Every week, I will cover notorious Coloradan musical venues and the hacks to make every experience a memorable one. This week, I looked into Red Rocks Amphitheater and the 1st Bank Center since they are the most popular among the college crowd. Hopefully, these tips and tricks come in handy for your next concert. 

Red Rocks Amphitheater

When you think of nationwide musical attractions, it's quite possible that Red Rocks Amphitheater tops that list, and it's easy to see why. Natural carved rock acoustics and expansive views of both the front range of Colorado and the Rocky Mountains make it a hot spot for the world's most popular artists. It beautiful and iconic, but sometimes that can make it crowded, expensive, and draw an unlawful group of fans. To have a better experience at the rocks, here are some tips for this venue in particular. 

Seating: General Admission is my personal favorite hack for this venue because it always offers the cheapest ticket prices and only requires that you arrive early to ensure good seats.

Parking: I find the Upper South Lot is the ideal spot for parking and waiting for the gates to open. If you arrive 2-3 hours pre-concert (again, you need a lot of time) there is guaranteed an empty parking lot which gives you prime parking to get out quickly after the concert ends.  

Clothing: Weather is sparse in Colorado and Red Rocks is a VERY open venue, so pack for all the seasons. To speed up the process of getting through security, DO NOT bring a bag. Just layer your jackets and put all your items in those pockets. Yeah, they will pat you down, but its quicker then searching through your bag ,and you can just run to your seats and use your jackets to save spots for your slow running friends.

1st Bank Center

A much more traditional musical venue, this center was built for sporting games, which creates a much more sparse seating selection. There are floor seats, bowl seats, and box seats. This venue is also just minutes outside of Boulder and is very popular among college students, so be aware when attending concerts that you might be interacting with a wild and energetic crowd. To avoid having an equally wild experience, here are some useful tips for this venue.  

Tickets: Bring printed tickets! I cannot stress this enough because printed tickets are easier to scan at the gates. Sometimes security will come through the line and begin giving people their wristbands, BUT they only give wristbands to those with printed tickets because they don’t have scanners and rely on the physical tickets. Also, if you have your wristband on before you check in, that gives you more time to run to your spot.

Seating: Floor is the cheapest option, but also becomes very competitive as it is based on who can run there the quickest. If you are a college student, then you should most likely go for the floor because if you arrive early enough, you could get front row spots. My greatest tip for ensuring front row spots is to arrive early for the line and begin waiting in the west side entrance. There are two separate lines, so it takes less time for bag check. 

Parking: I prefer the parking garage for this venue for many reasons. Every parking lot in the radius is a $10 charge, so why not go to a place with a wide selection of parking spots and overhead cover for those bad seasons? Another perk is that if you park on the fourth floor, there is a separate exit from the other three floors which means less waiting in traffic.

Clothing: If you're on the floor, you have no where to set down a jackets or purse like in the bowl or box seating, so dress accordingly. It will get hot on the floor since there are so many bodies around you, so bring a hands-free bag (fanny pack) so that you have room to move and not worry about your valuables getting misplaced. Try to bring a light jacket for the waiting outside since this venue encourages waiting in line hours before the show.   

So go out, schedule your next concert, and use these tricks to get the full musical experience!  

Look out for the upcoming weeks I will be covering the Ogden Theatre, the Gothic Theatre, the Pepsi Center, Fiddlers Green, the Paramount Theatre, and the legendary Bluebird!