It appears that the packages are only available through the official website of The New Cars TheNewCars.com and not TicketMaster. There are 4 packages available, all packages offer things like discount vouchers at the online shops plus keyrings and a T-shirt (advertised as "a gift bag of New Cars merchandise valued over $100!") but only the most expensive offers a Meet and Greet with Todd Rundgren, Elliot Easton and Greg Hawkes (but not Kasim Sulton or Prairie Prince). The prices and seats on offer are:
$385 - seating in the first 5 rows
$215 - seating in the first 20 rows
$159 - seating in the first 30 rows
The most disconcerting thing I found about these packages is that no seat row is specified before you have to enter your credit card details!

Universal City, CA (20th May)
Starting on Monday, this venue is offering two new auctions. The first one is for two Second Row Orchestra Pit seats and two Backstage Hospitality Passes (but it doesn't say that you'll meet any of The New Cars). The opening bid is $45 each and the auction ends on Tuesday 16th May.

The second auction runs for the same period but starts at $90. This one is for two Front Row Center Orchestra Pit tickets, two Backstage Hospitality Passes, and a Gibson Epiphone Les Paul Guitar signed by The New Cars. Click here for this auction.

Pala, California (16th May)
As reported on KasimInfo.com yesterday, this concert has been moved indoors from the Palomar Starlight Theater (basically a concert under the stars) to the Pala Casino Event Center (both venues are with the Pala Casino grounds). However today TicketMaster.com are still selling tickets for both venues! Two seats are available in the 18th row for the outdoor venue but in the 14th row for the indoor venue which is supposed to be the smaller one!

Englewood, CO (30th May)
It appears that no bids have been placed in the first 6 days of the auction at this venue for two VIP reserved seats, a VIP Parking Pass, admission for two to the VIP lounge and two show posters (seats are in the second, third, sixth and eighth rows). The auction ends on Monday 15th May and the opening bid is $100 per ticket (i.e. $200 per auction lot).

Out of the new photos in the set, the best one of Kasim Sulton is here.

This also answers the question about which venue they played in Boston as they played both - First Act Guitar Studio and State Room!

Pala Casino, Pala, CA (Tuesday 16th May) - people who have purchased tickets for this concert today received an e-mail from TicketMaster.com to say that the concert has been moved from the (outdoor) Palomar Starlight Theater to the Pala Event Center within the casino. Original tickets for the Palomar Starlight Theatre will be honored or refunds are available at the point of purchase. Event date and time will remain the same.

No reason for this change of venue has been given but today both TicketMaster and the Pala Casino website are still listing the event as at the outdoor venue and today tickets in the 18th out of the 57 outdoor rows are still available. (It was also reported a couple of weeks ago on KasimInfo.com that the outdoor venue is just a large patch of grass where they erect a stage and put out the chairs for concerts.)

Jone Beach Theater, Wantagh, NY (Friday 9th June) - Just a minor change as the venue is now called the Nikon instead of Tommy Hilfiger. All other details remain the same.

The photos which feature Kasim Sulton are:
A birds eye view
A rare shot of Kasim beside a "ST RO" sign!
Kasim amongst the skyscrapers!
Group shot before the gig - at least Kasim is looking at the correct camera!
Kasim Sulton
Photo Shoot For The Boston Globe
The New Cars with some of the staff of the Boston Common Magazine

This gig was held in conjunction with the radio station Mix 98.5FM and was to advertise The New Cars forthcoming concert in Boston on Wednesday 7th June at the Bank Of America Pavilion. Reports from fans vary about where this gig was played as someone said that it was at the State Room and someone else that it was First Act Guitar Studio on Boyleston Street. Both venues are reported to only hold a couple of hundred people.

Apparently there was a photo posted of the gig in today's printed version of The Boston Globe. The online edition has a review added here but as it contains some of those "your computer has a virus, check it here" pop-ups and as newspaper articles often disappear after a while, it's replicated below:

"The New Cars go for a spin in Hub
By Christopher Blagg
Wednesday, May 3, 2006 - Updated: 01:30 AM EST

Rock show reunions are typically nostalgia-laden affairs.

Still, it’s hard to get too worked up over a reunion that’s missing the band’s chief songwriter, singer and most recognizable face. Now dubbed The New Cars, the Boston rock legends formerly known as The Cars made their Hub debut at First Act Guitar Studio in the Back Bay last night, minus the inimitable Ric Ocasek. Power-pop veteran Todd Rundgren took Ocasek’s spot in the band, which featured only two of the original Cars, guitarist Elliott Easton and keyboardist Greg Hawkes.

The unplugged private event, sponsored by Mix 98.5, was a preview of the band’s forthcoming release “It’s Alive,” a mostly live set of Cars classics mixed with a small sampling of new tunes. As expected, the crowd whooped it up for classic rock radio favorites like “Best Friend’s Girl” and “You Might Think,” and were typically muted for the new material. The new tunes proved to be a mixed bag, the band exposing their sappier tendencies on the horrifically insipid ballad “Warm,” but righting the ship with the rock ’n’ boogie throwback of “Not Tonight.”

