Harrah's Cherokee Center - Asheville

We went and saw Jeff Dunham at Harrah's Cherokee Center aka the Civic Center. Had an awesome time! Take an Uber, don't drink and drive! There was also a street party / adult hangout spot across the street from the entrance of the auditorium. It was strange. They had music and all! Probably 25-30 people just hanging out, laughing. Anyway the Harrah's Center is easy to get in and out if especially if you are just waiting on an Uber.

I was blown away by how helpful and friendly the event staff were for the entire event. From getting in the door to the end of the night every staff member had good vibes. Even the parking staff were super sweet. The show was amazing, too. Great night all around

We came over to see AEW Fight For The Fallen show. It was my wife's first time at a professional wrestling taping. She had a blast. Would love to come back for another show.

We saw Noah Kahan here on May 20th, 2024. We luckily were able to swipe a spot in the nearest parking deck to the venue, which only costed $9.00 which I thought was very fair for being right next to the venue. Unfortunately the elevators did not work in the parking deck at the time we visited, so I had to drop my partner off on the ground level because of her sprained ankle. The front of the venue was very crowded and the line wrapped all the way down the street. Thankfully the road that ran along the venue was shutdown for the event. I walked all the way to the back of the line and let my partner hop in when I got to the top. The security process was seamless and checking our tickets was easy. For whatever reason all of the hallways in the venue were very smokey as if one of the food vendors had just burned food badly or something, it smelled like that could be the case as well. We had tickets for the standing room area, and entering that section was easy as well. Again, the whole area was smokey for some reason. My partner is very short but I found a spot near the sound booth where she would be able to see. Eventually her sprained ankle was causing her a lot of discomfort for her to continue standing. We looked up the venues ADA policies and found we could appeal to an usher to gain an ADA seat. When she spoke to the older male usher he was very rude to her. She showed him the clear bruising on her sprained ankle/foot, then asked her, “You knew you had a concert coming up.” She had to explain to him that she did not plan on spraining her ankle last week, it just happened on accident. He finally let us in then. I can understand that maybe he hears a lot of pleas to get the seats but I feel like that may have been a bit extreme, especially after she showed him her foot. I can’t imagine what it may be like if someone’s disability was not visible. Other than that the show was great, sound was amazing, and we had a great view from the ADA seats. I would return to this venue with no complaints.

What a disappointing excuse for a concert / show venue. We went to see Sebastian Maniscalco, one of our favorite comedians. We knew our seats were pretty far up, but there are large video screens, and the cameras are set up so that, even though the stage is in the middle and Sebastian would be walking around and talking to all sides of the theater during his show, we would always see the front of him on the screens. That is a great setup, BTW. Here are the problems...We heard maybe 50% of what Sebastian was saying. The acoustics are horrible in the upper sections. People were laughing at his jokes down below, and those of us in the upper sections didn't laugh with them all of the time, because we couldn't understand him. We're hoping he'll record the show so we can watch it on Netflix. Next, we could hardly see him for 2 large, fixed, spinning spotlights with groups of triangles covering about 75% of Sebastian. It was bad enough that he was mostly covered by them, but they spun around which was even more distracting. They were there for the entire show. (see pictures) Then there are the seats. We were in horrible, old, hard plastic stadium seats. Getting to them was a chore because you have to climb metal bleachers with very inadequate hand rails. They can't be ADA compliant. You could see that another very large section (lower than where we were) had folding chairs. (see pictures) At least our seats had arm rests. Theirs didn't. The seats on the floor were old banquet room chairs you'd see in a hotel. The concrete floor was nasty too. Besides all of that, getting in was a zoo. The show had to start almost 30 minutes late because they don't have a handle on getting folks in the doors. You end up waiting in a 2-block line to get in. This place needs a major renovation or maybe just be torn down and rebuilt. Harrah's Cherokee should be embarrassed to have their name affiliated with this venue. Shame on the City of Asheville for dragging their feet on doing something about the center. We won't be going back.

There are some good points and quite bad points about this facility. Good: The arena is a quaint old-school sports arena that would be modern 40-50 years ago. I could imagine 1980s WCW or WWF shows here. Certainly, still a relevant space for highschool basketball, very low minor league hockey, or gymnastics. It's small so there are good sightlines. Now you might want to sit down, this could take a while. The bad: Extremely poor accessibility for physically challenged people. (Not just people with wheelchairs but anyone with a foot larger than a child especially in the upper deck.) The upper deck's stairs up to the seats can't be more than 8 inches. My size 10.5 shoe could not fit on the stair without turning. I didn't see anywhere that someone could even be dropped off let alone accessible parking. The toilet doors didn't latch. The line to get into the venue was blocks long. I attended the Lindsey Stirling concert. While the show was well performed and I'm sure it was professionally produced sound on quality sound equipment, the acoustics are BAD. (Even compared to other sports venues where I've attended concerts.) If you are attending something when it is raining, be aware, you cannot have any umbrella or a bag big enough to hold a raincoat while in the concert. There is zero covered space for lines of people. Just understand what you are getting into.

