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SALT LAKE CITY — Music lovers looking to enjoy the open air of the Red Butte Garden outdoor concert series will have to wait a little longer.
Sunday's appearance by the Moody Blues, which was set to open the summer series, has been moved to the Energy Solutions Arena as cleanup continues from December's Chevron oil spill.
Bryn Ramjoué, communications director for Red Butte Gardens, said that were it not for the venue change, the event would have to have been canceled entirely.
"The date didn't change, the time didn't change, only the location changed," she said. "We thought that was better than canceling."
Last December, a Chevron valve malfunction sent oil over the grounds, she said. The oil from that spill has since been cleaned up but the amphitheater is still in a construction state as a result from the work.
"There's no oil on the ground now," Ramjoué said, "but it hasn't been put back together."
Construction fencing currently surrounds the property and some work is still being done on sections of the amphitheater lawn.
The move to the ESA makes for a much different concert experience. Red Butte Garden's amphitheater holds 3,000 people — an intimate outdoor setting where concert goers often bring blankets, chairs and picnic food. The Nu Skin theater at the ESA, on the other hand, is a massive, multiple-thousand capacity indoor arena.
"This is not something we like to do," Ramjoué said.
She said the ESA has worked to try and preserve the concert's atmosphere. Ticket sales have been capped at 3,500 and much of the extra seating in the ESA lower bowl will be cordoned off.
"It should still feel like an intimate setting," she said.
About 100 ticket holders have asked for a refund, she said, but an equivalent amount have purchased tickets to the previously sold out performance. Feedback has been both positive and negative and in the end, Ramjoué said, there wasn't much of a choice.
"It was move it or cancel it," she said. "Some people are saying they're glad it will be in a climate-controlled environment."
Ramjoué said other venues were looked at, such as Kingsbury Hall, but the need to house 3,000 ticket holders narrowed the list down.
"There really isn't any other place," she said.
In total, there are 21 concerts planned for the Red Butte series and Ramjoué said construction is on track to limit the venue change to only the Moody Blues concert. The concert series continues on June 12 with Big Head Todd and the Monsters.
Email:benwood@desnews.com
