Eventful Blog

Demand Christian Grey & Anastasia Steele!

Women across North America are being hypnotized by E.L. James’ Fifty Shades of Grey. As most know by now, the book is highly erotic, and blush-worthy to say the least. The love story following literature student Anastasia Steele and young entrepreneur Christian Grey through the trials and tribulations of a daring, passionately physical affair has resonated in the hearts (and libidos) of the women who read the trilogy.

The literary phenomenon has been featured on talk shows nationwide, gone viral on the internet, and spawned hundreds of “Greysessed” fans, both young and old alike. Women are finding themselves getting their "mommy porn" fix on the side of the highway, outside daycares, or anywhere that is light enough to read the pages. Although author E.L. James initially intended for the book to be Twilight fan fiction, the series has taken on a life of its own. James recently sold the movie rights to Universal Studios for a hefty seven figure sum.

The recent movie rights have created a frenzy over who will play the leads in the sure to be steamy movie. Eventful has launched a campaign where readers can choose who should play Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele in the upcoming film. Fans can go to here and pick their favorite couple with a kink! Currently in the lead: Matt Bomer and Emma Roberts. Select your perfect Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele and spread the word to your fellow Fifty fans to make sure your man (and woman) wins!

Eventful CEO Jordan Glazier Speaking With Renouwn Tech Blogger Robert Scoble

Robert Scoble, creator of the Scobleizer blog, asked to sit down with Eventful's CEO, Jordan Glazier, to talk about Eventful.com, the online events world in general and where this idea is headed.

Here is their conversation:

Eventful Get's KISSed by OMMA

The OMMA Awards celebrate the year’s most innovative and brilliant online advertising creative, campaigns and Web sites across 70 categories within three disciplines. And Eventful & KISS won the 2011 OMMA Award for Best Integrated Online Campaign in the category of Entertainment: Music!

Doc McGhee, KISS' manager, posing with the award
Generating an emotional connection with fans, the iconic rock group KISS ran a digital campaign with Eventful to create a user-generated tour across America. It gave KISS fans the opportunity to give 22 unsigned bands out of the thousands that entered a chance to open for KISS in 22 cities. Eventful had to beat out such stiff competition as Los Tigres and their Your picture with campaign as well as Fiat and their The FADER FORT by FIAT campaign. Which makes the award - which resides atop the front desk at the Eventful office for all to covet - that much more valuable!

Eventful had to beat out such stiff competition as Los Tigres and their Yourpicturewith campaign as well as Fiat and their The FADER FORT by FIAT campaign. Which makes the award - which resides atop the front desk at the Eventful office for all to covet - that much more valuable!

It was an honor and a privileged to work with Doc McGhee and KISS on their last two tours to empower their fans to decide the routing of their tour and which bands got to open for them.

Dean Cramer's SO LOW, the winning band for the Bristow show, meeting KISS
Check out the list of winners on the custom contest landing page!

Valentine's Day Concerts

There are a lot of things in life that evoke the sensation of love. Flowers, romantic walks along the beach, chocolate. But maybe the easiest way to find your way to Love Street is through music. Which is why a live concert is such a perfect event for a Valentine's Day date. It's a good thing that a lot of today's biggest and best artists are willing to donate their Valentine's Days to give you the shot at a perfect outing with the one you love.

R&B fans, Valentine's Day can be your day with performances like the Trey Songz & Ne-Yo Valentines Day show at the Verizon Theatre at Grand Prairie in Grand Prairie, TX. Or the Keith Sweat show that's about to go on at Soldier Field Stadium in Chicago. OR such as the one that Estelle is going to give the fans at the House of Blues in Dallas.

Maybe you're more interested in having a Top 40s type of holiday. In that case, Lady Antebellum is playing with Thompson Square at the Energy Solutions Arena in Salt Lake City, UT. And Cody Simpson is at the House of Blues - Chicago chapter. And American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson performs tonight at the Hard Rock in Biloxi, Mississippi.

Perhaps you enjoy a little salsa in your rock 'n' roll? Then check out Los Lonely Boys' most romantic show of their careers tonight at The Knitting Factory in Boise, Idaho.

