Recently Ticket Galaxy had the opportunity to send some of our staff to the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut to play a few pick-up games of Basketball. They divided themselves into three teams with team captains chosen according to height. Once the captains were selected, teams were chosen gym class style.  

Ticket Galaxy was granted this opportunity due to a partnership with the XL Center. Rob coordinated the outing and spoke highly of the opportunity.

“It is a great and unique experience to be able to get away from the office setting for a bit and have the honor of playing basketball on the same court that some of UConn’s greatest have played on. It’s an awesome work perk, and a cool benefit from our partnership with the XL Center. We appreciate working with them, and look forward to participating again next year.”

To capture the fun, Ticket Galaxy also sent out staff members to photograph the game. Ryan said, “it was good to see the guys enjoying a few friendly pick-up games, we’re usually all working so it’s a nice change of pace. I got to be a nerd and snap some photos of them playing under the LED signage with our Ticket Galaxy branding so it best of both worlds as a Designer“.

The XL Center splits both the men and women’s basketball seasons for the University of Connecticut with Gampel Pavilion located on UCONN’s campus in Storrs. You can also catch The Hartford Wolf Pack, a hockey team part of the American Hockey League there as well as many concerts and special events.
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Check out some of the cool shots of our team below:

Progressive Rockers Coheed and Cambria have announced a North American tour. Support will come from The Dear Hunter.

The tour will run through and April and May and will see the band stopping at mid-sized venues across the country to play their third album, IV: From Fear through the Eyes of Madness, in its entirety. See the dates below.

Coheed and Cambria’s latest, The Color Before the Sun, was released in 2015. The band recently put out a digital reissue of that album with 20 demo tracks. The Color Before the Sun was Coheed and Cambria’s first non-conceptual album and paused The Amory Wars, a science fiction saga detailed in the band’s concept albums and accompanying comic book series. To coincide with the tour, the band has announced the return of the comic book series.

The Dear Hunter is an Indie Rock band out of Providence, RI. Formed out of the ashes of the Post-Hardcore band The Receiving End of Sirens, The Dear Hunter embraces progressive tendencies and a wide array of instrumentation. Their latest album, Act V: Hymns with the Devil in Confessional, was released in 2016 to rave reviews.

On the country side, singer Luke Bryan has announced the massive “Huntin’, Fishin’ and Lovin’ Every Day” tour for Summer 2017.

Bryan, who is still currently on the road, announced the tour’s line-up via a humorous video posted to his YouTube channel. In the video, Bryan can be seen “hunting” his rotating support acts on Nintendo’s Duck Hunt. Those acts include Lauren Alaina, Granger Smith, Seth Ennis, Craig Campbell and Adam Craig. Main support will come from Brett Elderedge, who will appear on the entire tour.

The tour kicks off May 5th in Nashville, TN and will conclude October 28th in San Bernardino, CA. Along the way, Bryan will make a handful of festival appearances.

Bryan’s latest studio album, Kill the Lights, was released in August 2015 via Capitol Nashville. He will make an appearance at Super Bowl LI to perform the national anthem.

For the full list of tour dates for both Coheed and Cambria & Luke Bryan, Click Here.

Written by Eugene

He can’t stop the nominations from rolling in. Justin Timberlake is now an Academy Award nominee for his song “Can’t Stop the Feeling” from the Dreamworks Animation film Trolls. Also nominated in the category of Best Song is “Audition” and “City of Stars” from La La Land, “The Empty Chair” from Jim: The James Foley Story and “How Far I’ll Go” from Disney’s Moana.

The musical film, La La Land starring Justin Timberlake’s Mickey Mouse Club co-star, Ryan Gosling ties the record for most nominations with 14 including two for Best Song, Best Actor for Gosling and Best Actress for Emma Stone.

With his nomination for “How Far I’ll Go”, Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda makes his way closer to the coveted EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony). Miranda won his first Tony in 2008, his first Grammy in 2009, and an Emmy in 2014. If “How Far I’ll Go” takes home the golden man on February 26th he will become the youngest and the fastest person to win all 4 awards being only 37 and collecting them in only 9 years.

The Academy Awards will air live on February 26th from the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, CA.

For the full list of nominees, Click Here.

Written by Kristen

Although it may still be cold outside, America’s biggest country acts are starting the thaw early with a round of summer tour announcements. 

The Zac Brown Band have announced an extensive tour of the US in support of their forthcoming new album, Welcome Home.

The tour will run from Spring until Fall and will see the band traversing the country to play outdoor amphitheaters. It kicks off in Alpharetta, Georgia, concludes in Los Angeles and will include a two day stop at the Southern Ground Music and Food Festival where the band will both curate the festival and perform two headlining sets.

Jason Aldean has also confirmed that he will be hitting the road in support of his most recent album, They Don’t Know. The tour starts in April, but most of the dates are still to be announced. We do know that he’ll be hitting every major US market and that the tour will include headlining stops at the Taste of Country Music Festival, Country Jam and the 2017 iHeartCountry Festival. Support will come from Chris Young, Kane Brown and Dee Jay Silver. 

