Deer Creek cemented Indy as a must-stop spot on summer tours
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Photo: Arika Herron/Axios
Welcome back to Axios Indianapolis' "30 Over 30," a series celebrating the icons that have shaped our city for 30 years or more.
In the summer of 1989, one of America's greatest touring bands was resurgent, packing stadiums with enormous crowds and giving them high-energy performances night after night.
Why it matters: The Grateful Dead's late-period touring peak coincided with the opening of a brand-new music venue built for exactly their kind of crowd and show.
- The legendary rock band sold out Deer Creek Music Center just two months after it opened and played the venue 14 times over the next six years — quickly establishing it as a must-play stop for major tours.
The big picture: Deer Creek was developed during a wave of large outdoor amphitheater projects in the late 1980s as promoters recognized that purpose-built summer venues could support the booming live touring industry.
Zoom in: Rising up in the middle of wide-open farmland, Deer Creek had a festival-like feel and plenty of space for camping and tailgating.
Fast forward: While the landscape around the venue has changed — as has its name — the amphitheater now known as Ruoff Music Center still brings many of the biggest summer tours to Central Indiana.
💭 Arika's thought bubble: My first experience at the venue formerly known as Deer Creek was the 2008 Vans Warped Tour (though it was the Verizon Wireless Music Center then). Iconic, legendary, formative.
- These days, it takes a really great show to get me all the way up to Noblesville ... the drive, the traffic, the parking. You get it.
- Hilary Duff's sold-out July show? Yep. That checked all the boxes and was 100% worth it.
The bottom line: The world and music industry have changed a lot in the last 37 years, but there's still nothing like singing and dancing along to your favorite songs on a summer night with 24,000 other fans.