I attended the best concert of my life here on May 8th, 2024. Contrary to some reviews about the building's poor condition and bad sound quality, I found both to be excellent. HOWEVER, the staff chose to cave to the mob by allowing people to camp out, despite a clearly published policy against it on their website and on signs. The GM removed the signs when he was questioned about this (pictured). When we arrived to get in line at the venue's posted time, we were told we had to queue behind a multitude of people who had been gathered since early morning. This resulted in a line that stretched down the street and over an interstate overpass, causing congestion in a busy roadway.

As a local I felt like a child in kindergarten. “No, you can’t stand near the railing; no you can’t record on your phone, didn’t you read the signs??” The people in the pit were harsh and rude. It made me so sad. Surely these aren’t the same fans??? I was so disheartened to feel so pushed around in my hometown arena, especially after Helene and in the political climate we are currently experiencing. The staff were honestly rude and demeaning. Will never come here again

We came to the 2023 Tattoo Convention here. They charged for parking this year, which was $9 per day. This year was a bit better not having to pay through the box office. The concessions were decent. We're able to get drinks and food there and the food was ready pretty quickly. Bathrooms were decent, but started running out of toilet paper by the end of the day, So they really need to have someone checking.

It was a great venue and a great show. They could probably use a little remodeling and the concessions staff could move a bit faster. But otherwise, it was easy in, easy out and pretty conveniently located. I had a great time.

I hope this venue is not the best that Asheville can provide because it sucks completely. ... I had read reviews that indicated this venue was past its prime and that is so true. The seating was in disrepair-- you can see evidence of that by the piles of seats in the back of the auditorium out in the open. The bathrooms are small and crowded and hot... and the sound was miserable. I've been to concerts from Florida to New York in high end theaters and the lowest dive bars and this venue has the worst sound of any place I have ever been in. Ever. It's epically stupid that Harrah's Cherokee Casino has bought the naming rights for this dump. The casino is not located anywhere close by and when you walk into that casino it's about 1 million times nicer than this place. I think all the people who are writing good reviews about this place need to take a trip to Atlanta and visit our Fox theater and see what a good venue was really all about. Asheville should be ashamed with this. Tear it down and start over.

This is a decent location for a concert. It's kinda old and needs some work to update things that have cracked or falling apart, but our concert was very good and enjoyable

I've been to Harrah's Cherokee Center probably 50 times and have seen many great concerts here as well as been to art fairs, food festivals, and crossfit competitions at this venue. All of my experiences have been great. I have so many fond memories that have taken place here. Yes, this is a large venue that has overpriced beer and mediocre food, but it is what it is. That being said, they serve local craft beers and they have a food vendor upstairs that is a local restaurant (I think it's Twisted Laurel?) and serves some awesome food items. They also have impossible burgers! That's a nice option since it's often hard for vegetarians to find something yummy at places like this. The positives of this place outweigh the negatives in my mind. Great concerts. Check their website calendar, so many awesome acts come through here all of the time.

Saw Magical! Nutcracker Christmas Ballet here on 11/20. Performers, costumes and backdrops were from around the world; were absolutely the most gorgeous I have seen. Did a VIP meet and greet with one of the performers before the show, received a free nutcracker ornament and 30th Anniversary book. Was the best Nutcracker performance I have ever seen as well as the costumes that were made. Even had local children in the performance!

Great venue for a concert. We saw Zach Bryan and the show was amazing. We sat in section 224. It was a higher seat but still a very good view. I would have a hard time imagining there is a bad seat in the house. It did take a while to get in the building due to security checks and the line was wrapped around the building. Like any event concessions were e expensive but there were plenty of options for food and drinks.

The Nathaniel Rateliff concert was amazing!!!! Look forward to the next shows i can find here. Parking was easy too

Gymnastic competition was held at Harrah's Cherokee Center. I love going to the Gala. It's our favorite competition.

It's okay...no luck winning. I'm used to seeing more people, more wins, more accommodations due to visiting Biloxi and Vegas.

