Comcast Center (Mansfield, Massachusetts)
| Great Woods | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Location | Mansfield, Massachusetts |
| Coordinates | 41°59′33″N 71°13′12″W / 41.992479°N 71.219983°WCoordinates: 41°59′33″N 71°13′12″W / 41.992479°N 71.219983°W |
| Type | Outdoor amphitheater |
| Opened | June 1986 |
| Owner | Live Nation |
| Former name(s) |
Great Woods Center for the Performing Arts (1986-99) Tweeter Center for the Performing Arts (1999-2008) |
| Seating type | reserved, lawn |
| Capacity | 19,900 |
| Website | www.livenation.com |
Xfinity Center (formerly known as Great Woods and as Tweeter Center and Comcast Center) is a Live Nation-owned outdoor amphitheater located in Mansfield, Massachusetts, 30 miles south of Boston, Massachusetts, USA at the intersection of I-495 and Route 140. The seating capacity is approximately 19,900. Approximately 7,000 are covered seats in the pavilion, 7,000 are open-air seats, and general admission is on the lawn. It was originally known as Great Woods Center for the Performing Arts until 1999 when Tweeter purchased the naming rights, renaming the venue Tweeter Center. However, due to financial struggles and bankruptcy, the Tweeter Home Entertainment Group opted out of its naming contract with the venue. Beginning in the summer of 2008, Comcast purchased the naming rights, officially renaming the venue Comcast Center. The 2008 WBCN River Rave was the last event at the "Tweeter Center"; the next day, there was another event from (sister station) WZLX at the "Comcast Center". Because it is an outdoor venue, the Xfinity Center is generally open May through September. The Xfinity Center played host to the 23rd annual Farm Aid concert to support American agricultural workers.
The Xfinity Center was named the top-grossing amphitheater of the decade by Billboard magazine in 2010.[1]
Special musical performances
The following artists have engaged in a special performance at the venue:
- Aerosmith (performed here 23 times in their career;[2] their live performance in the film Be Cool was filmed here)
- The Allman Brothers Band (Live at Great Woods 1992 DVD was filmed here)
- Avenged Sevenfold (They have played the Comcast Center 3 times, and had their first American performance following the death of their drummer The Rev here on the Mayhem Festival, with Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater playing drums.)[3]
- Flyleaf (Family Values 2006 DVD was filmed here)
- The Fray (Part of The Fray's music video "All At Once" was filmed here)
- Gin Blossoms (part of their video "As Long as It Matters" was filmed there during River Fest 1996)
- James Taylor (once for four consecutive dates, a house record)
- Jimmy Buffett & The Coral Reefer Band (portions of Buffett Live: Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays in 1999 and encores in 2008 were recorded here, as well as the Live in Mansfield, MA Soundboard album in 2003)
- Korn (Family Values 2006 DVD was filmed here)
- Lil Wayne (America's Most Wanted Music Festival 2013)
- Nickelback (part of their music video "Rockstar" was filmed here)
- Oasis did one of the performances on their 2005 Don't Believe The Truth Tour here.
- Pearl Jam (11 times including the 7/11/03 show, which is the longest show the band has ever played)
- Phish (A track from 1994's A Live One was recorded here, the same night they also performed their complete Gamehendge saga)
- Rush (2 songs from their 6/23/1997 concert, are featured on the live album Different Stages)
- Stone Sour (Family Values 2006 DVD was filmed here)
- The Who (The DVD, "The Who: Live in Boston" was filmed here in September 2002)
References
External links
- Comcast Center Boston website
- Live Nation takes over Clear Channel's concerts—The Boston Globe
- Goodbye Tweeter Center, hello Comcast Center—The Patriot Ledger