Jay Z's 'Magna Carter World Tour' Coming to Charlotte and Greensboro In January; Tickets On Sale Soon

Jay Z announced the North American leg of his Magna Carter World Tour today, a schedule of 34 dates in 33 cities (he's performing in his native Brooklyn twice). This Stateside tour--plus two Canadian dates--comes after his international run; it kicks off November 30 in St. Paul, Minnesota, and runs for two full months before wrapping up January 31 in State College, Pennsylvania. Close to home, this tour is doing something I don't recall a major hip hop concert arena tour ever doing: it's coming to both Charlotte and Greensboro.

The Magna Carter World Tour will stop into Time Warner Cable Arena in Uptown Charlotte on Saturday, January 4 (we get a weekend date!) and travels up to Greensboro Coliseum the next night. Despite Charlotte being the larger city and more of an attractive destination, Greensboro has a richer history of hip hop concert tour promoters choosing it over Charlotte. Most large hip hop arena tours--those going to 15,000-seat arenas or larger--usually only make one stop in North Carolina, and in fact tend to have one stop total between the two Carolinas. The notion is that people from around North Carolina will make the drive to the select city, as well as people from parts of South Carolina (South Carolinians also often go to the Atlanta tour stops).

That one North Carolina city has long been Greensboro. My hypothesis has always been that in the past tour promoters found Greensboro to be a stronger selling point for hip hop concerts, thanks largely to numerous colleges being located in the area. And for whatever reasons, in the past hip hop fans in Charlotte didn't tend to buy concert tickets in advance at the large numbers promoters wanna see.

I've seen Jay Z in concert twice in recent years, and both times I had to drive to Greensboro: his 2008 tour with Mary J. Blige, and his 2011 tour with Kanye West (not to mention, last weekend I went to Philadelphia for the music festival Jay Z curates). Speaking of Kanye, he announced his own tour yesterday, The Yeezus Tour. Kendrick Lamar will be his opening act. That tour isn't coming to either of the Carolinas though. The closest stop to Charlotte is Atlanta. The last time Kanye came to Charlotte was to Time Warner Cable Arena in 2008.

I'm happy that I'll be able to see Jay Z in Charlotte this time. And I'm extremely surprised that he's coming here in addition to playing in Greensboro. The two cities are about an hour and 45 minutes apart, which looks to be the shortest distance between any of the cities he's taking the tour to, except for, maybe, cities in California--he's playing five cities in that state on consecutive nights. But come on, that's Cali. It has a population the size of many countries.

Credit: Instagram.com/kodaklens

I'm curious to see whether the two North Carolina shows sell out. One thing is for sure, if you plan to go, you need to be aggressive next week when tickets go on sale. When tickets for popular concerts go on sale online, people often complain that they can't find any available tickets on the official seller's website within minutes of the sale start time. In addition to ticket brokers snatching up a lot of them to later resell at higher prices on sites like StubHub and Craigslist, I learned from a 60 Minutes segment (and this NPR story) that there usually aren't nearly as many tickets on sale to the public on the start date as you might think. Oftentimes, only about 20 percent of the tickets are available because the majority have already been sold days before through presale via the ticket site, artist fan clubs, and credit card promotions.

Live Nation is producing the Magna Carter World Tour, and tickets for all dates will go on sale Thursday, September 12 at 10 a.m. (EST) at LiveNation.com and Ticketmaster.com. But pay attention to the presale info. You can sign up now for early access to presale tickets that will be available on Wednesday, September 11; there's also a presale offer available that day through Facebook. And if you're a Citi card member, you can buy presale tickets beginning Monday, September 9 at 10 a.m. through Citi’s Private Pass Program. If you haven't learned from past experiences, those presale options are where a lot of the tickets, particularly the best seats, are snatched up.

