Concert venues

The Armory and Surly Festival field are both great newer venues in MN.

Red Rocks is a must

The Gorge in WA is an awesome outdoor venue as well.

WI has Alpine Valley and Summerset.

buddah6 wrote:

No love for the new venue in Waite Park? The Ledge amphitheater is awesome. Huge outdoor venue at a granite quarry that just opened this year. Took my son to Rancid and the Dropkick Murphys and the wife to 311. Hour drive from my house in Richfield but a great outdoor spot!!

Never heard of the Ledge until now. Sounds pretty awesome! Will have to keep an eye on future performances! Thanks!

buddah6 wrote:

No love for the new venue in Waite Park? The Ledge amphitheater is awesome. Huge outdoor venue at a granite quarry that just opened this year. Took my son to Rancid and the Dropkick Murphys and the wife to 311. Hour drive from my house in Richfield but a great outdoor spot!!

Oh man you going to rancid brings me back to my triple rock days. So many great punk bands played there. And drop kick always plays a good show, same with flogging Molly

Bearcat89 wrote:

flogging Molly

Flogging Molly, on the rooftop of Cosmopolitan in Vegas, on St Patrick’s day, now that was a good time.

A summer concert at Bayfront in Duluth is always a pretty cool setting.

My wife and I have really grown to love the Turf Club. Part of it is probably the number of artists that we like that play there. All the First Ave clubs do a pretty solid job in my opinion.

One I was sad to see trade hands and then close was Lee’s Liquor Lounge. It was like stepping into a time machine and they got great outlaw and honkeytonk acts in there. Plus it was just a regular hang for a lot of blue collar folks and people in the trades which was nice to see vs being packed with hipsters like a lot of other places.

Alpine Valley down by Milwaukee gets my vote. Saw the Stones and the Who within a couple weeks of each other back in 1989 before moving back to the Twin Cities. Stevie Ray Vaughan last concert was at Alpine Valley.

Bearcat89 wrote:

Just went to knotfest in Iowa. Was in a huge cornfield. That was sweet. Was at the armory last week for lamb of god and megadeath, that place was nice as well. I’ve seen so many shows its hard to say. Smaller venues are always better.
My favorite all time was triple rock.

I was at the armory last week too. Great show, my first time there. Love the backdrop, rear corner had a weird echo they could probably solve with some acoustic engineering. Mill City nights is fun too, skyway is alright the slanty floor leaves me with sore calves every time. First Ave is a must at least once IMO, solid venue.

St. paul: Roy Wilkins sucks, terrible sound. Excel is solid, I loved metal shows at station 4 but IDK if it’s even open anymore (it’s actually kind of a shitty venue but that’s what made it great, hard to explain). Harriet Island is fun, most outdoor shows are. The Old Midway stadium was excellent, shame its gone.

As a kid, I was at at Alpine Valley in East Troy, WI a lot. Ok venue, but back then concerts were $ 9.00 to $18.00. But crowd size and getting out of the parking lot sucks donkey balls. As I’m getting older, I hate crowds and have a lot less patience for selfish asinine people. Especially drunk people driving afterwords.

Best venue I have ever been to is Red Rock. Getting in/out with big crowds is organized and efficient. Seating is great and the acoustics there is amazing.

We have been hitting county fairs for the last 15 years. Cheap, small crowds, and get to see a lot of the up and coming artists. Some are a bust, but at the price I don’t mind. Also, many of the county fairs around here contribute to 4H or other youth programs. I see it as a good investment

The District in Sioux Falls has quickly become my favorite venue. Perfect size, they bring in a ton of texas/red dirt/independent country artists, as well as rock, punk, & hip hop groups/artists as well. 3 Bars, a U shaped balcony, and great acoustics.

I used to be a punk-rocker and even used to be in a punk band. Who knew I’d end up a conservative-leaning, boring, middle-aged hockey dad living in the ex-urbs?!
I guess after running with the crowd for a while it didn’t take long to see that while most of that scene preached non-conformity, they were among the BIGGEST conformists and had no tolerance for opinions other than their own. Basically if you didn’t tow the line, you weren’t one of them. BUT I STILL LOVE THE MUSIC!

Went to some basement shows in Mankato in the mid-90s (Literally a band set up, loud AF next to some old furnace in a utility space) those were among my favorites. Saw NOFX, Face to Face and Ten Foot Pole at an old dive called Marty’s Pizza in downtown Mankato (I don’t think I ever saw one pizza served). But Man! the 1st Ave Main Room shows were great. Also saw Rancid there in their hey-day, Bouncing Souls, Lagwagon, Screw 32, Descendents, ALL, NoUseForAName all at main room, among others. Would love to go back in time to see The Replacements or Husker Du there, but that was a bit before my time. I remember coming out of that place ears ringing, drenched in sweat, all bruised up and sometimes bleeding. There was always the same guy on the corner asking for money for a tow. 5 years, same dude. Wonder if that car ever did get towed???

Bump.

Who is in for Eric Church? By process of elimination we’ve figured out that you have to be fairly close at U.S. Bank Stadium for the acoustics. I wouldn’t buy upper level tickets as the sound gets substantially worse. It’s not our favorite music venue, but Church is good.

This will be our 3rd time seeing him and he hasn’t disappointed yet. Stapleton, Church, and Garth have been phenomenal every time we’ve seen them.

buckybadger wrote:

Who is in for Eric Church?