We went to an event recently at the Cherokee Center in Asheville and I will probably never attend a future event at your venue. My wife had a purse with her (small, but not 6"x6"). Ahead of us was someone with a baby bag, about the twice the size of my wife's small purse. The large baby bag was allowed in, but of course we were not allowed in with the small purse. Security gave us the option to either forfeit it to them to throw the purse out (Really?!) or to walk back to our car (which was parked about half a mile away) so we could store the purse in the car. This, despite there being metal detectors and more than enough personnel to do a full bag-search to make sure we were not bringing in a firearm or anything dangerous. What a stupid policy for a venue that doesn't have dedicated parking. What a rediculous policy for the kind of events you hold (this one happened to be the Harlem Globetrotters). This nonsense is made even more asinine by virtue of the fact that you allow bags of 6"x6" (I think my wife's was probably 7" x 8"), large baby bags, and clear large plastic bags of 18". YOU ARE NOT AN AIRPORT. You are a community event center, and your policies on ladies' purses (which women carry around downtown to every other venue before they attend an event at yours) are arbitrary, irrational, and do not serve any conceivable purpose to further your guest's or venue's security. They do, however, serve to annoy thousands of ticketholders every night you host an event. As a new resident of Asheville, who attends a large number of events with family and guests of our own, we have taken note and written off the venue. We missed almost half of the event we paid for, due to having to walk back to our car, plus given the terrible amount of crime in downtown Asheville, we were worried about items that we were forced to leave in our car. Again, YOU ARE NOT AN AIRPORT, stop treating your guests worse than the TSA does to air travelers.

Dated yes, hard to park at big events yes, bad seat in the house? Nope. High quality events and shows, Yep. Have I ever had a problem here with staff or the venue, no sir. Look, does Asheville need a nicer newer event center, probably. But guess where that will be built? Not downtown! And then it will be even more traffic and parking. But honestly when the show is going on, the venue doesn't matter. The only time you notice is when your up walking around. We go to events for the event - not the venue. And for that fact I give it 5 stars and take one off for it just being dated. See you soon civic center!

Went here with my nephew Sean to see the Steep Canyon Rangers. It was the first show of their national tour and the first time I had seen them live. Just an exceptional live show and Nicky Smith the fiddle player was exceptional. the venue was just OK. The acoustics are not that great. The seating in the upper bowl could be better managed. There are no lights on the stairs or on the ends of the rows. We saw an older gentleman take a tumble head over heels, they had to call the medics. The section numbering system is faulty. If you are in section 230, there are no signs to indicate where you are to go. It's a round venue, if you are in section 230 you walk to the left side. I'm surprised they are not better organized. I'm just a customer, they should be professionals and interested in making this a good experience.

A pleasant venue for a concert with fairly good acoustics. The building, however, is looking a little "tired" not surprising given its age.

Dear Harrah's and City of Asheville. Y'all should be ashamed. You can afford to do better. This l place looks like it hasn't been updated since prohibition. Is it even climate controlled?

Absolute nightmare to load-in. Good stage hands bad management. So rude for no reason. Nothing but kindness from our crew with sneering back at us. Very disappointed.

Location? Good. Parking? Easy to find and plenty of it. The actual venue was ok. It was surprisingly very small and very outdated. We walked in and I honestly felt like it was a high school gym. We came here for a college basketball game. I did appreciate that the bathrooms were never busy and even though we had good seats, I don't think there is a bad seat here no matter how high you are in the stadium. Overall, it was a decent center and we enjoyed the venue.

I learned tonight that I have never known real music! This band takes you to the other side

"Meh. I've experienced better." Yelp hit the nail on the head with their description of two stars when it comes to the US Cellular Center. Okay, we've paid for event tickets. We can't get a parking spot within .75 miles of the arena to save our lives because apparently the parking decks are beyond insufficient. We've waited in lines galore and how are we rewarded in the arena?! TWO DOLLARS JUST FOR PERMISSION TO BUY A DRINK. Naturally, drinks aren't cheap, that's expected. But adding on two more dollars just to give me the privilege of waiting in line for a whopping three-beer selection? COME ON. Oh, and you want cash? One ATM on the far side of the world, as far as I could find. Bathrooms are fine. More stalls would've been ideal, but the facilities were fine. Thank goodness alt-J put on a phenomenal concert...

We attended the Billie Jean King Cup April 15 & 16. On the 16th it was hot in the building so we stepped outside the front door for some cool air. They wouldn't allow us back inside. They said there was a no re-entry rule. We were not informed of this when we entered. $550 for tickets. How is this allowed?!