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Drake's 'Would You Like A Tour' Stops In Charlotte Nov. 2; Tickets Go On Sale June 28

One of the biggest artists in the music biz today, hip hop star Drake, recently announced his Would You Like A Tour, a concert trek that features fellow chart-toppers Miguel and Future. The tour begins with its North American dates on September 25, running for two months and stopping in more than 40 cities. It comes to Charlotte on Saturday, November 2, to Time Warner Cable Arena. Tickets go on sale this Friday, June 28 at 10 a.m., prices ranging from $62.95 to $117.40 (includes fees).

Drake brought his Club Paradise Tour to Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in May 2012. And, most recently, he came to Charlotte in early March to host a weekend of parties during CIAA Week. Even with his frequency to the Queen City, you can count on his November stop here, and this new tour as a whole, to be a big draw because he plans to release his next album, Nothing Was The Same, on September 17. Drake's albums are always filled with instant radio hits, club bangers, and fan favorites, so audiences will be eager to see him perform his new material when the tour kicks off a week after his new album drops. And by the time he comes to Charlotte, fans will know many of the new songs word for word.

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Beyoncé Announces 'The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour,' Coming to Charlotte in July

The greatest musician, performer, and entertainer of the last 10-plus years (give Bey her props), Beyoncé has announced her first tour since 2009. Paying homage to her life as Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter's wife, she's dubbed the multi-country, multi-city outing "The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour." After a highly anticipated and strongly delivered Super Bowl XLVII halftime performance last night, a couple of weeks after singing the national anthem at the Presidential Inauguration, a documentary about her life and career airing on HBO in less than two weeks, and a planned new album that is reportedly on the way, this is truly shaping up to be the Year of the Bey.

Credit: iam.beyonce.com

Beyoncé's world tour begins in Europe where she kicks it off in Serbia on April 15 and will play 24 shows across the continent through the end of May. She then returns stateside where she'll open the North American leg at the Staples Center in Los Angeles on June 28. A month later, on July 27, "The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour" stops into Charlotte at Time Warner Cable Arena. She'll wrap up the 22-city U.S. and Canada run a week later, ending August 3 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn a.k.a the House that Jay-Z built (Jay is a part-owner of the Brooklyn Nets NBA team that plays there). The world tour is expected to run for almost an entire year, with dates to be announced later for Latin America, Australia, and Asia.

Beyoncé's 2013 concert in Charlotte will be on a coveted Saturday night. Tickets for that tour stop go on sale February 15 at 10 a.m. at Ticketmaster.com, with prices ranging from $47 to $252.

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Bobcats’ NBA Lottery Pick: Two Is Not a Winner and Three Nobody Remembers; or Remember that Kevin Durant Was Picked Second

I was at Icehouse in South End last evening attending a tweetup event when the NBA Draft Lottery special came on ESPN. Around 8:15 p.m., I made my way downstairs and planted myself square in front of a TV. Like many of you Charlotte Bobcats fans and Charlotteans, I had my fingers crossed that the home team would win the first pick. A female friend walked by and asked what all the frenzy was about. I said: "Imagine that the Bobcats have the opportunity to do what the Carolina Panthers were able to do last year by drafting Cam Newton number one." Her face lit up.

But sadly, it was not meant to be. As I'm sure you know by now, the New Orleans Hornets (Charlotte's former team) won the first pick in the draft and the Bobcats secured the second pick. So the Hornets will undoubtedly select the player just about everyone from serious sports analysts and critics to casual observers believes will be number one, 19-year-old Anthony Davis, a 6-10 forward from the University of Kentucky. He's the one player most believe a team can build a winning franchise around.

Fortunately I was at the bar ordering a much-needed drink during this moment of anguish, when Bobcats GM Rich Cho congratulated Hornets head coach Monty Williams.