Love Eric Church, we are debating on going. $250/ticket for decent lower level is a little much imo. I’ve seen him at least a dozen times and always puts on a show! First time I saw him was at like 2 pm at We Fest with about 100 other people and he ripped it like he was the headliner and the stands were packed, and the next year he was headlining We Fest, pretty cool!

I think the Mrs. said the ones she got for us and another couple were $215 a piece for lower level after all fees and whatnot. It’s definitely not cheap, but if she’s happy…I’m happy.

She’s the concert lover, so I tell her I’ll go if I’m only in charge of the gas and driving us there. Unfortunately at $4.50 a gallon and a few rounds of drinks with dinner and I may be coming up on the short side

bzzsaw wrote:

Alpine Valley down by Milwaukee gets my vote. Saw the Stones and the Who within a couple weeks of each other back in 1989 before moving back to the Twin Cities. Stevie Ray Vaughan last concert was at Alpine Valley.

X2 For Alpine Valley Music Theatre – It’s in Troy Wisc. I see Jimmy Buffet is on the schedule again this summer. The Jimmy buffet concert at Alpine Valley is a incredible experience. It is on the side of a Ski Hill. If you go get there early and go to the area where all the motorhomes and Trailers are set up. One hell of a Party experience for sure. I would also be sure to make a weekend out of it and swing by the New Glarus brewery while in the general area. That is another great experience in itself. Lots of great Beers to sample.

Was at the armory last night and that place is really nice and whiskey Meyers was awesome

Going to Journey on Monday…at the X.

Church is decent but I’ll take Wallen! If ya haven’t gotten hammered drunk and sang sappy country love songs to a woman at a concert it’s a must.

Sam Hunt is gonna rock it at mystic. Yeah, I said it.

Bearcat89 wrote:

Was at the armory last night and that place is really nice and whiskey Meyers was awesome

I had a work dinner last night and was pissed to miss that one. Love the Armory and Whiskey Myers even more! Them or Paul Cauthen are the best country thing going right now imo.

Beads, Sam Hunt? Really?🤢

BigWerm wrote:

Beads, Sam Hunt? Really?🤢

Beads likes his bodies like a back road.

BigWerm wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>Bearcat89 wrote:</div>
Was at the armory last night and that place is really nice and whiskey Meyers was awesome

I had a work dinner last night and was pissed to miss that one. Love the Armory and Whiskey Myers even more! Them or Paul Cauthen are the best country thing going right now imo.

Beads, Sam Hunt? Really?🤢

The show was great. Got to see merican eagle there as well. Got pretty tuned up. Ubered to a hotel ate some midnight pizza luce and wings. Was a great night. Hung out with the garmin guys in the hotel and had a few cocktails. They were working the sports show.
No Sam hunt for me, nor church or Wallen. But my girlfriend would probably love all 3 of those

Rock fest in Caddot has some great bands this year, including Halestorm and Evanesence!

fishtoeat wrote:

Rock fest in Caddot has some great bands this year, including Halestorm and Evanesence!

Hallstrom puts on a great set. We met lizzy 3 times now back stage. She is incredibly genuine.
We are going to tool on Sunday but it’s at the target center. Not that exilerating. I’ve seen tool so many times but my girlfriend is really excited to go so we got floor tickets.

Bearcat89 wrote:

Was at the armory last night and that place is really nice and whiskey Meyers was awesome

It was good seeing you last night! Not a fun drive to the land of bullheads this morning…

Deuces wrote:

Sam Hunt is gonna rock it at mystic. Yeah, I said it.

Ahh. Your username makes more sense now. Must have named it after what San Hunt enjoys on the weekends.

404 ERROR wrote:

Mr.Beads wrote:
Sam Hunt is gonna rock it at mystic. Yeah, I said it.

Ahh. Your username makes more sense now. Must have named it after what San Hunt enjoys on the weekends.

If I can bump up to the 75mm’s he said he’d get me a new jacket to match my murse.

Fishthumper wrote:

X2 For Alpine Valley Music Theatre – It’s in Troy Wisc. I see Jimmy Buffet is on the schedule again this summer. The Jimmy buffet concert at Alpine Valley is a incredible experience. It is on the side of a Ski Hill. If you go get there early and go to the area where all the motorhomes and Trailers are set up. One hell of a Party experience for sure. I would also be sure to make a weekend out of it and swing by the New Glarus brewery while in the general area. That is another great experience in itself. Lots of great Beers to sample.
[/quote]

Buffett at Alpine is fun. I really miss him at Summerfest at the old Marcus Ampitheater. Shows were a blast, crowd was just as good. He packs more people in at Alpine but the vibe at Summerfest was hard to beat.

I miss the old days (for me early 2000s) and the Minneapolis rock scene at some of the venues that we lost. Going to shows at the Quest, Urban Wildlife, First Ave back when tickets were 5-15 dollars and there were some killer local bands.

mahtofire14 wrote:

I miss the old days (for me early 2000s) and the Minneapolis rock scene at some of the venues that we lost. Going to shows at the Quest, Urban Wildlife, First Ave back when tickets were 5-15 dollars and there were some killer local bands.

This life still strives. Lots of great shows and venues still. I’ve always liked going to live shows. Anything from country to rock to local hip hop, my favorite was triple rock in mpls for punk shows but that place was torn down. We seen highly suspect there right before they tore it down. One of the best shows from my late teen years was nofx at the triple rock.

Deuces wrote:

If I can bump up to the 75mm’s he said he’d get me a new jacket to match my murse.

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I guess I wasn’t aware there are other uses for beads other than macramé, bracelets and spinners. You guys ever think about doing a how-to video on how to get the most out of your beads. TIA…