U2 show light rail, parking information
Denver Business Journal – by Mark Harden
Date: Friday, May 20, 2011
Map shows parking areas available for Saturday's concert by U2 and the Fray at Invesco Field at Mile High.
For Saturday night’s Invesco Field at Mile High concert by U2 and the Fray — Denver’s biggest rock show of 2011 — the Regional Transportation District will add an extra car to light-rail trains serving the stadium to expand capacity.
Meanwhile, concert promoter Live Nation has issued information on concert parking. (See below.)
As of midday Friday, tickets for the show were still available at $30 to $250 reserved and $55 for a general-admission standing area on the field, plus fees, via Ticketmaster and ticketmaster.com. The show will be held rain or shine, Live Nation spokesman Scott Kanov said.
RTD said Friday it will run four-car trains starting at 3 p.m. Saturday instead of the usual three cars on routes C and E to help accommodate the anticipated passenger load.
Each rail car can hold up to 125 passengers, so the longer trains can carry 500 instead of the usual 375.
Also, RTD will shut down the Auraria West Station between 3 a.m. Saturday and 2 a.m. Sunday because the station cannot accommodate the longer four-car trains.
The agency advised concert-bound passengers to allow additional travel time because of the large crowds expected.
For RTD light rail and bus information and schedules, visit www.RTD-Denver.com or call 303-299-6000 (or 303-299-6089 for the speech or hearing impaired.
Meanwhile, Live Nation said that fees for show parking at the stadium will range from $20 to $30, while parking at nearby Auraria Campus and Pepsi Center lots will be $10 to $15.
The promoter advised those planning to park to arrive early; the stadium lots are expected to be full by 5 p.m., so after that time, ticketholders should head directly to the Auraria-Pepsi lots.
The Invesco Field gates will open at 5 p.m. Saturday, with showtime at 7.
Saturday’s concert — a stop on the record-breaking “U2 360°” tour — was originally scheduled for June 12, 2010. That show and several others slated for last summer were rescheduled after U2 singer Bono was injured in May 2010 during rehearsals.
Tickets for last year’s Denver show will be honored Saturday.
According to Live Nation, the tour, which opened June 30, 2009, already is the most successful in rock concert history, with final ticket sales for 110 shows in 30 countries expected to top $700 million and attendance exceeding 7 million fans.
The show features what is believed to be the largest set for any rock concert, including a 150-foot spider-like construction looming over the midfield stage and a massive system of video monitors encircling the stage. There also is a circular runway surrounding the stage, allowing band members to circulate in the field crowd.
U2 arguably is the world’s most popular rock band. It has performed together with the same four-man lineup for more than three decades.
It will be U2’s first outdoor show in Denver since the Irish band performed in 1997 at the old Mile High Stadium. U2 has played at the Pepsi Center on more recent tours.
This will be the biggest live audience ever for the Denver-based band the Fray, one of the most successful rock acts in Colorado history. Its self-titled second CD debuted at No. 1 on the weekly Billboard magazine album chart in February 2009, and its 2006 debut album, “How to Save a Life,” enjoyed multimillion-copy sales.
The band co-headlined the 2009 Mile High Music Festival at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City.
Invesco Field — home of the Denver Broncos — was designed to accommodate rock concerts, although they have seldom been staged there, as the economics of the rock-concert business has shifted most major tours to smaller basketball and hockey arenas.
The first ticketed event ever held at Invesco Field was an Aug. 11, 2001, concert by the Eagles.
Colorado’s Liberty Media Corp. (NASDAQ: LCAPA) is the largest shareholder of Beverly Hills, Calif.-based promoter Live Nation Entertainment Inc. (NYSE: LYV), and Colorado cable and media mogul John Malone is a director of the company.
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