Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Tuesday Tunes

Van Halen is Coming to Philips Arena April 19!
Tickets On Sale THIS Saturday, January 28 at 10am.

To celebrate this monumental event, we’re counting down the days until tickets go on sale with some of our favorite Van Halen videos. Today we’re featuring a classic video from back in the day when MTV played music videos!

Here's your Tuesday Tunes - do you remember this one?


Join us in the Countdown -
 Check out all of the classic Van Halen videos on our Facebook page!

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Presents FULLY CHARGED

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Presents FULLY CHARGED is coming to Philips Arena February 15 - 20 for 12 performances! To get ready for the action, here are some highlights of this exciting show: 
  • California native Ringmaster Brian Crawford Scott leads this high energy production in his debut performance with Ringling Bros. flanked by the hilarious hi-jinxes and electrifying escapades of his Russian-born comedic sidekicks, Stas and Vas! 
  • The charismatic Taba (Tabayara Maluenda) is back!.....this time with a full aggregate of exquisite equines, a dozen fantastic felines, and a whole herd of pachyderms in multiple animal displays throughout the show. 
  • Brian Miser – The Human Fuse – takes flight a-flame with the thrust of 7-Gs on a 3 second aerial voyage traveling 130 feet through the apex of the arena, launched from a super-sized human crossbow.
  • The courageous 5-member Danguir high-wire troupe, from Russia, Spain and Morocco, showcase amazing balance as they dance, leapfrog, perform a walking pyramid, and jump from shoulder to shoulder high above the arena floor – all without any safety cables!
Check back soon for more fun as we prepare to get FULLY CHARGED!     
 Tickets are on sale now, click here to purchase yours today!

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Van Halen

Van Halen, Rock And Roll Hall of Fame inductees and one of the most important and influential rock bands of all time, announced their return to the live stage with an extraordinary 2012 North American tour. The band will perform here at Philips Arena on April 19, with special guests Kool & The Gang. Tickets for this legendary event go on sale January 28 at 10AM through Ticketmaster.com, charge by phone 800-745-3000, and the Philips Arena Box Office. 


Van Halen also announced that their new album, A Different Kind Of Truth, will be released in the U.S. by Interscope Records on February 7. The first single from the album, "Tattoo", and its accompanying video debuted yesterday, Tuesday, January 10.


Here's a taste of what's to come! 



Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Inspiration - Sanctus Real

USA Today recently published a story on Matt Hammitt, the lead singer of Christian rock band Sanctus Real, who will be performing at Winter Jam 2012 on January 15 at Philips Arena. Check out the inspiring story below:

Told that his unborn son had only half a heart and little chance to survive, the lead singer of the Christian rock band Sanctus Real began pouring his fears and doubts into music. The songs were meant to comfort his family while they searched for answers and sought to understand God's role during the months before and after the baby's birth that were filled with surgeries and life-threatening complications.

It didn't take long for him to realize that his words needed to be shared so that others struggling with life would know they're not alone. What came out of the heartache was Every Falling Tear, a solo album that's meant to touch and console during the hardest of times.

"People want to know that their pain has a purpose," said Matt Hammitt, one of the founding members of Sanctus Real, a band with two Grammy-nominated albums since 2008. "That's the biggest part of sharing our story," he said. "That there is a purpose."

Hammitt and his wife, Sarah, knew something was wrong minutes after finding out during an ultrasound in April 2010 that their third child would be a boy, following two girls. They saw the sorrow on their doctor's face even before she spoke.

Doctors later confirmed the baby had a rare congenital heart defect called hypoplastic left heart syndrome, which causes the left side of the heart to be severely underdeveloped. For five months, the couple contemplated all of the possible procedures and treatments while weighing the odds of what could go wrong. Their baby would face multiple surgeries and an uncertain future at best.

They also didn't know how to deal with a flood of emotions — the anger, the doubt, the feeling of being alone. Hammitt, 32, decided he needed to tell God how he was feeling, so he started writing songs about their journey.

"I began writing about all that I was learning about struggle and faith," he said.

Each song tells of a moment or a series of events leading to the baby's birth — there's a father's fear of holding back his love for a son he may never know and a mother's hope of finding peace in the midst of despair.

"I wanted to write songs that would speak him someday about how much his father loved him no matter how long or short his life would be," Hammitt said, his voice trailing off.

Sanctus Real will be one of nearly a dozen Christian artists taking part in the Winter Jam tour that starts in January, with stops in 47 cities. The tour comes to Philips Arena on January 15 at 6pm. For details, click here.

To read the complete story from USA Today, click here.