Molson Amphitheatre

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Molson Amphitheatre at Ontario Place.

Molson Amphitheatre (commonly called the Amphitheatre) is a semi-enclosed outdoor concert venue in Toronto, Ontario. Its address is 909 Lakeshore Boulevard West, and it is located on the grounds of Ontario Place. The venue hosts many diverse acts, including genres like rock, pop, and jazz. The first act to play this venue was Bryan Adams, May 18,1995.

1 Specifications
2 History
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Specifications

The venue has a capacity of about 16,000; there are 5,500 reserved seats under the 60-foot high covered roof, 3,500 seats under the open sky, and 7,000 seats on the grass bowl. The floor area (100 level) has an unreserved capacity of 1,000. There are also Club and VIP seats for season ticketholders. Two large video panels give everyone in the audience a good view of the performers on stage.

Due to its outdoor configuration, the venue is only open from May to September.

[edit] History

Ontario Place opened in May 1971 with the original Forum as one of first attractions at the amusement park. The original structure consisted of a vinyl canopy, which was replaced by a copper canopy roof in 1978. Its unique configuration consisted of a round stage, which slowly rotated before the audience, which completely surrounded it. In its last year of operation in 1994, the venue had a capacity of 8,000.

Over the winter of 1994-1995, came the controversial demolition of the popular Forum and the construction of a larger venue on the site, the Molson Amphitheatre. The new venue had twice the capacity of the original Forum. In May 1995, the Molson Amphitheatre opened with two Bryan Adams concerts before a sold-out audience. Although many critics lamented the passing of an established cultural landmark, the Amphitheatre also garnered positive reviews, winning RPM Magazine's "Best New Concert Venue" award.

As of 2004, 3 million patrons have visited the venue. It remains one of the larger concert venues in Toronto.