Red Rocks Amphitheatre is probably the best place on earth to jam out to Scarlett Begonias, Yellow Submarine, and, more recently, Animal Collective. The venue consists of a naturally occurring amphitheater surrounded by giant rocks that glow red at night and block out the mad mad world around you. This a real bucket-list type of spot. You gotta see it before you die.

The Greek Theateris a huge amphitheater in the hills overlooking UC Berkeley's 150 year-old campus. Great for graduations and games, but even better for watching rock shows with hordes of fresh-faced tipsy coeds.

Right off the 101 freeway, on the outskirts of all the weirdness in Hollywood but still within view of the iconic sign, sits a giant sideways bowl built to harness the sound of music and spit it back in your face. The Hollywood Bowl is the best place in LA to see big-name acts --the perfect setting for pyrotechnics, lights, smoke, and fire.

This cool little island sitting in the middle of Upper New york Bay about halfway between Brooklyn and Manhattan was abandoned by The Coast Guard in 1996 and then left to waste away. In 2010 it was re-opened as a small concert venue with a sandy man-made beach, beer trucks, food, and more. Take the Ferry from Brooklyn or Manhattan to catch the summer's hottest bands, some summer sun, and the best cityscape in the country at Governor's Island.

Located about two hours from Chicago, Madison, and Milwaukee, Alpine Valley Music Theater is by far the best place to catch big shows in the Midwest. The grateful Dead played here 20 times over the course of nine years if that gives you any idea. With 37,000 GA seats, It's the second largest amphitheater in the US.

You know a place is awesome when a neo-psychedelic folk band names its album after it. And that's the deal with Merriweather Post Pavilion, the inspiration behind Animal Collective's 2009 album of the same name. Designed by award-winning architect Frank Gehry, this 19,000-capacity amphitheater is probably the best reason to visit Maryland.

Located about 150 miles from Seattle in a city called George, The Gorge is widely regarded as one of the most insanely beautiful spots on the entire planet. 20,000 people per concert can't be wrong.

Located in the middle of Spa State Park in upstate New York, Saratoga Performing Arts Center is an
amphitheater that hosts medium-sized shows. Seeing a show here is like chilling in Fern Gully with a thousand of your best friends and a handful of rockstars. Beautiful.

Golden Gate Park isn't traditionally thought of as a concert venue, but that's been changing over the past few years with top notch festivals like Hardly Strictly Bluegrass and Outside Lands sweeping through to transform this normally sleepy state park into a complete mad house. Smaller shows are also held throughout the year at the new Academy of Art building in the middle of the park.