Outdoor events with packed crowds are nothing new in Colorado Springs. Air Force Academy football, the Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo, minor league baseball with the old Colorado Springs Sky Sox and the new Rocky Mountain Vibes, Colorado Springs Switchbacks soccer and the annual July Fourth gathering at the city's Memorial Park — though it hasn't been held since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic — are among familiar area events held in outdoor settings and attended by thousands. Now comes the new Ford Amphitheater — an 8,000-seat outdoor venue that debuts this week with a private, invitation-only gathering Tuesday and its first public event Friday when pop band OneRepublic performs its first of three weekend shows.
The amphitheater, proposed and developed by VENU , the Colorado Springs entertainment company formerly known as Notes Live, will open at Polaris Pointe, the 200-acre mixed-use development southeast of Interstate 25 and North Gate Boulevard. Though other open-air facilities in Colorado Springs have held occasional live-music performances over the years, in addition to their sports and community events, the Ford Amphitheater will be the area's first venue dedicated to outdoor concerts. It's been built on Colorado Springs' busy north side, one of the Pikes Peak region's fastest-growing commercial and residential areas that's bustling with hundreds of businesses and thousands of homeowners and apartment dwellers.
So, before OneRepublic takes the stage, what do concert.