When the venue makes the show

[Rogue Elephant]

Recently while traveling in Italy I attended two classical concerts, one a Beethoven piano recital and the other a Vivaldi string orchestra concert. The piano recital was held in a remarkable 18th century ballroom that had been converted into a concert hall and the Vivaldi was held in a fantastic church that had been likewise turned into a performance space. The atmosphere of both places elevated the musical experience and enjoyment immensely. This got me thinking, do any of you have a preferred prog venue or even a fantasy venue where we could attend prog shows? They could be clubs, music halls, churches, art spaces or outdoor venues such as national parks and monuments, or unesco world heritage sites. I know that Paul Winter used to do a show in the Grand Canyon and the audience and band would have to hike 6 hours into the canyon to hear the show and that David Gilmour is playing at Pompeii again in early July. Chime in with your favs and fantasy venues.

[JKL2000]

Pompeii was certainly effective for the Floyd film.

I've seen a couple of concerts at Radio City Music Hall, which is a beautiful venue, especially if you're far back in the balcony. I saw Roger Waters there on the Pros & Cons tour, and there were a ton of empty seats up there for some reason. It was so beautiful and roomy, it was great.

BTW, unrelated, but do any New Yorkers remember the old Trans Lux movie theater at I think 85th and Madison Ave? It was a beautiful art-deco theater, I saw many movies there as a kid - the lobby was beautiful too. Then some time in the 80s or 90s some bastards tore it down. A crime!

[Supersonic Scientist]

Well, The renovated Fox Theater in Atlanta is certainly a great play to see a show.

I recall seeing the Paul Winter Consort do their Winter Solstice concert at, I believe, Cathedral of St. John the Divine (back in '86 or so)....such a beautiful place to experience something like that, especially when they used the pipe organ.

[rcarlberg]

The outdoor Hollywood Bowl has always been a treat. Here in WA we also have The Gorge, a natural outdoor amphitheater. I hear it's nice.

[rickawakeman]

I really enjoy shows in "sacred" settings. Seeing Patrick Moraz do his solo grand piano show at a beautiful old church in Brattleboro (VT), or Fripp leading his Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists in a beautiful church sanctuary in Hadley (MA)...special shows made more unique by the unique venues.

[markwoll]

I really like Wolf Trap for the listening experience.
The sound is usually pretty good, there is an abundance of background noise due to being outdoors, but when the band is playing you don't really notice.
The Barns at Wolf Trap have a great sound for jazz and "chamber prog" Louder bands usually sound loud no matter where they play.
I used to go to classical and jazz performances at the National Gallery in DC. It is a very live room, lots of marble.
If the music was right for the room it was perfect. Sometimes it was just echos and not so good.

Oh yeah, Orion can be a pretty awesome place. Storybook Farm too.

[NogbadTheBad]

Royal Albert Hall for Clapton was a wonderful venue with spectacular sound.

[SteveSly]

My favorite venue is the Kalamazoo State Theater: http://www.kazoostate.com/ Which is a beautiful old vaudeville theater originally built in the 1920’s. A great place to see any kind of music.

[happytheman]

Only seen Red Rocks as a tourist.. never a show there but I suspect it's mighty special..
We have a venue in Richmond Va. Lewis Gintner Botanical Garden I've seen several shows there.. wonderful ambience as well as great sound.

[UnderAGlassMoon]

Love to see a show at Red Rocks someday. I've always preferred outdoor shows for the most part. Makes it feel more open and less crowded. Arena shows tend to make me feel a bit claustrophobic.

Used to love going to shows at the Greek Theater in L.A. Saw a bunch of shows there including ABWH, which was great.

Worst venue experience for me was seeing Dream Theater at a club called The Fenix in Seattle. Mostly because they packed as many people in to this small little club as possible. LaBrie commented early on that they should have booked a bigger venue. This was the Falling Into Infinity tour.

[mozo-pg]

I was impressed with The Egg in Albany, N.Y. when I saw Crimson for two nights.

[GuitarGeek]

Anytime you can see a concert in an old style concert hall or theater, a place specifically built for concerts, is always nice. I've been to Cleveland Music Hall, Radio City Music Hall, and the Chicago Theater, and those were all great venues. There was a place in Cincinnati, too, where I saw Yes on the Ladder tour, I think it was the Taft Theater? That was a really good place. There was a place in Indianapolis, where I saw King Crimson and John Paul Jones, but I don't remember the name of the place, I got the impression that was another old school theater as well.

Another cool venue, in Cleveland, is the Beachland Ballroom. If I'm not mistaken, the actual ballroom itself (there's a "tavern" attached, as well) is literally a ballroom, built back in the 40's for like big bands or whatever. It's not real big, maybe holds a couple thousand people on the outside, if even that, but it's a nice place to go for a show. The only thing is, they usually don't have much seating (they put out tables and chairs sometimes and very occasionally, they'll have folding chairs arranged like a theater seating), so a lot of times you either have to stand or sit on the floor (or at the bar, which is off to the side, so you can't actually see the stage.

Oh yeah, and Playhouse Square, again in Cleveland, has hosted some nice concerts too. That's where The Musical Box plays when they come to Cleveland (the Allen Theater, where Genesis actually played in 74-75, is part of Playhouse Square, though usually The Musical Box ends up playing in one of the other theaters there, though the first time I saw them do The Lamb was at the Allen Theater).

The thing I remember about Radio City Music Hall was, my seats were up in I think the third mezzanine, whatever the top floor was, that was mine, and I think I was in literally in the last row. So, one of my friends advised me to take the elevator down to the bottom floor (I think I had to use the men's room anyway), and then just walk up the stairs and just look at all the beautiful artwork on the walls, which is exactly what I did.

