Paso’s Vina Robles Amphitheater sold to a new owner. Here’s what’s changing
Vina Robles Amphitheater, the popular outdoor concert venue in Paso Robles, has a new owner, and with it will come a new name, more concerts and expanded opportunities for events.
Nederlander Concerts, the Los Angeles-based entertainment company that has long served as the booking agent for the amphitheater, acquired the 3,000-seat venue about a month ago, with its first concert under the new ownership being The Avett Brothers and John Patton on May 9.
The acquisition also includes the former winery’s impressive hospitality center, which includes the high-ceilinged tasting room, smaller event spaces and the courtyard with the fountain in the middle.
Nederlander Concerts CEO Alex Hodges said he hopes to expand the already successful music venue after observing its growth since its opening in 2013.
“We’ve watched the progress, and we just think the area is so great,” Hodges said. “In the past there has been an expansion of people and wineries and tasting rooms and hotels and restaurants, so we think it’s blossoming and blossoming bigger. It’s going to really be something special. It already is something special, but you know, growth is a part of the picture.”
And that isn’t limited to the amphitheater.
A key area of growth Hodge mentioned was opening up use of the 14,000-square-foot hospitality center to year-round use for events like weddings, retreats and meetings
“The concerts outdoors are seasonal, but the indoor spaces should be 52 weeks a year,” he said.
In addition, Hodges said he hopes to expand the amphitheater’s summer lineup. The current schedule for this year has about 25 acts booked, but Hodges hopes to get it to 50 eventually.
The venue can also expect to get a new name, after the original Vina Robles winery brand was acquired by California winemaker Courtney Benham and his CMB Family of Wines in December 2024.
What that new name will be, however, is still undetermined.
“We want to take advantage of what’s known by the community and the fans, but we’ll have an opportunity to be creative in terms of a name, and hopefully something attractive and complementary as we view it, so that’s one of the things on the list,” he said.
Considering finances, Hodges said he couldn’t disclose just how much the 100-acre venue in prime wine country sold for, but noted it was “quite a bit of money.”
Local staff will stay on at Paso Robles venue
Nederlander is also keeping the venue’s established staff.
“We have the advantage of a local team, staff and a local food and beverage component. We won’t have to do a lot, we’ll just tweak and book some shows and then work with prospective people on the special event equation,” Hodges said. “When you got good people, don’t lose them.”
Manuel Barba is one of those employees.
As the events sponsorship and premium seating sales manager, Barba said employees are already reaping the benefits of its new parent company.
“We immediately felt the shift, the cultural shift of our company the day after they took ownership,” he said. “Instantly, we had support. Instantly, we were part of this kind of larger group. They’re very vocal about making sure that they keep the core team.”
One change is what Barba called a “one-night program” that allows concert attendees to purchase box seating for a single show as opposed to previously having to buy a season seat.
And having the capacity to host events in the hospitality building will really widen the venue’s opportunities, Barba said.
“We’ve been kind of like Fort Knox for a little while, just locked up real tight when there isn’t shows,” he said. But there are 330 days of the year that there’s nothing going on there, and we’d love to engage the community more and have more opportunities for people to partner with us.”
In addition to Vina Robles, Nederlander Concerts also owns the San Jose Civic and Center of the Performing Arts, the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, the Hollywood Pantages Theatre, the Grove of Anaheim, the B of A Performing Arts Center in Thousand Oaks, The Port in Pocatello, Idaho and HEB Center in Cedar Park, Texas, among others.
