From coast to coast across the U.S., major recording artists are preparing to take the stage on one of the biggest concert nights of the year. With the countdown to 2010 just hours away, TicketNews is taking a look at some of the concert ticket highlights for this New Year’s Eve.
Lady Gaga was perhaps the most watched celebrity in music in 2009, and she’ll celebrate the beginning of the New Year in concert. The pop star, whose recently rebooked shows in Chicago and Detroit caused ticketing troubles for fans, will perform a headline show tonight at the James L. Knight Center in Miami.
Elsewhere in Miami, Phish will play for the second straight night at American Airlines Arena in Miami. The jam band heroes made headlines at the beginning of the year with the confirmation of a reunion tour that spanned the year — and the nation.
Further west, the Black Eyed Peas will hit the stage at the Luxor Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, NV. The hip-hop group was the king of the charts this year as two separate singles — “Boom Boom Pow” and “I Gotta Feeling” — held the top spot on Billboard‘s Hot 100 for 26 consecutive weeks. The Peas will ride that popularity into the New Year with an early 2010 tour of North America.
Los Angeles also has its fair share of New Year’s Eve concerts planned. Leading the way is American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert, headlining the Pamela Anderson-hosted party at Paramount Studios. Despite coming in second in the reality TV singing competition, Lambert was a main draw for the American Idols Live 2009 tour and made waves as he launched a lucrative — and controversial — solo career.
In the U.S. market most synonymous with New Year’s Eve, the venues will also be packed with A-list artists. New York City will see Mariah Carey perform a headline show at Madison Square Garden before the ball drops in Times Square. The pop songstress is just warming up for her own 2010 headline tour, which officially launches in mid-January.
Those are just some of the concert ticket highlights as 2009 comes to a close. For those scouring the Internet for last-minute tickets to a show, TicketNews has a more comprehensive listing of the major New Year’s Eve concerts below, arranged by region:
New Year’s Eve 2009: U.S. Concerts by Region
Northeast
| Mariah Carey | New York, NY | Madison Square Garden |
| Patti Smith | New York, NY | Bowery Ballroom |
| Disco Biscuits | New York, NY | Nokia Theatre |
| Gov’t Mule | New York, NY | Beacon Theatre |
| O.A.R. | Atlantic City, NJ | House of Blues |
| They Might Be Giants | Northampton, MA | Calvin Theatre |
| Dane Cook | Boston, MA | TD Garden |
Midwest
| Umphrey’s McGee | Chicago, IL | Aragon Ballroom |
| The Black Keys | Chicago, IL | Riviera Theatre |
| Girl Talk | Chicago, IL | Congress Theater |
| Flaming Lips | Oklahoma City, OK | Cox Convention Center |
| B.B. King | Tulsa, OK | Mabee Center |
| Old Crow Medicine Show | Nashville, TN | Ryman Auditorium |
Southeast
| Widespread Panic | Atlanta, GA | Phillips Arena |
| The Avett Brothers | Asheville, NC | Thomas Wolfe Auditorium |
| Jeff Dunham | Charlotte, NC | Time Warner Cable Arena |
| Phish | Miami, FL | American Airlines Arena |
| Lady Gaga | Miami, FL | James L. Knight Center |
| Kid Cudi | Miami, FL | Wet @ The W Hotel |
West
| John Mayer Trio | Las Vegas, NV | The Joint |
| 50 Cent | Las Vegas, NV | Pure Nightclub |
| Maroon 5 | Las Vegas, NV | Pearl Concert Theatre |
| Black Eyed Peas | Las Vegas, NV | Luxor Hotel & Casino |
| Adam Lambert | Los Angeles, CA | Paramount Studios |
| Big Bad Voodoo Daddy | Los Angeles, CA | Walt Disney Concert Hall |
| Chromeo | Los Angeles, CA | Club Nokia |
| Ghostland Observatory | San Francisco, CA | Concourse Exhibition Center |
| The Roots | San Francisco, CA | Warfield Theatre |
| Cake | Seattle, WA | Moore Theatre |
