Summer music at Union Terrace used to go until midnight. Why does it now end at 10? (2024)

If you’ve wondered why concerts end earlier at the Union Terrace these days, it’s a matter of supply and demand.

Where shows used to run from 9 p.m. until midnight, for the past few years they’ve run from 7 to 10 p.m. The new hours started in 2021 when the Union reopened after its 2020 COVID-19 shutdown.

“We adjusted the Memorial Union Terrace music performance times to better align with patron attendance trends,” said Madeleine Carr, communications coordinator for the Wisconsin Union.

Musician Sean Michael Dargan, Wisconsin Union Directorate music and games committee adviser, started in his job that same year, 2021.

He said the change was made after the Union’s dining services asked WUD to start shows closer to dinnertime, so people coming to eat would be more likely to stick around for the show.

Also, those coming to the show would be more inclined to not just have a pitcher of beer, but also eat dinner.

Dargan noted that not all musicians play until 10, some may finish around 9:30. A recent performance by Johnny Chimes, a longtime local musician who plays a mix of blues, country and New Orleans R&B, ended at 8:50 p.m.

“It’s been great,” Dargan said. “Some of the biggest feedback we’ve gotten from bands, and from patrons as well, is that they could go see a show on the Terrace at 7, and then still when it’s done at 9 or 9:30, go Downtown and catch another show at the High Noon or the Crystal or the Harmony or something because their shows start later.”

The Union’s music curfew is 10 p.m., he said, since the building closes at 11 p.m. Those still sitting on the Terrace also need to leave by 11. That started in 2021, too. The building used to stay open until midnight. The earlier closing time has also been going fine, he said. “I’ve heard no complaints.”

Shows need to end by 10 to give crews time to tear down their gear and get the bands loaded out before the building closes, he said. The sound equipment also needs to be returned to a storage area inside the Union.

In 2021, staff at the Union observed that after about 11 p.m. there were far fewer patrons than earlier in the evening, said UW-Madison spokesperson Kelly Tyrrell.

“We know that Memorial Union and the Memorial Union Terrace, during this time of year in particular, are important gathering places for the Madison community and (we) want to make sure the services provided by the Union are convenient and offered at times the community is seeking them,” she said.

Dargan said he books most of the summer bands, largely based on their history playing the Terrace. He said there are a lot of legacy acts that have played the Terrace for five, 10, 15 or even 20 years, musicians such as Pat McCurdy and bands like Natty Nation.

Union records show that Pat McCurdy and Natty Nation have each been performing at the Terrace since at least 2001, Carr said.

The Terrace’s music season starts during graduation weekend and goes until early to mid-October, depending on the weather, and the weather has everything to do with the success of the Terrace stage, Dargan said.

“The feedback that I’ve heard, and obviously I’m sure there are people on all ends of the spectrum, but the feedback that we’ve received has been almost exclusively positive,” he said.