WICHITA — Country fans have a lot to like about Intrust Bank Arena so far.
Brad Paisley is the arena’s inaugural act Jan. 9. News of Taylor Swift’s April 1st show came shortly after that. And Tim McGraw announced he’ll play there June 11.
Now, country legends George Strait and Reba McEntire will play the arena together Feb. 19.
“The ‘King of Country’ is back!” heralds a press release from the tour promoter, and “. . . this time, he’s bringing along one very special lady.”
Strait is a 17-time CMA Entertainer of the Year.
McEntire is a four-time CMA Female Vocalist of the Year.
64 Comments
Once a cowtown, always a cowtown. I am so, so glad I moved away.
mywifee69′ So Glad You Did…………….
when are we getting a list for rock concerts .that’s your real money maker
I think its great we are getting concerts. And seriously does it really matter who is playing as long as we get it filled with events. If you don’t like it then the Sprint Center in KC holds many many concerts. And the parking there is close and so is the Power and Light district.
And Fredparman.. DITTO!!!!
I’m not thrilled about the country concerts. Give us non-country fans something to see…
I think it is GREAT that they are doing such a great job getting events lined up for the arena, but it would be even greater to see more variety. Wichita is filled with people who love different kinds of music and activities. Not complaining, just waiting to see some pop and rock too.
More Cowboy Crap…Please try to diversify your acts/performers a little.
Rap is Crap
Wow!!!!!!!!!!
This is so cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I’ve seen them all performing and think they are terrific performers.
Yee haw???
Yeah! They aren’t going to bring in any rap concerts. Those attendees will just shoot up the place.
So when are tickets for these concerts going to go on sale? The arena Web site says nothing about obtaining tickets. The Web site sucks.
When is Slim Whitman coming to town?
Most everyone of these events have been at the Coliseum or would gladly have played there……..Where are all the new events that this arena was suppose to bring in?
I don’t recall George Strait ever coming to Wichita.
As long as Country Music remains the most popular form of music it will probably have the most touring acts…is NYC a cowtown because Garth Brooks played in Central Park?
im no fan of rap myself and i won’t knock those that are however i agree we need some variety. At the end of the day all money is green whether it come from rap, rock, r & B, pop…sooooo many genres so little variety. Im disapointed in the Arena
George was last here in 1993 or 94. Reba was here last year.
“And seriously does it really matter who is playing as long as we get it filled with events.”
Yes, Ruthie, it does because what IBA management is saying is that unless you’re a country fan or a hockey fan, they have no real interest in having you over for an event at their nice, new, big, fancy house that ALL OF US helped pay for. Oh, sure. Throw us the Globetrotters or a comedian or an occasional rock star and maybe we’ll think we’re one of the cool kids. Go ahead and line up the calendar with a majority of country acts just because of our location. Does IBA management really think all the country fans will be able or willing to support EVERY SINGLE ONE? At the prices these entertainers command and the fact that our economy is in recession, something tells me that most families aren’t going to be able cough up an extra $200 a month on concert tickets.
I’ve seen King George here several times. He does an AMAZING show! I’m so excited to see both King George and Queen Reba in the same show! Now, when do tickets go on sale, because I want to order them NOW!
Be patient people, the rock and lady Ga Ga shows will pop up before you know it. The place isnt even open yet, give it time. True these country artists minus Taylor Swift, may have played the crapasium, but over a ten year time frame, instead of a few months time span.
Cooooooool!! The acts announced so far are good, but THIS is the act that will make me “whip out my wallet and spend some money.” Can’t get much better than George & Reba!!
great more country
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Seriously? I am so upset by the above responses. What is wrong with Wichita being a “Cowtown”? There are MANY cities that have “embraced” their “cowtown history” and done well! As far as the concerts… WAY TO GO WICHITA! The first complaint when Brad Paisley was announced was that “he would not draw people from out of town to the city”… well, now you have “George”. George does not tour much and does have a following a fans. BTW.. I think George last performed in Wichita in 1996…, it will have been 14 years since he played in the city JDL535 when he perfumes in February…, be happy for your town!!! I have not lived in Wichita in 2 years.., but it is my hometown…, I am proud of what is happening! Keep up the good work and providing me a reason to come home!!!
