Real Salt Lake announced recently the return of the “Summer Kickoff” series at Rio Tinto Stadium and will host OneRepublic as Real Salt Lake faces D.C. United on Saturday.
The “Summer Kickoff” series is the second annual event by Zions Bank and will be part of a four-game summer series that will host special pre-game and post-game entertainment for RSL fans. Last year’s artist was David Cook, 27, the winner of American Idol’s Season 7 competition.
“After the success of last years’ inaugural event, Zions Bank is thrilled to continue the ‘Summer Kickoff’ series, allowing students and their families a fantastic way to start off their summer in Utah,” RSL said in a news release.
RSL’s kickoff against D.C. United starts at 7 p.m. with the first concert featuring Grammy-nominated and internationally acclaimed group OneRepublic. OneRepublic made radio history with its single “Apologize,” receiving the largest amount of airplay in a single week with a 10,331 play count. The remix of the song was a smash hit internationally, reaching the top spot in 16 countries and 10 million downloads. Pushed for by their fans, the band reached a national milestone with their album Dreaming Out Loud, with the hit song “Stop and Stare,” certified as a gold status record in the United States.
The “Summer Kickoff” will include several festivities focused on celebrating surrounding high school graduations and begin with Carnival Real, a pre-game festival on the stadium’s east lawn celebrating high school graduates at 5 p.m. Other festivities include executives from Zions Bank and captains from 2010/11 UHSAA Boys and Girls championship soccer teams will present the ceremonial first kick. High school students from the state of Utah will be also be recognized for their achievements on and off the field during a half time ceremony.
Ticket packages featuring the Saturday “Summer Kickoff” event are on sale via www.RioTintoStadium.com and start at $32. The event is included in existing package for real Salt Lake ticket holders.
Concert goers in Utah note the price and quality are always an issue in concert series.
Mathew Messer, 24, and working towards a Russian major, went to the Pioneer park concert series last summer and noted how price isn’t an issue if the bands are well known.
“If there a big name it doesn’t matter what the price, is in my opinion,” he said. “But the concerts got to be fun and have good bands.”
