Alpine Valley Music Theatre
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| Alpine Valley Music Theatre | |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | Alpine Valley |
| Opened | 1977 |
| Location | East Troy, Wisconsin |
| Owner | Live Nation |
| Seating type | reserved, lawn |
| Capacity | 37,000 |
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The 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, so 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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[edit] Notable performers
- Madonna on her Who's That Girl Tour in 1987.
- Boz Scaggs headlined the venue's inaugural event on June 30th 1977.
- The Black Crowes filmed their "Hard to Handle" video here.
- 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.
- Phish played Alpine Valley 9 times from 1996-2000 & 2003-2004, including a two-night stand during their 2004 farewell tour. Phish played two shows at Alpine Valley on their Summer 2009 Tour. 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.
- Guns N' Roses kicked off their 28 month Use Your Illusion Tour here on May 24, 1991.
- Rock band Mötley Crüe filmed their video for "Same Ol' Situation" at a concert here in 1990.
- Van Halen opened their Monsters of Rock tour on May 27, 1988 here, which also featured The Scorpions, Metallica, Dokken and Kingdom Come.
- Boston had a four night stand here from August 6-9, 1987 as part of their Third Stage World Tour, the band's first since 1979.
- The annual Ozzfest tour comes here almost every year and the CD Ozzfest 2001: The Second Millennium is culled from performances here.
- Aerosmith has performed here thirteen times since 1977. Their "Done with Mirrors Tour" kicked off here on August 23, 1985. Artists that have performed with or opened for Aerosmith at Alpine Valley have included AC/DC (1978), Guns N' Roses (1988), The Black Crowes (1990), Johnny Lang (1997), Fuel (2001), Kid Rock & Run-DMC (2002), Kiss & Saliva (2003), Motley Crue (2006), and 3 Doors Down (2009).
- Jimmy Buffett played at Alpine Valley during its inaugural summer of 1977 and he has played at Alpine Valley every year since 1995 with the exception of 2005.
- Dave Matthews Band, Pearl Jam, Rush, and Phish have all regarded Alpine Valley as one of their favorite venues to play. Dave Matthews said at a September 1, 2002 show, "Thank you for always being so good to us up here at Alpine. It really is our favorite place to play." Former Phish road manager Brad Sands regards Alpine Valley as his favorite venue to see the band[1].
- 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.[citation needed] They will play here again 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.
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 in Eric Clapton's 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. The accident report stated that it was a foggy night and the pilot had thought that the helicopter was clear of the ski mountain. many employees of the resort blame Stevie Ray Vaughan's ghost for an unusual amount of unexplainable goings on there.
On June 13, 2009 Aerosmith performed at Alpine Valley Music Theatre. They played the song "Big Ten Inch Record" with Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick.
[edit] Resort
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.