Will all concerts at the new arena be news items with free publicity provided by the cheerleading Wichita Eagle?
I’ll back you up KS_people. Just moved from santonio, I love it here. The people in power are making all the right moves. Go Wichita. Never mind the nayers. Tulsa’s blogs were filled with the same negativity about there BOK center. The people will come to terms with the urban transition on there own time. I mean they kind of have to, or move to Hutchinson or Dodge City. It might be a little more there speed.
I’ll go to IBA when they ever bring some good rock concerts until then I’ll be at the Cotillion. Even then you can’t beat cotillion for bringing up-and-coming and some great mainstream acts to ict. Plus anywhere in that building is like being “up front”
Gee, I keep repeating myself: IBA is a *venue*. Look that up in your Funk & Wagnalls (bonus points if you get the reference) if you don’t know what that word means.
These concerts are NOT being presented by IBA, they are being presented by OUTSIDE promoters (Live Nation, mostly). Live Nation is the concert end of Clear Channel, who saturates the airwaves with these same artists.
IBA is where these shows will be performed, but for the most part SMG has no direct financial participation in the success or failure of the event. They are not investors, they are not the promoter/presenter.
That said, the way to get more variety in entertainment offerings is to attend the kinds of shows you want to see more of. A promoter will not bring in any act if they think they will not make a profit. That’s how it works, kids.
I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.
guess we paid all that money for a yee-haw venue. and you idiots on here wanting rap/hip-hop, it wont happen in wichita. they cant even sell out cotillion shows. and you think they would sell out or even BREAK EVEN at IBA? get a life. we dont need the thugs and violence that would come with 50 cent or jay-z or any of that trash. the real money is in the rock shows.
and bone, just live here for a while, you opinion will change.
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-HAAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
This isn’t your average wanna be country/rock stars. This is the real deal, George and Reba the King and Queen of country music. Reba was here last year but George was doing the big stadium multi performer concerts. The last time he was in Wichita was 1996 he did a concert in the round, awesome show!!!1
mywife69, we’re glad you moved away too!
ROCKNROLLTAZ are you saying that rock bands are civilized, law abiding citizens?
WOW WOW & WOW they are lining up some great acts! Keep them coming.
I hope the tickets are extremely
expensive and the profits returned
to the taxpayers.
How in the world are we ever going to get downtown developed into something great when the arena keeps booking acts that only bring drunks, wife beaters, hookers, and rednecks to the downtown area????
Haha! I saw the headline and I knew there would be some great comments on this one. I’m actually kinda surprised there are so many positive ones.
The website “sucks” because the Arena isn’t officially open. You CAN go to the artists webpage….ever think of that? Country acts move tickets faster than anything else. Management isn’t stupid, they want butts in seats. You may all think “oh boy, more country”, but I guarantee they’ll sell out.
This shouldn’t come as any surprise. George Strait is country music. I am not a huge coutry fan, but I remember hearing his music growing up. Classic, raw, and pure country the way it should be. Most country now is pop. It would be nice though to have a couple Rock groups play from THIS decade. I believe the Foo Fighters played OKC Ford Center.
Bring them here. They appeal to a wide range of audiences and ages. Wichita doesn’t have any Alternative/modern Rock stations, so it will hard to bring any current rock acts here, which is too bad.
Well, the new IBA management is going to figure out real quick that even though country may be popular around here that if you stack too many country concerts back to back in a short period of time that the fan-base won’t be able to support them in this economy. You’ll end up with a venue that is only 2/3 or 3/4 full instead of sold out. Spread them out a bit and change up the genre so that the income opportunity for the arena is derived from different classes instead of just one.
IBA is going to be come the Grand Ole Opry of Kansas.
It’s simply amazing how bitter and closed minded some of you Wichitans are.
Newsflash: Wichita is in KANSAS, where country music is very popular.
Newsflash: Country shows are what sells right now, so it’s only natural that’s what’s coming to the new arena.
And lastly, SMG doesn’t get to hand pick what events book the new arena, the promoters do. SMG can only say yes or no. Do you want them to start turning down country acts just because you whiner’s are mad that rock, rap, etc bands are skeptical of Wichita’s ticket selling appetite?