Regrouping from a short hiatus for a massive summer tour is Lady Antebellum, who have confirmed a Spring/Summer run for 2017. Venues and dates are still forthcoming. The trio’s new album, Heart Break will be released June 9th via Capitol Nashville. 

And if these tours were enough to satiate your appetite for Country, the annual iHeartCountry Festival will be held on Saturday, May 6th  at the Frank Erwin Center in Austin, TX with a line-up featuring the aforementioned Jason Aldean and Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, Dierks Bentley, Brantley Gilbert, Rascal Flatts, Old Dominion, Jake Own, Darius Rucker, Kelsea Ballerini, and Bobby Bones and the Raging Idiots.

For the full list of tour dates, Click Here.

​Written by Eugene

The 2017 People’s Choice Awards aired last night taking place at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles. Host Joel McHale had help from Jordana Brewster, Jamie Chung and Wilmer Valderrama. The award show gives out 64 awards, all decided on the people’s vote.

On the music side of things, Favorite Male Artist went to Justin Timberlake who beat Drake and The Weeknd. Britney Spears took home Favorite Female Artist winning over Beyoncé and Ariana Grande. Justin and Britney then faced off in the Favorite Pop Artist category with Britney coming out on top. Not be out done, JT also won for his song, “Can’t Stop The Feeling” in the Favorite Song category.

Brit-Brit continued her reign over the 45th annual PCA’s when she won again for Favorite Social Media Celebrity beating out Lady Gaga and Kim Kardashian. In the Favorite Comedic Collaboration category it was Spears (again) and Ellen DeGeneres’ “Mall Mischief” that took home the prize beating out James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke with Adele.

In other music categories, Fifth Harmony won for Favorite Group while One Direction’s Niall Horan and Zayn battled it out for Favorite Break Out Artist with Niall coming out on top. While he may have lost to JT in the overall male category, Blake Shelton took home the hardware in Favorite Male Country Artist while Carrie Underwood won for Favorite Female Country Artist. Shelton also won Favorite Album for If I’m Honest winning over Beyoncé’s Lemonade, Drake’s Views, Rihanna’s Anti and Ariana Grande’s Dangerous Woman. During his speech The Voice coach thanked his girlfriend, “the hottest date here tonight”, Gwen Stefani. Shelton also performed his new song “Every Time I Hear That Song” while Fifth Harmony performed for the first time as quartet.

For the full list of winners, Click Here. 

Written by Kristen

Having performances included in the presidential Inauguration celebrations have been occurring for decades. Tomorrow night, Toby Keith, 3 Doors Down and Lee Greenwood are set to perform at the “Make America Great Again! Welcome Celebration” to kick off the 3-day Inauguration of Donald Trump. Friday, he will be joined on stage by the New York City Rockettes and 16 year old, America’s Got Talent contestant, Jackie Evancho. Evancho, who will sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” is no stranger to presidential events having performed at the White House Christmas Tree lighting ceremony in 2010 and the National Prayer Breakfast in 2012.

The 1961 Inauguration for JFK Jr. was star studded with performances by Nat King Cole, Bette Davis, Ella Fitzgerald and Frank Sinatra.

In 1965, a then new-comer, Barbra Streisand performed for Lyndon B. Johnson. She would later perform for George H.W. Bush at his Inauguration Gala in 1989 and then in 1993 for Bill Clinton.

Also in 1993? Michael Jackson performed as part of “We are the World” and had his own performance of “Heal the World” and “Gone Too Soon”. While the then broken up, Fleetwood Mac reunited to perform.

2017 performer, Lee Greenwood also took part in the Inauguration of George W. Bush in 2001 along with Beyoncé and her group, Destiny’s Child. The trio performed at “The Concert Celebrating America’s Youth”. Also on the bill? Ricky Martin, 98 Degrees and Jessica Simpson.

Beyoncé, would later go on to perform, solo, at Barack Obama’s two inaugurations; in 2009 she performed “At Last” for the first dance at the Ball and then sang “The Star-Spangled Banner” on Inauguration Day in 2013. 

The Inaugural Swearing-In Ceremony will take place at the West Front of the U.S. Capitol Building beginning at 9:30 a.m. EST Friday, January 20, 2017.

Written by Kristen

Saturday, January 14th:
First up, the Seattle Seahawks took on the Atlanta Falcons and for the second year in a row, the Seattle Seahawks couldn’t make it past the divisional round. They fell to the Atlanta Falcons 36-20. The question that was on everyone’s mind after this game is, can an entire game’s momentum really shift in one penalty? The answer seems to be a resounding, yes. It came in the second quarter, holding on Kevin Pierre-Louis, all while Devin Hester took a punt 80 yards for nothing. If there was no penalty could the Seahawks have scored again going up double digits in the 2nd? The world may never know. After the call, Atlanta scored 17 unanswered points and the Seahawks never had the momentum again. It may not be fair to pin an entire loss on one play since there were two whole quarters left after the call but if you believe in the power of momentum than you may just believe that this penalty was a game changer.

