Red Rocks Amphitheatre began its summer concert season on March 30 — the earliest start the venue has seen — and plans to welcome a record 200-plus shows and events by its end date of Nov. 15.
But the estimated million-plus visitors in 2024 — at least half of whom are from out of state, according to a recent study — won’t see what really goes on at the 738-acre outdoor venue and park beyond the public aspects.
In reality, Red Rocks offers dozens of unique challenges for fans, artists and production teams, who navigate steep stairs, twisting innards and decades of overlapping history to bring us each new concert.
Here are five things about Red Rocks you might not know:
Its inhabitants span centuries
The hallway leading to the backstage sound equipment is lined with hundreds of signatures from members of bands who’ve played there over the years. But the park’s history is so much older: Folsom people (or Paleo-Indians) occupied the Front Range, including Red Rocks, about 11,000 years ago. The Utes inhabited the area around Red Rocks for hundreds of years, starting in the year 1,000, until they battled the Southern Arapaho and Southern Cheyenne for territory in 1800. All were displaced in the late 19th century by white settlers.
The venue had been “rediscovered” in an army expedition led by Stephen Long in 1820. But geologically, the area that Red Rocks inhabits was once an ocean floor. A sediment-spreading alluvial fan contributed to the structure’s formation. Its 300-tall twin walls (Ship Rock and Creation Rock, both of which contain dinosaur fossils) get their color from iron oxide, the same compound that gives blood and rust their ruddy appearances.
Red Rocks is constantly changing
Despite its monolithic profile, the venue that officially opened on June 15, 1941, constantly evolves with seating, security and technical upgrades. The fact that they’re often hard to notice is the point, said officials for the city, which owns and runs Red Rocks, as crews race to finish them in the ever-shrinking off-season. This year’s major improvements include new sidewalks and amended roads, retaining walls, mini-structures, upgraded indoor bathrooms, a redesign of Ship’s Rock Grille, and magnetometers (metal detectors) to speed entry.
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Some are still in progress, as fans will notice, while others — such as the $6 million roof installed in 2021 — subtly nudge the venue into the 21st century with high-tech lighting, sound and rigging.
Tunnels, tunnels, tunnels
There is no private backstage entrance to Red Rocks. Musicians and their roadies load in via the ramps uphill from the Trading Post — the same hill that spectators from the lower South lots pass by on their way to the venue. The backstage and hidden production areas at Red Rocks wind under the venue in a series of tunnels that break off into green rooms, a cozy dining room and a catering kitchen, among other enclaves.
The main, “barn doors” entrance sees more foot traffic than equipment-loading as it ramps up and down, leading visitors past a blown-up, black-and-white photo of the audience at the Beatles’ 1964 Red Rocks show (look carefully and you’ll see a man flipping off the photographer). The backstage area also served as a shelter for nonperishable food during the Cold War, according to History Colorado.
Iconic shows that didn’t sell out
A pair of Red Rocks’ most memorable concerts were not even at full capacity. The Beatles’ 1964 concert there — its only one — featured empty seats at the top of the venue. (In 1959, singer-songwriter Ricky Nelson played the venue’s first-ever rock show, setting the figurative stage.) The Beatles show there was the only one that didn’t sell out on their first American tour, with Red Rocks being one of four venues that the band visited on that tour that still stands. Fast forward to U2’s 1983 “Under a Blood Red Sky” concert, which was also less-than-full, due in part to the chilly, rainy weather, and you’ve got the makings of a sturdy mythology for debut performances.
BYOB no more
Red Rocks sells more White Claw than anywhere in the U.S., with 254,640 cans changing hands in 2023. That’s more than 25% of the total number of malt beverages sold there, according to a recent study. All told, more than 400,000 hard seltzers were sold at Red Rocks, as well as a whopping 65,000 hot dogs — more than twice the number of the next most popular food items, 31,700 tacos and 30,500 nachos. (Cheese cups weren’t far behind, with 25,000 sold.) Incredibly, sales last season were off due to construction on the Top Plaza.
The year before, in 2022, Red Rocks sold a whopping 111,800 hot dogs. But concessions didn’t actually show up at the venue until 1997, and before that fans were forced to bring their own libations and refreshments.
As for the parking lot pre-game? That’s always been its own, gloriously chill scene.
