The Stage at Suffolk Downs will see the return of live music to the storied East Boston venue in the spring of 2023.
Sure, Suffolk Downs is best known as a race track. And for those of us who grew up in Boston or on the North Shore over the last half-century, we likely have Suffolk Downs stories. I was never taken to the track as a kid, but my Great Uncle Jackie once gave me a blue Velcro wallet with the track’s logo on it. I think I still have it in a bin in my cellar.
Suffolk Downs also played host to some pretty big acts over the years. If you take a look at Concert Archives, you’ll see The Beatles were the first live band to play there, way back on August 18, 1966. The ’70s saw the likes of The Jackson 5 and Blue Oyster Cult play there. And along with a few Warped Tours and an Ozzfest, the race track played host to Radiohead in the early ’00s.
The Stage at Suffolk Downs Opens In 2023
Which brings us to the current day. The website for the new venue went live yesterday, but there’s not much to go on yet:
The Stage at Suffolk Downs is The Bowery Presents’ newest seasonal outdoor concert venue in Boston, opening in the spring of 2023. Sign up below to be the first to know about show announcements and more!
We do know this, though: The Stage will be located on the race track’s infield. And the capacity will sit around 8,500. That’s more than Leader Bank Pavilion at 5,000, but less than Xfinity Center at 19,000. No date has been set yet for the venue’s official opening, and not acts have been booked, either. But I have a feeling that will change after the first of the year. We’ll keep you posted here at ROCK 92.9.