When Broomfield’s 1stBank Center opened in 2006, there was no Mission Ballroom, no Levitt Pavilion Denver and dozens fewer annual shows at Red Rocks Amphitheatre.
In other words: Fewer places to book mid-sized concerts for acts that had outgrown clubs and theaters but didn’t quite scrape the heights of major sports arenas. That meant the $45 million, 6,500-capacity 1stBank Center was in a position to soak them up, along with minor league sports and convention business that didn’t fit elsewhere in the metro area.
It took less than a decade for 1stBank to assert itself as an influential player in the jam-band and EDM scenes, as well as a favorite “small” venue or tour-launching spot for huge acts such as Bob Dylan, The Killers, Tom Petty and Radiohead. But now that it’s slated for demolition this year, the loss raises immediate questions about the Front Range concert scene.
Namely: Will it leave a gap in bookings? Who’s poised to pick up the shows it’s shedding? And will fans benefit — or even notice that 1stBank is gone?
“You’re losing an opportunity to see big artists in what’s almost certainly one of the smallest venues they’re playing on that tour, if not the smallest,” said Michael Ray, former event manager at 1stBank Center. “Just having the ability to see an artist of that caliber in a room that size might leave a hole.”
Loveland’s 6,800-seat Blue Arena, about 40 miles north of Broomfield, is the closest venue to 1stBank. Its calendar has been packed with a similar mix of bookings — music and comedy, the Harlem Globetrotters and monster trucks, rodeos, and lucrative, gap-filling private gatherings, like evangelical conferences and trade conventions.
“Since 1stBank closed, we have noticed an uptick in what I would consider non-traditional arena business,” said Susan Trafton, assistant general manager for OVG360, which runs Blue Arena (formerly Budweiser Events Center) at Larimer County’s Ranch Events Complex. “But over the last two years we’ve just seen a nice steady growth and influx of shows, which is a trend in Northern Colorado as it becomes its own destination.
“What I’ve been able to directly associate with 1stBank (closing) are the private conventions that they hosted for years, and are now displaced,” she added.
But 1stBank was also a destination for Disney on Ice and Cirque du Soleil, which Blue Arena has now taken. Those shows might not always grab the attention of a rare, one-off Adam Sandler or Tool visit — both of which Blue hosted last year — but do bring in vital revenue and offer families all-ages entertainment options.
“These events are looking for a home in Northern Colorado, and we’re a very similar layout (to 1stBank) and capacity,” Trafton said. “We’re also home to the the Colorado Eagles Avalanche affiliate. That’s a guaranteed 36 home games per year on top of anywhere from 15 to 20 family concerts and family shows. And these nontraditional pieces of the business, like conferences, typically want a three to four-day run. So there are not a lot of open weekends anymore.”
Denver’s most powerful promoter is AEG Presents Rocky Mountains, founded and owned by Colorado billionaire Philip Anschutz. That company helped 1stBank Center become a nationally known destination for electronic music shows, hosting multi-day runs from local and touring headliners such as Excision, GRiZ, Marshmello, Illenium and Bassnectar. It also asserted itself as a jam-band haven, with regular mini-residencies from Colorado’s own The String Cheese Incident.
AEG Presents leaders declined requests for comment for this article, but former event manager Ray said venues such as AEG’s new, sliding-capacity Mission Ballroom in the River North Art District have picked up 1stBank’s slack in the Denver market. 1stBank was fortunate to host major names on their way “either up or down” the career ladder, Ray said, and in 2024 there are lots more options for that along the Front Range.
“Colorado is so rich with venues that most artists will find a good spot,” Ray said, noting the former 1stBank bookings that outgrew the venue and jumped to Red Rocks or Ball Arena, such as Lorde, The Weeknd, LCD Soundsystem, Green Day, Dead & Company, and Denver’s Illenium and Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats.
“It was incumbent on artists to bring in their own sound system, because we were probably the only four-wall venue in Colorado,” Ray said, referring to the unique production challenge of constantly renting outside concert equipment, which the band was always responsible for. “The average fan probably assumed the sound quality was just part of the venue, but it really depended on what the artist brought in. We weren’t plug-and-play.”
For some music fans, however, 1stBank was rarely a destination. Small-club shows and independent promoters will not a see a ripple effect from its closure, said Scott Happel, general manager and partner at Denver’s Oriental Theater and HQ rock club.
“It wasn’t like we were losing shows to them, because we weren’t competing for artists that were playing 6,000 to 8,000 seat venues,” Happel said. “But in a wider sense it sucks anytime you lose a venue, because at least in theory you’re losing shows. There are other places for those shows to go, but there are always going to be dates where they’re all booked and someone can’t play locally as a result. That’s a bummer.”
The 1stBank Center’s layout and feel — intentionally versatile, friendly to both Colorado Symphony play-along concerts and sports and family shows — didn’t help it stand out among some music fans, Happel said. And given that 1stBank Center acts had climbed to that level of ticket sales independently, they weren’t really affecting the local music scene much beyond propping up a handful of ascendant names.
“It’s not like they were going out and always asking local bands to open,” he said. “I only went to one show there in 18 years (The Killers, in 2012) and while it was fun, it was one of those places where if they blindfolded you and brought you in, then took the blindfold off, you wouldn’t even know where you were.”
Loveland’s Ranch Complex is set to welcome a new, 9,000 seat arena on the same site as Blue Arena, Trafton said, which will provide even more flexibility in the size and schedule of Northern Colorado bookings. Her company, OVG360, would likely manage it, although a design hasn’t even been finalized as requests for proposals start to circulate.
“There’s a void left by 1stBank when it comes to long-term planning for shows and bookings, especially because it was an indoor venue,” she said. “Weather and other issues outside of your control can be a factor at amphitheaters. But while there are more options now for venues in general, you never want to see one that’s been around for 18 years close permanently.”
