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By Mary Muse
In March 2006, the University of Montana’s associate athletic director,
Chuck Maes, received a phone call from someone who seemingly identified
himself with “libations.” It turns out the caller was from “Live Nation,”
and wanted to discuss a Rolling Stones date at Washington Grizzly Stadium (WGS).
Since our athletic department isn’t in the concert business, Maes handed off
the inquiry to the Adams Center staff, and we brought in the University of
Montana’s UM Productions (UMP), an inhouse, student-run production company
that has been in existence for more than 30 years.
WGS is a beautiful, 24,000-seat facility; there isn’t a bad seat in the
house. However, there’s only one direct entrance onto the field — a 12’ x
12’ tunnel. The field, clad in artificial turf, was designed for one
purpose: football. It’s a great house, but we expected our load-in
constraints would kill this deal.
During an April visit, Ian Kinnersley, site coordinator for the Stones, told
us he needed five days before the show and two days after to load in, build
and load out. They would bring in 35 to 50 semis and about a dozen tour
buses. Four oversubscribed parking lots around the facility were needed to
stage the equipment, which would be funneled through our tiny tunnel.
Roadways would be closed. Bus shuttles would be augmented. Communicating to
the campus community would be a project in itself. And the date proposed was
not only during football season, but the weekend before our homecoming game.
I knew that without a consolidated team backed by the university’s
administration, we had a formula for disaster.
Ain’t Too Proud to Beg
I called a meeting with UMP and the athletics department. The stage was set
with this statement: “Everyone here has to come to the table and play
together as one team. Otherwise we fail.” We agreed that no one unit would
lay claim to a particular revenue stream; instead, it would be split among
our three units. With our ground rules in place, the question was run up the
flagpole at Main Hall.
The university president came back with this question; “What does Bobby
say?” (Bobby Hauck is the head coach for football.) I talked to Bobby, who
replied, “Mary, do you think I want to be the guy that told the Rolling
Stones, ‘No, you can’t come to Montana? Book the show now, because those
guys will die before you ever get this opportunity again.”
The Stones wanted 5,700 seats on the field, for a total seating of more than
22,000. With one tunnel and four small stairways from the field into the
stands, egress was clearly inadequate. I called Russ Simons at HOK Sport,
explained the challenge and sent him drawings. He made excellent
recommendations and guided me through variables to discuss with the fire
marshal.
Once we had the emergency exit plan in place, my next call was to the mayor.
We presented our egress plan and received the city’s blessing, as well as a
commitment to give us their full support and cooperation.
The rumor mill kicked in and the media began calling for confirmation. UMP
advisor/ accountant Marlene Hendrickson and I became increasingly aware that
we were venturing into uncharted waters with an extremely high-profile
event. As negotiations heated up, Hendrickson suggested hiring Mike McGinley
as a consultant.
McGinley was tour manager for Pearl Jam and has worked with some huge names,
including the Rolling Stones.
With a Little Help from My Friends
When the Rolling Stones announced their tour schedule, including Missoula,
the state of Montana went wild. Folks were coming out of the woods (and the
mountains) wanting to be insiders on the state’s biggest news.
A couple of days after the announcement, the triad (UMP, the Adams Center
and the athletics department) convened a meeting. We invited city police,
county police, fire department officials, parking representatives, the
downtown association, the convention and visitor’s bureau, the mayor and
representatives from at least 10 campus departments that would be impacted
by the show. We made them all insiders by hearing their concerns and ideas.
We created committees and gave them leadership and direction.
With only a letter of commitment in place, I still had to develop and
negotiate a contract that provided the university with absolute assurance
that we’d be able to host our homecoming game a few days after the concert
date. At the IAAM Conference in San Antonio, I received valuable input from
Brad Mayne of American Airlines Center. “Mayne is one of the best,” McGinley
said. “Find out how he words these clauses.”
Later, while walking the tradeshow floor with Maes, we ran into Steve
MacFayden from House of Blues, who gave us some great advice on field
covering.
Beast of Burden
After leaving the conference early to pull things together, things took a
scary turn. The on-sale for the concert in Regina, Saskatchewan, was before
ours. When the Regina date sold out in a matter of hours, the Stones decided
to add another show in Regina, bumping the date we had been discussing for
Missoula.
Live Nation called to see what was on our calendar seven and eight days
before the show. We had a sold-out performance for a live broadcast of
Prairie Home Companion and the Jehovah’s Witnesses already booked. The
load-in for both was from the same compound the Stones would need for
staging their equipment and load-in.
McGinley’s intercession was instrumental in keeping us on the tour schedule.
Our date was moved up from Friday to Wednesday. Because of our prior
commitments, load-in had to be compressed into three days. Site coordinator
Kinnersley outlined a compressed build, which involved eight-hour shifts
around the clock.
However, the compressed build created serious challenges for UMP. Even
though Live Nation was contracting services directly, UMP provided support
by assembling staffing and support services for the stage build crews.
Marshalling resources in a community as small as Missoula was challenging
enough; now we had to do it around the clock. However, we were committed and
had to make it work.
One month before the show date, representatives from all facets of the show
met in Missoula. We covered front of house, back of house, alcohol sales,
floor covering, forklifts, cranes, staffing and other details. Many
questions were answered and the list of things to do was clarified and
continued to grow. Clearly, we were working with the cream of the crop in
show production.
Still, a growing apprehension was keeping me awake at night. I knew when the
Stones loaded out and left town, I was the one who’d be called to Main Hall
if the recklessness or impatience of a forklift driver tore up the turf.
McGinley and I decided to bring in someone who could represent the
university on site, around the clock: Ray Woodbury of RK Diversified.
Start Me Up
The Rolling Stones first truck was unloading as the Jehovah’s Witnesses left
the building. Eighty days of planning and preparation were paying off. The
transportation plans were supporting the disruptions of lost parking lots,
and preparation for the show consistently ran ahead of schedule. During the
construction, day of show, and the two days of load-out, there were millions
of details, stressful moments and decisions still to be managed, but the
players, services and weather came together in an incredible cooperative
effort.
So how did the show go? Consistently, we heard from attendees that the show
was incredible, exceeded expectations and was worth every penny. I’m
thankful I had the opportunity, which was among my greatest professional
experiences. I’m doubly grateful for the experience this show provided to
the UMP students, who rose to the occasion with exemplary professionalism
and energy beyond my own. Fittingly, on the night of the show, I stopped
into the athletic department’s suite and joined their celebration with
libations.
Mary Muse is director of the
Adams Center at the University of Montana in Missoula, Mont. |
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