Somerset Amphitheater

Somerset Amphitheater
Construction

Address	715 Spring St Somerset, WI 54025-7501
Owner	Matt Mithun
Capacity	30,000 10,000 (The Grove)
Opened	1981
Expanded	2011-13
Website
Venue Website

Somerset Amphitheater is the largest outdoor amphitheater and camping venue in the Twin Cities (Minnesota) and Western Wisconsin area. Located across the St. Croix River,^[1] the venue consists of 200 acres of land.

Located in Somerset, Wisconsin and next to the Apple River, it has been a Midwest destination for many decades for music fans, along with tubing and camping enthusiasts alike. A typical season runs from May through October with music performances and other events. The layout is flexible, but typically there is seating on the floor and general admission (lawn) that surrounds the stage in a bowl-like fashion. The total capacity ranges from 20,000 to 40,000, depending on the layout.

About the venue

A concert site since 1981, the venue changed its name to Somerset Amphitheater in 2011 when new owner Matt Mithun (of the Mithun family) took over.^[2] Since then many upgrades and improvements have been made to the amphitheater and onsite campgrounds.^[3] The amphitheater expanded the removable reserved seating area and built an enclosed Saloon with a bar for a more intimate setting with an approximate capacity of 1,000. In 2013 the Grove stage was added in the valley between the main amphitheater and the North Campground. The Grove has a capacity of approximately 10,000. There are three campgrounds onsite; the North and South Campgrounds, which are both general camping, and the VIP Campground which has electric and water hookups for RVs and permanent bathrooms and showers.

In 2011 the first Somerset Amphitheater concert under new ownership opened with a weekend full of music at the Soundtown Music and Camping Festival.^[3] Over thirty bands performed on the three stages, and featured the nationally known artist group The Flaming Lips as a headliner. This was a small yet promising preview of what the amphitheater would bring concert goers for years to come.

Since its reopening, the amphitheater has hosted many concerts and events, including the touring acts of My Morning Jacket,^[4] the first annual Knotfest^[5] featuring Slipknot, Summer Set Music and Camping Festival,^[6] Northern Invasion, Trampled by Turtles and The Avett Brothers.^[7] Besides musical performances, the venue hosted Tough Mudder, a British military style obstacle course^[8] and the Border Battle Beer Festival, a friendly rivalry of Minnesota and Wisconsin breweries battling each other for the most favored among taste testers.

History

Before 2011, the venue had music acts varying from the Blues, Country, Bluegrass/Folk, Indie, Classic Rock, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal and Alternative genres perform on the stages. Annual concert festivals included Apple River Country Splash, Ozzfest, and 93X Fest (previously Edgefest). Other music tours featured acts of the Family Values Tour 2007, Projekt Revolution the Vans Warped Tour, Bob Dylan in '03, Soul Asylum in '93, Violent Femmes (from Milwaukee) in '94 and Garbage (from Madison) in '96 (at 93X EdgeFest). It hosted Illinois' REO Speedwagon in '93, and Disturbed and Chevelle in 2016 (at the Northern Invasion festival). The first concert held at the amphitheater was in 1981 with Charlie Daniels.^[3]

Events

List of events held at the Amphitheater
Artist	Event	Date	Opening Act(s)
Apple River Country Splash		June 19, 2008
		June 20, 2008
		June 21, 2008
		June 18, 2009
		June 19, 2009
		June 20, 2009
		June 17, 2010
		June 18, 2010
		June 19, 2010
The Avett Brothers	The Carpenter Tour	June 29, 2013	Brandi Carlile, Dr. Dog & Wheeler Brothers
The Black Crowes	2006 Tour	August 6, 2006	Drive-By Truckers & Robert Randolph and the Family Band
Bob Dylan	2003 Never Ending Tour	August 3, 2003	The Dead & Robert Hunter
Family Values Tour		July 21, 2007
Independence ColorFest		July 4, 2014
Independence ColorFest		July 5, 2014
KXXR 93X	93X Festival	May 26, 2000
		May 25, 2001
		May 24, 2002
		May 23, 2003
		May 28, 2004
	93X ClamBake	July 28, 2000
	EdgeFest	July 24, 1994
		May 28, 1995
		May 25, 1996
		May 24, 1997
		May 23, 1998
		May 30, 1999
Kid Rock	Cocky Tour	May 26, 2002
The Kinks	Phobia Tour	August 22, 1993	Kansas
KISS	Rock the Nation Tour	June 26, 2004	Poison & ZO2
Knotfest		August 18, 2012
Lynyrd Skynyrd	Edge of Forever Tour	June 15, 2002
Lynyrd Skynyrd	2014 Tour	September 20, 2014	Hitchville & White Iron Band
My Morning Jacket	Circuital Tour	August 10, 2012	Band of Horses & Trampled by Turtles
Northern Invasion		May 9, 2015	Slipknot, Anthrax, Five Finger Death Punch, Live & others
Ozzfest		July 18, 1998
		July 1, 1999
		August 12, 2000
		June 16, 2001
		August 17, 2002
		July 19, 2003
		August 7, 2005
		July 14, 2006
Pantera	Far Beyond Driven Tour	August 13, 1994	Sepultura & Prong
Projekt Revolution		August 28, 2004
REO Speedwagon	1993 Tour	June 20, 1993	.38 Special, Blue Öyster Cult & Foghat
Soundtown Music Festival		August 19, 2011
Summer Set Music Festival		August 24, 2012
		August 25, 2012
		August 26, 2012
		August 9, 2013
		August 10, 2013
		August 11, 2013
		August 15, 2014
		August 16, 2014
		August 17, 2014
		August 14, 2015
		August 15, 2015
		August 16, 2015
		August 11, 2016
		August 12, 2016
		August 13, 2016
Warped Tour		July 18, 1998
		July 16, 2001
		June 28, 2003
Widespread Panic	2014 Tour	June 21, 2014	Galactic, Jerry Joseph and The Jackmormons & Pert Near Sandstone
ZZ Top	Beer Drinkers and Hell Raisers Tour	September 13, 2003	Ted Nugent

References

^ Lass, William (Summer 1997). "The Birth of Minnesota" (PDF). Retrieved 2014-01-28.
^ "SoundTown: Hope floats on the Apple River". Star Tribune. 2011-08-18. Retrieved 2014-01-25.
^ ^a ^b ^c Swensson, Andrea (2011-05-16). "Sound Town brings the Flaming Lips, New Pornographers, over a dozen locals to Somerset August 19–20". Blogs.citypages.com. Retrieved 2014-01-29.
^ "My Morning Jacket at Somerset Amphitheater". 2012-08-13. Retrieved 2014-01-28.
^ Fischer, Reed (2012-08-20). "Slipknot's Knotfest at Somerset Amphitheater, 8/18/12". Blogs.citypages.com. Retrieved 2014-01-29.
^ Riemenschneider, Chris (2013-08-08). "Doubling down on the Summer Set Festival". Retrieved 2014-01-28.
^ Riemenschneider, Chris (2013-06-30). "Avett Brothers, Brandi Carlile put on perfectly summery sets". Star Tribune. Retrieved 2014-01-29.
^ Manfred, Tony (2011-08-02). "This Obstacle Course Was Designed By British Special Forces And It's Absolutely Crazy". Business Insider. Retrieved 2014-01-29.