With the second pick, there isn't a whole lot of excitement in the players the Bobcats have to choose from. The NBA drafts just aren't as strong as they used to be. There was a time when teams were almost guaranteed to draft a future all-star if they landed a top-five or sometimes even top-10 pick or beyond (in the 1996 draft, for example, Ray Allen was the fifth pick, Kobe Bryant was the 13th pick by the Charlotte Hornets but traded to the L.A. Lakers, and Steve Nash was the 15th pick). Many believe the Bobcats will select Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, an 18-year-old, 6-7 forward who was a teammate of Davis's on the national championship-winning Wildcats.

So with the unlucky bounce of a lottery ball, the Bobcats, who finished 7-59 this past season, accumulating the worst winning percentage in NBA history, have missed out on the chance to draft a future superstar for the first time in their eight-year history. "Two is not a winner and three nobody remembers," as Nelly famously rapped on "Number One" (Nelly, coincidentally, was a part of the original ownership group of the Bobcats, but that reportedly ended when Michael Jordan bought majority control in 2010).

Or, you can look at it more optimistically for the Bobcats. One doesn't have to go back too far to recall the 2007 NBA Draft, when the Portland Trail Blazers selected Greg Oden with the first pick. With the second pick, the Seattle SuperSonics, which later left Seattle and became the Oklahoma City Thunder, drafted Kevin Durant. Oden is a great young man, whom many rooted for, but he's been plagued with injuries in his five NBA seasons, only playing 82 games during that whole time, which is the amount of games in a single NBA season. Meanwhile, Durant has become one of the best players in the league, the NBA scoring champion the last three seasons, and currently leading his team in the Western Conference Finals.

I certainly don't wish that Davis becomes the next Oden. Not at all. But it would be great if Kidd-Gilchrist, or whoever the Bobcats pick, becomes the next Durant. They need it desperately. And the Bobcats do, after all, have as their general manager for the past year, Rich Cho, who was the assistant general manager for the Sonics/Thunder for many years, helping orchestrate the deals, trades, and picks that are credited with putting together a Thunder team full of young, talented players who are poised to be dominant for most of this decade.

The second pick is the highest the Bobcats have ever received in the draft. In 2006, they won the third pick, shortly after Jordan had become the top executive under then-team-owner Bob Johnson. Jordan and his braintrust picked Adam Morrison, considered one of the worst draft moves in recent memory, and a decision that still haunts them until this day. Last year, I wrote an article for Charlotte magazine, where I interviewed ESPN analyst Jay Bilas and we broke down the history of the Bobcats' first-round draft picks.

This became the cover photo on the Bobcats' Facebook page last night.

The team wants to put the dark days behind them. And Rod Higgins, Bobcats president of basketball operations, wasted no time by emailing this letter to fans last night, about 30 minutes after the NBA Draft Lottery had concluded. See below.

May 30, 2012

Dear Jarvis,

As you may have heard by now, NBA Deputy Commissioner Adam Silver announced tonight at the NBA Draft Lottery that the Bobcats will have the No. 2 pick in the 2012 NBA Draft. We are extremely excited about having the opportunity to add a quality player to our growing young nucleus.

I'd also like to say thank you to our General Manager Rich Cho and Vice Chairman Curtis Polk, who were our team's representatives in New York tonight.

Our basketball operations staff has already begun preparing for what we consider to be one of the most important offseasons in our team's history, and tonight's announcement makes this summer all the more significant. Our scouting staff has been hard at work to identify the best possible players for us to add to our team, not only through the draft but also through other avenues such as free agency and trades, as we proceed with molding this franchise into one that our fans can be proud of and that can compete at the top levels of the NBA.

We know that many people will be watching as we work toward the NBA Draft on June 28. We hope you will enjoy this exciting time with us.

On behalf of the entire Bobcats organization, thank you for your continued loyalty and support.

Sincerely,

Rod Higgins
President of Basketball Operations
Charlotte Bobcats

And finally, the Bobcats have announced an unbelievable ticket offer where if you buy 2012-13 season tickets at regular price, you'll receive the 2013-14 season for free. Has this ever been offered by an NBA franchise?

