COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo — Colorado's new outdoor amphitheater held soft opening Tuesday before officially opening this weekend.
The 8,000-seat Ford Amphitheater is located in north Colorado Springs at the Polaris Pointe development near the Air Force Academy.
The amphitheater will host its first concert by Colorado Springs' OneRepublic on Friday. OneRepublic will also be performing Saturday and Sunday at the new venue.
Previously known as Sunset Amphitheater, Ford acquired the naming rights to the amphitheater in June.
The concert venue will be booked in partnership with concert promoter AEG Presents.
Upcoming concerts on the schedule include The Beach Boys, Walker Hayes, Iration and Pepper, Lauren Daigle, Primus, John Fogerty, Dierks Bentley, Robert Plant and Alison Krauss, Jim Gaffigan, Pentatonix, Cage the Elephant, Barenaked Ladies, Steve Miller Band, ZZ Top and Lynyrd Skynyrd, For King + Country, Foreigner, Ivan Cornejo, and Godsmack.
Notes Live said Ford Amphitheater is part of a $90 million entertainment campus that will host large touring acts with a top-of-the-line audio-visual system, a self-draining grass berm, and more than 90 luxury fire pit suites.
Notes Live said the venue has "an unparalleled view of the sun setting over Pikes Peak, America’s mountain, right behind the stage as each concert begins, flanked by the United States Air Force Academy stadium on the left and the iconic Air Force chapel on the right."
OneRepublic is a Grammy nominated band formed in Colorado Springs in 2002. OneRepublic's lineup currently consists of Ryan Tedder, Zach Filkins, Drew Brown, Brent Kutzle, Eddie Fisher, and Brian Willett.
Ford Amphitheater
First announced in April 2022, Ford Amphitheater was given final approval by the Colorado Springs City Council in January 2023.
"These are some of the fastest-growing cities in America, but the live entertainment options haven’t caught up to the population," said Roth. "Notes Live venues will cater to these upscale demographics looking for a place where the overall experience is as good as the music itself."
"People know that I go over the top, it’s just what I do," said Roth. "I want it to be perfect, and I want that perfection to be translated into everything we do."
“In collaboration with Notes Live, we look forward to bringing a wide array of world-class artists to Colorado Springs and it’s surrounding communities. [Ford] Amphitheater will be the perfect outdoor venue to host these events,” said Brent Fedrizzi, Co-President and COO of AEG Presents Rocky Mountains.
Ford Amphitheater is one of several venues Notes Live has been opening across the country in "entertainment deserts" where there are growing populations but a lack of high-quality venues.
Notes Live opened another Colorado Springs music venue, Boot Barn Hall, in February 2019.