Or if you like your V Day to be a little rowdier, Motley Crue can help by serenading you + yours in Sin City at the The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel. Social Distortion is also rocking out V Day to all the studded metal fans at the Modesto Centre Plaza in Modesto, CA.

On the flip side to the rowdy, Elton John is also in Vegas to put a lighter touch to the holiday by performing at The Coliseum at Caesars Palace.

And you Canadians, don't think for a second that you're forgotten. After some internet research, it turns out that there IS Valentine's Day in Canada. Congrats! So, why not take in a show, too? Simple Plan is at Rexall Place in Edmonton, Alberta. Or City and Colour is at the Center in the Square in Kitchener, Ontario.

Maybe your date prefers something new and exciting on such a special occasion! For those of you looking for a new musical experience with your love, The Asteroids Galaxy Tour is onstage at Echo in LA.

And for those of you that just want to hear some straight-up love songs, Gavin DeGraw has the UK covered by performing at the O2 Shepherds Bush Empire in London. And Kenny G is in Phoenix at the Celebrity Theatre.

There are even Grammy award winners putting on shows tonight such as Skrillex at the O2 Academy Liverpool in the UK. And Florence and The Machine is bringing her unique take on rock to the lovebirds in the Netherlands by playing De Effenaar.

There is literally any kind of music show happening in literally every joint with a stage around the planet. And each show will give your date and you a different and memorable experience. That's the magic of music combined with the romance of Valentine's Day. To find out what V Day concerts are happening near you, all you have to do is click here!

Reading Is Healthy

Eventful created its first Demand it! competition for a book. The competition is in support of THE END OF ILLNESS by David B. Agus, MD. With the release of THE END OF ILLNESS, the Demand it! platform will be used for the first time to empower consumers to redefine how they view their own health. Pretty exciting stuff!

The competition began on January 17th when consumers could “Demand the End of Illness” by visiting the custom-built landing page. All participants receive exclusive content from Dr. Agus, an excerpt from the book, video content and a virtual educational session with Dr. Agus himself. Participants can share the campaign experience and its content across their social graphs with seamless integration to Facebook and Twitter so their friends and family can benefit from Dr. Agus’ groundbreaking approach.

Dr. David Agus is one of the world’s leading cancer researchers and practitioners. He is professor of medicine and engineering at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California and the USC Viterbi School of Engineering and heads USC Norris Westside Cancer Center and the Center for Applied Molecular Medicine. In THE END OF ILLNESS he envisions a future in which health care, driven by technological breakthroughs, is about disease prevention, individualized medicine, and treating the body as a whole system rather than treating specific ailments and symptoms.

“THE END OF ILLNESS is Dr. Agus’s call to action to apply technology and innovation to health care in order to redefine it for the future,” says Martha K. Levin, Executive Vice President and Publisher of Free Press - the publisher of the book. “We felt the marketing for the book should be similarly forward-looking and innovative, and have found a great partner in Eventful to help us accomplish that.”

“We’re honored to be working with Free Press to offer the Eventful community exclusive access to THE END OF ILLNESS groundbreaking content and Dr. Agus’s practical advice,” said Eventful's CEO Jordan Glazier. “Eventful Demand it! is fundamental to music and motion picture social media strategy. Eventful is thrilled that Free Press and Dr. Agus share our vision of creating new communities by offering and sharing exclusive experiences using social media in the literary space.”

Employee spotlight - Taylor Rea

Taylor Rea is a writer and data quality specialist and has been with the Eventful family for close to a year now. He attended California State University Long Beach where he threatened numerous administrators until they gave him his degree. He enjoys stale movie popcorn and long, romantic walks in bad neighborhoods. Another interesting tidbit about Taylor is that he also reviews restaurants, bars, and clubs in his spare time. To let all of our users and customers know a little bit more about the people that work here, we decided to ask him a few questions about his side gig.

: Hey, Taylor! How have you been? Did you get that little medical problem you were experiencing cleared up?

Taylor Rea: This isn't going to be a part of the real interview, is it?

: No way! I'm actually concerned.

TR: Then no.

: Well your boyish charm and good looks more than make up for it. Let's just get down to the nitty gritty: what kind of places do you normally review?

TR: I've reviewed a number of restaurants in San Diego, mostly in the historic Gaslamp Quarter, but I've also reviewed some bars, clubs, restaurants, and casinos in Las Vegas.

