Riverbend Music Center is an outdoor amphitheater, with a capacity of 20,500, located in Cincinnati, Ohio, along the banks of the Ohio River. Riverbend was built for the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, to allow them to play in an outdoor venue during the summer months. Famed architect Michael Graves designed the building. The venue is managed by the Symphony subsidiary, Music and Event Management Incorporated and booked in conjunction with Live Nation.

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History

The venue opened on July 4, 1984 with a performance by Eric Kunzel and the Cincinnati Pops with special guest Ella Fitzgerald and Neil Armstrong. The Everly Brothers played the next night and Linda Ronstadt played the following night. On July 7, 1984, Night Ranger and Tony Carey performed the first rock concert at Riverbend. On July 4th, 2000, The Pops performed the first live concert televised from Cincinnati, which aired on PBS, and featured Rosemary Clooney and Doc Severinsen.

Riverbend was built for $9 million on 15 acres of land donated by Coney Island , 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. ^[1]

When Riverbend opened in 1984, it was one of only 16 outdoor venues and it helped revive the Cincinnati concert scene. Many concert promoters avoided Cincinnati following the 1979 Who concert tragedy, in which 11 people died. 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. ^[2]

Yes, and Crosby, Stills and Nash played during Riverbend's opening months in 1984. In 1985, the first full season, Riverbend welcomed such bands as the Grateful Dead, Neil Young, Dire Straits, Sting and Eric Clapton.

Because of its location next to the Ohio River, parts of the venue can become flooded, canceling shows. A Pearl Jam concert in 2003 and a 2001 Oasis/Black Crowes show are among some of the shows cancelled because of high waters.

National City Pavilion

Riverbend has built an additional 4,100 seat pavilion, The National City 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 Album on the venue's opening night.

Jimmy Buffett at Riverbend

Jimmy Buffett has played at Riverbend every year since 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 (Tweeter Center and Merriweather Post Pavilion). 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 2 shows in 1989. As shows continued to sell out, Jimmy was one of a few artists who played multiple nights at Riverbend. He played 2 shows in 1989 and 1990, 3 in 1991, 4 in 1992 and a 5-night stint in 1993. He continued to play multiple nights through 2000. During the summer of 2001, fans in Cincinnati were disappointed when only 1 show was played that year. Even though the shows continued to sell out in record breaking time, he has just played 1 show each year since 2001. ^[3]

During his 2 night stay at Riverbend in 1990, he recorded live songs for the album Feeding Frenzy .

See also

• List of contemporary amphitheatres

References

1. Plan a Visit: History, Coney Island Park.
2. Riverbend at 20 is still going strong
3. Shows by Venue: Riverbend Music Center