Riverbend Music Center is an outdoor

amphitheater An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...

located in

Cincinnati, Ohio Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

, along the banks of the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of ...

. It has a capacity of 20,500 (6,000 reserved pavilion seats and 14,500 general admission lawn) and was built for the

Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Its primary concert venue is Music Hall. In addition to its symphony concerts, the orchestra gives pops concerts as the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra. The Cinc ...

, to allow them to play in an outdoor venue during the summer months. Its location is directly adjacent to

Coney Island Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach to its east, L ...

water park and

Belterra Park Belterra Park, formerly known as River Downs, is a racino located in Anderson Township, Hamilton County, Ohio, just outside the southeast limits of Cincinnati. It is owned by Gaming and Leisure Properties and operated by Boyd Gaming. History R ...

. Famed architect and 2012 Driehaus Prize winner

Michael Graves Michael Graves (July 9, 1934 – March 12, 2015) was an American architect, designer, and educator, as well as principal of Michael Graves and Associates and Michael Graves Design Group. He was a member of The New York Five and the Memphis Gr ...

designed the building. The venue is owned by the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, booked and operated by its subsidiary, Music and Event Management Incorporated (MEMI) and also partners with

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 entertai ...

Venues

Riverbend Music Center

When Riverbend opened in 1984, it was one of only 16 outdoor music amphitheaters in the United States and it helped revive the Cincinnati concert scene. Many concert promoters avoided Cincinnati following the December 3, 1979, The Who rock concert tragedy, in which 11 people died at

Riverfront Coliseum Heritage Bank Center is an indoor arena located in downtown Cincinnati, next to the Great American Ball Park. It was completed in September 1975 and named Riverfront Coliseum because of its placement next to Riverfront Stadium. In 1997, the fa ...

. The city passed tough crowd control ordinances, which kept major acts away. Despite those factors, promoters gave the venue a chance and the fans were excited to see acts who had been avoiding the city since 1979. Riverbend was built for $9 million on of land donated by

, a small amusement park. The land was once the home of 2 popular rollercoasters, The Wildcat and Shooting Star, the latter was demolished in 1971. Due to its location next to the Ohio River, parts of the venue can become flooded, canceling shows. A

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, g ...

concert in 2003 and a 2001 show by

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

and

The Black Crowes The Black Crowes are an American rock band formed in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1984. Their discography includes eight studio albums, four live albums and several charting singles. The band was signed to Def American Recordings in 1989 by producer Ge ...

were among the shows canceled. The venue's first performance was by Erich Kunzel & The

Cincinnati Pops Orchestra The Cincinnati Pops Orchestra is a pops orchestra based in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, founded in 1977 out of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Its members are also the members of the Cincinnati Symphony, and the Pops is managed by the same ...

, with special guests

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April 25, 1917June 15, 1996) was an American jazz singer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phrasing, timing, in ...

and

Neil Armstrong Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) was an American astronaut and aeronautical engineer who became the first person to walk on the Moon in 1969. He was also a naval aviator, test pilot, and university professor. ...

, on July 4, 1984. On July 4, 2000, The Pops performed the first live concert televised from

Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line w ...

, which aired on PBS, featuring

Rosemary Clooney Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 – June 29, 2002) was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the song " Come On-a My House", which was followed by other pop numbers such as " Botch-a-Me", " Mambo Italiano" ...

and

Doc Severinsen Carl Hilding "Doc" Severinsen (born July 7, 1927) is an American retired jazz trumpeter who led the NBC Orchestra on '' The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson''. Early life Severinsen was born in Arlington, Oregon, to Minnie Mae (1897–1998) ...

. The

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 ...

performed and recorded their show, on June 26, 2000, which was later released as a live album, entitled ''Live Trax Vol. 16''.

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-earth ...

performed during his

Symphonicities ''Symphonicities'' is the tenth studio album by English musician Sting, released on 13 July 2010 on Deutsche Grammophon. This is his first studio album featuring new recordings of existing songs (the second one to date being the 2019 studio alb ...

Tour on July 20, 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 ...

. The amphitheatre has also played host to music festivals, including

Crüe Fest ''Crüe Fest'' was a summer 2008 tour by Mötley Crüe, which commenced on July 1, 2008 and concluded on August 31, 2008. It featured Mötley Crüe themselves, Buckcherry, Papa Roach, Sixx:A.M., and Trapt. ''Crüe Fest'' was said to be "the Lou ...

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 ...

, Curiosa,

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 ...

, the

Mayhem Festival The Mayhem Festival was a touring heavy metal festival that took place during the summer. The inaugural season took place in 2008; the festival later became an annual event across the United States. Most years also included a single date in eit ...

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 ...

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 ( ...

, The Horde Festival and the

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 tour ...

.Also, in 1995, The Alan Parsons Project played live.

Jimmy Buffett at Riverbend

Jimmy Buffett James William Buffett (born December 25, 1946) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and businessman. He is best known for his music, which often portrays an "island escapism" lifestyle. Together with his Coral Reefer Band, Buffe ...

has played at Riverbend every year since 1988. As of his 2008 appearance, he has performed for 41 consecutive sell-out crowds. There are only two other venues at which he has played more shows (

Comcast Center Comcast Center, also known as the Comcast Tower, is a skyscraper in Center City, Philadelphia. The 58-story, tower is the second-tallest building in Philadelphia and in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania (after the Comcast Technology Center), ...

and

Merriweather Post Pavilion Merriweather Post Pavilion is an outdoor concert venue located within Symphony Woods, a lot of preserved land in the heart of the planned community of Columbia, Maryland. In 2010, Merriweather was named the second best amphitheater in the Uni ...

). His following in Cincinnati started at Kings Island's Timberwolf Amphitheater, where the phrase Parrotheads was coined. Every year since, his concerts sell out in minutes, and is one of the toughest tickets to get in Cincinnati. Because of the sellouts, he played two shows in 1989. As shows continued to sell out, Buffett was one of a few artists who played multiple nights at Riverbend. He played two shows in 1989 and 1990, three in 1991, four in 1992, and a five-night stint in 1993. He continued to play multiple nights through 2000. During the summer of 2001, fans in Cincinnati were disappointed when only one show was played that year. Even though the shows continued to sell out in record breaking time, he has just played one show each year since 2001. During his two-night stay at Riverbend in 1990, he recorded live songs for the album '' Feeding Frenzy''.

PNC Pavilion

Riverbend has built an additional 4,100 seat pavilion, The PNC Pavilion, adjacent to the current box office. The pavilion opened on May 24, 2008 with Cincinnati's Over the Rhine. The band performed their entire ''

Ohio Ohio () is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Of the List of states and territories of the United States, fifty U.S. states, it is the List of U.S. states and territories by area, 34th-l ...

'' album on the venue's opening night. In January 2009 National City Pavilion became PNC Pavilion due to PNC's purchase of National City bank.

External links

Riverbend Music Center – Official Site

Riverbend Music Center – Concert Listings

References