An iconic and storied venue in East Boston will have new life when bands take the stage at Suffolk Downs for the first time since 2005 this weekend.
The Re:SET concert festival kicks off on Friday, and already has a sold out crowd for Sunday at the former horse racing track.
The Stage at Suffolk Downs was announced in December 2022, and was billed as a new seasonal, outdoor, general admission concert venue for the city, which is among the largest concert markets in the United States.
The venue will be able to host around 8,500 people, and a major weekend is about to get underway there. The re:SET concert series features three shows, Friday through Sunday, with four artists each night. Performers include Steve Lacy, LCD Soundsystem, boygenius and several others.
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In decades gone by, Suffolk Downs has hosted some of the most well-known artists in music, including the Beatles, Jackson 5, Radiohead and others.
The final live racing weekend at Suffolk Downs was held about four years ago, in July of 2019, which drew a crowd of over 21,000 racing fans.
Suffolk Downs is in the early phases of construction to transform the area into essentially a new neighborhood, which developer HYM Investment Group says will reconnect East Boston and Revere. The track, which has been a famous regional landmark since 1935, is said to have been built by 3,000 workers in 62 days.
"Really adding an outdoor, seasonal venue for us it's really important," Josh Bhatti said, who is senior VP for the Bowery Presents. "We love working with starts in early stages of the career. We started with The Sinclair and now being able to bring them out here to 8,500 people at Suffolk Downs."
At last check, tickets were still available for Friday and Saturday, however, Sunday was sold out.
