WICHITA — There’s a 2 p.m. Monday press conference scheduled to announce a major rock act coming to Intrust Bank Arena.
There’s no confirmation, but it looks likely that Billy Joel and Elton John are bringing their Face 2 Face tour here.
They’re performing in Denver on Feb. 22 at the Pepsi Center. Then, they’re performing at the Ford Center in Oklahoma City on Feb. 25 and at the Sprint Center in Kansas City on Feb. 27.
An employee with Live Nation, which represents Joel and John, confirms that there will be an announcement coming from the company.
The employee won’t give other details except to say, “It’s going to be a big show.”
Arena spokeswoman Beth King says she’s not at liberty to talk details.
“The press conference is being hosted by a promoter and not the arena,” she says.
A quick check of other major rock acts doesn’t show any other major artists or groups in the area in the first part of next year.
Guns N’ Roses is Canada bound.
Eric Clapton and Jeff Beck are playing large cities like London, New York and Toronto.
U2, which arena general manager Chris Presson once said is his dream inaugural act for the arena, is playing only stadiums.
AC/DC would seem to be more of a possibility than other acts since it’s playing places like Des Moines in April along with the state fair in Louisville, Ky., that month. But again, the band isn’t going to be particularly close to Wichita.
The Moody Blues will be playing all over the place, but that doesn’t seem to be a big enough group for the arena to call a press conference to announce an act for the first time.
And most of the other obvious major acts —the Who, the Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, Paul McCartney and Sting — don’t appear to have many shows booked early in the year.
And our final indication that it’s likely Billy Joel and Elton John?
Shortly before posting this item online, an e-mailed invitation arrived from the arena. It says:
“Live Nation and INTRUST Bank Arena invite you to the press conference to announce the premiere concert event of 2010. The concert will feature two of the world’s most renown performers same stage/same night/one incredible evening!”