Oh, and let's not forget Baker Hall at the Zoellner Arts Center...can't remember what the hell I was there for, though.

For me, though, "nice" venues like that are usually few and far between. Usually it's dinghy clubs or hole in the wall places or big oversized stadiums and arenas. I can't imagine what it must be like to see a band like Genesis or arenas or very occasionally, stadiums.

[ThomasKDye]

The Gorge Amphitheatre in Washington is a STUNNING place to see a show.

"Opened in 1985, this venue offers sweeping and majestic views of the Columbia River as it skirts the foothills of the Cascade Range southbound, as well as extreme eastern Kittitas County and extreme western Grant County. It is also known for its spectacular views of the Columbia Gorge canyon."

I saw Rush on the "Snakes and Arrows" tour there in 2007. The wind was blowing from behind the stage, and it blew the dry ice into eerie, swirling shapes... during the song "Spindrift," which is an eerie, swirling sort of song. The effect was amazing...it affected the lighting on Geddy and Alex to the point where it felt more like a walk through an ethereal world than a stage effect.

It's a long drive from Seattle, but anyone in Washington should see a show there at least once. It'll really blow your mind.

[Mt. Pleasant Farm]

The venue used for The Night of The Prog Festival in Loreley is breathtaking. Right on the bank of The Rhine River.

[NogbadTheBad]

Nearfest Zoeller, ProgDay field & RIO hall in Carmaux are probably my favorites but mainly for all the great bands I saw with an assortment of friends.

[JKL2000]

The weirdest venue I've been in was the Renaissance Theater in Rochester, NY. I saw Marillion there in 1987, and Fish commented on how weird the place was. Can't really describe it - there was some kind of elaborate wood carving behind the stage, and the whole floor was level, no sloping at all, so Fish MADE everyone in the front sit on the floor so the people behind could see. That worked pretty well. One of my best concert experiences by far!

Lost Horizon in Syracuse was a hole, but the most intimate venue I've been in. Saw some great bands there up close and personal: Marillion, Johnny Winter (in the 80s), Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Masters of Reality (when they were good)

[Joe F.]

Worst venue experience for me was seeing Dream Theater at a club called The Fenix in Seattle. Mostly because they packed as many people in to this small little club as possible. LaBrie commented early on that they should have booked a bigger venue. This was the Falling Into Infinity tour.

I was at that show. That was a miserable experience. The building was condemned after it sustained damage in the 2001 earthquake that we had up here.

However, I did see two pretty cool shows there that were not as crowded. I saw Fish on the Sunsets tour, and Gong after Pierre Moerlen rejoined.

[Jubal]

Well, The renovated Fox Theater in Atlanta is certainly a great play to see a show.

Todd Rundgren's Utopia "Utopia Theme" was recorded there and sounded fantastic. Lynyrnd Skynyrd's live album was recorded there as well.
Celtic Woman recorded the "Believe" show as well.Bagpipers marching down the long aisles sounded incredible!

Two other decent venues in Atlanta are Symphony Hall (I saw Renaissance there and they used a special high end sound system. I never found out what it was, but it sure sounded great)
and Center Stage Theater (saw several "New Age acoustic" acts there), where Kansas recorded their Device-Voice-Drum show.

While the Fox is a great place for a concert, I strongly discourage booking the ballrooms for events. I DJed a wedding there once and the room was dark, dank and musty. Also, the load in there is a major pain in the butt. I had to use an OUTDOOR dumb waiter and had to roll a cart of DJ equipment across a 3' wide metal plate that bridged a 3' gap 30' up above the pavement! That was easily the scariest moment of my DJ career. After that, I intentionally quoted triple my normal price for any Fox weddings. I never did another gig there.

[Zeuhlmate]

The Orb Live Trekroner Fortress Copenhagen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R33zI5HkuPQ

[3LockBox]

Here in WA we also have The Gorge, a natural outdoor amphitheater. I hear it's nice.

Its gorgeous

[flowerking]

I'd hate to go to a concert where the venue made the show because that meant that the venue was better than the band. There are plenty of venues I've seen that have enhanced a show or have been perfect settings for a show, but not better than... On the other hand, there are some venues that truly can ruin a show.

[Wah3]

Shepard Park in Lake George NY is pretty cool. Free summer concerts in a small natural amphitheater looking out on "The Queen of American Lakes" as Thomas Jefferson called it. One band this summer, the Galactic Cowboy Orchestra, bills themselves as art rock, has anyone ever heard of them?image.jpg

[NogbadTheBad]

Shepard Park in Lake George NY is pretty cool. Free summer concerts in a small natural amphitheater looking out on "The Queen of American Lakes" as Thomas Jefferson called it. One band this summer, the Galactic Cowboy Orchestra, bills themselves as art rock, has anyone ever heard of them?image.jpg

They played ProgDay a couple of years ago and went over very well. Violin, Vocals, Guitar, Bass, Drums, boogie prog.

[markwoll]

One band this summer, the Galactic Cowboy Orchestra, bills themselves as art rock, has anyone ever heard of them?

I like them. Sort of jazz rock bluegrass fusion. I do prefer their instrumentals to the vocal pieces.

[battema]

One of the early ProgDays (maybe 98 or 99?) got chased indoors by the weather, into the Cat's Cradle. It was a dark venue, not entirely ideal for vendor browsing. That said, for me it was the perfect spot to see Thinking Plague (I still get chills thinking about the piano interlude during the set) and NeBeLNeST.