Editor's note: Above video was published in December 2018, when the Spokane School Board approved building a new stadium at the Joe Albi site
SPOKANE, Wash. – Spokane, get ready to rock. The tour of a lifetime is one step closer to arriving at Joe Albi Stadium this summer.
Event organizers are proposing a “Monsters of Rock” 2020 tour at Joe Albi Stadium on August 15 or 20, 2020, according to documents on the Spokane Public Schools website. Both dates are on a Saturday.
All five members of the Spokane School Board voted in favor on Wednesday of authorizing a one-time waiver allowing the concert's promoters to sell alcohol at the stadium.
The event promoter would be required to seek all of the proper local and state permitting, including applicable catering and liquor licenses, to hold the event, said Spokane Public Schools spokesperson Brian Coddington. This is a separate process that does not involve the school district.
Replacement of Joe Albi Stadium with a new, smaller stadium was included on the school district’s voter-approved 2018 bond. The stadium and its property were then transferred from the City of Spokane to the school district in 2019.
Joe Albi is currently quite dilapidated and oversized for the types of events it hosts – mainly high school football and soccer. A new stadium will be built at the same site.
The stadium has been used for non-school sponsored events in the past, including concerts, speakers and sporting events, where the sale and consumption of alcohol was allowed under the city’s ownership.
On July 29, 1988, more than 30,000 music fans sold out Joe Albi Stadium for the first “Monsters of Rock” tour headlined by Scorpions, Dokken, Kingdom Come and Metallica, among others.
Potential organizers of the proposed event say Sammy Hagar, the head singer for Van Halen on the 1988 tour, heard about the impending demolition of Joe Albi Stadium while shooting a film in Los Angeles and raised the possibility of producing a second concert to serve as a celebratory closing event for the venue.
Hagar later shared the idea at a concert stop at Northern Quest in August. Now, a small team, including 1988 tour organizer Josh Nicholson, is working with him in hopes of making the event a reality
The event proposal says that WestCoast Entertainment (WCE) would serve as the concert promoter for the 2020 tour, with help from Northern Quest Resort and Casino. TicketsWest would arrange ticket sales.
WCE would be fully responsible for the venue and all liabilities for the event, the proposal says. Rental of the stadium would be processed through a $1 facility fee per ticket that would be designated to Spokane Public Schools.