Why is the Ledge Amphitheater Minnesota’s busiest concert venue this summer?

Where’s all the music this summer?

With only one stadium show (the Weeknd) and only a handful of arena concerts (including Stevie Nicks, Linkin Park, Benson Boone), this looks like a slower-than-usual summer on the Minnesota concert scene. Except at the Ledge Amphitheater in Waite Park.

“We’re lucky. People seem to aspire to the place because shows have done well there,” said Chris Fritz, president of New West Presentations, which operates the 5-year-old city-owned Ledge Amphitheater.

An hour or so drive from the Twin Cities, the Ledge has 21 shows this summer, up 45% from last year. It’s a mid-sized venue — capacity 4,200 for seated shows, 5,500 for general admission — in a suburb of St. Cloud.

The Ledge has many things going for it: It’s picturesque in a rock quarry with trees and lagoons, with ample free parking, permanent restrooms and concession stands, food trucks and usually lower prices for tickets and concessions.

“I think it’s the vibe,” Fritz said.

Avid concertgoer Erik Moe, of Burnsville, agreed when he attended opening night in 2021.

“This is the perfect outside venue. The greenery, the rocks,” he told the Minnesota Star Tribune then. “This is amazing.”

The Ledge fills a void as a mid-sized amphitheater, competing with similarly sized pop-up outdoor venues like Surly Festival Field in Minneapolis and Mystic Amphitheater in Prior Lake. It doesn’t compete directly with comparable greater Minnesota amphitheaters in Moorhead, Mankato and Duluth. In fact, Alison Krauss & Union Station are playing the Ledge as well as the Bluestem in Moorhead and Bayfront in Duluth in early June.

In general, 2025 is a slow summer because many of the top names already hit the road in the summers after the pandemic. The last two years were extremely busy.

“This year is a soft touring year. The show counts are down everywhere. Ours are up, which is surprising,” said Fritz, a Kansas City-based promoter with 62 years in the concert business.

Plus, festivals — such as Minnesota Yacht Club with Green Day and Hozier in St. Paul and the long-lived We Fest with Hardy and Cody Johnson in Detroit Lakes — gobble up many of the bigger names on tour, cutting into arena and stadium possibilities.

Fritz runs the Ledge with his business partner Jeff Fortier of Mammoth Live, based in Lawrence, Kan., who was able to land separate Ledge shows by Chicago and Earth, Wind & Fire, two Rock Hall of Famers who teamed up last summer at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

The Ledge draws 20 to 30% of its concertgoers from the Twin Cities, according to Fritz.

While promoters Live Nation and First Avenue dominate the greater Twin Cities market, Fritz thinks there’s room and opportunities for everybody.

“We don’t want to take away from what First Avenue is doing and hopefully they don’t take away from what we’re trying to do,” he said. “As indie promoters, it’s about sustainability.

“When you compete with the big boys like Live Nation, we all try to get along to some degree. We’re not trying to steal away from people. Agents and managers are somewhat loyal.”

Fritz thinks the Ledge appeals to bands and concertgoers alike.

“We don’t get a lot of [complaining] from the bands,” he reported. “Bands love the production. They love the ease of it, the load in and the load out.”

For music fans, Fritz points to the access to the Ledge — easy in and easy out, just off Interstate 94 — along with the pricing.

“You’re not paying 30 bucks to park. It’s free,” he said. “We’re not crazy on prices; it’s not like going to a stadium and you’re paying $22 for a beer or a hot dog for $15 and a Coke for $10.

“Unless the band wants it, we don’t do much dynamic pricing [on tickets]. We try to keep it low. I refuse to be involved with the secondary ticket seller,” Fritz continued. “As long as we can make money and stay alive, that’s my objective. I’ve left a lot of money on the table. It’s more deliberate than greed. I’m still driving a 10-year-old car.”

The Ledge will likely have more competition come next year.

First Avenue, the Twin Cities powerhouse that runs multiple venues, is still planning to build a mid-sized amphitheater along the north side of Mississippi River in Minneapolis.

“We are up against some fast-approaching deadlines to make it happen,” First Avenue general manager Nate Kranz said. “The City Council and Park Board have to complete their final approval processes. Those meetings are set between now and the end of July.”

Meanwhile, Live Nation is involved with a new 19,000-capacity amphitheater in Shakopee that was slated to open this year, but a Live Nation spokesman said they have nothing to announce.

Farm Aid, the all-star fundraiser now in its 40th year, was hoping to land in the Shakopee venue but event officials were told by Live Nation that construction was running behind; so Willie Nelson and friends pivoted to Huntington Bank Stadium at the University of Minnesota on Sept. 20.

The Ledge has made some improvements for this year, including additional parking, upgraded sound system, tweaked entrance/exits and a bar for the expanded VIP boxed seats at the back of the venue.

This summer, the Ledge has an eclectic lineup of Rock & Roll Hall of Famers (Bonnie Raitt, ZZ Top, Chicago, Earth, Wind & Fire), alt-rockers (Barenaked Ladies, Goo Goo Dolls, Rainbow Kitten Surprise), country singers (Warren Zeiders, Turnpike Troubadours, Justin Moore), vintage bands (Kansas, KC and the Sunshine Band), gospel groups (Maverick City Music) and the unclassifiable (“Weird Al” Yankovic).

The amphitheater started its season earlier than ever with country-rocker Brantley Gilbert on May 9.

“Brantley Gilbert’s agent said they want to do May. We said, ‘The average high for that time period is only 60.’ He confirmed the next morning before we could ponder. It turned out to be the best [weather] weekend in history. It was 83 or 84 when we did the show.”

Fritz said Waite Park “needs you to break even or make money” from the concerts.

“When you’re trying to build something, you’ve got to be a little careful,” he said. “We’re not batting a thousand. I don’t think we have any stinkers this year. Last year, we had some that I thought would do better. We hope to always break even on ticketing; we don’t make any money on ticketing. It’s concessions, merch and sponsorships.”

June 8 Alison Krauss & Union Station featuring Jerry Douglas, Willie Watson

June 12 ZZ Top, the Wallflowers

June 13 Chicago

June 15 Barenaked Ladies, Guster, Fastball

June 19 Justin Moore, Joe Nichols

July 11 Turnpike Troubadours, Old Crow Medicine Show

July 18 Warren Zeiders

July 24 Darius Rucker

Aug. 3 Rainbow Kitten Surprise, Medium Build

Aug. 6 Slightly Stoopid

Aug. 7 KC and the Sunshine Band, Village People

Aug. 10 Earth, Wind & Fire

Aug. 18 Goo Goo Dolls, Dashboard Confessional

Sept. 6 Maverick City Music, Anne Wilson

Sept. 11 “Weird Al” Yankovic

Sept. 19 Kansas, Jefferson Starship

Sept. 20 Bonnie Raitt, Jimmie Vaughan

Oct. 11 Ledgetober with Michael Shynes

Two more concerts to be announced.