First Look: The Ford Amphitheater in Colorado Springs, Opening This Week

Hundreds of people lined up to enter the Ford Amphitheater on August 6 for the soft opening of the new Colorado Springs venue. It's a project three years in the making for JW Roth, the Notes Live CEO and chairman who is also establishing similar facilities in Texas, Oklahoma and Georgia. The Ford Amphitheater — which was originally named the Sunset Amphitheater before the car company bought naming rights (and has no connection to the Ford amphitheater in Vail, which is named after President Gerald R. Ford) — is the first of the five planned venues to open.

"I was born and raised here," Roth said at the opening, noting that his family is five generations deep in Colorado. "We were here before Colorado was even a state, so I had to do my own hometown."
The opening-night lineup included a School of Rock student band performance, followed by the national anthem and remarks from the founders. Roth was beaming as he looked around the venue from his suite, one of many open-air boxes in the center of the facility, complete with comfortable chairs and firepits. The firepits, Roth said, are by far his favorite feature and "the unique piece" that was planned when he and his partners started to develop the amphitheater. They hope it will become a destination venue, bringing music programming options to the Springs that are otherwise centered in Denver.

"There's so many things that go on in Colorado Springs from a tourism standpoint," Roth pointed out, listing Pikes Peak, Garden of the Gods, the Olympic Museum, the Manitou Incline and more. "All those kinds of things make Colorado Springs cool, and now this."
Press releases issued before the debut touted the Ford Amphitheater as having unobstructed views from every seat in the house — and it definitely made good on that promise. Mountain vistas can be observed from throughout the 8,000-capacity amphitheater; even those with seats close to the stage can make out the peaks, thanks to an opening in the stage's backdrop. The venue has a lawn at the top, where food and drink stations will be located.

Gary Tedder, Notes Live senior vice president of business development, has been a business partner with Roth for eighteen years, and was equally proud at the opening. Aside from providing the "ultimate fan experience, ultimate artist experience and ultimate investment experience," he said the venue has even loftier aims that seem to echo Nicole Kidman's "We come to this place for magic" AMC commercial.

"Our goal is to add value to the lives of everybody that we come in contact with," he told us. "Even though there are a lot of divisions in our culture...music is the golden thread that weaves its way into the tapestry of hearts and that unites all of us. ... At the end of the day, our goal and passion and purpose is to elevate people's lives to a new level they never dreamed was possible."

While a music venue hasn't brought about world peace as of yet, Ford Amphitheater does have a lineup (courtesy of its exclusive booker, AEG) that may make concert-goers forget their worries for a while. The venue will officially open with OneRepublic, the band that Tedder's son co-founded, performing on August 9, 10 and 11. Other highlight shows this season include the Beach Boys on August 16, Primus on August 24, and Robert Plant and Alison Krauss on August 31.

Ford Amphitheater is located at 95 Spectrum Loop in Colorado Springs; for the lineup, see fordamphitheater.live. Find more concerts on our concert calendar.