Sonnentag's event space plans move forward, announcing Chris Young as first concert

EAU CLAIRE — The stage is set for the Sonnentag, as Chris Young was announced last week as the headliner of the event center’s first-ever concert in the fall.

Young, a multi-platinum and award-winning global country music performer, is set to perform on Thursday, Sept. 12 on the same day as the Sonnentag’s ribbon cutting ceremony. An opener is also set, and is expected to be announced this week.

Pre-sale tickets for University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire students, faculty and staff opened Thursday, Aug. 1, while sales to the public opened on Friday, Aug. 2.

Young’s discography of music includes songs like “Voices,” “Famous Friends,” “Young Love & Saturday Nights,” and more, which Wyatt Tinnen, general manager of the Sonnentag, said will make for a great show in their brand new space.

“It is a show that, in the past, maybe would not have had a venue to play in the Eau Claire area…” said Tinnen. “And, we hope to attract a lot more acts of that nature and that size to this area.”

On the Sonnentag’s website, the center was built as a public-private partnership. Apart from project partners Blugold Real Estate, Mayo Clinic Health System-Northwest Wisconsin, the City of Eau Claire, Visit Eau Claire and UW-Eau Claire, the professional management firm CENTERS, where Tinnen comes from, was chosen by UWEC as the management partner and set to operate the Sonnentag in 2022.

As the concert marks the start of one of the Sonnentag’s intended uses as a venue space, Tinnen said that the event center has an advantage because Eau Claire is a perfect place for routing.

“If you want to get from the Twin Cities to Chicago or Milwaukee, or vice versa, we’re in a perfect place,” he said. “Trucks can roll through here and make that very easy; anyone that knows concert touring knows that making the production team happy is just as important as making the artist happy.”

In that regard, the Sonnentag serves as a benefit for performers and future acts as much as it does for local fans. Tinnen said the entertainment industry is a small world, and creating that space which is easy to book for performers makes them much more attractive to shows that possibly were not looking at this area before.

But this turns into a benefit for community members, who could see some of their favorite acts consider Eau Claire as a stopping point on their tour.

“Now they don’t have to travel 90 minutes to the cities; it is just right down the road,” Tinnen said.

And as for what types of shows to expect, he said the answer is all of them. Aiming from comedians to rock bands, Tinnen said, as a general manager and a booker, the dream scenario would be to book a show every night.

“But you have to figure out what the community can support, what the interest level is and of course, I always have to stress that UW-Eau Claire Blugolds are our tennant. So their games come first, and everything else is subsidiary,” he said.

Also, the Sonnentag still needs to consider its space limitations for certain events, even though it is the largest venue in this part of the state.

But with venue plans visibly moving forward for the Sonnentag, Tinnen said they will be paying attention to the wants of the community and fill up their building with patrons.

“The most important thing for community engagement is by purchasing tickets, they let us know that we’re doing the right thing or doing the wrong thing. If we book an event that they are not interested in, they obviously won’t buy tickets to that,” he said. “So far the community has been so great with positive responses; it is kind of hard to ask any more of them other than let us entertain you.”