The smell of another cowboy football season is in the air in Laramie, and with it comes the return of a beloved University of Wyoming ritual that has been dormant for years. On Friday, September 11, the university will revive its Cowboy Kickoff Concert, turning the Fraternity/Sorority Mall into a free outdoor celebration on the eve of the Cowboys' home opener against Northern Colorado. Wyoming-born country artist Chancey Williams will headline, and the night will close with a 3D drone show projected across the Laramie sky — a fitting new chapter for a tradition that has been brought back after a long pause.
Gates swing open at 5:30 p.m. on the Fraternity/Sorority Mall, the grassy heart of the UW campus ringed by Greek life houses. Around 7 p.m., university president Shane Reeves will take the stage to address the crowd and introduce Williams. The event is free, open to students, faculty, staff, alumni and the public, and requires no registration. It will be held rain or shine, unless severe weather forces a cancellation. Local and regional food trucks will line the venue, alongside refreshments and a beer garden for guests 21 and older, brought to the celebration by the UW Alumni Association; wristbands will be handed out on site for those of legal drinking age. UW student-athletes and cheerleaders are slated to make guest appearances, and a shuttle service will run throughout the evening.
Around 9 p.m., after the last chords fade, the night shifts skyward with a 3D drone show — light-equipped aircraft choreographed into animated images that, according to the university, will be visible across much of the campus. It is a spectacle that marks a fresh start for the event, which once was a paid indoor affair and now returns as a free outdoor celebration.
The concert was once an annual UW tradition, and this year's edition represents its return for the first time since 2018. That year, the reigning CMA and ACM Vocal Duo of the Year, Brothers Osborne, headlined the concert after a one-year hiatus, helping to revive the tradition. After that, the event went quiet again until this year.
This year's revival changes the formula in ways that make it more accessible than ever. Gone are the tickets and arena seating; in their place, an open-air concert where no registration is required and admission costs nothing. The venue's move outdoors to the Fraternity/Sorority Mall, with open sky above, seems tailor-made for the drone display to come. In announcing the return, UW framed it as the concert's reappearance for the first time since 2018, and Reeves struck a celebratory note: "The Cowboy Kickoff Concert is the perfect opportunity to bring together the UW community, Wyoming residents and Cowboy fans from across the state as we celebrate the start of another academic year. We're excited to bring back this tradition and provide an unforgettable evening of live music, community spirit and Cowboy pride as we count down to the football home opener."
The choice of headliner could hardly be more fitting. A northeast Wyoming native and former saddle bronc competitor, Chancey Williams is a UW alumnus and one of the most authentic voices of the modern West. He is one of only two performers, alongside the legendary Chris LeDoux, to both compete in rodeo and play the main stage at Cheyenne Frontier Days. His neo-traditional Western sound has opened shows for Toby Keith, Alan Jackson, Cody Johnson and Parker McCollum, and carried him to the Grand Ole Opry, Red Rocks Amphitheatre and the National Finals Rodeo. For a UW alumnus kicking off his alma mater's home-opener weekend, it is the rare concert booking that doubles as a hometown homecoming.
For fans, the evening promises what organizers describe as a high-energy set from a nationally recognized country entertainer, surrounded by the trappings of a proper football Friday in Laramie: food trucks, cold drinks, the campus community gathering on the grass, and the Pokes a day away from taking the field at War Memorial Stadium. Attendees should note the event's policies — no large bags, no outside food or beverages, no weapons, no flags on poles, and no smoking or smokeless tobacco within the venue, with all bags subject to search. The concert is free, though the venue is gated, and the university plans to roll out shuttle and route details as the date draws closer.
When the drone show finally paints the night sky over the Fraternity/Sorority Mall, it will mark a fresh start for a tradition that, after a long pause, seems determined to stick. On the eve of the home opener, with the smell of football in the air and the whole Wyoming family gathered on one stretch of lawn, the Cowboy Kickoff Concert reminds everyone why the pause only made the return sweeter.