Pacific Amphitheatre, Performing arts center at OC Fair & Event Center in Costa Mesa, United States.
Pacific Amphitheatre is an open-air amphitheatre on the OC Fair & Event Center grounds in Costa Mesa, California. Its stage faces tiered seating built into a reshaped berm; a 2013 reconstruction cut capacity from about 18,500 to 8,200 and added a new lobby entrance from inside the fairgrounds.
Pacific Amphitheatre opened in 1983 and soon became one of the main concert destinations in the greater Los Angeles and Orange County area. In the 1990s it closed for a time following noise complaints from nearby residents, then reopened after changes to sound management.
The Pacific Amphitheatre sits within the OC Fair & Event Center grounds, which means a summer concert here often overlaps with the Orange County Fair happening just outside. Visitors can walk between the fairground stalls and the open-air stage on the same evening.
The OC Fair & Event Center grounds offer large parking areas, so arriving by car is straightforward. Getting tickets ahead of time is a good idea, as popular shows tend to sell out well before the night of the event.
A Jefferson Starship concert held here in 1984 was broadcast nationally on the radio, bringing the venue to the attention of listeners far beyond Southern California. At the time, very few outdoor stages in the country received that kind of national coverage.
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