White River Amphitheatre is a

Live Nation Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. is an American multinational Entertainment industry, entertainment company that was founded in 2010 following the Mergers and acquisitions, merger of Live Nation (events promoter), Live Nation and Ticketmaster. It ...

–managed concert venue, located east of

Auburn, Washington Auburn is a city in King County, Washington, King County, Washington (state), Washington, United States (with a small portion crossing into neighboring Pierce County, Washington, Pierce County). The population was 87,256 at the 2020 United States ...

, and west of

Enumclaw, Washington Enumclaw ( ) is a city in King County, Washington, United States. The population was 12,543 at the 2020 census. The Enumclaw Plateau, on which the city resides, was formed by a volcanic mudflow (lahar) from Mount Rainier approximately 5,700 ...

, on the

Muckleshoot The Muckleshoot Indian Tribe ( ; ), also known as the Muckleshoot Tribe, is a federally-recognized tribe located in Auburn, Washington. The tribe governs the Muckleshoot Reservation and is composed of descendants of the Duwamish, Stkamish, ...

Indian Reservation. It is northeast of

Tacoma Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, southwest of Bellevue, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, northwest of Mount ...

and southeast of

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

. The capacity is 16,000, with 9,000 covered seats. Completed in 2003, the 98-acre (40 ha) project cost more than $30 million and hosts musical events under an acoustically treated metal roof; it features two 30-by-40-foot (9x12 m) video screens on either side of the stage.

History

White River Amphitheater opened on June 14, 2003. Hometown stars

Heart The heart is a muscular Organ (biology), organ found in humans and other animals. This organ pumps blood through the blood vessels. The heart and blood vessels together make the circulatory system. The pumped blood carries oxygen and nutrie ...

were the opening act. Although ground had been broken eight years earlier, the project was delayed due to the

environmental impact statement An environmental impact statement (EIS), under United States environmental law, is a document required by the 1969 National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) for certain actions "significantly affecting the quality of the human environment". An E ...

and traffic concerns. The Army Corps of Engineers signed off on construction in September 2002. In February 2003, the Washington State Department of Transportation "issued a permit allowing access from crowded, two-lane state Route 164." When it opened, the venue was operated by the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, Clear Channel Entertainment and

Bill Graham Presents Bill Graham (born Wulf Wolodia Grajonca; January 8, 1931 – October 25, 1991) was a German-born American impresario and rock concert promoter. In the early 1960s, Graham moved to San Francisco, and in 1965, began to manage the San Fra ...

. Today it is operated by Live Nation; they reduced capacity from 20,000 to 16,000 in 2015. To mitigate traffic, the venue offers shuttles to and from the Auburn Super Mall, which was renamed The Outlet Collection Seattle for some concerts. Shuttles depart after they are filled, with 42 people per shuttle.

Notable concerts

Jimmy Buffett James William Buffett (December 25, 1946 – September 1, 2023) was an American singer-songwriter, author, and businessman. He was known for his tropical rock sound and persona, which often portrayed a lifestyle described as "island escapis ...

released a CD of his September 16, 2003, performance, called ''

Live in Auburn, WA ''Live in Auburn'' is a live album by the American singer-songwriter Jimmy Buffett and is one of number of Jimmy Buffett sound board live albums recorded directly from the mixing console without further editing, thus resembling bootleg recordings. ...

''. Heavy metal band

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris (musician), Steve Harris. Although fluid in the early years of the band, the line-up for most ...

has also performed here on their last few tours including

Eddie Rips Up The World Tour Eddie Rips Up the World Tour was a concert tour by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, in support of their 2004 DVD, '' The History of Iron Maiden – Part 1: The Early Days''. Background The tour saw the band headlining several stadiums and ...

, The

Somewhere Back In Time World Tour Somewhere Back in Time World Tour was a concert tour by the Heavy metal music, heavy metal band Iron Maiden in 2008 and 2009, focused on the band's 1980s material, in particular songs from ''Powerslave'', ''Somewhere in Time (Iron Maiden album) ...

, and

The Final Frontier World Tour The Final Frontier World Tour was a concert tour by Iron Maiden in support of the band's 15th album, '' The Final Frontier'', which began on 9 June 2010 in Dallas and ended in London, England on 6 August 2011. The tour was announced on the band ...