: Wow, Las Vegas; that must've been fun! I bet some of the bars and clubs there get pretty crazy, especially when you're on the job.

TR: Well, I'm not sure if you should put this in the interview, but part of that assignment was to review a majority of the gentlemen’s clubs in town. I had never really been to a strip club before, so it was an interesting experience. Some places were super laid back and welcoming, while others were wretched hives of scum and villainy that treated their employees like crap. I usually ended up just having drinks with the girls that worked there and learned a lot about the industry. By the end of the trip, I realized that strippers are really just normal people trying to make a living with unique jobs that a majority of society has put a negative label on. This isn't going in the interview either, right?

: Don't worry about it. It sounds like you're a consummate professional with nothing to be ashamed of -- probably. So what's reviewing restaurants like?

TR: It's pretty amazing! You will never have a more pampered and delicious dining experience than when a chef and their restaurant staff are trying to impress you. I usually bring a friend and end up sampling the place's five most popular dishes, drinking some signature cocktails or other drinks, and interviewing the head chef. I spend more time writing than I do eating, so it takes a couple of hours.

: That sounds delicious! Maybe you could bring me along with you on your next review.

TR: Uhhhhhhh…

: Fine. Be that way. What's your main goal when you're conducting and writing these reviews?

TR: It's all about enticing people to visit the restaurant, so I try to paint a picture with words of what the restaurant is like: what colors and decorations are on the walls, how friendly the staff is, and even what the tables look like. If people can imagine the surroundings, then they get more excited about going. It's the same with the food. If you can describe the texture of the food and what different flavors are combining and mixing, then I think people can actually taste the food a bit while reading the review. Sensory adjectives and descriptions are a big part of that.

: That sounds great, Taylor. I'm sure that the same excellent writing you do for these reviews shines through in your artist and venue profiles on Eventful, as well as your work on The Reel Buzz emails.

TR: Thanks, but I'm just a simple yet ruggedly handsome man doing what he can to make a living.

: So modest.

Well, that's it for the Taylor edition of Eventful family spotlights. But check back soon to see some of the interesting stuff that other Eventful people do outside of the office.

Eventful Serves More Than Events

Members of the Eventful staff rolled up their sleeves and decided to give back to the community that’s already been so good to us! We got our best planners, our best cooks and our best filler-inners and headed to the Ronald McDonald House.

There were some differing opinions as to the quantities we should cook
We knew that it was our civic duty to donate our time to those in need. But, what was the perfect cause? After some brainstorming on ideas for volunteer work, we decided a great way for us to help would be to serve dinner for children and their families who were staying at the San Diego home while they received treatment. We planned a dinner menu (containing food groups from EACH category of the food pyramid), went shopping and showed up to Ronny McD’s prepared to delight some palates.

This is about 1/100 of the fried rice that Cat made
Little did we know that there would be more than 180 palates that needed delighting that night!

They asked us to not eat any of the food while cooking – no one knew why
No matter! The more hungry people to show, the more good we can serve up. PLUS there were a few dishes that ran no risk of running out. Bring it on, Ronald!

Nothing like some home-cooked oranges

Or some home-distilled water
The plan was to arrive early – dinner was at 7 o’clock sharp – so we’d have time to get a feel for the kitchen and find out what each of our strengths were. Turns out that we had more people that qualified for the dishwasher role than for that of the cooks.

We put our more serious chefs on the grill

While others of us were given more menial tasks
But, we made do. Each person was assigned a valuable role in the event. There were dicers, slicers, timers, flippers, peelers. Each person was assigned a task. And once that task was complete, an Eventful-ier with actual cooking experience came through and redid the task - but correctly this time. Well-oiled machine. Us.

Crybabies
The line of hungry customers was starting to grow and we were still putting the finishing touches on the meal. There was talk of doing a song-and-dance routine to stall the crowd. The rest of us took a step back when one volunteer claimed to have some knife-juggling experience.

Believe it or not, there can be too many filler-inners
Thankfully no flying cleavers were needed. Right at the buzzer, the meal came together and we were ready to serve!

Assembly line via Eventful, Inc

Don’t forget about the oranges and water!
By the time the night was finished, we were all completely wiped out and just shy of 190 people walked away with their hunger satisfied. And we got GREAT reviews for our efforts.

