Keith Urban to Help Open Building

New era for Entertainment, as Venue to Attract Top Performers Across All Genres
More Details to be Announced

(Edmonton, AB) — Rogers Place officially launched the beginning of its Live Entertainment rollout today, proudly announcing country music superstar Keith Urban as the first announced show to hit the stage at Rogers Place. As part of his ripCORD WORLD TOUR 2016, Keith Urban will perform at Rogers Place on September 16, 2016. This is the first announced show and the first on-sale concert for Rogers Place. Tickets for the general public will go on-sale on May 6, 2016 at 10:00am MDT.

While more Live Entertainment concerts and events will be announced, Keith Urban will help open the most modern, state-of-the-art building in North America that will redefine the fan experience for concert attendees and music lovers.

The four-time Grammy Award winner is perfect as one of Rogers Place’s opening artists – a fan-favourite who transcends across all genres and age groups and is sure to deliver a concert to remember. Urban’s reputation as a premier songwriter, vocalist, musician and virtuoso guitarist has afforded him the opportunity to collaborate with other world-renowned artists and Rogers Place is excited to host the talented musician.

“Rogers Place will be the epicentre of excitement in Edmonton. A place where people come to share incredible experiences and form lifelong memories,” said Oilers Entertainment Group CEO & Vice Chair Bob Nicholson. “Rogers Place has been specifically designed to host world class live entertainment with attention to detail for the ultimate fan experience. Keith is perfect as one of our opening artists – he is a fan favourite and has such a special bond with music fans in Edmonton.”

Nicholson added, “We also want to invite the community to help us open Rogers Place. There will be an amazing suite of concerts, hockey and community events to help bring the building to life in the fall. Over the coming weeks, we’ll release more information on the programming. This is just the start, stay tuned, more to come.”

From floor to ceiling, Rogers Place has been designed to host the world’s most cutting edge and advanced entertainment. Arena design takes into account the need to accommodate ever larger and more complex shows and how they are staged. Those design features include the ability to rig up to 200,000 pounds, giving Rogers Place one of the largest hanging capacities of any venue in Canada. The building can accommodate multiple show configurations and acoustical treatments to enhance audio performance. There are also four indoor loading dock bays within an easy push to an ample marshalling space located immediately backstage. The arena has also been designed to host smaller, more intimate shows in a reverse-stage end, small concert configuration.

“Our goal for Rogers Place is not just an amazing day or week of programming, we want to make it an amazing and memorable first year. We want people to come downtown, experience the building firsthand and begin creating moments of their own,” said Sheena Way, Assistant General Manager, Live Entertainment, Rogers Place. “We are planning an incredibly active opening to Rogers Place and a big first year with diverse programming and content – something for everyone.”

Earlier in the week, Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson announced the City of Edmonton and Oilers Entertainment Group will host a Public Open House at Rogers Place on September 10, 2016, giving the general public their first opportunity to see the fully-finished building firsthand.

Rogers Place, set to open in September 2016, will be North America’s premier destination for sports and entertainment. Located in the heart of downtown Edmonton, Rogers Place is also the anchor of ICE District, the largest mixed-use sports and entertainment district in Canada.