The Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre (originally Riverport Amphitheatre and formerly the UMB Bank Pavilion and Verizon Wireless Amphitheater) is an outdoor

concert A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety a ...

venue in Maryland Heights, Missouri, near St. Louis.

History

The venue was built for approximately $12 million, and opened on June 14, 1991, with a performance by

Steve Winwood Stephen Lawrence Winwood (born 12 May 1948) is an English musician, singer, and songwriter whose genres include blue-eyed soul, rhythm and blues, blues rock, and pop rock. Though primarily a keyboard player and vocalist prominent for his disti ...

. Shortly after opening, the amphitheater became the site of the infamous Riverport Riot, July 2, 1991, during a

Guns N' Roses Guns N' Roses is an American hard rock band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1985. When they signed to Geffen Records in 1986, the band comprised vocalist Axl Rose, lead guitarist Slash, rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin, bassist Duff McKa ...

concert, during their '' Use Your Illusion Tour''. In 1998, the local promoter Contemporary Group, who built the amphitheater, was acquired by SFX. SFX corporate successor

Live Nation Entertainment 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 ...

continues to own and operate the venue. In 2002, UMB Bank acquired the naming rights to the venue for five years. Verizon Wireless then purchased the naming rights in November 2006. Venue owner Live Nation announced December 17, 2014, that they had signed a multiyear agreement with Hollywood Casino in Maryland Heights, which is owned and operated by Penn National Gaming, to be the amphitheater's title sponsor. The length of the agreement was not disclosed. Even with naming rights changes, many in the St. Louis area still call it by its original name "Riverport".

Notable events

Guns and Roses Riot - On July 2, 1991 concert at the then-brand new Riverport Amphitheatre (now known as Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre) in nearby Maryland Heights, Mo., erupted into a violent and bloody riot, injuring 65 people — including 25 police officers — and resulting in dozens of arrests and hundreds of thousands of dollars in property damage. On June 9, 2000, the bands

REO Speedwagon REO Speedwagon (originally stylized as R.E.O. Speedwagon) is an American rock band from Champaign, Illinois. Formed in 1967, the band cultivated a following during the 1970s and achieved significant commercial success throughout the 1980s. The ...

and

Styx In Greek mythology, Styx (; grc, Στύξ ) is a river that forms the boundary between Earth (Gaia) and the Underworld. The rivers Acheron, Cocytus, Lethe, Phlegethon, and Styx all converge at the centre of the underworld on a great marsh, whic ...

performed at the venue together and released Arch Allies Live at Riverport and releasing 2 single-disc versions for Styx and one for REO.

Sting Sting may refer to: * Stinger or sting, a structure of an animal to inject venom, or the injury produced by a stinger * Irritating hairs or prickles of a stinging plant, or the plant itself Fictional characters and entities * Sting (Middle-eart ...

performed during his Symphonicities Tour on June 23, 2010, along with the

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, that performs and produces primarily classic works. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable ...

. On July 23, 2010, Kings of Leon abruptly ended their set, after only three songs, allegedly being pelted with feces by pigeons while onstage. The band gave fans their money back and later announced a makeup show. The new date was scheduled to be on September 25, 2010. Tickets were free for those who attended their last show and were $10.00 for other fans planning on attending. The amphitheatre has played host to many music festivals, including 60's Summer Spectacular,

All That! Music and More Festival ''All That'' is an American sketch comedy television series created by Brian Robbins and Mike Tollin. The series originally aired on Nickelodeon from April 16, 1994, to October 22, 2005, lasting ten seasons, and was produced by Tollin/Robbins ...

, Anger Management Tour, Crüe Fest,

Crüe Fest 2 Crüe Fest 2 was the second year of the Crüe Fest touring festival, created and headlined by Mötley Crüe. The tour took place over the summer of 2009, and was in the same vein as the first Crüe Fest. Line up On March 16, 2009, the line up for ...

, Family Values Tour, Farm Aid,

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: ...

, Lilith Fair,

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 ...

, Mayhem Festival, Ozzfest,

Pointfest Pointfest is a large outdoor rock music festival held once a year by radio station KPNT in St. Louis, Missouri at the Hollywood Casino Amphitheatre (formerly known as Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, UMB Bank Pavilion, and Riverport Amphitheate ...

Projekt Revolution Projekt Revolution was a music festival hosted by Linkin Park, bringing artists of various genres of music together. Linkin Park started Projekt Revolution in the year 2002 with just one stage. Then, in 2004, they announced the Revolution Stage ( ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

Notes

{{Authority control Amphitheaters in the United States Music venues in St. Louis Tourist attractions in St. Louis

History

Notable events

See also

Notes