Criterion Concert Hall

[Bullbear]

So I have a question. Im going to the Death Cab concert on Sat and it will be my wifes and I first time at the criterion. We have GA tickets, so are we limited to just the floor? Ive not been in here, so I have no idea how packed the floor gets and if my wife could see the stage (5'0"). Any tips or ideas on the best place to try and be for the concert? I'm assuming the GA is bascially just pit, so once you get in there, you can never get back out and in for a drink.

GA is entire downstairs and upstairs with exception of a smallish VIP area if they have that.. your best bet for her to see it to go upstairs. the upstairs has risers. you are still standing but it steps up so that you can see over the people ahead of you. I'd head up there first and find a good spot.

[TheTravellers]

Based on past shows I've been to, 75% of the balcony is GA with the stage left corner reserved for VIP tickets. If you get there early enough you should be able to get a good spot up there.

Yep.

Floor's not too much of a pit, but yeah, hard to get back in once you get out, and your wife wouldn't be able to see anything (it's hard for me to see much from the floor unless I'm near the back/side and I'm 5'9"). I'd suggest the balcony along the front row - security keeps the rails/walkway clear in front of the bleachers, and since your wife's short, the view from the front row of the balcony is the best place (my wife's 5'2", so I'm in the same predicament). The bleachers in the balcony are pretty highly stepped, so even if you don't get front row, she should be able to see pretty well. Upstairs bars aren't as crowded as the floor one either.

We got to Bon Iver before 7:00, which is when the doors were supposed to open, but there was no line outside, so they opened early, and our usual spot of left-side back corner front row was taken already (it was probably half full when we got in), but that was fine this time because of the stupid lighting situation I mentioned.

[shawnw]

anyone else find it odd they won't let you leave the building with a water bottle you bought from the bar? I don't recall seeing this elsewhere...

[soonerguru]

anyone else find it odd they won't let you leave the building with a water bottle you bought from the bar? I don't recall seeing this elsewhere...

Yes my wife and I got a chuckle out of this tonight. There always has to be some sort of oppressive nonsense somewhere. Hey, we have full strength beer and legal weed but God forbid you leave a music venue with a bottled water.

[soonerguru]

And by the way, the balcony was not for GA unless you purchased a balcony ticket. Luckily, some promoter chap inside hooked us up with "Premium Pit" passes, so we were way up front. It was a great way to see the show but was so corporate and weird.

[Rover]

anyone else find it odd they won't let you leave the building with a water bottle you bought from the bar? I don't recall seeingt this elsewhere...

Maybe people attempt to sneak strong drink out in the bottles so rather than check everything they just set a rule.

[hoya]

anyone else find it odd they won't let you leave the building with a water bottle you bought from the bar? I don't recall seeing this elsewhere...

Haven't ever been there, but I'd like to see someone try and stop me.

[OSUPeterson]

I saw security man handling some girls and a guy because they had a water bottle in their hand last night. Cause way more issues than the solved. Didn't see anything posted about leaving with water.

That being said, this place was awful and I don't think any band could bring me back. I took people advice and headed upstairs with my short wife. Didn't know that our GA tickets didn't get us to the balcony, but no one stopped us and the staff was clueless about it

The talking was horrific. I've never been to a concert, especially a death cab one, where everyone was just screaming and having conversations about her week or clothes or whatever. Could barely hear the band. The speakers also don't seem to be setup to get music upstairs, the vocals were hard to hear and the sound just wasn't as good as I was expecting. Saw lots of people spilling drinks and being a-holes and staff and security could not have cared less. It was embarrassing.

I know this is partly an OKC crowd issue( which is why we don't deserve nice things yet) but most other venues I have been to would shut the crazy amount of talking down, or announce it or something. Such a let down.

[TheTravellers]

Totally weird to hear about these things. We've been to at least 6 shows there and either the balcony was completely closed off except for the VIP area in the stage left corner, or GA like the rest of the place, have never heard of needing separate balcony tickets just for the bleacher area. Sound is almost always better upstairs than it is downstairs, especially if you're under the balcony, where it's horrible. Could've been the band's sound crew that sucked, since the sound at the Bon Iver show a few days ago was pristine, loud, and crystal clear no matter where you were (we were in the middle balcony a few rows up). Will agree about the talking, seems like there are a lot of people that go there and Jones Assembly just to go/see and be seen instead of to listen to the band, but that goes on everywhere, I was annoyed by it 15 years ago at clubs in Chicago...

[SEMIweather]

Will agree about the talking, seems like there are a lot of people that go there and Jones Assembly just to go/see and be seen instead of to listen to the band, but that goes on everywhere, I was annoyed by it 15 years ago at clubs in Chicago...

Huge problem at the larger Tower shows as well (thinking particularly of the Colter Wall concert I saw there back in December). It's really disappointing and one of the reasons I prefer to just see local OKC/Norman bands in concert. I doubt that it's exclusively an OKC problem, though.

[Anonymous.]

