Red Rocks Amphitheatre
Red Rocks Amphitheatre is an open-air amphitheater near Morrison, Colorado, approximately southwest of Denver. It is owned and operated by the city of Denver. In addition to several other large sandstone formations nearby, the venue is best recognized by its two massive monoliths, named "Ship Rock" and "Creation Rock", as well as the smaller "Stage Rock", which together flank its 9,525 capacity seating area and naturally form the amphitheater. While the venue is primarily known for hosting concerts and music festivals, other events of various types and sizes are held throughout the year.
In 1957, the American Institute of Architects selected Red Rocks to be Colorado's entry at the National Gallery of Art for the AIA's Centennial Exhibition. In 1999, after Pollstar magazine awarded Red Rocks the annual honor of being the best small outdoor venue for the eleventh time, the magazine changed the name of the award to the "Red Rocks Award" and removed Red Rocks from the running.
Construction began in October 2020 to replace the existing stage roof and expand the structure's rigging capacity; the work was completed the following summer.
History
The natural features surrounding the amphitheater were formed millions of years ago as part of the Fountain Formation, then lifted and tilted during a geological upheaval event called the Laramide Orogeny, the same time in which the nearby Garden of the Gods and Flatirons were formed. The characteristic reddish colors of the rock formations is the result of oxidized minerals.While the grounds were likely used by the Ute tribe in earlier times, an Army expedition led by Stephen Long rediscovered present-day Red Rocks in 1820. The prevalence of the nearby Colorado gold rush between 1858–1859 drew further interest from prospectors and new settlers along the Front Range. Originally named the "Garden of the Angels", Marion Burts became the first recorded owner of the site in 1872. He sold it to Leonard H. Eicholtz, who in turn developed the property into a park in 1878. Nearly 30 years later, Eicholtz sold Red Rocks to famed magazine editor John Brisben Walker in 1906.
The site was renamed to "Garden of the Titans" and further developed to incorporate a temporary platform for hosting concerts from. In addition to the platform, Walker also built the Mount Morrison Cable Incline funicular railway, which carried tourists from the lower area of the park up to the top of Mount Morrison. The incline operated for about five years beginning in 1909. In 1927, George Cranmer, Manager of Denver Parks, convinced the City of Denver to purchase the area of Red Rocks from Walker for $54,133, officially adopting the title of "Red Rocks" Amphitheatre, a name it had been informally referred to since the area was settled.
Cranmer then convinced Mayor Benjamin Stapleton to build upon the foundation laid by Walker. By enlisting the help of Denver architect Burnham F. Hoyt and Stanley E. Morse, along with labor and materials provided by the Civilian Conservation Corps and the Works Progress Administration as part of the New Deal program, construction of the amphitheater began in 1936 and was formally dedicated on June 15, 1941, with a performance by Helen Jepson.
Notable performances
Public, organizational and private performances have been held at Red Rocks for over a century. The earliest documented performance at the amphitheater was the Grand Opening of the Garden of the Titans, put on by publisher John Brisben Walker on May 31, 1906. Featuring Pietro Satriano and his 25-piece brass band, it was the formal opening of the natural amphitheater for use by the general public after Walker purchased it with the proceeds of his sale of Cosmopolitan.The amphitheater's largest-scale performance to date was the Feast of Lanterns on September 5, 1908. Commemorating the opening of the scenic road up nearby Mt. Falcon, it was patterned after the festival of Nagasaki, Japan, and featured four military bands and fireworks off Mt. Falcon, Mt. Morrison and two intermediate hills.
Renowned opera singer Mary Garden put Red Rocks on the world musical map with her performance on May 10, 1911. Garden said "Never in any opera house, the world over, have I found more perfect acoustic properties. Never under any roof have I sung with greater ease or had a greater delight in singing.
Upon the full construction of the amphitheater to its present form by the Civilian Conservation Corps, the venue was formally dedicated on June 15, 1941. It has held regular concert seasons almost every year since 1947. On July 23, 1948, Igor Stravinsky conducted the Denver Symphony at Red Rocks. In 2020 and 2021, it was shut down temporarily as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The first performance of each season is the Easter Sunrise Service, a nondenominational service held on Easter Sunday of each year. In 1958, Van Cliburn played Red Rocks to a sold-out crowd.
The earliest notable rock performance at Red Rocks was by The Beatles on August 26, 1964, the only concert not sold out during their US-tour. Beatles drummer Ringo Starr later recalled, “I remember it was very high and the air was thin. They were giving us hits from oxygen canisters.” When Starr returned to Red Rocks with his All-Starr Band on June 28, 2000, he asked if anyone in the crowd had been at the Beatles concert thirty-six years earlier. On August 26, 2004, the East-Coast-based Beatles-tribute band 1964 was flown to Denver to re-enact the Beatles concert held at the site exactly forty years earlier. The first country and western show at Red Rocks was on August 29, 1965, headlined by Johnny Cash.
The unique setting has led to the venue's becoming a favorite for many performers: Jimi Hendrix played at Red Rocks on September 1, 1968, along with Vanilla Fudge and Soft Machine. It was the first Red Rocks show booked by concert promoter Barry Fey. Diana Ross & the Supremes performed there on August 14, 1969.
