Red Rocks Amphitheatre will reopen in April with 2,500-person capacity thanks to a variance that allows it operate outside of the state’s COVID-19 rules, venue officials announced Tuesday.
No date was given on the park’s social media posts, but the world-famous amphitheater — which is owned and operated by the city agency Denver Arts & Venues — has been closed to large-scale events for most of the past year. In 2020, the venue was only able to host 175-person concerts and local acts (including ) due to the restrictions.
The outdoor venue’s capacity is typically about 9,500, so opening with less than half may be a tough sell to many touring artists, who must recoup their travel and production expenses with each new show. However, it may make sense for mid-tier touring and local acts to rent out the venue, leading to a somewhat-familiar shade of the pre-pandemic summer concert season — when the Morrison venue annually broke records for the number of new concerts.
The reopening also heralds upgrades at the venue, including a new, state-of-the-art roof. Formerly the domain of brave riggers and lighting techs, the mechanized roof will no longer require death-defying climbing feats to prep for each show, Arts & Venues officials have said. This year marks Red Rocks’ 80th anniversary as a public performing arts venue.
Upcoming concerts at the venue include two nights of Lotus (April 23-24; on sale at 10 a.m. April 2) and Hippie Sabotage (May 6). See more at .