The leaving with drink thing is very standard. In fact, most regular bars have the same rule. You can't leave with any beverage purchased at the establishment. I believe this is to cover themselves from potential fines for people leaving with alcohol. Almost every bar in OKC I have been in, has this rule.

[jonny d]

The Racontuers are coming to the Criterion.

[OSUPeterson]

I'm so conflicted. Knitting Factory is getting some awesome music (at least for my personal tastes), but based on the show this weekend I could just as easily watch one of their concerts on my phone off youtube while sitting in the middle of the drunken fry and have about the same experience.

I just cant wrap my head around paying money for a show, then just going to screw around or be piss drunk. Like, there are way more fun and much much cheaper places to be drunk and have a conversation with live music. I had other friends that sat on the other side of the balcony area from us and then some on the floor, they said the floor was really hard to hear the music because of all the talking. My friend in the balcony said in her area there wasn't too much talking, but there was a couple who were grinding and lapdancing (probably a first to death cab for cutie) and pretty much cleared the area of people.

I think this may be the point where I've become an old man ranting about the youths on the internet. Time for a cardigan and a deep love of hard candies now

[jccouger]

LOL @ people who go to concerts and don't expect there to be talking, drinking or dancing.

[jonny d]

LOL @ people who go to concerts and don't expect there to be talking, drinking or dancing.

Haha, I always think of The Simpsons, and the old man yells at cloud GIF when I see that.

[Bullbear]

The sounds issue does sound odd .. because Bon Iver sounded fantastic in the balcony. That is a first I have seen a separate ticket for GA for Balcony as well but I am sure they can change things show to show based on the band or whatever. I fully expect people to be drinking and talking but there is also a line to where your just being a A@^hat. I am also not afraid to tell someone to hush. I'm a big dude usually a few glances at loud talkers does the trick.

[OSUPeterson]

LOL @ people who go to concerts and don't expect there to be talking, drinking or dancing.

I get it. But I think there's a line. Its a fun environment and people enjoy concerts and talk and dance. Once its just screaming at the person 2 feet from you for 4 hours straight not about the concert at all, and its roughly half the people in the venue, its way past the standard people talking and being drunk and carrying on. You can do whatever you want, but not to the detriment of everyone else in the venue. Most places that have their act together handle that.

Same with dancing. When your hard grinding and giving a lapdance at a death cab concert, its quite distracting. Its also one thing to be doing that in the GA pit, its slightly more odd in the balcony where there are risers and those folding chairs and all that.

I mean, I didn't complain about the weed being smoked so I'm not fully grump old dude.

[Bullbear]

I mean, I didn't complain about the weed being smoked so I'm not fully grump old dude.

My comment during bon Iver about weed was " man don't people know you can get edibles or Vape 420 now and its wayyyyy easier than blazing a joint..lol

[borchard]

My wife and I went for the first time recently to see Maron Morris. I bought tickets online from the Criterion website. I noticed that there were many, different price levels, so I bought tickets somewhere in the middle of the range. We get in the venue, and there are NO ropes anywhere. No sections. We started downstairs, and eventually went up to the balcony. So WHY were there DIFFERENT price ranges for the SAME ticket, basically?

[Jersey Boss]

I mean, I didn't complain about the weed being smoked so I'm not fully grump old dude.

Ha HA. Old dudes grew up with smoking weed at concerts. It's the youngsters that are aghast at smoking at concerts. All things being equal I would trade off weed smoke and assigned seats than open seating/no seating and no smoke.

[BDP]

The Racontuers are coming to the Criterion.

Dude!

[BDP]

I will say this about the Criterion: My impression is that it is not an easy room. I have been to shows that sound good, even great (David Byrne), but I've also moved around the room at shows and it can vary wildly, but most rooms are that way. I think it does have a cavernous nature for a room its size (hard surfaces), but some engineers seem to handle it. I thought the Death Cab show sounded good, but I was pretty in line with the arrays, so I was getting more mix than room. I have not watched a full show from the balcony, but I can see how there would be trouble spots up there, and I imagine in most cases an engineer never steps foot up there.

It basically has too many hard surfaces and most are more reflective than refractive, so it's hard for it be a a "sounds good everywhere" type place. These days a good engineer can compensate for that, but it's not easy and they have about 2-3 hours tops to figure it out. Something like Cain's is a lot easier, but I always find I have to choose my spot there, too. I find it's only in those older theaters that were designed for clarity and projecting with wildly varied wood and plaster surfaces that are consistently good. We have some in OK, but they're rarely if ever used for these type of shows.

[shawnw]

The leaving with drink thing is very standard. In fact, most regular bars have the same rule. You can't leave with any beverage purchased at the establishment. I believe this is to cover themselves from potential fines for people leaving with alcohol. Almost every bar in OKC I have been in, has this rule.

As a non-drinker I did not know that and hadn't experienced it before (have been to many shows - even at the Criterion [probably just hadn't tried to walk out with a barely sipped on water]). Going in, yes, but not going out.

[warreng88]

Just announced: Tenacious D, October 20th

[BDP]

Just announced: Tenacious D, October 20th

Looks like this is a DCF show. Is this the first time they've used the Criterion?