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Tickets On Sale Monday for March 24 Prince Concert in Charlotte

This came as a surprising and seemingly short-notice announcement today. Prince is bringing his "Welcome 2 America" tour to Charlotte to Time Warner Cable Arena on Thursday, March 24. Tickets go on sale Monday at 10 a.m. at Ticketmaster.com and LiveNation.com. This is being reported on several media outlets' websites today and the news is so fresh it isn't event posted yet on the ticket or arena websites.

Charlotte is one of six North and South Carolina cities Prince is playing over a nine-day stretch: Colonial Life Arena in Columbia on March 21; RBC Center in Raleigh on March 23; Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte on March 24; Greensboro Coliseum in Greensboro on March 26; Bi-Lo Center in Greenville, S.C. on March 28; and North Charleston Coliseum in North Charleston on March 30.

Prince is known for selling out large arenas across the country. I hope Charlotte comes out to support this legendary concert, especially since these shows typically skip over us. But at the same time, if it's not a sellout, it should be blamed on the short notice given on the announcement. Heck, Usher is bringing his concert to Time Warner Cable Arena on April 30 and that was announced in February, two and a half months in advance. I also wonder if the promoters are taking too much of a risk by scheduling that many concerts in cities so close together. Typically, people from Charlotte, Columbia, and Greenville will drive to each others' cities for big concerts like this. But if any artist can pull it off, it's Mr. Purple Rain.

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Tickets on Sale Feb. 25 for Usher Concert in Charlotte

It's just been announced that Usher will bring his "OMG Tour" to Time Warner Cable Arena on Saturday, April 30. His special guest will be fellow chart-topper Akon.

Usher, who's currently touring in Europe, has added a second North American leg to his tour, making stops in nearly 20 additional cities. After performing in Charlotte, the tour travels down I-77 to Colonial Life Arena in Columbia the following night. This is said to be Usher's first concert in Charlotte in more than six years.

Usher performing during a recent tour stop in France. Photo from ushernow.com.

After I watched Usher perform at the Grammys on Sunday, and Chris Brown on Saturday Night Live the night before, I was thinking how these two guys are leaps and bounds above any other artists in their genre--even beyond their genre. The two had fans everywhere swooning last year when they teased about the possibility of touring together, but that didn't come to fruition. It would've truly been a show for the ages. Sort of what it would've been like had Michael Jackson and Prince toured together in the early 1990s (but with fewer people fainting). Akon's certainly no slouch, though. Not many artists over the last five years have had more hits than him.

Tickets go on sale Friday, February 25 at 10 a.m. through Ticketmaster. For more details, click here.

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Bobcats' 'Pick 5' Makes Dollars and Sense

The Charlotte Bobcats have an aggressive ticket marketing campaign that's highlighted by their Pick 5 Plan. For starters, five home games is what I would guess is about the number of games the average Bobcats fan would be interesting in attending, especially in this economic climate when people are clutching their wallets tighter. And the Bobcats have been strategic to make sure you get a five-game plan that makes sense for you and makes dollars for them.

The Pick 5 Plan is being advertised as "The Only Way to Guarantee Miami," meaning you can't buy single-game tickets to see the Miami Heat in Charlotte. The Pick 5 Plan is the starting level in which you can purchase tickets to watch The Big Three--LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh--take on the Bobcats at Time Warner Cable Arena. They visit Charlotte twice during the regular season.

When selecting your five games, you're given three categories of options. The first is required: you receive a ticket to opening night. In the second, you're given the option of choosing one of the games versus Miami (Monday, Jan. 3 or Friday, Feb. 4) or the game versus the Los Angeles Lakers (Monday, Feb. 14). And in the third category, you're able to pick your remaining three games from the other 37 home games on the regular season schedule.

