Mamta Popat / Arizona Daily Star

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Tucson Urban League
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Charles E. Gillman Company
Accounting Specialist Trades/Construction
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Music fans in Tucson have got to be thankful for Tommy Bruce.

The first person to serve two consecutive terms as student-body president for the Associated Students of The University of Arizona, Bruce was also the first to bring a concert to McKale Center in more than a decade (Kanye West's superb Glow in the Dark Tour).

Now comes his grand finale: a massive show set for Wednesday, April 29, at Arizona Stadium.

It'll be the first show there since a 1977 performance by Fleetwood Mac. Bruce, 21, said the headliners — to be announced in February — will be comparable in stature to Stevie Nicks and the gang.

"It should be one of the biggest shows to hit Tucson in the last 30 years," Bruce said. "We're going for a one-night-only feel — a show that you'll never see anywhere else."

And the artists — three to five, representing multiple genres — won't be typical college fare but will "transcend beyond that," Bruce said. "You're not going to scratch your head wondering 'Who?' "

In 1977, about 67,000 fans packed Arizona Stadium to see Fleetwood Mac, who performed on the field. The logistics of something like that now would risk damaging the field, Bruce said.

Instead, for the April event, the stage will be set up on the sidelines, facing east. Only 24,000 or so seats will be used. In comparison, McKale Center holds around 14,500 people and Jobing.com Arena in Glendale holds close to 18,000.

Bruce said his administration learned a lot and gained confidence by staging West's show at McKale and proved to the powers that be that these things can happen at the UA.

"We have the scars to prove it," he said.

Since 2006, Bruce has either helped out with or been the chief organizer of a number of other high-profile concerts on campus, including Death Cab for Cutie, Franz Ferdinand, Gym Class Heroes, Talib Kweli and Plain White T's.

Bruce grew up in Tucson and graduated from Sabino High School. He wants to be remembered as someone who helped improve the UA student experience.

He wants there to be an annual large-scale concert UA students can count on, in addition to ensuring other programs like the Zona Zoo and Bear Down Fridays continue. Bruce also has fought to make sure students are informed ahead of time of tuition increases starting in 2009.

The marketing major graduates in May and will be moving to New York City. He's not sure what he's going to do there, but it won't be politics. Maybe the entertainment business. He might also return to school for a master's of business administration.

Either way, he has a strategy for success.

"I like to go to a place, learn about it, figure out what it is I want to do," Bruce said. "And then infiltrate from the bottom up. That's what I did at Arizona."