David Archuleta, left, and David Cook will be performing with the “American Idol Live Tour 2008” at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center tomorrow night.

AP / Kevork Djansezian

The Dunkin’ Donuts Center reopens this weekend, with dedication ceremonies held yesterday, an open house today and the “American Idols Live” concert tomorrow night. And while most of the renovations will be noticed by people coming to the arena for concerts, games, truck pulls, whatever, there are a few new amenities that will particularly appeal to concert-goers.

The first thing attendees will notice is the lobby. On a recent visit, Kerrie Bennett, projects manager for the Rhode Island Convention Center Authority, showed off the lobby, which has been expanded by 5,000 square feet and has several new ticket windows.

The extra space, she explains, will allow ticket-holders to head straight for the concourse and the arena without getting tangled up in lines of people waiting to buy tickets. It will particularly benefit concert-goers, Bennett says, when the doors do not open when they’re supposed to — an unfortunately common occurrence in the music business. “It will be a lot more comfortable in here,” she said.

Next up are the arena features nearest and dearest to a concert-goer’s — um, heart: the seats. The old red seats were from the late ’80s, says Dunk general manager Larry Lepore; the light blue ones were there when the Dunk opened in 1972.

The new seats are considerably more comfortable because, being new, they’re still upright and the padding hasn’t been beaten down for decades. They’re also outfitted with drink holders that will hopefully prevent the beer spills that are such a charming part of the concert experience (particularly for us non-drinkers on the receiving end of such mishaps). There isn’t any more legroom, unfortunately; Lepore explains that changing the concrete undergirding of the seating would have been a much more extensive job.

When the band starts up, the sound is the most important thing. “For an arena,” Lepore says, “the sound was always pretty good” in the Dunk, and while that’s a bit like comparing the merits of New Mexican hockey players, it’s true as far as it goes. The key sonic consideration, Lepore says, was not making things worse.

The addition of luxury suites in January posed a potential sound problem, but Lepore says the design of the suites kept things under control. Suites “grab the sound” and trap it, Lepore explained, requiring more volume to compensate. The walls of the suites at the Dunk are slightly angled, and Lepore explains that that helps the sound in and around the suites by reflecting it back toward the seats.

On the same level, the new pub-style One La Salle restaurant will be open during almost all concerts (unless it’s rented by a group), and concert-goers can watch the show while eating if they want.

Various, um, transactions will move more quickly in between bands, too, Bennett says, as there are more concession stands and 40 percent more bathrooms.

The “bowl” — the main arena — is now completely covered by sprinklers, Bennett says. And the whole arena is more handicapped-accessible: there is more Americans With Disabilities Act-approved seating, and the ramps up from the concourse to the arena have been regraded to conform with the regulations.

There are behind-the-scenes changes as well — the new subfloor will allow quicker changes between concerts, hockey games and basketballs games, Bennett says. Lepore adds that the arena has been rewired so that there is enough power to accommodate all but the most tech-heavy shows (such as The Trans-Siberian Orchestra) without renting expensive generators.

Lepore hopes that the renovations and the amenities will help the Dunk remain competitive in the concert market for years to come. He thinks that large outdoor venues such as the 19,900-seat Comcast Center, in Mansfield, Mass., are oversized, and that smaller venues such as the Dunk, with 5,000 to 10,000 seats depending on the stage setup, are coming back into vogue. “The whole thing’s going in the other direction,” he said.

He added that comforts and amenities are an important part of improving the concert-going experience. “You can’t sell [people] a ticket and walk away from them.”

rmassimo@projo.com