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Bobcats Need to Be White Hot Tonight

Even though no NBA team has ever come back to win a playoff series after going down 0-3, I'm looking forward to tonight's Charlotte Bobcats home playoff game against the Orlando Magic. I have two great seats via a pair of tickets I bought last week during a silent auction in support of Ifé Moore's campaign for Woman of the Year for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. It was a little bit more than I wanted to spend, but not only was it a good deal on the tix, it's supporting a great cause (all money raised goes toward finding a cure for blood cancers). And now, I get to see the Bobcats pull out a home victory tonight and force the series back to Orlando.

Photo from Saturday's home game. Credit: Kent Smith/NBAE.

If you have tickets to tonight's game, show your support for the Bobcats by wearing white. The game airs at 8 p.m. on TNT and Fox Sports Carolinas. For more, including a live web chat, visit www.bobcats.com.

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The Peas Are Coming

I received an email this afternoon announcing that tickets to the Black Eyed Peas' February 20 concert in Charlotte go on sale this weekend. BEP are bringing their The E.N.D. World Tour to Time Warner Cable Arena, with special guests LMFAO.

Tickets go on presale tomorrow from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Go to Ticketmaster and enter the password BEPEND. They go on sale to the general public Saturday at noon.


I somehow became a Black Eyed Peas fan a few years ago, and while it doesn't help my street cred to admit this, I think "I Gotta Feeling" is one of the best songs of 2009. Will.i.am is one of the most talented artists in all of music, and Fergie is dope (don't you chickens be jackin' her style, now). And here's a little known BEP trivia. Did you know that Nicole Scherzinger was originally tapped to fill the position in the group that Fergie holds? I wonder how much different the group would've been.

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Buy One Get One Free Tix at the Blumenthal

The Blumenthal Performing Arts Center is offering a buy-one-get-one-free special on balcony seat tickets to several of its upcoming shows. Dubbed the Fall Tip Top Sale, this offer is good through midnight Monday (September 28).

As you know, buy one get one free equates to half price for two tickets, which is very appealing during this recession. The shows included are concerts, plays, comedians and some of the highlights are:

• A Chorus Line, Sept. 29-Oct. 4, Belk Theater
• Steve Martin performing with The Steep Canyon Rangers, Oct. 10, Knight Theater
• Basic Training, Oct. 21-25, Stage Door Theater
• Reduced Shakespeare Company, Oct. 27-Nov. 1, Booth Playhouse
• Jewel, Oct. 28, Knight Theater
• RAIN: A Tribute to the Beatles, Nov. 1, Belk Theater
• Neko Case, Nov. 18, Knight Theater
• Simply Sinatra, Nov. 27-28, Belk Theater

And there are about 20 more events, scheduled between now and the end of the year, that are eligible for the ticket special. But you only have a couple more days to purchase your tickets and save money. Visit www.blumenthalcenter.org/tiptop.

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Free Domino's Pizza for the Unemployed

If you've lost your job, as so many people have during this recession (Charlotte's unemployment rate is now at 12.4 percent), maybe some free pizza will help bring a smile to your face.

Domino's Pizza in Charlotte is giving away 270 free pizza gift cards and four tickets to American Idol Live. The pizza place invites those with unemployment letters or verification of unemployment to stop by one of the two selected Charlotte Domino's locations to receive a $15 gift card. Each Charlotte location will have 135 gift cards and the first 135 eligible people at each location will receive one.

In addition, Domino's will be giving away two free tickets at each location to American Idol Live, which is coming August 1 to Time Warner Cable Arena.

The two participating Charlotte Domino's locations are:
-16625 Lancaster Highway
-3233 The Plaza

The giveaway runs July 29 to August 5 while supplies last, and each location opens daily at 10:30 a.m. To be eligible to win, you must present verification of unemployment.

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Wayne and Jeezy Concert, Panthers Games

Tickets to two popular Charlotte events are going on sale.