. During the show on June 22, 2010, Frontman

Bruce Dickinson Paul Bruce Dickinson (born 7 August 1958) is an English singer who is best known as the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden. Dickinson has performed in the band across two stints, from 1981 to 1993 and from 1999 to the present d ...

stated that the pit was the only one at 100% capacity on the tour so far. Iron Maiden performed here during their

Maiden England World Tour The Maiden England World Tour was a concert tour by Iron Maiden, which began on 21 June 2012 in Charlotte, North Carolina and ended on 5 July 2014 with a performance at the Sonisphere Festival at Knebworth, UK. The tour's setlist was largely ba ...

on July 30, 2012.

Sting Stimulator of interferon genes (STING), also known as transmembrane protein 173 (TMEM173) and MPYS/MITA/ERIS is a regulator protein that in humans is encoded by the STING1 gene. STING plays an important role in innate immunity. STING induces typ ...

performed during his “

Symphonicities ''Symphonicities'' is the tenth studio album by English musician Sting, released on 14 July 2010 on Deutsche Grammophon. This is his first studio album featuring new recordings of existing songs drawn from both his solo career and from The Poli ...

” Tour on June 6, 2010, along with the

Royal Philharmonic Orchestra The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (RPO) is a British symphony orchestra based in London, England. The RPO was established by Thomas Beecham in 1946. In its early days, the orchestra secured profitable recording contracts and important engagemen ...

. Rancid performed on September 2, 2011.

AJR is an American pop band founded by brothers Met (), collectively a trio of vocalists, , and songwriters. The brothers grew up in New York City, primarily focused on busking, singing covers and street tap dancing until shifting to songwriting ...

performed at the amphitheatre on June 14, 2022, on their tour supporting their album "

OK Orchestra ''OK Orchestra'' (stylized in all uppercase), often abbreviated as ''OKO'', is the fourth studio album by American pop band AJR. It was released on March 26, 2021, by the band's own label AJR Productions. The album was supported by five singles ...

". The amphitheatre has played host to music festivals, including

Crüe Fest ''Crüe Fest'' was a summer 2008 tour by Mötley Crüe, which commenced on July 1, 2008 and concluded on August 31, 2008. It featured Mötley Crüe themselves, Buckcherry, Papa Roach, Sixx:A.M., and Trapt. ''Crüe Fest'' was said to be "the ...

and

Crüe Fest 2 Crüe Fest 2 was the second year of the Crüe Fest touring festival, created and headlined by Mötley Crüe. The tour took place over the summer of 2009, and was in the same vein as the first Crüe Fest. Line up On March 16, 2009, the line up fo ...

Farm Aid Farm Aid is an annual benefit concert held for American farmers. History On July 13, 1985, before performing "When The Ship Comes In" with Keith Richards and Ron Wood at the Live Aid benefit concert for the 1983–1985 Ethiopian famine, B ...

, The

Gigantour Gigantour was a sporadically organized traveling heavy metal music festival organized by Dave Mustaine of Megadeth. The tour was founded in 2005 with dates across North America (see also Gigantour 2005), and the 2006 and 2007 line-ups also trav ...

, The

Mayhem Festival The Mayhem Festival is a metal festival that takes place during the summer. The inaugural season took place in 2008; the festival later became an annual event across the United States. Most years also included a single date in either Montreal or ...

Projekt Revolution Projekt Revolution was a music festival hosted by Linkin Park, bringing artists of various genres of music together. Linkin Park started Projekt Revolution in the year 2002 with just one stage. Then, in 2004, they announced the Revolution Stage ...

Ozzfest Ozzfest was an annual music festival tour of the United States and sometimes Europe and later Japan, featuring performances by many heavy metal music, heavy metal and hard rock musical groups. It was founded by Sharon Osbourne and her husband O ...

, and The

Uproar Festival The Uproar Festival, also called the Rockstar Energy Drink Uproar Festival, was an annual hard rock and Heavy metal music, heavy metal tour inaugurated in 2010 by John Reese and sponsored by Rockstar (drink), Rockstar Energy Drink. The tour was a ...

. Since 2010, the

KISW KISW (99.9 FM) is a radio station broadcasting a mainstream rock format in Seattle, Washington. It is owned by Audacy, Inc. and has studios in Downtown Seattle and a transmitter on Tiger Mountain in Issaquah. In addition to a standard analo ...

“Pain in the Grass” festival has been held here. The venue hosted the

Vans Warped Tour The Warped Tour is a touring rock music festival that toured the United States and Canada each summer from 1995 until 2019, and returned in 2025 for its 30th anniversary. By 2015, Warped was the largest traveling music festival in the United S ...

for five years straight, from

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

and through 2016.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Amphitheaters in the United States Buildings and structures in Auburn, Washington Music venues in Washington (state) Tourist attractions in King County, Washington 2003 establishments in Washington (state) Muckleshoot

History

Notable concerts

See also

References

External links