An incident during a performance by Jethro Tull on June 10, 1971, led to a five-year ban of rock concerts at Red Rocks. Approximately 1,000 people without tickets arrived at the sold-out show. Denver police directed the overflow, non-paying crowd to an area behind the theater, where they could hear the music but not see the band. The situation seemed satisfactory until some of the people without tickets attempted to enter the amphitheater by charging at, and breaking through, the police line. Some of those without tickets began lobbing rocks at the police, and the police responded by discharging tear gas at the gate-crashers. The wind carried the tear gas over the hill, into the paying crowd and onto the stage. Following the "Riot at Red Rocks," Denver Mayor William H. McNichols Jr. banned rock concerts from the amphitheater. For the next five years, shows at Red Rocks were limited to softer acts, such as John Denver, Sonny & Cher, The Carpenters, Pat Boone, Seals & Crofts and Carole King. The ban on rock and roll was finally lifted through legal action taken by Barry Fey, who tried to book the band America at the venue in 1975. After being denied a permit by the city, Fey took the city to court, and the court ruled that the city had acted "arbitrarily and capricious" in banning rock concerts at Red Rocks. Starting in the summer of 1976, the rock bands were once again welcomed at the venue. Jethro Tull played Red Rocks again on June 7, 1988, August 12, 2008, and June 8, 2011.
It was the site of Bruce Springsteen's first outdoor concert in 1978. On June 5, 1983, U2 performed during their War Tour, in front of only 4,400 in very inclement weather. The venue had been sold out, but the crowd size was affected by the weather, with attendees believing the show would be canceled. The show was not canceled because the band could not get their money back for the outlay on filming crews and equipment for the performance. Those who braved the weather and showed up were told personally by Bono, who came to the parking lot and into the crowd more than once, to ignore their seat assignments, and to move as forward as they wished to make the house seem full, since the show was being filmed for what became the group's concert film U2 Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky. The music video for "Sunday Bloody Sunday,” shown in heavy rotation on MTV, was also the fruit of the filming effort. Some songs from the show appear on the group's 1983 live album Under a Blood Red Sky.
Depeche Mode performed at the amphitheater four times: July 1, 1986, July 11 and 12, 1990, during their World Violation Tour, and on August 27, 2009, during their Tour of the Universe, in front of a crowd of 8,679 people. The 2009 show was recorded for the group's live albums project Recording the Universe.
Red Rocks was one of the favored venues for The Grateful Dead and the venue has become a traditional stop for many subsequent jam bands. In total the Grateful Dead played Red Rocks 20 times between 1978 and 1987. The performances on July 7, 1978, and July 8, 1978, were released as part of the July 1978: The Complete Recordings
box set, with July 8 having a stand alone release, Red Rocks: 7/8/78. The Grateful Dead held the record for most sold out performances at Red Rocks until 2015.
Widespread Panic holds the record for the most sold-out performances at Red Rocks, with 72 as of June 2024. Blues Traveler has played the venue every Fourth of July since 1993, except 1999 when lead singer and harmonica player John Popper was unable to play due to heart surgery. Phish were banned from performing at Red Rocks after they played four concerts there in August 1996. Fans of the band who showed up to the concerts without tickets were accused of starting a riot outside the amphitheater on the second night, and the nearby town of Morrison was unprepared to accommodate the size of the band's following. Phish was not invited to perform at Red Rocks again until July 2009.
Geddy Lee of Rush said, "It's an amazing location...One of the most stunning concert venues in the United States... or anywhere. I would hazard a guess that it's one of the most beautiful places in the world." Rush played Red Rocks on their R30 30th Anniversary, Snakes and Arrows and Time Machine tours.
Colorado musicians who have performed at Red Rocks include John Denver in 1973, Judy Collins in 1973, Dan Fogelberg in 1984, Big Head Todd and the Monsters in 1994, Earth, Wind & Fire in 2002, The Fray in 2006, DeVotchKa in 2008, 3OH!3 in 2012, Pretty Lights in 2012, OneRepublic in 2013, The Lumineers in 2013, and Strawberry Runners in 2016. As of 2023, Colorado band The String Cheese Incident has played at Red Rocks over 50 times.
On August 7, 2000, the "Film on the Rocks" series started with a screening of Casablanca.
On August 22, 2005, the White Stripes performed at the amphitheater. Lead vocalist and guitarist Jack White has performed solo a number of times.
In 2014, after voters in Colorado legalized marijuana, the Colorado Symphony played a cannabis-themed "Red Rocks on a High Note" show there. In 2018, Yo-Yo Ma began his tour of Bach's Cello Suites at Red Rocks.
On October 5, 2019, AJR played a sold-out show at the amphitheater for their Neotheater World Tour.
During the 2020 pandemic, Red Rocks hosted the Colorado Symphony Strings, which played sold-out Acoustic on the Rocks shows in July and August, following social-distancing guidelines.
In September 2020, virtual shows were streamed live. Despite announcing the closure of all its venues in September, in-person shows did occur. Other events included drive-in movies for mainstream films and the Denver Film Festival's red carpet movies.
In 2021, Red Rocks Amphitheatre was named the top-grossing and most-attended concert venue of any size, anywhere in the world.
On August 9 and 10, 2022, South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone held a live concert alongside rock bands Primus, Ween and Rush at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, commemorating South Parks 25th anniversary. Besides a few original songs from the supporting bands, the concert mainly consisted of Parker and Stone performing music from the series.
On June 21, 2023, the largest injury-inducing weather event in the venue's history occurred. Before Louis Tomlinson was scheduled to perform, a hailstorm with apple sized hail injured over 90 people, including 7 who were hospitalized.