| Alpine Valley | |
|---|---|
| Location | East Troy, Wisconsin |
| Type | Outdoor amphitheatre |
| Opened | 1977 |
| Seating type | reserved, lawn |
| Capacity | 37,000 |
Alpine Valley Music Theatre is a 37,000 capacity amphitheatre, in East Troy, Wisconsin. The seasonal venue was built in 1977 and it features a characteristic wooden roof, covering the 7,500-seat pavilion and a sprawling lawn.
The theatre is located roughly equidistant between Madison, Milwaukee, Rockford, and Chicago, and therefore draws a wide regional audience.
Alpine Valley is generally considered the Milwaukee stop on major tours and the Chicago stop when the act doesn't perform in Illinois.
Until 1993, when the San Manuel Amphitheater was built in California, it was the largest amphitheater in the United States.
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Boz Scaggs headlined the venue's inaugural event on June 30, 1977.
Jimmy Buffett played at Alpine Valley, during its inaugural summer of 1977 and he has played every year since 1995, with the exception of 2005.
The Grateful Dead played at Alpine Valley 20 times from 1980 through 1989. Their album, Dick's Picks Volume 32, was recorded here in 1982 and their concert performance video, Downhill From Here, documents concerts from 1989.
Aerosmith have performed here thirteen times since 1977, including the venue's inaugural season.
Boston had a four night stand here from August 6–9, 1987 during their Third Stage World Tour, the band's first since 1979.
The Theatre hosted the Monsters of Rock Festival, on three consecutive nights, from May 27-29, 1988, featuring Van Halen, Metallica, Scorpions, Dokken and Kingdom Come.
The Black Crowes filmed their "Hard to Handle" video here.
On August 26, 1990, Stevie Ray Vaughan played at the Theatre, with his group, Double Trouble and other blues greats Robert Cray, Buddy Guy, Eric Clapton, and his brother Jimmie Vaughan. After the concert, Vaughan left the theatre area in a helicopter to return to Chicago, and he and four others were killed when the helicopter crashed into a ski hill within the Alpine Valley resort.
Rock band Mötley Crüe filmed their video for "Same Ol' Situation" at a concert here in 1990.
Guns N' Roses performed two shows on May 24 and 25, 1991, being opening nights of the marathonic "Use Your Illusion Tour".
Phish played Alpine Valley 11 times from 1996–2000, 2003–2004 and 2009-2010. Their live album, entitled, Live Phish Volume 5, was recorded here on July 8, 2000. Alpine Valley is one of the sacred venues of Phish, along with Deer Creek Music Center, Hampton Coliseum, Madison Square Garden, The Gorge Amphitheatre and Shoreline Amphitheatre, among others.
The annual Ozzfest tour comes here almost every year and the CD, Ozzfest 2001: The Second Millennium, is culled from performances here.
The Dave Matthews Band has played a two night stand each year at Alpine Valley, since 1999, except for 2000. Lead singer/guitarist Dave Matthews has stated multiple times that Alpine Valley is one of, if not the band's favorite place to play. The Dave Matthews Band's live release, Live Trax Vol. 8, was recorded on August 7, 2004, during their two night stand at Alpine Valley. They also released Live Trax Vol. 15, which was recorded on August 9, 2008.
Coldplay played here in the summer of 2005. It was their largest American show ever, as it sold out the entire venue. Their last appearance at Alpine Valley was on July 25, 2009.
Korn recorded footage for their video, "Politics", during the Alpine Valley stop of the Family Values Tour in 2006.
Rage Against the Machine played a concert at Alpine Valley, with Queens of the Stone Age, for their only announced solo show in August 2007.
Pearl Jam, Rush and Phish have all regarded Alpine Valley as one of their favorite venues to play. Dave Matthews has stated many times that Alpine is the band's favorite place to play. Former Phish road manager Brad Sands regards Alpine Valley as his favorite venue to see the band.[1] Pearl Jam also played the venue in 2011, as part of their 20th anniversary celebrations.[2][3]
The Architecture of acoustics makes this unique structure a performer and fan favorite. There is no back wall to echo and distort the sound from the stage. The shape of the ground is taken straight from the Greeks, but it is stretched out to about a 33^ slope upwards from the stage to accommodate more people and more sound. But what makes this amphitheater great is the multiple arched vaulted wooden ceiling. The wood is parallel to the direction of the sound and carries it smoothly to the top of the hill making the cheap seats (the lawn)even sound great. This effect is slightly amplified by the cone shaped arched vaults. This not only enhances the fans experience but also gives the performers great fan feedback. In the latest show "PJ 20" September 3rd,4th 2011, (is already being called the greatest rock show of 2011 ), The crowd was clearly audible singing along with each Pearl Jam song. The best Fan made Audio recordings on "YOUTUBE" came from the lawn where the speaker system did not over ride the small video camera microphones.
The resort is not owned by the owners of the music theater. The hotel serves over a hundred rooms in a Bavarian themed decor. There is also a ski hill and golf course as part of the entire resort complex.