I’m still waiting for Neil Diamond. That would be AWESOME.
Too many country acts, way too many country acts. Rap, absolutely not, but it seems they are not paying attention to others who are footing the bill for the place who have a different taste in music or performers.
This is a NEW Venue. Take what you can get for now.
There are some big names playing next year. The venue will become diverse over time.
Why don’t they just book people such as Jimmy Swaggart, Billy Grahm, The Pope. This should make everybody in the bible belt happy.
I’m not a country fan but I do realize that they are a majority around here. So it stands to reason that the lineup would be country-dominated. And, as a skeptic I must say that I am favoribly impressed with the lineup so far. I hope it continues and improves further.
As for “KSruby
Posted November 3, 2009 at 2:59 pm | Permalink
The website “sucks” because the Arena isn’t officially open.”
That is absolutely no excuse. The building does not need to be complete to have a good functional website. THAT should have been complete LONG ago.
I remember a while back there was a Freaknik Jam concert scheduled at Hartman Arena and because of low ticket sales it was moved downtown to the Orpheum Theater of all places. Most rap concerts have to bring 5 and 6 different acts just to try and get people to come. I doubt they would be selling out the IBA. Country sells, this is a business. I do agree that the web site leaves a bit to the imagination, you can’t get much info from it and the arena is opening to the public in 2 months. They need to update. I think we need to get Frank on that right away, he is a plethora of information. I’ll bet he could keep us informed!
DikCheney, I laughed out loud at your post about Slim Whitman. You know he was actually here about 20 years ago at the Coliseum. It was a KFDI listener appreciation concert. He brought his son Byron Whitman who sang pop music but yodeled through parts of it. I never laughed so hard in my life. Your post brought back some old memories. Thanks, I think!
Do I like country music? NO! Am I happy we’re getting in some big names and proving the cry babies wrong? HELL YES!
ruthiebear…if the rock concerts were the “real” money makers, they would have started booking the rock concerts first……bring on the country! Love Reba and George!!
I wonder when the city will figure out where all of the people will park. So far it has not happened.
I’m sure SMG will continue to book the best acts out on the road. I didn’t vote for the downtown arena but my wife and I went down the other night and looked at it from the outside and were very impressed with how it turned out. I’m sure people complained years ago when Century Two was built.
We be there for whatever shows we can afford.
You ever been to New York? Country is king in that state.
Lemme try and set the tone,,,,, one morning around 1993 I go into a 7-11 for coffee about 6:30 am. As I approach to square up it’s Achmed behind the counter not yet ready to collect my money as he is in the middle of the chorus and singing wildly, “Don’t break my heart, my achey breaky heart. Just don’t think it’d understand”,,,,
Never seen anything like it before or since
Book Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Orly Taitz the neocons will turn out in record numbers.
Where are people going to park…Where are people going to park…Where are people going to park…Where are people going to park…Where are people going to park…Where are people going to park…SHUT UP!!!!
Wicked and the Toy Run on the same day brought downtown to a stand still. How are people going to park when IBA and Century II both have something going on at the same time?
dumbwichitan1, that was very insensitive of you. Not all country music fans are hookers…
allupinya, you’re a fool. mywife69, I may join you. Getting tired of all the hillbillies and Jesus freaks here.
Did we really need a new $200 million dollar downtown arena to host these He Haw events? These are the same acts playing to the same people, without the luxury of parking.
Redracer… Haven’t you heard… the city has a plan for that… they just tell us it will be fine and we’re supposed to believe it. If we will it hard enough, it will come true. Sheesh… here you go, looking for a real answer in the field of dreams known as the arena plan.
I’ve been here for 15 years and the IBM has hosted more shows in 6 mo’s than the crapasium would have in 3 years. I just moved away for a year. And I know what shows come here, and on what time frame, the IBM is kicking tail. Like I said be patient, the place is’nt even open yet, AC/DC will be jamin here befor you know it. I would like to see Iron Madien. But that is more of a U2 style, football stadium tour.
Aww, sound like Mr. Woodsmith is a sore loser. Do you know a guy named shockerfan?