Oak Mountain Amphitheater

Verizon Wireless Music Center is a live music concert venue located in Pelham near Oak Mountain State Park owned by Live Nation, Inc.

The amphitheatre opened in 19__ by Tony Ruffino's New Era Promotions as Oak Mountain Amphitheatre with 4,500 permanent seats and a large grassy general admission seating area. In 1997, the lawn was expanded by 40% and a new smaller venue to the west of the main stage, named the HealthSouth Plaza, was opened. In 1999, New Era removed the general admission lawn and added 6,000 more seats.

In 2000, New Era was bought by SFX, which was then owner of several music venues across the country. SFX was quickly acquired by Clear Channel Communications, and is now owned by Clear Channel's Live Nation. Live Nation sold the naming rights of the amphitheatre (and several other venues across the country) to Verizon Wireless in ____.

VWMC also hosts the current rendition of the Alabama State Fair each September.

References

• Ryan, Shawn (April 11, 1997) "New Era removated Oak Mountain Amphitheatre reinventing itself for audience." Birmingham News
• Nicholson, Gilbert (June 23, 2000) "Concert giant buys New Era, Oak Mountain." Birmingham Business Journal
• Bryant, Joseph D. (June 4, 2008) "Birmingham Mayor Larry Langford blasts carnival promoter over state fair comments." Birmingham News