I attended the weekend of the Southern Conferences Men's Basketball tournament for three days. The staff, for the most part, were respectful and helpful, until the day of the Championship. Almost immediately as soon as I walked through the doors, I was pestered by "management" and was forced to destroy two signs I had brought to the game. After pleading my case that I had brought these two signs into the last two games and had no trouble, the staff continued to cut off the back of the sign. After I received the top of the sign's back, the "managment" instructed me to come to pick up the sticks after the game. When I returned to retrieve my sticks, a rude staff member, whom I already had an issue with, informed me that the staff threw away my sticks after all of this trouble. This action was extremely unprofessional and a bad image for the Southern Conference and Harrah's Cherokee Center.

This place brings great shows but the way I was treated by the employees was utterly disgusting and beyond unprofessional. This situation has happened to me with the employees two weekends in a row. I attended a ballet with my mom that we had been planning for months and I realized that after I left the venue the bartender never gave me back my drivers license at the bar so I turned right back around and tried to ask for help and an employee named Benita had a disgusting attitude towards me about the whole situation acting like it was my fault and said they didn't have it. But I then got a call saying they did have it and I could come pick it up. Last night I attended another concert there and I informed the ushers at the front that I had left my license there at the bar the week prior and I needed to pick it up and they told me to wait until the end of the concert which is what I did. I left my phone in the bathroom and right away asked if anyone had returned a phone and all the employees told me no and to wait until the end. So I wait until about an hour for the concert to be over and I went to talk to the ladies at the concession stand and they all kept telling me to go talk to the usher at the front named Zack. So I talked to him about it and he said I was not able to get my phone or license and I had to wait until 10am the next morning and it's not their problem that I lost my phone and that maybe I should keep up with my belongings, I do not live in Asheville so they were refusing to even try to give me my phone. So I was not okay with them refusing to hold my phone. The employee Benita and Dion took the situation into their hands, brought me to the office where my phone ACTUALLY was and Benita gave me an attitude again right away and I asked her why there was attitude involved and she proceeded to get into my face and tell me that the bottom line is that I was NOT getting my license tonight and I told her that the bottom line is that there is no reason for me to be treated in such a disgusting way and tried to imply that I was lying about how the front door guy Zack treated me and told me "that he would never say that to me" As I was leaving I asked the front door guy was his name was and he told me his name and asked why I needed his name and all I said was thank you and walked away and he proceeded to make a comment as I was walking away and say "you're not going to get me in trouble sweetie". Mind you this place does bring great shows but some of these employees have a horrible attitude and should not be in this work place if they are going to be so incredibly rude. This has made me leave my shows very angry the past two times which I paid to be there. The US cellular would have 5 stars if it weren't for the employees ignorant attitude.

Highly recommend not going To see a show here. I bought $500 tickets for back stage general mission backstage and due to a medical emergency which was documented I missed out on an anniversary special trip and the money.

This is a great place for people of any age to see a show. Young and want to be in the center of the action? You can usually find a spot down on the main floor near the stage, though most shows I've seen here are General Admission so you'll be standing. Old like me and prefer to sit and enjoy the show? The seating that surrounds the stage is plentiful, and there are lots of exits to head out for a restroom or beer break without being concerned about getting lost on your way back. Restrooms are clean, there's plenty of parking around the place, and it's a pretty good-sized venue. I can't complain.

The Craft Fair of the Southern Highlands happens every year at Ashevilles Civic Center. Though it had been over 20 years since the last time I'd seen this event, it really hasn't changed much during the time. The Civic Center is structurally the same with come new concession stands on the upper level that I don't remember being there in the past. I big space, it still holds High School graduations and concerts with ease. The Craft Fair was a full event on both the upper floor and the ground level. No the sexiest architecture, but a fully functional building in my little home town.

This was our 5th Cheer competition of the year. All other facilities allowed us to bring our own drinks in, including 2 others run by the same company. They made us throw our drinks away at the door. I paid $15 a person to get in and I shouldn't be forced to buy OVER PRICED drinks. Place is not even that nice to begin with.

Your wifi is a joke. Sent from my AT&T phone while a web page is taking 5 minutes to load. Pathetic.

Sometimes security seem to be a little overly touchy feely for no reason, but have seen some great concerts here regardless. Really the only option for larger events in Asheville.

