Lex T.
Yelp
Last night was my first night at The Fillmore, and this is the worst venue I've ever been to.
It literally has the worst aspects I've ever encountered at a venue, all at once and all in one place, and then turned up to the max, and the worst part is these are all active decisions made by the venue ownership.
I can only wish I never have to be a "guest" in this utterly terrible venue again.
Here's a list of gripes, off the top of my head:
1) 70-80% of the upper level is premium seating that is not open to the public, including essentially the inner ring of the upper level, meaning you have to pay even more on already overpriced Ticketmaster tickets to sit there. Tonight at this sold out show the inner ring is about 80% empty.
Further, with somebody on staff policing every one of these "premium" zones (3-4 of them?) the venue is clearly investing more effort and staff into milking another dollar from the guests than they are in providing a reasonable experience for their guests.
2) A soda water is $6, I can't imagine how much folks are paying for booze here.
3) The shakedown by security upon entry is worse than the worst TSA experience I've ever had. The dude frisked my crotch and put his fucking fingers under my bracelet and watch band.
4) There are MPD officers hired to stand out in front of the venue, and of course they can't do that without parking their MPD cruisers on the sidewalk. The MPD are not somebody I would willingly trust to be around a group of people without presenting a threat to the safety of that group of people.
5) The sound is terrible. It's gotten slightly better since I've been here, now 30 minutes into the opener's set, but it still sounds like trash, which is very surprising given that this is a brand new venue specifically designed and built to be a venue.
6) There's no smoking patio and there's re-entry, once you're in here you're stuck.
7) They don't take cash at the bar.
8) They won't let you bring a backpack into the venue, like I can't even bring one and have it coat-checked. If I were to come here with any frequency I'd generally be trying to arrive by bike, which means I'd have a backpack with.