Shoreline Amphitheatre is the 22,500-capacity outdoor concert venue in Mountain View, California, that has anchored Bay Area live music since 1986. Built on reclaimed parkland just steps from Google’s headquarters, it’s instantly recognizable to anyone who has stood on its lawn watching the sun set over the Santa Cruz Mountains — and its aerial layout, shaped like the Grateful Dead’s famous skull logo, makes it one of the most distinctive venues in the country.
It’s also a venue that generates a surprisingly common question: what did Shoreline Amphitheatre used to be called? The short answer is that the venue itself has only ever had one name — but the land beneath it has a much stranger past. Here’s the full story, along with the stats, history, and details that make Shoreline one of Silicon Valley’s defining landmarks.
Quick Answer
Shoreline Amphitheatre is an outdoor amphitheater in Mountain View, California, that opened on June 29, 1986. It holds 22,500 people (6,500 reserved seats plus roughly 16,000 lawn spots), expands to about 30,000 for multi-stage festivals, is owned by the City of Mountain View, and is operated today by Live Nation Entertainment. The venue has never had a different official name — but the ground it sits on was previously a municipal landfill, and before that a pig farm and auto-wrecking yards.
What Did Shoreline Amphitheatre Used to Be Called?
Unlike many amphitheatres that have cycled through a string of corporate sponsor names — think of venues that have been a bank, an insurer, and a streaming service all in one decade — Shoreline Amphitheatre has kept the same name since its very first concert in 1986. The City of Mountain View, which owns the land, has never sold naming rights, so “Shoreline Amphitheatre” (sometimes written in full as “Shoreline Amphitheatre at Mountain View”) is the only name the venue has ever carried.
The confusion usually traces back to the land itself, not the venue. The site was used as a pig farm and auto-wrecking yards before the City of Mountain View acquired it in 1967 and began filling it with municipal garbage — trucked in from San Francisco — to build up the marshland and control flooding. That reclaimed landfill became Shoreline Park, which officially opened in 1983, and the amphitheatre followed three years later. Longtime Grateful Dead fans even gave the venue an affectionate nickname of its own, calling it “the Dump” in reference to that landfill history, a phrase that turns up on decades of tour t-shirts and stickers.
A Venue Born from Landfill and Legend
Shoreline Amphitheatre was built directly on top of that remediated landfill, a fact that shaped its engineering as much as its mythology. Methane pockets left over from the buried waste caused fires during the venue’s opening season, forcing crews to install specialized gas-extraction and monitoring systems — an early test the young venue passed on its way to becoming a Bay Area institution.
The first performance took place on June 29, 1986, with comedian Roseanne Barr opening for Julio Iglesias — a curious debut for what would become one of rock’s most storied stages. The Grateful Dead had originally been slated to christen the amphitheatre that same summer, but Jerry Garcia’s diabetic coma forced a cancellation. The band finally made their Shoreline debut on October 3, 1987, and went on to play the venue 39 times through their final performance there in June 1995.
Why It’s Shaped Like the Grateful Dead’s Skull Logo
Shoreline’s most famous design quirk is intentional: music promoter Bill Graham, who struck the 1985 deal with the City of Mountain View to build the venue, had the amphitheatre’s layout designed so that, viewed from above, its paths and stage bowl echo the Grateful Dead’s “Steal Your Face” skull-and-lightning-bolt logo. Graham had championed the Bay Area band for years, and the tribute cemented Shoreline’s identity as a spiritual home for the Dead and the psychedelic rock scene long before the band ever played its stage.
Decades of Landmark Performances
From 1986 to 2016, Shoreline hosted Neil and Pegi Young’s annual Bridge School Benefit Concert, an acoustic charity event that brought together artists as varied as Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Metallica, Elton John, and Pearl Jam for one of the Bay Area’s most anticipated yearly traditions. Beyond the Benefit, the amphitheatre has served as a flagship stop for Lollapalooza (including the very first tour in 1991), Ozzfest, and Lilith Fair, and in 2001 it even hosted a four-day event featuring the Dalai Lama.
Its location next to Google’s campus has also made it a regular host for major tech gatherings, most notably Google I/O in years when the developer conference has used the venue’s grounds.
Shoreline Amphitheatre Today
Today, Shoreline Amphitheatre is operated by Live Nation Entertainment, with the City of Mountain View retaining ownership as part of the larger Shoreline Park. The venue’s mix of 6,500 reserved seats and roughly 16,000 lawn spots gives it a festival-friendly flexibility rare among amphitheatres its size, and its capacity can stretch to around 30,000 when the parking lot is pressed into service for multi-stage festivals.
For current concert listings, seating charts, and ticket information, the official Shoreline Amphitheatre site is the most reliable source, since showtimes, ticket tiers, and gate policies can change from season to season.
Shoreline Amphitheatre at a Glance
Location: Mountain View, California (One Amphitheatre Parkway). Type: Outdoor amphitheatre. Opened: June 29, 1986. Capacity: 22,500, expandable to roughly 30,000 for festivals. Owner: City of Mountain View. Operator: Live Nation Entertainment. Famous for: Grateful Dead (39 performances), the Bridge School Benefit Concert, Lollapalooza, and Ozzfest. Prior official names: none — Shoreline Amphitheatre has kept its original name since opening.
Shoreline Amphitheatre FAQs
What did Shoreline Amphitheatre used to be called?
Nothing else — Shoreline Amphitheatre has carried the same name since it opened in 1986 and has never sold naming rights to a sponsor. The land beneath it, however, was previously a municipal landfill (and before that, a pig farm and auto-wrecking yards), which is likely the source of the confusion, along with the Deadhead nickname “the Dump.”
When did Shoreline Amphitheatre open?
Shoreline Amphitheatre opened on June 29, 1986, with its first performance featuring comedian Roseanne Barr opening for Julio Iglesias in Mountain View, California.
What is the capacity of Shoreline Amphitheatre?
The venue holds 22,500 people, made up of about 6,500 reserved seats and roughly 16,000 lawn spots. For multi-stage festivals that use the parking lot, capacity can expand to around 30,000.
Is Shoreline Amphitheatre really built on a landfill?
Yes. The City of Mountain View acquired the site in 1967 and filled it with garbage trucked in from San Francisco to build up the marshy land and prevent flooding. That reclaimed landfill became Shoreline Park in 1983, and the amphitheatre was built on part of it in 1985–1986.
Why was Shoreline Amphitheatre designed to look like the Grateful Dead’s logo?
Music promoter Bill Graham, who helped develop the venue with the City of Mountain View, designed the amphitheatre’s layout to resemble the Grateful Dead’s ‘Steal Your Face’ skull-and-lightning-bolt logo as a tribute to the Bay Area band he championed.
Who owns and operates Shoreline Amphitheatre?
The City of Mountain View owns Shoreline Amphitheatre as part of Shoreline Park, while Live Nation Entertainment operates the venue and books its concert schedule.
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