Old Town School of Folk Music - Lincoln Square

I purchased what were supposed to be two first row balcony seats with a clear, UNOBSTRUCTED view of the concert stage. However, what I received instead were two OBSTRUCTED VIEW balcony seats with a large, UNDISCLOSED railing blocking my view of the entire performance (photo attached). I received seats G-201 and G-202 (seating chart attached). These seats were not sold as OBSTRUCTED VIEW. Had this information been disclosed, I would NOT have purchased these tickets. Upon entering the venue and finding my seats, I noticed that seats G-201, G-202, G-203, along with G-101, G-102 and G-103 are the only seats in the entire balcony section affected by this UNDISCLOSED obstruction. I immediately went to the Will Call / Customer Service Desk for help. The customer service representative checked availability but was unable to offer comparable seats. Following the show, I contacted Old Town. Director of Customer Service Erin English was aware of the obstructed view seating, claiming "not many people complain". Regardless of this, she declined a refund and stated Old Town "couldn't provide credit for concerts". However, she did offer to provide 2 tickets to a show of my choice. When a show finally came along that I wanted to see, it happened to be more expensive than what I paid for the original concert. Erin once again shifted and instead of providing tickets as previously agreed, now wanted to offer a credit towards ticket purchase...despite previously claiming to be unable to do so. At this point, I just want my money back as they are engaging in consumer fraud by not disclosing their obstructed-view seats. I have attended shows at this venue for 20 years or more. Such a sad and completely avoidable end to my patronage.

I've come here a few times for the Community jams and found them to be very hard to break into if you are not a regular student at the school. Nobody talks to you. Nobody even looks at you. Nobody lets you know what's happening. Everybody seems to know each other and Outsiders are obviously completely secondary. If you're trying to keep your folk Traditions alive, then grow community by welcoming people. It's sad because I would come here all the time if I thought it was a welcoming environment. I've actually taken two classes here I still feel like an outsider.

I took an ensemble session as my first ever experience at Old Town and it was a terrible experience. The instructor was insufferable - cracking inappropriate jokes about drummers when I told him I can fill in for the [absent] drummer, erroneously calling me out for rushing the song (hint: it was the guy next to me), turning his own guitar painfully loud on one instance to play a lead. Several times, he said, "I hope I don't have to go to HR again." I doubt Old Town has an HR or this guy might have exercised a degree of caution in expressing himself.

Very nice, intimate music venue. You can really feel connected to the performers, especially when seated on the main floor. We recently attended a Darlingside concert here, a group which we've enjoyed following since November 2013. One of the group's members grew up in the suburbs with our kids. Darlingside is achieving well-deserved growing fame for their amazing music. That night's opening band was Lula Wiles, a female trio who also feature wonderful harmonies in their songs. October, 2023: Another masterful show by indie-folk band Darlingside. A magical night.

Great team of musicians running the store. They all know their stuff! Excellent workmanship with repairs. They are very fair and reasonable.

Been coming to Old Town School of Folk Music for over 25yrs. Always a great time watching and hearing music from all over the globe

Gorgeous, intimate music venue. Seeing Watchhouse here was an absolute treat. We drove all the way from Louisville, KY to see them and I’m so glad that we did! I would love to come back when the store is open and look around. Next time we’re in Chicago, I plan on making that a priority.

I was confirming my ticket with the older woman, and she tells me I don’t have a real seat. (I bought it directly off the Old Town School of Folk Music site.) For about 7-8 minutes she interrogates my ticket buying process and holds up the line behind me. She told me to step aside and go to the help desk. They looked at my ticket and confirmed it was real. There was nothing different from me and the other people besides that I am a person of color. As I’m in line again, I see her confirming table seats like mine and smiling without giving a hard time. Once I got back to her, her smile dropped and she made me go next to the person with the iPad to confirm it was a real seat again and the other woman saw that it was. By the time I got in, I missed like 4 songs and it made me want to cry. I bought front row seats to see my favorite pianist, not to be discriminated against. Outside of that experience, the other staff members were pleasant and the space was as well. You can’t live in the city and be racist.