'A big party': Concert series, Griz opener create profitable, whirlwind 10 days at Washington-Grizzly Stadium

MISSOULA — Typically, Washington-Grizzly Stadium is described as the Mecca of FCS football. But for this upcoming week it is Concert City, USA.

Over a 10-day stretch, there will be four major events at UM’s stadium, starting with three concerts and, of course, capped off by the Grizzly football home opener.

“This series of concerts is like a football game, super-sized you could say,” UM Athletics’ director of communications Eric Taber said.

That couldn’t ring more true. Starting Thursday, Washington-Grizzly Stadium will bring in recurring guest in rock and roll hall of famers Pearl Jam to kick off an insane 10-day run at the venue.

Country star Tyler Childers will follow soon after on Saturday, and that will lead up to the grand performance that is expected from Pink next Wednesday, with the opening Griz football game slated for Saturday, Aug. 31 to complete this run.

“This is really following along with (UM) President (Seth) Bodnar’s charge to make sure that we’re utilizing these facilities that we have and this entertainment hub that we have with Grizzly Athletics and the stadium and the Adams Center, and we’re maximizing what those are,” Montana athletic director Kent Haslam said.

And there’s strategy behind it too.

While it’s going to be a tall task and a heavy load, setting up the base-layer stage for three shows versus just one limits the costs on the university, allowing UM to generate more revenue in holding these three extra events.

“The stadium has proven to be a place where great acts can come and perform and generate the revenue that they want to generate, and also spend some time in western Montana,” Haslam said. “Having three, that’s a lot, that’ll do a lot to people who are working behind the scenes, but only having to set up the stage one time and then having three concerts is really financially much more viable for a stadium of this size.”

“It really is a 24/7 process,” Taber added. “And as soon as the Pearl Jam concert is over, they’re going to start the load out process. And then Tyler Childers arrives from their show at The Gorge (in Washington) the next day, basically, and they start moving things in. And then, luckily, there’s a few more days until the Pink concert, because that’s going to be a major move in.”

Logistically, to say it’s complicated is drastically understating it.

Floor installation began on August 15 and teams have been working around the clock since to set up. Pearl Jam will bring 25 tour trucks with them for Thursday’s show. Childers will follow with a slightly lighter load of 15 trucks and 10 busses for Saturday’s event.

Then, the all-hands on deck operation must go above and beyond even more for Pink, who is bringing 35 trucks, 19 buses and is using 20-plus spaces in the Adams Center for prep in what is expected to be a theatrical and monumental event at the stadium.

After that, it’s a quick two-day turnaround for the first Griz game of the season when UM welcomes Missouri State to town for a 7 p.m. kickoff. One of the reasons that game is a night kickoff is to give ample time to set up for the football game.

There will be 200-300 people selling beer at these events, and about 150-200 security staff will be used for this on top of hundreds who are helping put the facility together, and while there’s no official costs out yet, the school is hoping to generate hundreds of thousands of dollars from staging them.

Haslam noted that the money made from Pearl Jam’s show in 2018 helped pay for and put in a new soccer field for the Grizzlies.

That money will come from all kinds of negotiated areas, from renting the facilities out, to beer sales, concessions, parking, tickets and more.

Then, the ability to get everything the artists need in has been the other hurdle.

“It’s just a massive amount of people,” Taber said. “You know, for a football game, we have three buses, one truck, and so to have 35 trucks on campus, the hard part for Grizzly Athletics is just finding out where they’re going to park, what time they’re going to come in, how they’re going to come in, what route they’re taking, and how long it takes them to unload and reload, that kind of thing.”

Not to mention the ancillary benefits UM will draw, from people drawn to the campus and seeing what they offer and the fervor it will all add to campus life now that students are moving back in for the 2024-25 academic year.

“This is a great thing to do. It’s fun for our students, fun for the community, brings folks into town,” said Dave Kuntz, the University of Montana’s director of strategic communications. “But two, it really helps the university out, from a financial perspective, to be able to build a stage once have the three big shows then go on to normal operations after that.”

UM will use a new security system, exactly like the one used at the FCS national championship in Frisco, Texas, to get people in and out faster, and the school will also implement that during football season.

Parking will be limited, with UM encouraging folks to walk to the venue or use public transportation. Campus Drive was shut down to through traffic on Aug. 20.

And also, thanks to the new indoor practice facility being installed and the south campus fields, the athletic teams, especially football, will be able to continue to prep for their upcoming seasons with everything under way.

“Our primary business, for lack of a better word, is an athletic department, and athletic events, volleyball, soccer, and then football certainly is our largest revenue generator,” Haslam said. “So we can’t put those things in jeopardy.”

It’s going to be a wild week-and-a-half in Missoula as Washington-Grizzly Stadium serves as an entertainment epicenter to cap off the summer with a bang.

“One of the things that really makes UM special is our vibrancy,” Kuntz said. “We’re a campus here that’s tucked away with the mountain and the river and all the outdoor spaces, but we’re also the cultural capital of Montana, and to be able to bring in three shows and three diverse shows, it really provides all of our students, whatever their genre of music, an opportunity to participate in the shows.”

“This town’s in for a big party, and so we’re just super happy to be a part of it,” Taber said. “Honestly, we want the university to be part of the community and to be hosting these great events and providing the entertainment options for the community is just such an awesome experience for everybody, especially in Grizzly Athletics, because that’s what we do. We host a community.”