The Xfinity Center (originally the Great Woods Center for the Performing Arts and commonly Great Woods) is an outdoor
amphitheatre located in
Mansfield, Massachusetts. The venue opened during the summer of 1986 with a capacity of 12,000. It was expanded after 2000 to 19,900; 7,000 reserved seats, 7,000 lawn seats and 5,900 general admission seats.[2] The season for the venue is typically from mid May until late September. In 2010, it was named Top Grossing Amphitheater by Billboard.[3] It mainly hosts concerts; other events, such as graduation ceremonies, including that of
Mansfield High School, occasionally take place.
History
The venue was proposed by Don Law, John E. Drew and Sherman Wolf in 1985. Originally, the suggested site was in
Brookline, Massachusetts. At that time, the venue was planned to be a performing arts center, consisting of
concert hall,
auditorium and
black box theater. After conducting research, Law concluded the New England region was in desperate need of an outdoors venue (at the time, the main outdoor venues were
Tanglewood,
Cape Cod Melody Tent, and the South Shore Music Circus).[3] The performing arts center plan was changed to an amphitheater. The site was moved to Mansfield to create a regional venue, being within 40 miles (64 km) of
Providence, Boston,
Worcester and
Cape Cod.
The venue opened June 13, 1986, as the Great Woods Center for the Performing Arts; with a performance by
Yo-Yo Ma and the
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.[3] It was one of the busiest venues in New England, hosting nearly 80 concerts per season. Over the years, additional amphitheaters were added to the region. The
Xfinity Theatre in
Hartford and the
Leader Bank Pavilion in Boston brought competition to the area, bringing the venue to an average of 36 events per season.[4]
In 1998, the owner of venue, Don Law Company, was sold to
SFX Entertainment and naming rights were sold to
Tweeter Home Entertainment a year later, with the venue now becoming the "Tweeter Center for the Performing Arts".[5] When the electronics retailer faced bankruptcy in 2007, multi-media organization
Comcast bought naming rights, with the venue becoming the Comcast Center in 2008. The company renamed the venue "Xfinity Center" in 2014, to correspond with its current product branding.[6]
Naming history
Great Woods Center for the Performing Arts (June 13, 1986—July 8, 1999)[7]
Tweeter Center for the Performing Arts (July 9, 1999—June 3, 2008)[8]
Comcast Center (June 4, 2008—December 31, 2013)[9]
Korn - the Family Values (2006) DVD was filmed here.
Nickelback - Part of their music video "Rockstar" was filmed here.
Oasis - Filmed two DVDs here, one in 2001, and one in 2005.
Pearl Jam - have performed here 11 times; the
July 11, 2003 show was the longest show the band had ever played, up-until that point.
Phish - A track from A Live One (1994) was recorded here; on the same night, they also performed their complete
Gamehendge saga. Phish performed at the venue 19 times between 1992 and 2022.[13]
Rush - Two songs from their June 23, 1997 concert, including a full-length performance of "
2112", are featured on the live album Different Stages.
Santana - Regular performer with shows starting in 1986.