Aloha Stadium, the state’s largest sports and entertainment venue, plans to celebrate its 40th anniversary by kicking off every University of Hawaii football home game this fall with pregame entertainment in both the north and south plazas.
Stadium officials began soliciting entertainers in March and will welcome bands, musicians, singers and dancers of all ages.
Samantha Spain, a sales and marketing specialist for Aloha Stadium, said she isn’t looking for anything specific as long as the act is suitable for all ages.
"We had one group of kids that, I think, are 13 and they’re really awesome, all the way up to an Elvis impersonator who’s probably 50-something years old," she said. "And we’ve had a couple of people who’ll have new CDs that they want to promote."
The performance dates are Sept. 3 (vs. Colorado), Sept. 19 (University of California, Davis), Oct. 10 (San Diego State), Oct. 31 (Air Force), Nov. 14 (Fresno State), Nov. 21 (San Jose State) and Nov. 28 (Louisiana-Monroe).
Performance times will depend on when each game kicks off. Since the turnstiles open about 90 minutes before kickoff, Spain said she wants to present about 90 minutes of entertainment on both the north and south plazas. That could mean two acts per plaza doing 45 minutes each or possibly three or four acts doing shorter sets.
"Some of the groups, especially the younger kids, only have, like, eight songs or so that they can sing so we’re trying to pair them up with another that has a smaller set too," Spain said.
Another consideration is continuity. Two pop-rock groups might be featured on one of the stages, and two Hawaiian-music groups or a pair of dance troupes on the other.
Everyone has to perform for free — remember, this is a promotional gig — but in addition to the exposure of performing at Aloha Stadium for thousands of Hawaii football fans, the stadium will help provide a sound system if needed, Spain said. There’s also free parking. Performers with CDs or other artist-related merchandise can sell them and they can fly promotional banners and promote other gigs.
Spain said Aloha Stadium also will promote the performers on its website.
"And if they’re good, we can use them for other events and not just the UH games," she said.
Do the performers get tickets for the game?
"Some have been asking," she said. "But I’d have to get that approved through UH."
For more information, call Spain at 483-7133 or email Samantha.L.Spain@hawaii.gov.
