Waiting for the Weeknd
UT Austin's anticipated new Moody Center locks in superstar act for grand opening
There's another reason to get excited for the completion of the Moody Center in 2022: The Weeknd has just announced he's bringing his After Hours tour to Austin as part of the grand opening festivities.
Tickets will go on sale Monday, February 8, via Ticketmaster for the concert, which is scheduled for April 18, 2022.
The upcoming Super Bowl halftime show star will be part of a concert series celebrating the new sports and events area at The University of Texas at Austin.
With its ability to seat 15,000-plus people, the Moody Center is expected to be one of the finest arenas in the country. And it'd better be, since it was funded by one of the largest private gifts ever made to a college for a new area, to the tune of $130 million from the Moody Foundation.
First announced in 2019, the Moody Center will replace the Erwin Center and host UT men's and women's basketball games in addition to concerts, graduations, and other university, high school, and community events.
The Moody name isn't exactly new to the UT campus, or Austin for that matter. In 2013, the foundation donated $50 million to support the Moody College of Communication.
And in 2019, it donated $20 million to fund a new pavilion at the Blanton Museum of Art — a structure that will serve as the capstone of downtown's Texas Capitol Complex Master Plan, and brings the Moody Foundation's donations to UT to more than $200 million.
In recent years, the Galveston-based organization has also donated millions to both the Barton Springs and Pease Park conservancies.