Denver concert venues

If you like music, you've come to the right city. Denver has five major concert venues that I like, plus many clubs and smaller venues. In fact, you can take in a great concert just about any time year-round or just relax and enjoy local music at one of our theaters, bars or lounges.

Major Concert Venues

Denver's major concert venues are Red Rocks, the Pepsi Center, Coors Amphitheater, the Paramount, and the City Lights Pavilion.

Red Rocks
My personal favorite is Red Rocks, a natural, outdoor amphitheater with wonderful acoustics and great views of red rock formations and the front range Denver area.

The Amphitheater is located about 45 minutes from downtown Denver near Morrison, Colorado. If you are driving from the downtown area, take Auraria Parkway to I-25 and then go west on 6th Ave. Take 6th Ave. to where it joins I-70. Go west on I-70 to highway #26 W. Alameda Pkwy) south towards Morrison. Turn right where indicated and drive up into the amphitheater area.

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The Red Rocks 2006 concert season has not yet been ann ounced, but you can bet it will include some of music’s brightest stars! Be sure to check back here in March/April for an early season announcement. And don't forget to check again before you Denver visit as new shows are added all season.

Pepsi Center
Denver's Pepsi Center, at 17th and Auraria Parkway. is not only the homeof Denver sports teams (Nuggets, Avalanche, Crush, etc.) it is also where the “big name” acts play, or those shows that can fill an auditorium that seats more than 18,000, not including floor seating.

For example, in April, Aerosmith and Cheap Trick will play the Pepsi Center. No other shows have been announced at this time so be sure to check back periodically for concert updates.

Coors Amphitheater
Coors Amphitheater is located about 25 minutes southeast of downtown Denver in Greenwood Plaza. It has a seating capacity of 16,823 – with 6,823 reserved seats and 10,000 on the lawn. Seats are sold on a reserved and general admission (lawn seating) basis. Tickets may be purchased at all Ticketmaster locations. Beginning June 6, the Box Office will be open Monday to Friday 10am – 2pm.

I like this venue because, like Red Rocks, it is out-of-doors and makes a great way to spend a summer evening. The acoustics are not quite as good as Red Rocks, but are still excellent. Plus, seating is cheap if you don't mind brining a blanket and sitting on the lawn. Site lines are good even from the lawn and site lines from the reserved seats are excellent.

Coors Amphitheater has not yet announced a concert schedule for 2006. Be sure to click back here from time to time as I will add concert information as it becomes available.

Coors Amphitheater
To charge tickets by phone, call 303.830.TIXS

CityLightsPavilion
The CityLights Pavilion is a neat, little venue that sits next door to its big sister, the Pepsi Center. The Pavilion is a giant tent that's pitched every summer in the parking lot next to its big sister ,the Pepsi Center. Like the Center, it is located at 17th and Auraria Parkway.

The Pavilion seats 5500 but don't let its size fool you. It always offers an amazing array of great shows. For example, last summer, it played host to performances from the “Rock Never Stops” tour; crooner Tom Jones and Tower of Power; rockers Whitesnake; pop star Pat Benatar; former Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant; alt-rockers Gavin DeGraw and Howie Day; rapper Nas; the thrash metal tour “Sounds of the Underground;” unmistakable pop/rock group Journey; Reel Big Fish; teen pop sensation Jesse McCartney; blues queen Susan Tedeschi with the Blind Boys of Alabama; and erstwhile Beach Boy Brian Wilson. 

Like Red Rocks and Coors Amphitheater, the Universal Lending Pavilion has not yet announed its summer of 2006 concert schedule. So, be sure to check back here from time to time as I will provide concert information as it becomes available.

Universal Lending Pavilion
(303) 405-6080

Smaller Venues

Denver has three smaller venues I recommend. The Fillmore Auditorium. MammothGardens and the Gothic.

Fillmore auditorium

The Fillmore Auditorium is just a few minutes from downtown Denver at 1510 Clarkson Street. It is a legend here in Denver, having begun life as Mammoth Gardens – a roller skating rink – and then morphing into one of Denver's hottest concert venues in the 1960s with appearance by rock legends such as the Grateful Dead, the Who and JoeCocker.

Mammoth Gardens sort of opened and closed and reopened again from the '60s through 1999 when it reopened as the Fillmore Auditorium.and has been going strong since then -- hosting performances by Galactic, the BoDeans, the Srrokes and Rob Zombie.

The Fillmore's schedule through April is:

Rob Zombie – 4/17<br>
Alkaline Trio – 4/26<br>

Be sure to check back here in April for information on summer concerts at the Fillmore auditorium.

The Gothic

Denver's Gothic Theater, like its sister theaters, the Ogden and the Bluebird, is a converted movie theater. It plays host to what I guess you would call alternative and local bands. For example, as of this writing, the Gothicc had scheduled the a joit apperance by the Dead Kenneygs, Hariy Apes and BMX, The Elders: 2006 CO Irish Kick Off Party. Noche De Super Estrellas, and Sevendust with NonPoint, Wicked Wisdom. 

Ticket prices for performances at the Gothic are typically $15 or $16 with some shows going as high as $23.

Gothic Theater<br>
(303) 788-0984 <br>
or for information on shows at the Gothic, e-mail: info-co@nipp.com