Concord Pavilion

2000 Kirker Pass Rd, Concord, CA 94521

In Concord, California, Concord Pavilion (formerly known as the Sleep Train Pavilion and Chronicle Pavilion) is an amphitheatre. It belongs to the City of Concord and is run by Live Country. The Pavilion has a capacity of 12,500 people and it opened as the Pavilion of the Concord in 1975. It is used for concerts, local community activities (including an annual jazz festival), and graduations from the local high school.

Architect Frank Gehry and landscape architect Peter Walker designed The Pavilion. Gehry also conceived its renovations in the mid-1990s, which included more parking and seating. Over the years of its service the venue has hosted numerous professional musical acts, and continues to do so to this day. In the Pavilion Bing Crosby performed his last concert in the US. The appearance of Lawrence Welk at the Concord Pavilion on 13 June 1982 was billed as his performance in farewell. After leaving a concert at the Pavilion by Huey Lewis and The Press, legendary concert promoter Bill Graham was killed in a 1991 helicopter crash, having just spoken with the band about arranging a fundraiser for the victims of that year's fire in the Oakland Hills; Graham's production company, Bill Graham Presents (BGP), had been the Concord Pavilion's booking agent since at least 1985.

In February 2000, Bill Graham Presents took over management of the facility under an arrangement with the City of Concord. Shortly afterwards, its name was changed to the Chronicle Pavilion at Concord after the San Francisco Newspaper Agency's business agent purchased the naming rights. In 2000, BGP was purchased by Clear Channel Communications along with its parent, SFX Promotions; in 2005, Clear Channel would spin off its concert operations into Live Country, which still operates the Pavilion.

After the California-based mattress retailer (now a Houston, Texas-based company) bought the naming rights, the Pavilion changed its name in April 2006, when it became the Sleep Train Pavilion; by 2017 the retailer folded into Mattress Firm.

In December 2013, the Pavilion 's name was again changed to the Concord Pavilion as part of a 10-year contract extension between Live Nation and the City of Concord.

The First Battle of the Bands was held in 2006 for high school , middle school, and elementary school students and the winner was a high school band, Poster Boy.