Throughout the short set, Rundgren, sporting a strange skunk-inspired coif, gamely played the dreaded “guy who’s replacing the iconic frontman” role, fitting seamlessly into the rest of the band and providing his typically manic and verbose stage presence. Bassist Kasim Sulton and drummer Prairie Prince rounded out the new lineup.

The New Cars will be returning to play a Boston show with Blondie at the Bank of America Pavilion on June 7, but with only a few new tunes and without the strange but brilliant Ric Ocasek, you have to wonder whether their fans will remain loyal. Is just two-fifths of the original band enough? Tune in next month."

Front page - KasimInfo.co.uk
Blog page - KasimInfo.co.uk/Blog.html
The New Cars Road Rage Tour page - KasimInfo.co.uk/2006Cars.html
Kasim Sulton's 2006 page - KasimInfo.co.uk/2006.html
Not all the links off those pages will work but it means that you will be able to view updates to the website as soon as they are uploaded.

One nice quote is "The power chords and verses in this pounding rock n' roll opus will send chills through audiences this summer. It was a privilege to watch these incredible musicians at work as they easily ran through material, riffing off one another and joking around. The musical chemistry was undeniable and electric - just wait until you see these guys live!"

The article also says that Blondie's backdrop is a "black and white minimalist cityscape, that will light up more and more as night falls". In contrast The New Cars will have a series of giant circular LED screens for video projections, which will all showcase video running throughout the show.

Standard seats at this venue vary in price from $76 to $20.50. Previously they had some (non-Kasim) Meet and Greet packages at $395 but these are no longer available. This venue also previously held an auction to aid the Music Raising Charity and a pair of tickets went for $130 each (the opening bid was $90).

Also on offer at the moment at this venue is a Coors Guys Night Out which costs $50 for two reserved seats, two Coors (or Coca-Colas) beers, plus two Coors T-shirts.

In this auction which started today they have ten packages of 2 VIP reserved seats, a VIP Parking Pass, admission for two to the VIP lounge and 2 show posters. The opening bid is $100 per ticket (therefore $200 minimum per auction lot) and seats are in the second, third, sixth and eight rows. The auction ends on 15th May.

(The New Cars are not listed for any of the recordings of the show this week, plus reportedly the band are suppposed to be on the East Coast.)

Many thanks to RidgewoodNJ for posting this info. He also posted:
"His bass playing was flawless."
"His microphone volume was too low for the vocals of All Mixed Up."
"Kasim was out speaking with fans before the performance."

It's not been officially announced but another fan posted to a mailing list that "there is another sneak show tonite at 11:00pm somewhere in New York" and that the band are supposed to be rehearsing and doing promo in the city over the next few weeks.

Just What I Neeeded
Let's Go
Candy O
You Might Think
Warm
Best Friend's Girl
I Saw The Light
You're All I Got
Not Tonight
Drive
Black Maria
Moving In Stereo
All Mixed Up
Shake It Up
Dangerous Type
Bye Bye Love

Open My Eyes
Good Time Roll

It's good to see that they've increased the set list from the gigs in Burbank, VA back in January!

Many thanks to RidgewoodNJ for posting this set list.

The New Cars also play Best Friends Girl, Not Tonight and You Might Think plus there's a Q&A (but Kasim isn't asked any questions). All the songs seem to be acoustic so Kasim's background vocals come over really clearly in all of them!

There's also loads of photos of the event starting here.

Many thanks to Middle-Aged for this link.

National CineMedia (NCM) is a theatre owned cinema programming company which represents approximately 1,100 theatres and nearly 12,000 screens in 43 states. Owned by both AMC Theatres and the Regal Entertainment Group, NCM represents approximately 30% of the screens in the United States.

Each of these events are "for one night only" but no date has yet been announced for The New Cars. Previous artists involved in this include The Rolling Stones, Bon Jovi and Bruce Springsteen.

This will be the second time that Kasim Sulton has been involved in one of these events as on 27th September 2004 there was a double bill of Yes and Meat Loaf (which was a concert that was filmed in Melbourne, Australia). Click here to read that press release.

This gig is being played in conjunction with the radio station WPLJ and fans could only win tickets through the radio station (plus the official New Cars Fan Club had two tickets to give away.

The China Club is located at 268 West 47th Street, New York, NY 10036 (between Broadway and 8th Avenue) and the show tonight starts at 7.30pm (doors open at 6.15pm). Click here to view the official website of the venue. This club is reported to only have a capacity of 500 so it will be an "intimate" concert!

The original China Club had closed in early 1997 and was famous for the large number of stars who played the venue in their earlier years. This new version of the club opened in January 1998.

Kasim Sulton last played at this venue on Tuesday 23rd September 2003 when he played another promo gig but this time it was with Meat Loaf to promote his album Couldn't Have Said It Better.