The Eagles have Landed

After months of hype and anticipation, the opening act for the BOK Center has been announced.

The Eagles will be the first big act to break in the new arena on September 6 at 8pm.

At the time of this writing, no official announcement had been made about ticket prices, so details about that are sketchy. But, we do know that Don Henley and the rest of Linda Ronstadt's old band will be rocking out to "Hotel California," "Desperado" and other staples of America's rock history for the opening performance of the BOK Center.

If some of the other musical acts slated to perform at the BOK Center are any indication, we're guessing ticket prices won't exceed $167 for premium seats, or about $50 for the nosebleed section (that is, if our brand-spanking-new, state-of-the art arena has a nosebleed section).

That's how much Celine Dion tickets for Nov. 13 are running, at least, and she looks like the priciest act slated so far.

Since the Eagles are the BOK Center's first big act, though, maybe ticket prices will be higher. We hope not.

Tickets go on sale July 21st at 10am.

Commemorative tickets will be given out at the show.

Also, the Eagles are flying solo for this show, so there will be no opening act.

The show will consist of two acts, with an intermission.

We're only slightly disappointed that nobody took our U2 idea and ran with it, though (See "Vote 'Yes!' on the U2 tax!" in our May 15-21 issue at www.urbantulsa.com).

But, as Don Henley and the boys would likely advise, we'll "Get Over It."

In related news, it was also announced that Garth Brooks is not slated to perform at the BOK Center, for the time being, at least.

But, he and a few other luminaries are going to cut the ribbon on Aug. 30 at 10am, after which time the arena will be open to the general public to tour and kick the tires, so to speak, on the new playground purchased with $178 million of their tax dollars.

The general public won't be the first to flush the brand new toilets, though!

That honor will have already been enjoyed by 350 lucky Tulsa-area kids participating in the July 29 "Super Flush" at 3pm.

Those youngsters will be able to thrill their own kids and grandkids one day by boasting about having flushed all of the BOK Center's toilets at the same time. As proof of their participation in history, they'll get a commemorative "I flushed it first" T-shirt.

And no--we're not kidding.

That's an actual event organized by the folks at the BOK Center.

About a month later, when the hoopla from the toilet-flushing extravaganza has worn down, on Aug. 25 the BOK Center will receive a traditional Indian Blessing by representatives of the Osage, Creek, Cherokee and Otoe tribes.

At the time of this writing, though, there was no official word on whether they'll be giving out commemorative "I blessed it first" T-shirts.

Then there will be a "Media Snoop" on Aug. 28, at which local media will be able to tour the newly flushed and blessed facilities.

Then Garth and Co. will cut the ribbon, opening the doors to the general public.

There's no T-shirt for that event, but they are giving out commemorative posters.

Finally, on Sunday, Aug. 31, the BOK Center's grand opening will commence with the "One Song. Many Voices" multi-faith, community choir.

The event will feature Sand Springs native and Broadway star Sam Harris, and 300 Tulsa-area residents/singers representing eleven different faiths.

And that will be the last of the free events.

The next event will be the Eagles' performance on Sept. 6.