The steep cost of tickets makes going to a concert out of the question for many college students. In June, the city of Ogden is offering a solution to this problem with the Twilight Concert Series. For only $5 a ticket, concert-goers will enjoy performances from two bands.
After hearing there was a need from locals, Christy McBride, special events and arts manager for the city, wanted to bring a concert series to Ogden. McBride and Jared Allen, a local business owner and producer of the Ogden Twilight Concert Series, started to talk about the possibility.
“As the events coordinator for just over a year, I have been asked many times why we don’t do something like this, why we don’t we do something bigger, why don’t we bring in better caliber bands,” McBride said. “I got a lot of questions from the community why we don’t do things bigger or better because we have such a great venue.
“So we partnered with Jared, who is super talented at knowing what is cool, and we have the place to put it on, so we formed a partnership and went from there,” she said.
The official line-up will be announced on May 1, but Allen has put a lot of preparation in getting national and international bands to Ogden. In total, there will be eight national, international, local and regional bands.
“They’re not a lot of big, radio, commercially successful bands. A lot of times, it is independent alternative bands,” Allen said. “It is tricky because you have to find bands that are actively touring, but not booked for a gig or not in a radius conflict within a certain amount of time.”
For the past year, Allen, McBride and local Ogden businesses have been discussing a new way to bring people to Ogden. Through this concert series, the goal is for locals and outsiders to see a new side of the city.
“Ogden has come a long way in the last few years,” Allen said. “We’re hoping as people get off the Front Runner and have a chance to walk off 25th Street or the Junction or various areas and say like, ‘Wow, I had no idea Ogden was this cool and had all these great restaurants and bars and night life.’ Then when they get to the amphitheater, they’re like, ‘Wow I had no idea there was this beautiful outdoor amphitheater here.'”
One of the possible perks for this concert, besides getting a taste of Ogden’s downtown life, is McBride working with UTA on possible free transportation to the event through the Front Runner.
“Essentially, for the Ogden Twilight Concert, your ticket will act as your Front Runner pass,” Allen said.
The venue will hold up to 6,000 standing, but Allen recommends getting tickets early because the likelihood of the shows selling out is high.
“In just two posts on Facebook, we had over 2,000 likes,” he said. “This isn’t just something that had great marketing. It is something that was needed.”
Note: This story was updated to correct the number of bands that will play in the concert.
