The Gorge Amphitheatre, originally known as Champs de Brionne Music Theatre, is an outdoor
concert venue
A music venue is any location used for a concert or musical performance. Music venues range in size and location, from a small coffeehouse for folk music shows, an outdoor bandshell or bandstand or a concert hall to an indoor sports stadium. ...
in
Grant County, Washington
Grant County is a county located in the U.S. state of Washington. As of the 2020 census, the population was 99,123. The county seat is Ephrata, and the largest city is Moses Lake. The county was formed out of Douglas County in February 1909 an ...
, United States. It is situated near
Columbia River
The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...
in
Central Washington
Central Washington is a region of the U.S. state of Washington between the western and eastern parts of the state extending from the border with the Canadian province of British Columbia in the north to the border with the U.S. state of Oregon i ...
, west of
George
George may refer to:
People
* George (given name)
* George (surname)
* George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George
* George Washington, First President of the United States
* George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...
. The venue is managed by
Live Nation
Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. is an American global entertainment company and monopoly that was founded in 2010 following the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster. The company promotes, operates, and manages ticket sales for live entertainme ...
.
It is a nine-time winner of ''
Pollstar
''Pollstar'' is a trade publication for the concert and live music industry. The publication was purchased by Oak View Group, a venue consultancy founded by Tim Leiweke and Irving Azoff, in July 2017.
History and profile
Founded in 1981 in Fre ...
'' Magazine's award for 'Best Outdoor Music Venue' and was voted as one of the 'Best Outdoor Concert Venues in America' by ConcertBoom.
About
The original amphitheater was owned and operated by Dr. Vincent Bryan and Carol Bryan, along with the adjoining winery, Champs de Brionne, for which it was named. It opened in 1986 and seated 3,000 people, but had expanded to 19,000 prior to the purchase by
MCA in 1993.
The Gorge Amphitheater was acquired by Live Nation in 2006.
North of
Interstate 90
Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, Great Plains, Midwest, and ...
, The Gorge is approximately east of
Seattle
Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
and approximately west of
Spokane
Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Ca ...
.
This venue offers views of the
Columbia River
The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...
, Columbia Gorge canyon, eastern
Kittitas, and western Grant County. Originally, the land was planned to be used for growing grapes for wine.
Apart from drawing big name performers, The Gorge has also played host to an array of popular music festivals, including
Area Festival
The Area Festival was a music festival founded by popular Electronic music, electronic musician Moby, who asserted that he was "in large part, inspired by the ethos of Lollapalooza", and wished to create a similarly "genuinely eclectic, interes ...
,
Creation Festival
Creation Festival, commonly shortened to Creation, is an annual four-day Christian music festival in the United States. According to its organizers, it is the "Nation's Largest Christian Music Festival." Average attendance is between 50,000 an ...
,
Dave Matthews Band Caravan
Dave Matthews Band Caravan was a series of concert festivals headed by the Dave Matthews Band (DMB). The four festivals, occurring during the summer of 2011, took the place of DMB's usual summer tour, after the band announced its intentions to ta ...
,
H.O.R.D.E.
Horizons of Rock Developing Everywhere or H.O.R.D.E. Festival was a touring summer rock music festival originated by the musical group Blues Traveler in 1992. In addition to travelling headliners, the festival gave exposure to bands, charities, a ...
Festival,
Honda Civic Tour
The Honda Civic Tour was an annual concert tour, sponsored by American Honda Motor Company and produced by Marketing Factory.
2001
First half
*Headliner: Blink-182
*Supporting: No Motiv, Sum 41, The Ataris, and Bodyjar
Second half
*Headliner: ...
,
Identity Festival
The Identity Festival is an American annual music festival that features popular electronic music artists. The festival tours various North American cities.
Conception
The talent agency William Morris Endeavor recognized the demand for electro ...
,
Lilith Fair
Lilith Fair was a concert tour and travelling music festival, founded by Canadian musician Sarah McLachlan, Nettwerk Music Group's Dan Fraser and Terry McBride, and New York talent agent Marty Diamond. It took place during the summers of 1997 ...
,
Lollapalooza
Lollapalooza (Lolla) is an annual American four-day music festival held in Grant Park in Chicago. It originally started as a touring event in 1991 but several years later made Chicago the permanent location for the annual music festival. Musi ...
,
Ozzfest
Ozzfest is an annual music festival tour of the United States and sometimes Europe and later Japan, featuring performances by many heavy metal and hard rock musical groups. It was founded by Sharon Osbourne and her husband Ozzy Osbourne, both ...
,
Paradiso Festival
Paradiso Festival was an annual electronic dance music (EDM) festival held at The Gorge Amphitheatre located on the Columbia River in George, Washington, United States. Founded by USC Events and Live Nation Entertainment in 2012, Paradiso was b ...
,
Rock the Bells
Rock the Bells was an annual hip-hop festival that originally took place in Southern California only, but has since toured throughout the world. The concert featured a line-up of high-profile alternative hip-hop artists, often headlined by a mor ...
Festival,
Sasquatch! Music Festival
Sasquatch! Music Festival was an annual music festival held at The Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Washington, United States. It took place on Memorial Day weekend, running for three to four days.
In 2018, it was announced that the festival was ...
,
Uproar Festival
The Uproar Festival, also called the Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival, was an annual hard rock and heavy metal tour inaugurated in 2010 by John Reese and sponsored by Rockstar Energy Drink. The tour was also created by John Oakes, Darryl E ...
,
Vans Warped Tour
The Warped Tour was a traveling rock tour that toured the United States plus three or four stops in Canada annually each summer from 1995 until 2019. It was the largest traveling music festival in the United States and the longest-running touring ...
