until June 30, 2011.  There will be no refunds issued after June 30, 2011.

By John Boyd (WICHITA, Kan.) Additional seats are now available for the sold out Elton John and Billy Joel concert, March 3rd at Intrust Bank Arena. The arena says the approximately 400 tickets include seats from the artist's personal allotment and are available now for purchase through the venue box office, all select-a seat outlets, charge by phone at 316-755-SEAT or online at selectaseat.com or livenation.com. In a press release, Live Nation President, Bob Roux said, "The seats that have been released are fantastic and the audience sight lines are perfect on both sides of the stage.

Hartman Arena announced Wednesday afternoon that the rest of Miranda Cosgrove's tour has been cancelled after a bus accident on August 12. That was the same day Cosgrove - the star of iCarly - was scheduled to perform at Hartman Arena. The arena sent out a press release quoting Cosgrove's website as saying "Due to the severe ankle injury she suffered in a bus accident last week, Miranda Cosgrove has to cancel the rest of her tour to take the time to properly recover, per doctor's order.

By Chris Durden (WICHITA, Kan.) Billy Joel will end his U.S. tour with Elton John soon after the two play at Wichita's INTRUST Bank Arena next week. The move comes after Joel reportedly decided to take a year off from performing. Joel recently went through a divorce and his daughter was hospitalized after taking medication to deal with depression. Sir Elton John told WGN-TV in Chicago, "as far as I know, there will be no more Billy and Elton shows after the Albany show in New York on March 11th and that breaks my heart since I was so looking forward to coming back there.

The September 17 Van Halen concert at INTRUST Bank Arena has been postponed. The band has cancelled more than 30 shows after its June 26 concert in New Orleans. There's no explanation as to why the concerts were cancelled or when and if they'll be rescheduled. Other cancelled shows include Salt Lake City, El Paso, Philadelphia , Baltimore, Detroit, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Memphis, Spokane, Reno, Fresno and Milwaukee. The arena's website says those seeking refunds should call 316-755-SEAT (7328)

A Kansas boy is quickly becoming the talk of the town as the next piano man. Mason Lough, 11, made headlines when he played "Colder Weather" at the Zac Brown Band concert at Intrust Bank Arena last weekend. It's that song that's music to everyone's ears around the web. The 11-year-old has been playing piano since he was 3 years old. He started with "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" and has worked his way up to some of the classics. Mason says one of his dreams came true last weekend when the band invited him on stage in Wichita to play his favorite song "Colder Weather.

Hutchinson, Kan. – The Kansas State Fair has confirmed Kool & The Gang – known for funky R&B hits such as “Celebration” and “Get Down On It” – for a Saturday, Sept. 10 performance at the U.S. Cellular Grandstand. Tickets for Kool & the Gang will go on sale June 29 at 8 a.m. Pop band Hot Chelle Rae rounds out the lineup with an opening performance for Big Time Rush’s concert on Sunday, Sept. 18.Tickets for Big Time Rush with Hot Chelle Rae are on sale now. The Kansas State Fair will run Sept.