Red Hot Chili Peppers at San Diego's Snapdragon Stadium: 10 tips if you are going to Friday's concert

At least some fans who attend Friday night's Snapdragon Stadium concert by Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Mars Volta and Thundercat are likely to feel a partial sense of deja vu.

RHCP, as the band is also known, performed a stadium gig here with Thundercat last July. It took place in downtown San Diego's Petco Park, not at Mission Valley's new Snapdragon Stadium, whose 28,000 capacity for concerts is 25,000 fewer than Garth Brooks drew for his sold-out Petco show in March 2022.

One other difference this time around is that while Thundercat is again on the bill, The Mars Volta has been added in place of the Petco concert-opening band Haim. Also, RHCP now has its second album of 2022, "Return of the Dream Canteen" — released last October — to draw songs from for its stage repertoire.

This will, incidentally, be only the second concert to be held at Snapdragon. The first was the May 6 concert by Jimmy Buffett, Jason Mraz and Mac McAnally.

Music

The first concert at the new stadium in San Diego's Mission Valley had a capacity of 28,000 and drew a near full-house. The audio quality was much better than at many stadium shows

The stadium opened Sept. 6 with a nationally televised football game between San Diego State University and the University of Arizona. It occupies the same Mission Valley site that previously was home to, in order, San Diego Stadium, San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium, Qualcomm Stadium and SDCCU Stadium.

To help familiarize you with San Diego's newest outdoor music venue, here are 10 things you should know ahead of time.

1. Friday's concert starts at 6:30 p.m. and gates open at 4:30 p.m.

2. The Snapdragon parking lot will open at 2 p.m. and tailgating is allowed. Parking costs $50 per car and $200 per RV. Parking passes can be purchased online in advance at: ticketmaster.com/event/0A005D82CA574745

3. Snapdragon is a cashless facility and credit or debit cards must be used for all purchases. Reverse ATMs are available at the stadium to load cash onto a prepaid debit card to use at the venue's concession and retail locations.

4. Only mobile tickets are accepted at Snapdragon and screenshots and PDFs of tickets will not be accepted. Ticket should be downloaded to your mobile wallet before arriving at the concert. Your tickets can be located through the Snapdragon Stadium app: snapdragonstadium.com/connect/download-our-app. Tickets purchased at the stadium box office on Friday will also be digital and will be sent directly to your email and cellphone.

5. Once inside the stadium, you can use the same app to determine the easiest route to your seat, concessions and restrooms.

6. Concertgoers with non-field tickets can enter through the Northwest Gate, the Kaiser Permanente Northeast Gate, or the Southeast Gate. All concertgoers with tickets on the field must enter through the stadium's Quidel East Gate, where they will go through security screening and an initial ticket scan. Once in the extended stadium concourse, field-ticket concertgoers must scan their tickets a second time to receive a wristband to access the field through sections 108-141.

7. Snapdragon has an 11 p.m. Friday night curfew. There will be extended San Diego Trolley service from the stadium, with the last westbound departure at 12:37 a.m. and the last eastbound trip to SDSU departing at 12:07 a.m. The last eastbound trolley to Santee will depart 45 minutes after the conclusion of the concert. The night's last scheduled Blue Line trolley trip from Old Town to UTC will be at 12:01 a.m. Passengers must take a trolley to Old Town from the stadium by 11:30 p.m. to ensure they connect with the 12:01 a.m. Blue Line train to UTC.

8. The rideshare drop-off and pick-up location for the concert is at Mission Village Drive, just north of Jacaranda Street, adjacent to the stadium's Gate 1 area.

9. Water bottles, whether full or empty, cannot be brought into the concert. Snapdragon is a clear-bag-only venue and only small bags that meet specific size restrictions are allowed. A list of all prohibited items and more information about the stadium is available at: snapdragonstadium.com/visit/a-z-guide

10. Wear comfortable shoes. As at any stadium, concertgoers can count on doing a fair amount of walking to and from their seats and to restrooms and food and beverage outlets.

When: 6:30 p.m. Friday

Where: Snapdragon Stadium, 2101 Stadium Way, Mission Valley

Tickets: $150 to $324.50, plus service fees

Online: ticketmaster.com

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