2024 Year in review! Gorge Amphitheatre 2024 highlights!

Labor Dave Weekend

The now Rock and Roll Hall of Fame band continued a tradition started way back in 06! This year saw Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue and Say She She open on Friday, August 30 with Cory Wong and Blind Pilot kicking off the action on Saturday, August 31 while Neko Case and Maggie Rose took it home on Sunday, September 1.

Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews made his Dave Matthews Band debut back in 2010 and shared the stage with the group for the 11th time on Friday night. The New Orleans native came out late in the set to add his trombone to the fitting “Louisiana Bayou” and beloved “Tripping Billies.” The highlight of the three days had to be the very last song, when DMB said farewell for now with “All Along The Watchtower.”

“A truly breathtaking view coupled with a unique and very beautiful natural amphitheatre. The three-day Labor Dave weekend concerts (there were 3) were amazing. Good view, good people, good weather, great band. If you have the opportunity, go.”

Fastest selling gig for 2024

Imagine Dragons Loom World Tour

It’s definitely the year of the Dragon, and these guys are certainly living it up right now. Playing a total of 7 tracks from the new album, “Fire in These Hills”, “Take Me to the Beach”, “Nice to Meet You”, “Wake Up”, “Eyes Closed”, “In Your Corner”, and “Don’t Forget Me”.

As the band wrap up the tour over at the Hollywood Bowl in October, if they sell out they join the likes of Coldplay, Roger Waters, The Cure, Billy Joel, Carole King & James Taylor, and The Eagles as the only bands to sell out 3 consecutive nights at the over 100-year-old venue, but if they sell out all 4 nights then its just them and Depeche Mode.

Best EDM

Odesza

Odesza’s “The Last Goodbye” tour finally turned into an actual prophecy, on Independence weekend, when they finally ended the 3-year tour. Universally regarded as their most innovative production yet, “Echoes,” a tech-driven art installation consisting of two rows of three iridescent, curved towers, absolutely blew concert-goers away. “The interactive set had people in tears,” and the only question left… how does Odesza top this?

Or Illinium?

On the Memorial Day Weekend, Illenium took over Gorge Amphitheatre for his third headlining event at the beloved open-air venue. Despite some slight gusts of wind, Day 1 was nothing short of incredible, the lineup of artists that performed included Kaskade, KREAM, Blanke, Hvdes, Fairlane, Cinema Kid, surprise guests in the form of Said the Sky and of course ILLENIUM. While day 2 included Two Friends, Ghengar, Level Up, BIJOU, Midnight Kids, and Paws with Illinum only coming on at 11pm, but saving the best for last with a brand-new debut track.

2024 Festivals

Beyond Wonderland

With significantly heightened security measures at this year’s festival, resulting in 12 arrests, it certainly became the cleanest Beyond Wonderland festival in a long time! This year’s Alice in Wonderland-inspired music festival featured some interesting acts. The Main Stage contest winner, Rude Flamingo, kicked off the party with some epic throwback 70s and 80s dance-pop sounding nu-disco.

But ultimately the best set was… da da dum… Alison Wonderland. With an adapted style, more melodic than her normal style, it… well, f—ed everyone up on a spiritual level.

“I get why it’s won so many awards– this venue is absolutely surreal. Watching the sunset over the valley is just breathtaking. I’m so glad we decided to visit on a whim. My friends and I drove out from Seattle for Beyond Wonderland. The festival is well-planned– foot traffic is intuitive, wayfinding is clear, and water/bathrooms/vendors are plentiful. On top of an awesome lineup, the venue was decorated with whimsical Alice in Wonderland-themed structures and performers. I’d been to the LA and Bay Area Beyond Wonderlands before, but the Gorge definitely takes it to the next level. The atmosphere can’t be beat.“

Watershed

As usual, the heat was up for Watershed, and not just the weather, but the music too. Ashland Craft opened the show with a performance equal to that of a headliner, and modern Country star Dylan Scott brought some immense energy that just fend into the next act. Making Cole Swindell’s set the show of the day, with “the type of crowd (he) could perform in front of all night long,” a crowd full of girls on shoulders, his brand of love songs surely made a few memories… and maybe made a few more later that night?

Finally, the show headliner, Luke Bryan, something the Watershed crowd was eagerly anticipating and loved to the maximum degree – Bryan’s fun music played out to the single most enthused Shed crowd ever seen.

“Wear VERY COMFY SHOES!! If you are going in AUGUST, take an umbrella, not for the rain, but to shelter yourself from the DIRECT SUNLIGHT”

Bass Canyon

Filthy bass shook the canyon walls all Friday, while Excision’s industry-leading visuals went truly Hollywood, opening the show with a Transformer themed set. In all, Friday showcased several heavy hitters. ATLiens and Bass Canyon fit like a rock in a really big wall, the masked duo are standout live performers with cinematic flare. Ganja White Night’s set was a stellar example of diversity within a distinct sound. Saturday’s Kill The Noise set opened with a literal lighting storm, and inevitably the whole day had to be cancelled. However, by Sunday a revamped main stage featured Zingara, Ray Volpe, Excision’s “Detox” set, Eptic, Kai Wachi, Wooli, LSZEE, Zeds Dead and Excision’s throwback set in succession.

The standout for the weekend was the second-ever performance of CloZee and LSDREAM’s joint project LSZEE, a psychedelic-world bass fusion that mesmerized the festival.

Special Mentions

Gorge concerts go ahead rain or shine, and Tyler Childers certainly became one of the wettest nights ever (No actual data, the numbers are all made up, and the points don’t matter), but fans braved the weather. A weird turn of events, meant some fans were evacuated due to a nearby wildfire caused by lightning… meanwhile the Grant County Sheriff’s Office said there is a low risk of the fire reaching the Gorge Amphitheater, and concert-goers could return. Well, everything turned out alright for both Tyler Childers and Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats, and it turned into a magical night, if a little bit wet.

The most colorful gig prize definitely goes to The Red Hot Chilly Peppers. Featuring red and yellow socks with a purple beanie, and an entire stage, and the rest of the band looking like a unicorn had a romp with My Little Pony, while on Acid… lots of Acid.

A downright spunky on the saucy slow-cooker, Bob Dylan singing “everybody must get stoned” at the Outlaw Festival was definitely not an advert, not coming from someone with his own weed brand, Bob wouldn’t sell out like that! Would he?

In nearly 100-degree heat, blink-182 played a sizzling show featuring hits from their 32-year career as a band. Not bad for their final tour, and just a little extra special as Travis Barker’s son, Landon Barker, performed as an opening act.