Outlaw Fest back in town: Willie Nelson and Bob Dylan returne to ONE Spokane

As Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan and the Outlaw Music Festival return to ONE Spokane Stadium on Thursday, it gives Director of Entertainment Matt Meyer the opportunity to reflect as well as look ahead to the stadium’s second season of operation.

Last August, the Outlaw Music Festival provided the stadium with its first nonsporting event, soon followed by the Great Outdoors Comedy Festival (which will return in August). Between breaking-in the venue with absolute icons to hosting thousands of concertgoers, it’s easy to understand why Meyer and the rest of the crew were slightly on-edge.

Yet, everything seemed to go accordingly .

“It went really well, it was a lot smoother than expected,” Meyer said.

From the positioning of one of the largest traveling stages in the country to the layout of alcohol vendors creating less intense lines, Meyer was very content with how the long-planned logistics panned out in practice.

One of the key takeaways stems from a variable gone unnoticed by most, despite it being right beneath the feet of concertgoers – quite literally.

Covering the stadium turf used for sports like high school football and Spokane Velocity soccer is a massive layer of temporary flooring material called Terraplas. The crew only has so much time to transform the field, and learning by first-hand experience may have led to some stressors, but this trial by fire has since led to more concrete plans.

“The first time putting it down it’s a huge learning curve,” Meyer said. “That was the biggest piece going from year one to year two … putting that down and tearing it back up and how quickly we can do it at this point.”

This year, the biggest difference comes from the Outlaw Music Festival lineup. Last summer, it featured Brittney Spencer and John Mellencamp ahead of Dylan and Nelson. This year’s rendition includes Lilly Meola, Sierra Hull and Billy Strings before Dylan and Nelson take the stage.

Meyer was pleasantly surprised to see the event return to Spokane and is especially excited to see Dylan once again. Meyer, who has also worked with many other venues in Spokane, thought Dylan’s 2022 appearance at the First Interstate Center for the Arts would be his only chance to book the iconic artist. Now, this will be his third.

Dylan’s massive resurgence following “A Complete Unknown,” the critically acclaimed biopic starring Timothee Chalamet, also adds to the excitement in the air.

“It’s pretty exciting to see him coming back,” Meyer said. “Especially after the movie … it’s kind of neat to see, after watching that, the whole backstory and everything, even more than what I knew beforehand.”

Looking forward, Meyer looks to continue his goals of not only impacting Spokane but fostering the community as well.

Born and raised in the Lilac City, Meyer wanted nothing more than to leave Spokane in the rearview. But after attending Washington State University, he began to see the true potential the city has to offer and immediately got to work with venues already in place before helping establish new ones like the Podium and ONE Spokane Stadium in order to garner the types of events the city had never seen before and compete with markets like Seattle.

“It’s a consistent push to do more and to bring more,” Meyer said. “That pressure is self-inflicted, but it’s also a good way to keep moving that needle forward and keep pushing us forward.”

While events like Outlaw Fest are economic drivers bringing in out-of-towners that make up about 35% of ticket sales as well as entertainment opportunities relatively new to the city, Meyer believes the stadium’s biggest community impact comes from school sports.

From student athletes playing in a state-of-the-art setting to more general accessibility near downtown, Meyer loves to see kids and their families connecting with the stadium.

“We’re pushing along for year three and I think in the future there’s nothing but good things to come,” Meyer said.