07/10/08

Eat and Drink before you get there!

by merlin2112

This is by far the worst venue ever! We went to see Joe Satriani there on St. Patrick's Day. Joe was awesome as always, but I dont know why they would ever book a rock show at this place. First of all, the Sfaff is rude, condescending and stand-offish. You almost feel like an inmate at this place because you cant do this and you cant have that. There is NO bar; only crummy sodas and potato chips that have to be guzzled down in the lobby as fast as possible so you dont miss anything. You get in trouble for bringing a darn bottle of water to your seat! When we asked where is the bar? they said "This is a High School" like how dare you ask! Funny thing-- we were never told this place was just a high school when they took our $300 bucks for the tickets....Oh yeah, there's no parking either, you have to find some shady lot in the neighborhood and then worry that your car wont be there when you get back! This place is Musty, dusty, and out-dated; it needs to be gutted and re-modeled. They dont want to spend one cent to update the place so they deprive the guests of refreshments at their seats. They just want your hard-earned money and then treat you with disrespect in return; I'll never go back!!

• Pros: easy to see the stage
• Cons: everything else!

07/30/07

Best sound and worst service at a venue in the Bay Area

by memphisbird

I had the opportunity to see Dream Theater at Berkeley Community Theater on Saturday, July 28th. I took two others to what should have been an unparalled night of music. So I popped for the extremely expensive pit tickets at a price of $150 each.

Since were we seated in the fourth row in the pit, we expected to be able to really enjoy a close-up look at the band. Unfortunately, the pit seats are movable- and the first three rows in front of us were pushed back to the point where the fourth row was virtually being crushed. We stood in the aisle for nearly two hours without a break. Needless to say- not what you'd expect from a venue charging $150 for these preferred seats. I was also recently injured and had a splint on my right arm - which meant that I was in extreme pain to begin with. By the end of the show, it was unbearable.

Although we let the security staff know that our seats were unusable, we had no person to contact about it. I stopped and talked to several members of the security force on the way out, and was told to contact the Berkeley Community Box Office about it. I went online and tried for hours to find a website or administrative person to discuss at the very least, a partial refund for our seats without success.

Much to my disgust, they are IMPOSSIBLE to reach!! The box office number listed only gives you a voicemail instruction on when it's open- you can't reach a human being!

I love the theater- I love the artists that I've seen perform there- but I've never been more disappointed and put out by the negligence at a venue before. As a member of the music community myself, I'm now going to be telling every musician I know to NEVER buy a preferred seat at this venue- because they don't protect the audience.

I will continue to try to contact the theater, but my best guess is that I just got ripped off for almost $500 for seats that should have been the best in the house. Six thumbs down for service for this venue.

• Pros: Best acoustics in the Bay Area
• Cons: NO security - were unable to use the $150 seats we bought!