The America's Most Wanted Music Festival is coming to Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre on Friday, September 4 (Labor Day weekend). The show stars Lil Wayne, Young Jeezy, Soulja Boy, Drake, and Jeremih. Tickets go on sale today at 10 a.m. at www.livenation.com and prices range from $29 to $79.


The other big ticket sales event takes place Saturday, August 1 at 10 a.m. That's when about 7,000 single-game tickets for each of the Carolina Panthers’ 2009 home games go on sale at www.ticketmaster.com. Scoring Panthers tickets is a big deal since most home games usually sell out. Last year four games sold out on the first day of single-game ticket sales. You'll be limited to buying a maximum of four tickets per game. Most of the available tickets will be upper-deck seats at $51 each, and there will be a few lower-level seats available at $90 each. The other 60,000-plus seats in the stadium have already been snatched up by season-ticket holders. The season opener is September 13 when the Philadelphia Eagles visit Bank of America Stadium.

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'Art, Beats and Lyrics' Converge Friday

Liquor companies host some of the best events and they seem to like setting up shop in Charlotte. Tomorrow night features Art, Beats and Lyrics presented by Gentleman Jack (Jack Daniel's). This traveling exhibition of art, hip-hop, dance, and liquor is taking place from 7 p.m. to midnight at the Blake Hotel, and it's all free.

Art, Beats and Lyrics came to Charlotte last year, during its inaugural tour (I blogged about it during the early days of Grown People Talking: "A Weekend of Beautiful Expression"). I guess it's safe to say they were pleased with the turnout and have decided to return. I attended last year and it was a great event. It provided an opportunity to see some of the country's best "street" and "urban" artists, including some locals, whose works don't often make it into museums and galleries. There was also good, live music by hip-hop artists and bands while break dancers performed incredible moves in front of the stage. My only complaint about last year's event is that they ran out of the free booze so many people weren't able to redeem their drink tickets.

The event is free, but requires registration online. Unfortunately, the tickets reached capacity yesterday so no more are being given away. But here's a little tip: With free events there are always a percentage of people who will register and not show up, so you can still possibly get in. But that'll probably be after many of the ticketed folks have come in. If you have a ticket, I suggest you get there early because the line was wrapped around the building last year at CenterStage in NoDa. If you don't have a ticket, I recommend you get there around 10 p.m. after some of the early folks have left.

Below is a video recap of last year's event.



You can learn more by visiting www.jackdaniels.com/abl.

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Tickets On Sale for T.I./Jeezy Concert

At 10 a.m. this morning, tickets go on sale for the T.I. and Young Jeezy concert, taking place February 26 at Bojangles' Coliseum (formerly Cricket Arena). This is happening during CIAA Week--the week in which the CIAA basketball tournament comes to Charlotte (February 24-28)--and you can expect a ridiculous amount of parties, concerts, and special events to be going on around the city. Oh, and five days of basketball, too. I'll begin posting CIAA events on this blog around February 1.

Now back to the T.I./Jeezy concert. I'm sure it will be a great show. These are two of the hottest rappers in the game right now. I don't care who the opening acts are going to be--these two have enough hits to go for hours themselves. Tickets are $45-$75. Click here to purchase them on Ticketmaster. And if you're a T.I. fan, you better go see him at this show. He starts serving his one-year prison sentence a month later.

When the Lil Wayne concert, which was held January 2, was announced, I blogged about it and ended my remarks by saying "Hopefully...that will lead to a great year of concerts in Charlotte." Well, we're off to a great start.

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Panthers Playoff Tickets On Sale Thursday

The Carolina Panthers have a first-round bye in the playoffs this week so they'll play their first game at home on January 10. Tickets for the game go on sale this Thursday at 10 a.m. on Ticketmaster, and only about 7,000 will be available. Prices range from $62 to $400. Click here for more info.

I'm sure there will be a lot of scalping going on for these tickets. Just check out Craigslist. And I bet it'll be even worse on eBay.

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