It’s a temporary thing in Irvine

PARK HERE: Great Park Live, a temporary amphitheater in Irvine, California, went from concept to opening for events in four months. (Courtesy venue)

Venue fills void until permanent amphitheater opens in 2027

Irvine, California’s propensity for flexible venues has proved to be a worthy venture in transitioning to permanent facilities for sports and entertainment in Orange County and its 3 million residents.

The newest one is Great Park Live, a temporary amphitheater in Irvine, which has performed well over its first 12 to 15 events after opening on June 14, said Mark Entner, founder and CEO of PSQ Productions, an event management firm that runs the venue.

After getting a late start on bookings for the 2024 outdoor season, Great Park Live confirmed Clay Walker (Oct. 25), Brooks Nielson (Oct. 31) and Ludacris (Nov. 22). As the fall touring cycle begins and flows into 2025, Entner expects to book more national acts to supplement the festivals and local talent playing the amphitheater as part of “Irvine Nights,” a series of tribute bands scheduled through Oct. 10.

The amphitheater is situated on the north lawn of Great Park, a $1 billion mixed-use development taking place on the site of Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, an old World War II-era military base in Irvine. The venue replaced three recreational soccer fields and can fit up to 7,500 people. It will operate for the next three years until a proposed permanent amphitheater opens in 2027 elsewhere at Great Park, a 1,300-acre property.

Entner, whose career in the events industry spans 34 years, including 18 years with the Orange County Fair & Event Center, home of the Pacific Amphitheatre. He first got involved with Great Park in building a temporary soccer facility for Orange County SC, a member of the USL Championship League, after the team relocated from the UC-Irvine campus. The team played one year at the temporary building before moving to a permanent 5,000-seat stadium that opened at Great Park in 2017.

“At the time, Great Park didn’t have any sewer or water infrastructure,” Entner recalled. “We had to bring in everything from shower trailers to concessions in three weeks’ time before kicking off their first match.”

PSQ Productions now runs Championship Soccer Stadium for the city of Irvine, which is part of the first phase of the massive development.

Four years ago, the city signed a deal with PSQ Productions to produce live events on its behalf, extending the relationship that started with the soccer project.

Last fall, the wheels were set in motion for PSQ to further expand its role at Great Park after local developer FivePoint Communities announced its plan to tear down FivePoint Amphitheater and build new homes there.

FivePoint, which itself was a temporary venue run by Live Nation with 12,000 capacity, closed in October. It had essentially replaced the old Irvine Meadows amphitheater, which operated for 35 years until it shut down in 2016 to make way for building apartments.

To fill the gap for live entertainment outdoors, a tradition in Irvine for the past 42 years, the city issued  a proposal tied to developing a new temporary amphitheater.

PSQ won the project and signed a new deal in February with the city.

For the temporary venue, city officials committed $6.6 million to set up and program the facility for the next three years, of which $500,000 covers production costs.

As part of the project to build the temporary facility, Entner teamed with consultant Russ Simons, managing partner of Venue Solutions Group, on the design and logistics for a setup spanning seven acres on Great Park’s north side.

Entner met Simons about 15 years ago at the IAVM Event Management School at Oglebay National Training Center in West Virginia, and they reconnected to help develop the temporary venue.

“The project went from idea, inception and active soccer fields in March, to their first event in June,” Simons said. “The end result is impressive. They’re doing good work in the community, which is inspiring to me.”

Together with the city, Entner and Simons spent two months in the planning stages before construction commenced over a six-week period from May to mid-June.

Over its first two months, Great Park Live has held mostly community events such as Taylor Nation, a tribute to global superstar Taylor Swift, and a performance by the Pacific Symphony, tied to the movie “Stars Wars.” Both shows sold out with 5,000 people in attendance, Entner said.

The symphony will call the facility home over the next three years. The stage runs 60 feet wide and 40 feet deep, big enough to support the orchestra’s 80 musicians. The overall production setup makes it convenient for touring acts from a “plug and play” perspective, Entner said.

“Two things have been important for us — noise and traffic,” he said. “Having a house sound system has been a key element for making sure that we’re not affecting the residents that live close to the venue. The city added 2,000 parking spaces to make sure traffic had a minimal effect on the community as well.”

PSQ Productions runs the food in-house, converting old shipping containers to concession stands. Early on, per caps have run $15 to $20, Entner said.

Premium seating options are available. PSQ formed the Officers Club, a 1,000-capacity space named after the real officers club that was part of the military base. The VIP package comes with parking and a private entrance. In addition, seven cabanas are part of the premium mix. They accommodate up to 10 guests, with a private bar, restrooms, stocked refrigerator and a server. The cost runs about $60 a person, depending on the event, Entner said.

For the permanent amphitheater project, the city hired Populous to design it and ASM Global as operations consultant, to help develop an 8,000 to 10,000-seat venue. The location is in the center of Great Park, adjacent to two lakes planned for the property, as reported locally.

The future of the temporary amphitheater beyond 2027 is to be determined, but there’s enough infrastructure in place that it could function as a secondary venue if the city decided to keep it intact, Entner said.

“A lot depends on how well the community enjoys it,” he said. “It can be a venue that supports all the different cultures within Irvine. One of the keys that’s important with this project is how it integrates with the rest of Great Park, which is one of the largest municipal projects in the world. We have to make sure the neighbors are happy, so they can ride their bikes and walk here.”