McMenamins Crystal Ballroom

11/28/09

Worst Place to See a Band!

by reason17 at Citysearch

I am never, ever going to see a concert at the Crystal again. I had forgotten how much it sucks. We went to a sold out show (The Swell Season) last week. We were packed in like sardines waiting and waiting. The opening act played and I never even saw him (and I'm 5'6"--average size for a woman--and was wearing boots with 2" heels)). Then we waited and waited and waited for the headlining act to go on. After 45 minutes, we just couldn't take it anymore. It was claustrophobic and we realized we wouldn't be able to see the band when they did come on. We left. We asked for our money back at the door but the people down there hemmed and hawed and said that they "it wasn't their show so there was nothing they could do." Whatever. $60 down the drain and we will never go back there again. For some reason this show is "Aladdin Theater Presents." I just wish it had been at the Aladdin, which is always a fantastic venue.

• Pros: historic, beautiful space
• Cons: terrible line of site to stage; offensive crowding

10/23/09

poor sound and forget bringing a bag

by sww8 at Citysearch

1. Despite the sizable ticket price, the sound was atrocious. couldn't clearly pick out a tune even in familiar songs. to be fair, the music was loud and raucous (the jesus lizard), but it still should be tuneful.

2. No bags allowed and they do not provide a bag check option. myself and others had to return to the car (and we were lucky, at least we had a car to go to) to drop our bags and missed the first band in the process.

3.We got frisked before entering (that's always a great way to start the night) and there were lots of signs listing out what not to do. again, fun.

4.Like a number of pdx venues, the drinkers and non-drinkers are separated by an aisle for security. Here however, the security folks were constanly run up and down throughout the show, looking for ne'er-do-wells. Very distracting.

• Pros: admittedly, lovely architecture
• Cons: no bags/bagcheck, crappy sound, not fun

01/05/09

Overpriced and understaffed. NYN on NYE was the biggest ripoff!

by klarenaugen at Citysearch

NYN....not worth it. We spent $150 each...YES EACH for a ticket. Thinking sure....free food and drinks all night. NO. All we did was wait in line. 2 bartenders for everyone. The drinks were the weakest drinks i have ever tasted. The champagne toast was the biggest rip off ever. They didn't even have enough to go around! Instead, they served redbull! It wasn't even champagne! You'd wait in line for 40 min to get a painfully weak drink, then you'd turn around and go directly to the back of the line. Despite the fact we spent $150 to get into the venue, once we were there, we couldn't leave. IF we left, we couldn't get back in. Couldn't have a cig, couldn't go to the car, couldn't get fresh air. We were locked in like cattle.

This was not the only event that i have been to that sucked at the crystal ballroom. Halloween, same thing. cost $40 to get in. Drinks were overpriced, waited 30 min to get a drink. Wtf? If you left, you couldn't get back in.

Come on management... It's mcminnemans, you guys aren't going under... the economy is terrible and there are SO many people that are willing to have a job...HIRE MORE STAFF!

I TOTALLY VETO the Crystal Ballroom.

• Pros: the venue is beautiful.
• Cons: overpriced, understaffed, poor management