Sacramento State is kicking off one of its busiest weekends of the year. Not only are students and the community at large gearing up for this year’s Homecoming game, but also for the music.
For the first time, the university has partnered with NPU Live to provide this year’s homecoming entertainment and venue.
“Partnering with a professional music company who does this day in and day out is a great opportunity to make sure that everyone has the best experience possible,” said Michelle Willard, Sac State Chief External Relations and Economic Development Officer.
Ian Molloy, an organizer with NPU Live, says they’ll be transforming an empty lot off Ramona Avenue a little over a mile away from campus into a music venue for the weekend. Headliners include DJs Diplo and Deorro.
Previously, NPU Live has produced several notable concerts in the Bay Area.
“The Super Bowl 60 series that we did in San Francisco, where we did three days in a huge 200,000 square-foot warehouse,” Molloy said. “We did about 22,000 people a day with artists like Calvin Harris, Sean Paul, and T-Pain.”
Organizers anticipate Sac State’s homecoming concerts will draw about 20,000 attendees, with about 10,000 fans a day, and they’ve been preparing for months.
Last year’s Sac State Homecoming performance was cut short by university officials after fans trampled barricades and rushed the football field.
NPU Live organizers anticipate this year’s homecoming concert series will draw not only students, but fans from beyond the Greater Sacramento region.
“The most important thing is that we work with our public safety partners and our authorities that have jurisdiction over these events,” Molloy said. “All guests will have a weapons screening before they’re able to enter site, and there will be a perimeter fence and then a medical team on site.”
Those partners include the city’s Department of Traffic, Sacramento Police Department, Sacramento Fire Department, the State Fire Marshall and Sacramento State Campus Police.
As for who is paying for these concerts, university officials confirm the budget is not coming from students’ tuition.
Instead, NPU Live, who is currently in the process of building a permanent entertainment venue off Ramona Avenue, is producing the concert at no cost to the university.
Meaning that NPU Live sells the tickets, produces the concert, and provides the entertainment with some of those funds benefitting the university.
This weekend’s first concert takes place Friday with ‘Blazin’ Saddles, Diplo presents Thomas Wesley.’
The second concert is on Sunday with Deorro presenting ‘Botas Rave’