AEG Presents officially adds another venue to its Denver empire this August with the opening of Mission Ballroom, the 60,000-square-foot space at the North Wynkoop development.
If you were betting on The Lumineers to be the local opener, congratulations. (Condolences if you were betting on Nathaniel Rateliff. Those were good odds.) The Denver-based band will play the first show on Wednesday, Aug. 7.
They'll be followed by the Trey Anastasio Band on Aug. 9 and 10, and co-headliners Ben Harper & The Innocent Criminals and Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue on Aug. 12.
Mission Ballroom will have "flexible stage technology" that allows AEG to change the capacity of the room from 2,200 to 3,950 people -- all of whom AEG expects will be very happy with a state-of-the-art experience.
"We think we're building one of the great clubs in America," Chuck Morris, CEO of AEG Presents Rocky Mountains, told Denverite.
For size comparison: Fillmore Auditorium can fit up to 3,700 people. For sightline comparison: Mission Ballroom was built with tiered seating, something Fillmore Auditorium recently (finally) added.
In addition to the moving stage, Mission Ballroom will boast "a million-dollar sound system" and state-of-the-art lighting. There will be seating for at least 2,000 people -- chairs and tables can be added on the floor.
Mission Ballroom is considered the anchor of the 14-acre North Wynkoop development between 40th and 43rd streets and the railroad tracks and Brighton Boulevard. It'll be accompanied by a marketplace, Artspace, offices, retail space, market-rate housing and a pedestrian plaza. (More on that big change here.) The actual address for Mission Ballroom is 4242 Wynkoop St.
It took eight years for AEG to settle on the location, but Morris is pleased to have landed in "such a hot area."
It's about a five-minute walk from the 38th & Blake light rail station and there will be "abundant" bike parking. Hard to say exactly how much that is, but we do know there will be parking for exactly 240 cars in an underground garage.
AEG is also introducing Mission Fair Ticketing.
Answering the anguished, foul-mouthed cries of everyone who finds concert tickets sold out within a few minutes of the on-sale time, AEG has designed a registration system meant to stop scalpers and make the ticket market a level playing field.
"We're fighting those wars against scalpers and trying to get everyone a fair chance at getting tickets," Morris said.
Not all shows will be using the system, but the opening nights are among those that will. Here's how it'll work, according to the press release:
- Mission Fair Ticketing begins on Tuesday, March 19 at 8 a.m. MDT.
- Fans have until Sunday, March 24 at noon MDT to request tickets. Guests can request up to four tickets per show.
- Ticket requests are processed in random order. I a purchaser's request is selected, the credit card is automatically charged for the ticket.
- Purchasers will be notified by Thursday, March 28 if their orders can be processed.
- Everyone has an equal chance of being selected.
- There are no presales and 100 percent of the available tickets are offered through Mission Fair Ticketing.
- Any tickets unsold/unrequested are put on to standard AXS ticketing page on Friday, March 29 at 10 a.m. MDT.
AEG also runs the Gothic Theater, Fiddler's Green Amphitheatre, 1stBank Center, the Ogden Theatre, the Bluebird Theater and more, but Morris said they don't know yet if or when they'll use the new system to sell tickets for those venues. Mission Ballroom is the testing ground.
And there's already plenty of testing ground ahead. Morris said AEG will be announcing another 30 or so shows soon.
"We're getting a lot of people who want to play. It's a testament to the Colorado music audience and to the clubs we've been involved with, and some other people too," Morris said. "We're absolutely thrilled by how many artists, without the doors even being opened, have committed to playing Mission Ballroom.
"For me to say I think it's going to blow people minds -- I've been doing this 40 years, I'll put my reputation on the line," he added. "This place is going to be one absolutely amazing ballroom."
Correction: Due to an error in a press release and an editor's failure to double-check a calendar, an earlier version of this story had the day of the week wrong for Aug. 7.