“Best hospital meal I’ve ever had today!” – Anonymous diner

“Is Eventful.com a cooking website? It should be.” – Anonymous diner

“Sure beats a gas station burrito.” – Anonymous diner

All joking aside, all of the “Thanks!” that we received were completely unnecessary. The reason we worked as hard as we did to prepare and serve a delicious and nutritious meal was to make peoples’ lives just a little bit easier during such a hard time. It’s like the old saying goes: A good deed is its own dessert.

“These cookies are for dessert. That cookie fell on the floor.”

NEW YEAR'S EVE 2012!!

It's that time again... where once a year the night turns magical and is filled with champagne, glitz and hopeful romance: New Years Eve. What are your plans to ring in 2012? If you're not sure yet, you wont want to miss these fabulous fetes.

Las Vegas
1 OAK - GET TICKETS
Where: The Mirage
Music: Rock, Punk, Soul, Funk, Hip Hop Highlight: Grand Opening. Fergie. DJ Jesse Marco. Champagne toast. What more could you ask for?
Ring in 2012 at the most glamorous, state-of-the-art New Year's Eve bash and countdown in Vegas. Partygoers will experience a one-of-a-kind experience while enjoying the intimate atmosphere and New York vibe of the 1 OAK Grand opening New Years Eve.
Cost: $150+

Los Angeles
Cleopatra's 2nd Annual 2012 New Year's Eve Ball - GET TICKETS
Where: The Egyptian Theater in Hollywood
Music: The Ultimate Club Mix, Hip Hop, House
Highlight: The Egyptian Theater designed for its exclusive celebrity movie premieres and red carpet ceremonies, for one night only, will be open to you and your friends for a huge New Year's Eve Ball. You will find yourself among sexy Cleopatras, Egyptian Queens and Pharaohs mixing your favorite drinks plus, the top DJs spinning the hottest beats!
Cost: $75 - $1,500

Miami
Gansevoort Rooftop - GET TICKETS
Where: South Beach
Music: Top 40, Hip Hop, Dance, 80's, Housel Mash Ups
Highlight: Live the privileged high life this New Year's Eve and join A-list celebrities, celebuntantes and models at the Gansevoort Rooftop Party. Take-in the 360 degree panoramic view, enjoy the premium open bar and celebrate the new year at the most sophisticated and exhilarating party in Miami. This sleek and sexy tropical oasis party will have you at hello.
Cost: $175 - $595

New York City
New Year's Eve BASH 2012 - GET TICKETS
Where: AVENUE, 116 Tenth Avenue, NYC
Music: Hip Hop, Dance, 80's, and Rock
Highlight: This ultra swank club in West Chelsea just went through a $2.5 million transformation complete with "models, bottles, moguls and A-listers". During the bash you will find yourself among world renowned DJs, a premium open bar, champagne toasts and party favors. Avenue is THE premier hot spot, rated #1 Ultra Exclusive New Year's Eve 2012 Bash.
Cost: $165 - $215

San Diego
Big Night San Diego New Year's Eve Gala - GET TICKETS
Where: Hilton San Diego Bayfront
Music: Top 40, Hip Hop, Dance, House & more
Highlight: Delivering the wow factor without the hassle you'll be sure to have a perfect all-inclusive night including: drinks, food, party favors, no long lines, 12 themed party areas, live music and top DJs.
Cost: $109.99 - $299.99

Congratulations to this Year's Z100 Hometown Hero, Ali Brustofski!

Z100, State Farm and Eventful teamed up to provide one lucky music artist the opportunity to perform at Z100's All Access Lounge, the pre-event to the legendary Jingle Ball. Over 330 music artists competed to win the coveted prize, with over 60,000 Demands generated by fans. All unsigned music artists in the tri-state area were eligible to compete and the top 25 artists with the most Demands at the end of round 1 moved to the semi-finals. During the semi-finals an A-list panel of music judges, including Gabe Saporta from Cobra Starship and Monte Lipman from Universal Republic Records, selected 5 finalists to move on to the final round. The final winner was determined by fan Demands.

