The Beatles at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, 1964

The Beatles played Red Rocks Amphitheatre, the open-air venue in the sandstone foothills near Morrison, Colorado, on 26 August 1964. About 7,000 tickets sold at $6.60, making it the only concert of their first American tour that did not sell out. Red Rocks still hosts concerts, but it has no Beatles plaque or display.

A night in Colorado, 26 August 1964

The Beatles reached Denver on the afternoon of 26 August, during their first North American tour, and about 10,000 fans met the plane at Stapleton airport. The band checked into the Brown Palace Hotel downtown and took suite 840. The concert that evening was at Red Rocks, the Denver-owned amphitheatre about 10 miles southwest of the city, with the Beatles due on stage at 9:30 pm. The Exciters were among the support acts. The set lasted about half an hour; one account says just under 30 minutes, another 35.

The altitude affected the band. Ringo Starr later remembered the thin air and being handed oxygen from canisters.

The one show that did not sell out

Tickets were $6.60 each, and about 7,000 were sold. That was around three quarters of the house, and Red Rocks' own history calls it the only show on the Beatles' first American tour that did not sell out. The Colorado Music Experience notes the price was almost $3 more than a Stravinsky concert there shortly before.

The ticket count may not match the crowd. Photographs and news film from the night show a packed amphitheatre, and fans reportedly got in past thin security without paying. The audience threw jelly beans at the stage.

Verne Byers' Lookout Mountain Attractions promoted the show, and the Beatles' fee was $20,000. The gate came to $48,000. Denver took $2,000 in rent and spent about $3,000 on crowd control, so the city lost money on the night.

Red Rocks now

Burnham Hoyt designed the amphitheatre, the Civilian Conservation Corps built it, and it was dedicated on 15 June 1941. It seats 9,525. Red Rocks Park was named a National Historic Landmark in 2015. A visitor center and Performers Hall of Fame opened in 2003, and the Colorado Music Hall of Fame has been in the Trading Post building since 2015.

There is no plaque or permanent display about the Beatles at Red Rocks. The venue's published history lists the 1964 concert, but nothing on site is reported to mark it.

Two weeks later, the tour reached the Gator Bowl in Jacksonville. Three days before Denver, the band had played the Hollywood Bowl.