What Is Your Favorite Arena/Concert Venue?
 

So, of all of the countless great venues, which stands out to you??

For me, favorite I think is the former Startwood Ampitheater, in Nashville, Tennessee. It no longer exists, but I have a thing for amphitheaters.... I suppose the Verizon Wireless AMP in Alpharetta is nice too!

Fave venues I've never been to: Red Rocks, and Jones Beach!

Well, Unleashed was my first ever concert :o
So, I would have to say Rod Laver at the moment, because of the beautiful memories I have.
I can still remember the moment I stepped in to huge arena - the lights, color and sound (although the opening act were playing). But what really made me happy was the flock of people entering the stadium, I knew for once that they were here for the same reason I was :D

Favs I've been to-

Sydney Opera House
Wembley Stadium
The O2 Arena
Manchester Evening News Arena
Madison Square Garden
The Joint (Las Vegas)

I can't speak much to this, as I haven't been to that many except for Jones Beach, Nassau Colleseum, Madison Square Garden and an arena in Buffalo whose name I forget. But I absolutely LOVE the Jones Beach ampitheatre! (and I strongly suspect Stevie does as well.)
It's RIGHT on the water and it's an outdoor arena, so when the weather's good it's THE BEST place for a Stevie Concert!!! :)

When the weather's bad? NNNNNOT so much! ;)


P.S. - Yes, I WILL learn how to spell "Colleseum" some day, I promise! :p

Pretty much the same for me except the Buffalo arena, and I would add Giants Stadium. Jones Beach is cool, but many of the concerts that I have seen at the Garden in a 25 year span have been magical. So I would say Madison Square Garden.

I love Blossom Music Center in Ohio. I've never been up close for a show there, but the lawn and park feel of the entire venue makes it great for tailgating and then relaxing with friends and good music.

oh man, i've been to a bazillion shows there. i've been way in the back of the lawn (mostly for cleveland orchestra) and in the pit (for sixx am). it's a nice venue, but parking and getting there are absolute nightmares. rt 8 is the most direct way to get there and it's basically a dirt path. :lol: ok, not that bad, but it is not built for the kind of traffic blossom attracts. and once you get off rt 8 it's 2-lane back roads to get there. ugh.

In New Jersey:Atlantic City Borgata, also Boardwalk Hall.
PNC arts center in Holmdel.
In New York:Jones Beach, all the wacky weather,from high tides and near freezing cold,to monsoon rain showers,to freaking suana heat.
you got to love it.
Here in Connecticut the Mohegan Sun Arena is ok. but security is a pain in the a$$.
the others like Bridgeport Harbour yard is good,Hartford Civic Center {now XL center } is ok.The Dodge,Now Comcast is ok.But I would die if Stevie comes the the Toyota Oakdale theatre here in my home town.
In Mass,Greatwoods,Tweeter center, I think now its Comcast center.
good.
Boston: Bank of America Pavilion,good
Penn;Toyota Pavilion at Montage Mountain in Scranton.good

thats all i can think of now.

I really love The Chance in Poughkeepsie, NY. It's not in any way big or glamourous but shows just seem better there. It's small, with a pit that only holds like six rows, there's a level for tables, space by the bar and a balcony and I love venues that have various levels for good sight lines. The sound is pretty great and the vibe just feels good.

I liked the House of Blues in Atlantic City a lot. It's not too huge and it's one of the few venues where I've had front row because it was so easy to wait inside the Showboat, on a carpet, with a restroom right across the hall.


I used to love the Nokia in NYC for their sight lines and sound but the past few shows I've been to there have been very odd as far as vibe. There is just like a void in the air, the energy doesn't fly as well as other venues (and this has happened for bands i have seen in other venues, so i know it's not just the band).

As far as arenas go, I like MSG the best of the ones I've been to. It's more intimate than you'd think and even though I always prefer being at smaller venues where you really can be very close, it's one of the best overall. Izod Center in New Jersey is pretty good as well, but not "circular" enough.

The Celebrity Theatre in Phoenix, Arizona. Concerts are "in the round" so every seat is a great one. I saw Lindsey there as well as a gazillion other bands. Plus I worked there for 5 years.

My two favorites are the Fillmore in San Francisco (talk about historic) and Mountain Winery in Saratoga.

Fillmore:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3429/...a6cb3e002c.jpg





Mountain Winery: http://www.mountainwinery.com/concerts/

Well Ive been to a few and I'd have to say that my favorite is probably Deer Creek Music center now called Verizon Wireless Music center outside Indianapolis. Just a beautiful setting. Here are some others that I've really enjoyed over the years.



Red Rocks-Denver
Sprint Center-Kansas City
Wembley Arena-London
Xcel Center-St Paul
Madison Square Garden-New York City
Staples Center-Los Angeles
Coors Amphitheater-San Diego
House Of Blues-Los Angeles & Las Vegas
Marcus Amphitheater-Milwaukee
Air Canada Center-Toronto
TD Banknorth Garden-Boston
The Orange Peel-Asheville
DTE Energy Music Theater-Detroit
Ford Amphitheater-Tampa
BOK Center-Tulsa
Blossom Music Center-Cleveland
Bank Of America Pavilion-Boston

And others too.

Ah, I hate the MEN.

My favourite venue is Buxton Opera House in the High Peak (UK :) ) Because it's small enough for everyone to see the performance yet there's enough room to get up and jump about. Second to that is probably Sheffield Arena, because the staff are nicer :p

Edinburgh Castle Esplanade - I saw Blondie there and the atmosphere was incredible!

Really? I think that place is a dump. It needs to be remodeled. I think the Bradley Center in Milwaukee is a nice venue.

As far as the Chicago area goes, I can't name one good venue. It's rather shocking how bad the venues we have in such a major metropolitan area are.