Congratulations to the young, beautiful and very talented Ali Brustofski! Ali says, "The whole experience was way better than anything I could have possibly dreamed of. I still can't believe I spent all day at Hammerstein.. I got to hangout backstage, have my own Meet & Greet, and perform for by far the biggest crowd I've ever sang for. And to top it all off my performance was played on the Jumbotron at Madison Square Garden!! It was literally surreal, and no doubt the best day of my life." We wish you the best of luck in your music career!

Ali performing at the Z100 and Coca-Cola All Access Lounge

Video of Ali's performance coming soon!

What Comes Before Part B?

You should have seen our second round
Par-tay! (Sound it out…) Which is exactly what us Eventful-iers did last weekend to celebrate the holiday season with each other. It was a nice change of pace for us all to swap out our flip-flops and thinking caps for cocktail dresses and neckties. …

A few of the Eventful youngsters having a fine time
… The occasion for us to get gussied up together doesn’t happen all too often. We sure are a fine-looking group once the HTML code is scrubbed from beneath our fingernails and the Demand It! stickers are brushed out of our hair.

Sara: Smile for what camera?
Some of us put in an extra amount of effort getting glammed up since we had a reserved room at the swank Analog Bar in Downtown San Diego. Passersby were looking at us through the windows commenting to each other, “I wonder if they’re from Hollywood…” We’re not from Hollywood. BUT, we can tell you about what events are happening there.

Some had a specific reason to attend the party
This year was indeed one for celebrating. Not only did we have zero onsite accidents in the Eventful offices - welts from rubber band wars withstanding – we made HUGE improvements in terms of the appearance and functionality of our website and services. After a year as successful as we consider 2011 to be, we all felt deserving over our two drink tickets. (Three, if you know the right people.)

Others had a different agenda
Most office parties are very formal affairs. But, Eventful isn’t like most. We hired a live 4-piece band, The Sidekicks, to rock out for us while we took turns pretending to be the frontman and sang to the throng of people with extremely picky music tastes. …

Eventful’s version of NKOTB – Paul called dibs on the “Donnie” role
… Surprisingly enough, we’ve got a few members on staff that can really carry a tune - including our CEO and fearless leader, Jordan Glazier! And even the not-so-good groups won the crowd over with their onstage banter. Good-looking AND talented? It’s amazing any of us are still single!

CEO Jordan Glazier rocking out to a tune
that may or may not have been made famous by Tina Turner
Jordan gave the only speech of the night that was both heartfelt and excited. And he was wise enough to bookend his speech by raffling off prizes for gift cards to spas, electronic stores and restaurants. There’s a reason he’s in charge. Smarts.

At least no one brought an embarrassing date this year
There were drinks and snacks. There was music and plenty of prizes. But, most importantly, there was us. The people at Eventful congratulating each other on our professional and personal successes over the year. …

Maybe we are from Hollywood! Look out, Marie Osmond!!
… There have been weddings, births, graduations, new hires and a rumor was floating around the office that a member of Eventful has successfully jumped out of an airplane 73 times this year. On purpose!

The only time Jenny stopped smiling
was when they made last call
Yes, it’s safe to say that 2011 was a fantastic year made only better by the fact that the Eventful offices are so filled with genuine party animals.

Kristan: Call me a cab.
Dawn: You’re a cab.
Kristan: OMG! We’re SO funny!

Eventful Be Jammin'

Gym Class Heroes and The Dirty Heads just rounded out their co-headlined North American tour! And Eventful was there for every step of the way. We were helping to promote the tour by conducting a ticket giveaway for each stop of the tour. It was great to be able to give such an awesome prize to our loyal users. And, the fans of the two bands were more than grateful for the tickets!

A view of the headliners from the balcony
The tour started off huge on October 9 at The Prophet Bar in Dallas. The bands played for a sold-out and energized show. Nothing but positive reviews came out of that event. And that kind of excitement carried through the entire tour that routed them through Revolution in Fort Lauderdale, FL; The Masquerade Music Park in Atlanta, GA; Ram's Head Live in Baltimore, MD; the House of Blues - Boston; Kool Haus in Toronto, Ontario; Newport Music Hall in Columbus, OH; The Midland Theatre in Kansas City, MO; The Knitting Factory in Boise, ID; Roseland Theatre in Portland, OR; and the final stop at The Grove in Anaheim, CA - just to name a handful of the perfect venues to see such an alive music show. Each venue was carefully selected to be large enough to offer entry to the TONS of fans that wanted in while at the same time making the show seem personal and up-close. Which worked our perfectly! We know. Because we were there.

