Red Rocks Amphitheatre Morrison Tickets

Red Rocks Amphitheatre Tickets and the Setting

Red Rocks Amphitheatre tickets lead to an open-air venue in the Rocky Mountain foothills outside Denver, set at 6,450 feet. The seating fills the gap between Ship Rock and Creation Rock, two 300-foot sandstone monoliths that hold a record of local plant and animal life spanning 250 million years.

Music Before the Amphitheatre

The site opened as the Garden of the Titans in 1906 with Pietro Satriano's brass band. In 1911 soprano Mary Garden performed on a makeshift platform while listeners sat on the rocky slope.

Built by the Civilian Conservation Corps

The amphitheatre was a New Deal project, built by the Civilian Conservation Corps over five years. Workers blasted and dug out roughly 50,000 cubic feet of dirt and rock between the monoliths, much of it with picks and shovels. They then built the seating from more than 800 tons of sandstone quarried in Lyons, Colorado. The grand opening on June 15, 1941 featured an Eagle Dance and vocal performances meant to show off the natural acoustics.

Later milestones include The Beatles in 1964. In 2011 the venue became the first inductee of the Colorado Music Hall of Fame, and it gained National Historic Landmark status in 2015.

How the Seating Bowl Works

The seating rises 100 feet from the stage to the top row, and 193 steps lead from the stage to the Top Plaza. A ramp from the South Gate reaches Row 1.

The bowl is asymmetrical. Original architect Burnham Hoyt and his main assistant, Stanley E. Morse, abandoned a symmetrical plan when protruding ledges at the base of Creation Rock got in the way. Shifting the northern stairway south cut some seating, leaving fewer seats on the north side than the south.

In 2019 a seating section built on less stable fill was dismantled, set on a new subsurface structure and rebuilt to its original layout.

Stage, Towers and Roof

Morse designed two-story lighting towers and wind walls for the north and south ends of the stage to tackle wind, lighting and sound problems. That work was completed in July 1959. A large metal roof followed in 1988. The 2021 replacement uses pre-patinaed copper roofing, a Douglas fir ceiling and four columns instead of ten. Its materials were inspired by the historic North and South Towers flanking the stage.

Beyond the Seats

The Visitor Center at the Top Plaza first opened in 2003. It houses the Red Rocks Museum and the Red Rocks Hall of Fame. Elsewhere in the park, trails such as the Trading Post Trail draw hikers as well as concertgoers.

Choosing an Event

The calendar spans concerts, film and fitness events. When comparing listings, check the row and which side of the uneven bowl the seats are on, or browse more concerts.

Getting to Morrison

Red Rocks is at 18300 W. Alameda Parkway, Morrison, CO 80465. Parking areas include the Top Circle, Upper North, Upper South and Lower South lots, and the South Ramp links the south lots to the amphitheatre.