John Mayer performs at Moody Center — what to know about safety, security at new venue

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Anticipation is building as the brand new Moody Center hosts its first events Wednesday and Thursday night — both performances from award-winning artist John Mayer.

The 15,000-seat arena, which doubles as the home of Texas Longhorns basketball and a concert space, was in development for about three years.

Before Mayer takes the main stage inside, Moody Center will also have a stage outside on the Dell Technologies Plaza, where Jonny Gray, an Austin-based artist and finalist on season five of NBC's The Voice, will perform.

Here's what you need to know about safety and security at Austin's newest venue.

What happens if there's an emergency?

A Moody Center spokesperson said EMS, police and fire personnel will be on site. Venue officials will be in constant communication with them through radios before, during and after each event.

The venue said it also has protocols in place to decide whether an event or UT game needs to be stopped due to an emergency.

In the first step, an "Incident Management Team" on site will determine if there is an immediate threat to life or safety. If yes, then UT Athletics or the tour rep will be notified. If no, the call to stop the show is diverted to the Executive in Charge. From there, they can choose to either monitor the situation or escalate the response, depending on what incident is happening and initiate evacuations as needed.

What crowd control measures are there?

Venue personnel have been trained in crowd management, according to the venue's spokesperson, and events will have one trained crowd manager for every 250 people in the building.

In light of a recent report released by the Texas Task Force on Concert Safety, the spokesperson said Moody Center has a safety task force trained to follow the new recommendations that include risk-assessment planning and having a unified on-site command.

What about traffic?

The Austin Police Department told KXAN it won't be conducting patrols in the area, but officers will manage traffic around Moody Center, which is located on the UT campus at 2001 Robert Dedman Drive. That's near Red River Street and the soccer stadium.

For John Mayer's shows on Wednesday and Thursday, doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the show starts about an hour later. Designated parking garages for the events open at 6 p.m.