A couple of us enjoying a refreshing ... yellow-tinged soda during the show
The tour swung through San Diego on November 16 and we scored a handful of tickets - resulting in an epic battle for which Eventful-iers got to attend. But, to the victors go the spoils. The winners were announced and the rest slinked away plotting their revenge.

The crowd on the main floor was insane
We geared up and headed to the House of Blues in downtown San Diego - a great mid-sized venue for such a show. Unfortunately, some key members of the Gym Class Heroes came down with a pretty serious illness so the band had to pull out of the tour with about a third of the stops remaining - San Diego included. So, we missed 1/2 of the headliners at our stop. But, The Dirty Heads put on a SHOW! And were more than ably backed by Wallpaper and Ivy League - a couple bands that sounded ready to headline tours of their own.

The bar on the floor was also serving that yellow-tinged soda. Lucky us!
The crowd was dancing from beginning to end. The vibe was musically friendly. And the haze in the air - presumably from the onstage smoke machine - added a hypnotic effect to the show. All in all, we gave the show ten enthusiastic thumbs up! Congrats on the bands involved in this tour! We can't wait until you're all around SoCal again!

We were the last ones at the venue! And I have an unfocusable camera-phone.

Eventful CEO Jordan Glazier Speaking At Film/Music Industry Events in LA This Week

Our CEO Jordan Glazier was in Los Angeles this morning at the LA Hilton in Universal City to participate in the Variety Film Marketing Summit. He took part in a great panel entitled “Urgency & Driving Moviegoing Frequency.” The panel was moderated by Variety’s film editor Josh Dickey and other participants included Ted Hong (Chief Marketing Officer-Fandango), Ted Mundorff (CEO of Landmark Theatres), and Henri Mazza (Chief Creative Officer-Alamo Drafthouse Cinema). They had a great discussion about film marketing to moviegoers, premium formats and experiences, loyalty and discount programs, and the most effective ways to reach consumers. The experienced group of panelists discussed new methods that marketers can participate in to produce incentives at theatres and drive overall moviegoing frequency. The audience was treated to some intriguing points about audience segmentation and targeting, reaching consumers through the mobile platform, social marketing, and the importance/resurgence of direct marketing through email.

Jordan will be back in Los Angeles THIS THURSDAY (October 6) to participate in Digital Music Forum West at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. He will part of a great panel entitled “New Technologies for the Fan.” The discussion will focus on the way in which technology and data are changing the fan experience, the way the business evaluates and values fan interaction, and what it means to be a music fan in today’s world. Questions to be addressed include: Which form(s) of digital media (online, email, social, mobile) have proven most effective in engaging fans and driving desired behavior? How do technology innovations for fans differ between recorded music vs. live music and events? What do artists and the industry need to do to better engage with fans, both online and offline? Who's doing it the right way? The panel will be moderated by Jeff Pollack (Chairman & CEO, Pollack Media Group). Other participants will include Evan Lowenstein (CEO & Founder, StageIt), Neil Vineberg (Chief Marketing Officer, ThingLink), and Wilhelm That (Marketing Director, Flowd). If you happen to be in the LA area, drop by the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel (7000 Hollywood Blvd.) and check it out! The panel runs from 5:30-6:30pm.

Who will win Eventful’s 2011 Fans’ Choice Award?

If you’re a music fan, odds are that you’re a live music fan, too. Taking this one step further, you’re likely a fan of a really good live show that blasts out really good music. Those are the kinds of shows that people remember. The kind in which grandparents enthrall their grandkids with stories starting with, “This was the defining tour of the year…!”

Well, Eventful and Billboard are teamed together to help you decide which tour to tell stories about by giving you the power to elect the Fans’ Choice Award for “Best Tour of the Year!”

