New students, upper classmen and community members amassed in Tailgate Park Friday night to get a load of country music and to prep Saturday’s football game.
The brief rainstorm at 6 p.m. Friday did not deter Craig Morgan from performing a full set of his biggest hits after a Cheyenne band opened for the country star. In between sets, the Western Thunder Marching Band and UW Cheerleaders took over the field while Wresting Head Coach Mark Branch and Football Head Coach Craig Bohl took over the stage.
“We are hoping to start a tradition,” said William Evans, Associate Director of Residence Life, who organized the event. “We want that shared experience similar to the football game before the game even happens.”
Evans said that with support from the athletics department and the Campus Activities Center (CAC) the final pieces came together.
“Craig Morgan put on an awesome show and I thought The Western Thunder Marching Band, Spirit Squad, Pistol Pete, Coach Branch, and Coach Bohl brought a lot of spirit to the event,” said Evans.
“Coach Bohl knows how to skin some Griz,” said Branch during the pep rally portion of the evening. Branch introduced the head football coach.
“There’s a new Sherriff in town,” exclaimed Bohl while on stage.
He told the audience to not party too hard Friday night because the team needed their “fannies in the stands.”
“We need your help in beating the Griz,” finished Bohl.
The audience cheered and clapped showing they were riled up for the upcoming game.
“It’s a great way to get pumped up for the game,” said Laura Gross, a junior majoring in physiology, “it’s just a great way to get back into the swing of things and see everyone.”
Brand 307, made up of some University of Wyoming alumni, got the night rolling.
“We loved the pep rally,” said Brand 307 Keyboard Player Kieth Guille. “[It] really does get everyone pumped up for the concert and Saturday’s game.”
“College students are always a great time,” said Guille, “so much energy!”
The keyboard player attended the football game the next day with some of his band-mates. He said it was great to see such a big crowd in the stands.
Brand 307, from Cheyenne, said this was definitely the biggest acts they have ever opened for.
Craig Morgan refused to make media contacts due to “too many requests,” according to his management team.
The concert was also a great way for freshman to kick off their career at UW.
Freshman Blake Finn said he went to the concert to get to know people.
“I don’t really care that it’s country,” said Finn, “I’m just excited to be meeting new people.”
Exchange student, Kenta Tsuchiya studying political science said he was excited to see someone make music. He was interested in meeting new people as well, since he arrived to Laramie three days prior.
Morgan is an award-winning host of the outdoor show “Craig Morgan All Access Outdoors.” The 50-year-old Country Star has been nominated for several awards.
Atussa Niswender said she believes that his fame does help. She also said because it is hard to find entertainment around here, anything will bring in a lot of people.
The sophomore stood in line to get tickets for herself and her sister for the concert on Friday to see an artist that she loves.
Before Friday there was a total of 2,100 tickets sold, said Evans.
“We plan to see a lot of walkers come to the concert,” said Evans, referring to those who did not buy advanced tickets.
There ended up being over 4,000 attendees at the concert, reported Evans on Tuesday.
Friday, the Cowboy Kickoff organizer heard about people coming from Idaho to attend the evening’s event and the football game.
“I heard that two guys were camping near Casper and they heard about it on the radio,” said Evans, “so they broke camp and are driving down to attend the concert.”
The concert would not have been possible without the help of volunteers. Evans said the UW wrestling team set up the stage. 25 other volunteers were out in the rain helping to make the vision come to fruition. Evans referred to the volunteers as “troopers.”
Evans had no worries about the rain stopping the party from happening, saying that the forecast shows the storms going south.
Niswender had no worries about the weather either. If it did rain, she would still enjoy the concert.
“This all started as a vision back in November,” said Evans, “to see everything come together and have Craig Morgan here is really rewarding.”
UW is looking forward to this being an annual event, said Evans, and so are students.
“I really don’t care what genre they are,” said Finn as he spoke about future events similar to the Cowboy Kickoff. “As long as it gets me out.”
“I think Country is good because everyone likes Country,” said Gross, “but it would be good to see more up-and-coming artists instead of outdated artists.”
“’I’m already thinking about how we can make next year’s Cowboy Kickoff Concert and Pep Rally even better,” said Evans.