, Pain in the Grass, an
Watershed Festivalas well as
Phish
Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band is known for musical improvisation, extended jams, blending of genres, and a dedicated fan base. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon ...
, who has played 22 times since 1997.
Brooks & Dunn
Brooks & Dunn are an American country music duo consisting of Kix Brooks and Ronnie Dunn, both of whom are vocalists and songwriters. The duo was founded in 1990 through the suggestion of Tim DuBois. Before their formation, both members were solo ...
's "Only in America" video was filmed here on June 12, 2001.
The
White River Amphitheatre
White River Amphitheatre is a Live Nation managed concert venue, located 8 miles (13 km) east of Auburn, Washington and 7 miles (11 km) west of Enumclaw, Washington on the Muckleshoot Indian Reservation. It is 22 miles (35 km) north ...
opened in 2003, directly competing with the venue. The new amphitheater is substantially closer to Seattle, with a shorter travel time via car of 1.5 to 2.25 hours less, depending on traffic. A columnist for ''The Seattle Times'' noted the preferable view and "experience" offered by The Gorge.
As of 2022,
Dave Matthews Band
Dave Matthews Band (also known by the initials DMB) is an American rock band formed in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 1991. The band's founding members were singer-songwriter and guitarist Dave Matthews, bassist Stefan Lessard, drummer and bac ...
has played 70 shows at the venue, traditionally during their Labor Day weekend three-night run. ''
The Gorge'', a combination 2-CD/1-DVD set with highlights from their 3-night 2002 tour closer here was released on June 29, 2004. Additionally, their September 4, 2016 tour closer was released as Live Trax, Vol. 44 on December 8, 2017.
Pearl Jam
Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guita ...
(from Seattle) released a box set, featuring their entire performances from 2005 and 2006, aptly titled, ''
Live at the Gorge 05/06
''Live at the Gorge 05/06'' is a seven-disc live box set by the American alternative rock band Pearl Jam, released on June 26, 2007 through Rhino Entertainment/Warner Music Group. The box set documents the band's 2005 and 2006 shows at The Gorge ...
.''
About 400,000 people attended concerts at The Gorge Amphitheater in the year 2013.
Above and Beyond hosted their 250th episode of ''Group Therapy Radio'' at The Gorge on September 16, 2017 to September 17, 2017.
A documentary film titled "''Enormous: The Gorge Story"'' was released in 2021. The film focused on The Gorge and its music history.
Excision began hosting his weekend-long electronic music festival Bass Canyon here in August 2018.
The second year of the festival took place on August 23–25, 2019 and featured artists such as Excision himself,
Flux Pavilion
Joshua Steele (born 15 January 1989) better known by his stage name Flux Pavilion, is an English EDM producer, DJ, singer-songwriter and label owner who has been performing since 2008.
Flux Pavilion has headlined three US tours, two UK tours, ...
,
Zomboy
Joshua Mellody (born 1 June 1989), professionally known as Zomboy, is an English dubstep music producer, songwriter, and DJ whose mascot is a zombie.
Biography
Before Joshua Mellody was active under the name Zomboy, he had an Electronicore ...
,
Wooli
Adam Puleo, better known by his alias Wooli, is an American riddim and dubstep DJ and producer. He is known for the songs "Island" and " Another Me", with the prior being a collaboration with American dubstep producers Seven Lions and Trivecta an ...
,
Virtual Riot
Christian Valentin "Val" Brunn (born 20 July 1994), better known by his stage name Virtual Riot, is a German DJ and electronic music producer. He has released seventeen extended plays and two studio albums, most notably his 2016 extended play '' ...
,
Subtronics
Jesse Kardon, better known by his alias Subtronics, is an American dubstep DJ and producer from Philadelphia, United States. He is best known for his song "Griztronics", a collaboration with Michigan-based electronic music artist GRiZ that peaked ...
,
Liquid Stranger
Martin Stääf (born 13 November 1978), aka Liquid Stranger, is a Swedish-born electronic musician, described by Generation Bass as "the epitome of Transnational Dubstep covering everything from Latin American music, Latin, Music of Asia, Asian, ...
, and many more.
Camping
Fans can stay in the campground for 24 hours on the day of a single show, or until 12 noon the day after a run of shows end.
Camping at the Gorge requires buying a camping ticket, which can be included in the concert admission ticket.
The campground at the Gorge sets aside spaces for one car with up to two two-person tents or a single RV. There are very limited RV hookups at the Gorge campground. Sites are set aside by venue staff on a first-come, first-served basis. Potable water, flush toilets, hot showers, and a convenience store are available on the grounds. The campground also has 24-hour security.
See also
*
List of contemporary amphitheatres
This is a list of amphitheatres in use today.
})
,
, align="right", 3,000
, -
, Rhode Island
, Providence
, Waterplace Park Amphitheatre
, Not covered
,
, -
, rowspan=2 , South Carolina
, Simpsonville
, Heritage Park Amphitheatre
,
, align=" ...
*
List of music festivals
A list of music festivals around the world. A music festival is a festival oriented towards music that is sometimes presented with a theme such as musical genre, nationality or locality of musicians, or holiday. They are commonly held outdoors, ...
References
External links
LiveNation Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gorge Amphitheatre, The
Amphitheaters in the United States
Buildings and structures in Grant County, Washington
Columbia River Gorge
Landmarks in Washington (state)
Music venues in Washington (state)
Tourist attractions in Grant County, Washington
1986 establishments in Washington (state)