Amphitheatre Opens to Rave Reviews

publication date: May 12, 2008

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author/source: Al Levine / STAFF

By Al Levine / STAFF

View from the cheap seats: Robert Spanos conducts the Atlanta Symphony at Saturday's opening of the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Alpharetta.

Children rolled merrily down the hilly lawn, the outlines of the freshly-planted grass squares still obvious. Other kids played games of tag while their parents spread blankets.

Soon enough, the hills of Alpharetta were filled with the sounds of music – sweet, rich, orchestral sounds of the Atlanta Symphony, as the $35 million Verizon Wirelesss Amphitheatre at Encore Park made its long-anticipated debut last Saturday night.

The official name of North Fulton’s first big-time entertainment complex is a mouthful, but worthy of every syllable.

The new venue seats 12,000 – with 7,000 covered seats and 5,000 spots on the lawn – and though the opening-night estimated attendance was 7,300, the Amphitheatre is getting its first full-house test this week when the Eagles perform four sold-out shows.

It was an impressive debut, once the 20 minutes of well-deserved political chest-thumping concluded.

From perhaps the most rousing rendition of the Star Spangled Banner you’ll ever hear to the grand finale, Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture in which the ASO was joined by its Youth Orchestra and Chorus and bands from Alpharetta and Milton High schools flanking the stage, opening night was a big-time production.

On first impression, the Amphitheatre is a huge hit with both the performers and the paying customers.

Bruce Kenney, a 23-year member of the ASO French horn section, stood up at the top of the lawn to soak in the appropriate Suite from Appalachian Spring and jazz pianist Marcus Roberts performing Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue.

“I think what’s impressive is just the size of the place,” Kenney said. “Even though 12,000 seats seems really large, actually it feels rather intimate as we stand back here on the back of the lawn. We can see everyone having a good time. There’s a nice cool breeze. It’s a beautiful place to be. Of course, with the large screens you get your close-ups, too. It’s a wonderful place for an orchestra but it will be a wonderful for the great popular acts, too.”

Pianist Marcus Roberts and his trio, projected one of two jumbo screens, earned the first standing ovation Saturday at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre.

Kenny was also impressed with the sound system. “The sound system is working out beautifully,” he said. “And it can be tweaked as we go along, and it even can be done remotely. A person can stand back here where we are with a remote console in his palm and work on it, which is what they’ve been doing the last couple of days.

“I would imagine the pop acts have their own sound people; they’ll be able to achieve whatever they want with the state of the art equipment that we have. It’s really exciting. Wonderful.”

It took a few years and a few false starts before the city of Alpharetta and the ASO found the right partnership to build the place in just 17 months.

“I’m really excited for the Atlanta Symphony that we could partner with the community to make this happen because it’s not an easy thing to get off the drawing board,” Kenney said. “We’ve found the right combination of people to do it. I’m really proud of the effort.”

Roswell roommates Ashley Barlow and Maria Gordillo were laying on a blanket on the lawn letting the music flow over them.

“It’s amazing. It’s absolutely amazing,” Barlow said.  “It’s a lot better than Lakewood because Lakewood has a wall and you have go to down to the concessions. Here you can still move around and be part of the music. They constructed this perfectly.”

“If you’re on the lawn, and you’re laying down, it sounds way better,” Gordillo said. “Like surround sound.”

Their friend, Rob Pennington, said the place “is awesome, breathtaking.”

They all liked the fact that an assigned parking lot ticket was included in the ticket price. And they gave the concessions high marks.

“The popcorn gets an A, very buttery,” Gordillo said. “The wine [$7] is decently priced,” Barlow said. “Especially for this area, with how rich everybody is. Or how rich everybody else is.”

Michelle Friedly of Norcross and Donna Emix echoed the general consensus. “It’s absolutely beautiful, a great venue and the sound quality is awesome here,” Freidly said. “It’s a hundred times better than Lakewood,” Emix said.

The Amphitheatre even got some words of praise from Russia with love.

“It’s grandiose,” said Garlena Sverbilova, who is visiting from Moscow. Her friend, Veronika, who declined to give her last name, interpreted Garlena’s Russian compliments.

“It is a very big compliment from her,” another friend said, “because she used to be an opera singer in Moscow.”