Finalists, compiled using data from Billboard Boxscore and Eventful Demands, have put on the most innovative and entertaining live concerts in 2011. The 25 finalists represent almost every genre of music from rockers Journey, Rush, Bon Jovi, and the Eagles to pop artists Katy Perry and Lady Gaga. Numerous country stars made the cut based on their memorable 2011 live tours including George Straight, Rascal Flatts, Taylor Swift, Tim McGraw, Jason Aldean, and Brad Paisley with his notable “Water World Plaza,” turning each city into a water festival. Some of the world’s most beloved classic rock artists like Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, Neil Diamond, and Paul McCartney have also been nominated along with rapper Lil Wayne and R&B star Usher. Some x-factors made the list, too, like jazzman Michael Buble, the pop ensemble Take That and soul singer Sade. Even American Idol Live and Glee Live proved that they are just as exciting live as they are on television and have made it as finalists as well.

Like we said, this is an all-encompassing competition filled to the brim with the most talented artists spanning all forms of music – which makes the title of Best Tour of the Year that much more coveted.

Don’t expect a landslide, either. This is sure to come down to the very last Demand when you consider the caliber of artists in the running including 2008 winner Kenny Chesney, 2010 winner Metallica, and U2 with the highest grossing concert tour of all time. If you want your favorite artist to win, you need to start spreading the word now!

All you have to do to participate is Demand your favorite artist from The Fans' Choice competition page. The competition ends November 7th so rally your friends and make sure the best artist wins Eventful’s 2011 Fans’ Choice Award for “Best Tour of the Year.”

Bring Alan Jackson to Your City for a Free Concert!

If you’re a fan of country music and FREE, live entertainment, then keep reading. Country music legend Alan Jackson is teaming up with Eventful to give his fans the chance to win a free concert! To celebrate his new studio album available this fall, Jackson is offering to put on a show pro bono to the city with the most Demands.

To help explain why this is such a big deal, let’s pretend for a second that you’ve never heard of Alan Jackson. Put simply, he’s one of the most successful and respected singer-songwriters in music today. The country megastar has sold nearly 60-million albums worldwide, topped the country singles charts 35 times, scored more that 50 Top-10 hits, etc, etc. And he’s not done yet! There’s still a “Long Way to Go,” according to his latest hit single. Jackson is best known for music that celebrates the common man (“Where I Come From”) and speaks to generations (”Drive [For Daddy Gene]”) and for our nation (“Where Were You [When the World Stopped Turning]”). There is no question that Alan Jackson will put on an incredible show!

Even if your city doesn’t win the free gig – though there’s no excuse for losing as long as you get your friends and family to Demand the show with you – there’s still a great chance that you’ll be able to catch Alan Jackson live this touring season. He’s on the road right now on a huge North American tour that stops just about everywhere. To find out when he’s performing near you, check out Alan Jackson’s full tour schedule.

Don’t hesitate. Demand the FREE show now! You’ve got nothing to lose but a great music concert and a fistful of money. Check out the competition details and learn how to spread the word to everyone in your city. FTW!

Bring the VIP Acoustic Performance from Switchfoot and Anberlin to Your City!

There are times when you want to go to see your favorite bands rock out at a wild venue in front of a pumped crowd of screaming fans. Then there are the times when you just want to see your favorite bands in a more intimate setting, unplugged and feeling the music. And then there are the greedy times when you want both. Well get greedy, for this is one of those times!

Switchfoot and Anberlin have announced that this fall they will be co-headlining a North American tour. Eventful is hosting a Demand it! competition where the city with the most Demands will win an exclusive VIP acoustic performance before the show.

The two bands are basically performing at every major venue in every major city across the US. To find out if your city is eligible for a show, check out the full tour schedule and get your tickets for a show now!

The tour is in honor of Switchfoot releasing their eighth studio album, Vice Verses, in September. The two bands will be playing their 5th show of the tour at SUNY Oneonta in New York the day the album drops – an anticipated day for tons of music fans. And Anberlin is still celebrating the huge success from their 5th studio album released late last year, Dark Is the Way, Light Is a Place. This is a tour filled with hits from beginning to end!

Go to the official competition page to get the full list of cities in the running and Demand yours now!

With longtime friends and musical allies Anberlin and Switchfoot co-headlining the tour, this is a music event not to be missed! Plus, imagine if you can brag to your friends about how you attended a VIP acoustic performance before the show? Once in a lifetime, indeed. The competition ends September 15 so rally your friends and family to Demand now! Only one city will win the experience.