Next, the Houston Texans faced off against the New England Patriots Saturday night, doing their best to shake Tom Brady in their 34-16 loss. The Patriots started off strong, Dion Lewis had a 98-yard kickoff return, the first ever by the Patriots in the post season. But then the Texans started to show a little force of their own. They were able to intercept Brady, twice and their defense kept pressure on the Patriots forcing them to kick a field goal two yard from the goal line. After their strong showing in the first, things sort of unraveled. The Texans suffered from three interceptions and could only come up with a field goal. The Texans fell victim to the Patriots in Foxborough, a story there were only all too familiar with already.

Sunday, January 15th:
First game of the day, Dallas Cowboys took on the Green Bay Packers coming up shy in a 34-31 loss. Rookie quarterback, Dak Prescott threw three touchdown passes, more touchdown passes than Tony Romo has thrown in a single playoff game. He kept his cool to the end, throwing an 11 yard to pass to Jason Witten with 1:07 left on the clock. After that, things, well they got interesting. In an effort to save their final time out, the Cowboys spiked the ball with 48 seconds left, kicking a 52-yard field goal to tie. What did spiking the ball do? It exchanges one down for 10 to 15 seconds additional game play.  It could have worked, but it didn’t. After the Dallas’ field goal the Packers got the ball and scored their own 50+ field goal for the win.
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Next, Pittsburgh Steelers took on the Kansas City Chiefs in an 18-16 win. Much like the Seahawks the day prior, The Chiefs’ season came to a close and it might just be pinned to a holding call. The Chiefs were down by two when quarterback, Alex Smith completed a pass to Demetrius Harris for what should have been a tie game, if only Eric Fisher didn’t get called for holding. The penalty took the two point conversion off the board and pushed the Chiefs back 10 yards. The Steelers were then able to pull out a win with star quarterback, Ben Roethlisberger running a passing play. 

Next week's match ups are: Green Bay vs. Atlanta and New England vs. Pittsburgh. 

Written by Kristen

2017 is shaping up to have one of the most impressive summer concert schedules of recent years. In the past couple of days, we’ve seen massive tour announcements from U2, Big Sean and Green Day as well as the unveiling of the line-ups for both the Bonnaroo and Panorama music festivals.

U2, who are one of the most consistently high-grossing live acts of all time, promise to revisit the seminal Joshua Tree album in its entirety for the summer run. 2017 marks the 30th anniversary of its release and, in a press release, U2’s guitarist The Edge comments that the times have never been more appropriate:

“It seems like we have come full circle from when The Joshua Tree songs were originally written, with global upheaval, extreme right wing politics and some fundamental human rights at risk. To celebrate the album – as these songs seem so relevant and prescient of these times too – we decided to do these shows, it feels right for now. We’re looking forward to it.”

The Joshua Tree Tour 2017 kicks off May 12th in Vancouver and wraps up July 1st in Cleveland, Ohio. It also includes a headlining stop at the Bonnaroo Music & Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee. Rotating support will come from Mumford & Sons, The Lumineers and OneRepublic.

​Veteran pop punk act Green Day will also be hitting the road in North America starting August 1st in Auburn, Washington for the summer portion of their Revolution Radio tour. The trek runs until September 13th in Chula Vista, California. Support on all dates will come from The UK’s Catfish and the Bottlemen.

As a prelude to the big summer tours, rapper Big Sean has announced a spring tour to support his new studio album, I Decided. Starting on March 17th in Houston, the tour, which will be hitting several mid-sized theaters across the country, will run until April 20th in Miami. Support will come from MadeInTYO.

On the heels of the Coachella and Governor’s Ball reveals, the line-ups for Bonnaroo, Panorama and Shaky Knees music festivals have all been unveiled. Bonnaroo (Manchester, TN – June 8th-11th) will include a stop of the aforementioned Joshua Tree tour from U2 as well as fellow headliners Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Weeknd and Chance the Rapper. New York City’s Panorama will feature Nine Inch Nails, Tame Impala and Frank Ocean as headliners and will mark the first Nine Inch Nails live performance since 2013. Panorama will be held at Randall’s Island Park from Friday, July 28th to Sunday, July 30th. Shaky Knees, which is slated to take place May 12-14 in Atlanta, will be headlined by LCD Soundsystem, The XX and Phoenix.

For the full list of tour dates for U2, Green Day and Big Sean, Click Here.

Written by Eugene

This past weekend the Professional Bull Riders:
Built Ford Tough Series opened its 2017 season
in Manhattan. For three days the toughest 8 seconds
in sports set up inside the famed, Madison Square Garden and Ticket Galaxy had a team on site to chat with fans. Allowing fans to take photos with our specially designed backdrop and enter to win tickets to a PBR event of their choice.

What went on side the arena? Jess Lockwood won the Monster Energy Buck Off taking home cash prizes and bragging rights for coming out on top in the Big Apple.
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Ticket Galaxy is the Official Secondary Ticket Partner of the PBR Tour and Built Ford Tough Series.