Adam L.
Yelp
I've now been to a bunch of shows here, and frankly, feel like I've given the venue more than enough chances. Definitely one of my last choices for attending shows these days. In the end, venues get away with being crappy because the acts people want to see are there, and all the Once/Oberon acts seem to have moved here, but I'm giving up on seeing a lot of performers and shows I love because of how bad the experience is as a fan.
The good: Great location, of course. Gorgeous room (seriously!). Fantastic acoustics (but see below). All of those are great features for a music space, and I don't want to minimize the importance of them. That's the reason this isn't a one-star review.
The bad: Hoo-boy. Let's make a list:
1. Ticketmaster fees. They use Ticketmaster instead of any of the cheaper options, so your $20 ticket ends up costing you nearly $35. Oh, and when I went to the box office to try to avoid the fees, I was told they could only sell me general admission tickets, not any reserved seats for shows. Awesome!
2. That thing about the good acoustics? That's great for a concert. But for a variety or other kind of show? It means that sounds from the bar in the back almost overwhelm stuff on the stage. Oh, and because the folks running the sound during the pre-show and intermission blast music at full volume, and sort of conversation or interaction is impossible. That last should be fixable, but after six months, clearly isn't something that they're going to do.
3. Whoever designed the lighting was likely drunk. The lights will swing out and blind the audience consistently if performers move around. It's the polar opposite of the late, lamented Oberon.
4. The venue is deep, not wide. Again, fine for concerts, but if you're going to a show with assigned seats, anything not in the pit is essentially worthless. The pit section is like the old Oberon again, but the seats further back make seeing anything nearly impossible. Honestly, they should only have seats in the pit and make everything else SRO.
5. The bar. Dear god, how much of a rip-off is the bar! Look, all concert venues rip you off, but no places charges for water and seltzer like Crystal Ballroom. The bartenders do what they can (bartender at last show we went to: "I only charged you for one water because they raised the price and I'm protesting." -- yes, this was less than six months after they opened), and deserve high tips, of course.
That's actually not the end of the list, but there's a point at which you just have to walk away from a review because the more you think about something, the more you remember all the small things that are terrible.
