Dead & Company may not be the end of concerts at Folsom Field

For fans mourning the loss of Dead & Company concerts at Folsom Field, there may be hope.

The University of Colorado Boulder is planning to continue hosting summer concerts at Folsom Field even as Dead & Company played its final show at the stadium on Monday.

Ryan Gottlieb, senior associate athletic director at CU Boulder, said the university intends to grow its concert business and is “absolutely” hoping for shows next summer.

“We’re actively chasing business and we want to bring shows,” Gottleib said. “It’s great for Boulder, it’s great for the community.”

Gottleib said the university is engaged in conversations with anyone and everyone who can play stadium shows, including talking with music promotion companies AEG and Live Nation about creating partnerships to bring acts to Boulder.

Internally, he said the university has an idea of who they want and how many shows a summer they can handle. While there’s no certainty and it’s early in the process, Gottleib said he’s feeling good about having shows next summer.

Dead & Company ended a 15-year period in which no concerts were held at Folsom Field when the band came to Boulder in 2016, but they remain the only standalone act to play the stadium since then.

With Dead & Company announcing their last shows at Folsom Field over the Fourth of July weekend, Gottleib said the university is prioritizing looking for new acts.

John Tayer, president and CEO of the Boulder Chamber, said he would love to see more musical acts at Folsom Field.

“It’s a great asset to our community,” Tayer said. “I would certainly welcome an increase in the number of concerts, and if there were any impacts that are of concern, then that’s what we would want to work with CU to address and make it a positive experience for the entire community.”

Tayer said concerts at Folsom Field create many positive impacts on the local economy.

“All the folks that come to town for the shows are filling our hotel rooms, are patronizing our restaurants and certainly will be shopping in our stores,” Tayer said. “That, in a time where folks are still recovering from the fallout from the economic turmoil, is a really important piece.”

Aaron Coburn, general manager of the St. Julien Hotel in Boulder, said he would be in favor of more shows at Folsom Field. Beside it being a terrific venue to see a concert, he said it creates demand for Boulder as a destination.

“Dead & Co. shows provide a significant boost to business levels for St. Julien,” Coburn said. “We were sold out within 24 hours once the final tour dates were released.”

Folsom Field has a legacy of hosting some big name musicians and bands. The ’70s and ’80s were the height of its musical shows, with concerts from acts like Fleetwood Mac, the Rolling Stones and Paul McCartney.

“Folsom, I always thought, was the best venue in Colorado for the stadium shows just because of the horseshoe shape,” said G. Brown, a local music historian and director of the Colorado Music Experience, a nonprofit dedicated to documenting the history of music acts in Colorado. “Set the stage up at the open end and the crowd wrapped around it. There were some very memorable shows there.”

But a 2001 Dave Matthew Band concert, which incurred a $15,000 fine for breaking curfew, started the 15 year drought of concerts at Folsom Field before Dead & Company returned in 2016.

Brown said there was pushback from residents about the noise ordinance and pressures internally within the university. He said the peak of shows at Folsom Field was a different time altogether in music, and described the start and stop of stadium shows as “generational.”

“Then it gets regenerated,” Brown said. “A new generation comes along and the thrill of it gets rekindled.”

Gottleib said the university has a strong history of holding shows and wants to continue doing so in the future.

“Folsom Field is an awesome venue,” Gottleib said. “We do a good job of hosting concerts and we look forward to having more in the future.”

Subscribe to our weekly newsletter, In The Know, to get entertainment news sent straight to your inbox.