On Feb. 1, Palace Sports & Entertainment and Oakland University announced the name change of campus-based music venue, Meadow Brook Music Festival.  

The entertainment platform will further be known as Meadow Brook Amphitheatre.  

John Young, vice president of communications and marketing, explained that the name change came about to better represent what the venue is.  

“The Palace has been talking about it for the past couple seasons,” Young said. “For most entertaining acts they tend to think of (a festival as) something that goes for three or four days.”

Meadow Brook opened in 1964 under John F. Dodge and can hold up to 7,700 audience members.

Palace, Sports & Entertainment claimed managing responsibilities for the venue in 1994 and has worked on improvements to the location for over 20 years.  

The university recently renewed their contract with PS&E, though the name change was discussed before the new agreement was in place.

Young explained that the new rebranding will be funded mainly by PS&E resources.

University marketing worked with PS&E to recommend name changes, designs, social media icons, etc. to insure that the new name would stay true to the Meadow Brook name and university brand.  

“Meadow Brook Amphitheatre is the perfect boutique setting for emerging talent and artists seeking a venue that provides a close personal feel for fans,” Adam Schneider, Senior Vice President of Entertainment for PS&E, told Oakland University.  

Schneider sees the amphitheatre as a strong starting point for artists who will later move on to venues such as The Palace.   

Young also sees this as an opportunity to gain attention for Oakland.

“There has been more attention on this plot of land in the last 20 hours than in the past three years,” Young said, referencing the hours after the official announcement.

Because of this attention and a greater authenticity to what the venue is, he views this as the right thing to do for Meadow Brook Amphitheatre and the university.

PS&E will be kicking off a promotional tour of summer concerts with the new logo and advertisements immediately.  

Bryan Adams, The 1975 and Ray LaMontagne are a few of the acts coming to the newly rebranded Meadow Brook Amphitheatre this summer.  

For further information, visit palacenet.com or Oakland’s website.