For a city with as many tourists and conventions as Asheville, I feel like we could do a shade or two better. On the outside, there's a pretty bad signage problem. For some reason they opted to get rid of a perfectly serviceable marquee made from moveable letters, and got themselves some kind of new-fangled LED affair that is (literally) on the blink most of the time. This means that whatever is happening inside over the next week or 2 is a total mystery, unless you happen to be sitting at a red light on the corner at exactly the right moment in the rotation. There's also a public safety problem, and I don't say that lightly. Parking is one block away in the Civic Center lot, which they really ought to call the Library Lot, because that's what the parking lot is *actually* close to. The Civic Center Parking Lot, and the hallway next to the public library that leads out of it, contain the scariest corners of all of Asheville. Urine-stained, vomit-splashed, and home to many unruly vagrants who seem to like to hide out in stairwells and elevators, jump out of shadows, and do/say inappropriate things to passers by. I'm 100% in favor of the housing-insecure among us taking shelter wherever they can, but I feel like the group that haunts this particular garage is scary and dangerous. I don't park there at all if I can avoid it. Rankin is cleaner and safer, and that's just 2 blocks away. Also worth mentioning, there's some generic bronze statues outside that seem to be a hit with the tourist crowd, but I find them to be a maudlin embarrassment in a city with so many talented local sculptors. On the inside, what you get is a no-frills interior that would probably be great for a smaller town, but for Asheville doesn't seem to do our city any favors. Acoustics are too echoey to make it suitable for a concert venue. Seating is basically glorified bleachers. Feels more like a high school gym, than an actual venue you'd pay money for. Considering just how many conventions we host every year, it seems like a facelift or an overhaul is overdue. Giving an extra star because the staff is friendly and they do serve local beer and ice cream most days.

For a town that relies on tourism they need to spend some money updating this venue. It is filthy and in desperate need of updating. The concession area is small and cramped. The floors sticky and the carpet dirty and old. The seats are stained, low and some broken. Time to tear it down and build something new.

I enjoyed the USCC a lot more when it had the old school movable letter marquee. About a year ago the USCC updated to a full color dot matrix display that looks like it came straight from the strip in Myrtle Beach. Now I have no idea what events are coming in to town. Sure, I can check their website, and the digital display looks cool, but the fact is, it's a needless upgrade. The letter board presented a lot more information a lot faster, one could see the entire line up of the next eight events while at one of the various stop lights out front of the venue. As a space, it's the best that Asheville has to offer. It may be of a vintage variety, but they've done some major overhauls and rework to the arena area. The Thomas Wolfe theater offers a fairly intimate experience even if you're sharing the show with 2400 other people. The USCC does what it needs to do to serve the fine population of Asheville and the surrounding area, I just wish I knew what was going on when I drive by it.

-Charged $2 for a wristband to buy drinks -my ATT phone showed a LTE signal but had absolutely no service in the building; I suspect US Cellular doesn't like the competition -someone told me to get to the general admission area by going down then stairs and then I was yelled at my staff at the bottom of the stairs that only staff could use that stairwell. -security doesn't check females at all....dangerous in today's society +the sound was good at the concert I attended

This review has nothing to do with the actual venue, I have had great experiences at shows here. My qualm is with the service I received at the box office. The attendant was flat out rude to me. The very first words out of her mouth were "Let's make this quick we don't allow dogs inside." 1) I had to come inside it was posted that you were not coming to the outside window. 2) There is no visible signage saying dogs aren't allowed, so if this is in fact the case you could have told me in a manner more pleasant and I would have come back without my dog in tow. I was having an issue with tickets I purchased and instead of being helpful she was curt, short and surly to me as if my presence was annoying to her. I'm sorry that my wanting to spend money to attend an event at YOUR place of employment is inconvenient to you. This is Asheville, a city that relies on service industry, and that is your job. It might be beneficial for the venue to have a refresher course with its employees in hospitable service.

Worst customer service I have ever had. I will never be coming back there again. Unless you enjoy paying for tickets and never receiving them and never getting a refund or help in any way please don't go here. show your support to any artists or shows by going to see them elsewhere.

I would like to speak to the upper level seating which is very steep and not safe. Saw an adult young person almost fall trying to negotiate the steps. If you need to get by other people to reach your seat the gap between persons standing to let you through and the next aisle below is very small and hazardous for seniors with limited mobility. We much prefer Thomas Wolf Auditorium. There also needs to be a big increase in handicap parking in the area as well.

This place is a bit of a dump but it's under renovations. Look forward to seeing the final product

Extremely rude customer service, the manager kept trying to talk trash to me as I was trying to walk away... Who hires managers like that? The ceiling is crumbling and falling apart, it's all around a trashy facility with trashy employees, it is very clear why/how that place is slowing running into the ground. You can have a bad facility if your employees are nice (that's how a lot of Asheville's places stay afloat, great people), or your facility needs to be fantastic if you are going to be having Jerry Springer audience members working as management.

Went to a concert at the Wolfe Auditorium section. 3rd row, far left, rather expensive tickets and the speakers the band had to bring on stage blocked a third of the stage. The building needs some serious renovations to support a modern sound system and more appropriate seating as well.