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Updated: August 22, 2022 Focus on Greater Bangor & Northern Maine

Bangor concert venue is now in comeback mode

Rock concert audience Photo / Courtesy of WATERFRONT CONCERTS The Maine Savings Amphitheater is having a busy 2022, after 2020’s canceled season and a sharply curtailed calendar last year.
By Renee Cordes

The Maine Savings Amphitheater, still often referred to as Darling’s Waterfront Pavilion after last year’s name change, is staging a comeback after 2020’s canceled season and a sharply curtailed season in 2021. The venue lost 70% of its business in 2021, with just four shows, by the rock band Kiss and three country performers.

The 16,000-capacity venue, in Bangor's Waterfront Park, is Maine’s largest event space, according to a Mainebiz ranking published earlier this year. The venue is followed on the list by the 10,000-capacity Harold Alfond Sports Stadium at the University of Maine in Orono, and the 7,500-capacity Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.

Amid a multi-year renovation set to be completed this fall, Maine Savings Amphitheater started its 2022 season nearly two months late on June 23. September’s lineup includes country singer Luke Combs, in a sold-out Labor Day weekend show; as well as Aerosmith; Sting; REO Speedwagon and Styx with special guest Loverboy; and singer-songwriter Stevie Nicks.

“We feel very positive about this season,” says Alex Gray, of Old Town- based Waterfront Concerts. “We have more shows than in our inaugural year in 2010.”

The bullish outlook comes despite smaller shows this year, owing in part to the fact that some artists are not on tour this summer as they wait out the pandemic or choose not to deal with the patchwork of state COVID restrictions.

“The star power of this season is very large, but it’s all about context,” Gray said.

He said the venue has had to raise ticket prices to keep up with inflation, though with some lag due to the fact that a lot of shows happening now were planned last year.

“Ticket prices have been ticking up each of the last 10 years,” he said, attributing that in part to growing competition for artists “and the grandiose nature of the shows.”

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