The Capitol Centre — Attraction in North Bay

I visited this venue so that I might meet Christopher Hadfield, Canadian everyman and astronaut extraordinaire. My dad and I had VIP tickets and thus cozied up with a small group of locals and had a quiet talk with a very humble yet powerful man. This talk was fascinating, short, and sweet.

The actual main show itself was surprising, and a little disappointing to me as it was highly patriotic--but nevermind all that. It's Christopher Hadfield, and he appeared on the stage at this venue as if he were born for it. The stage and accommodations at this facility have a dark and sombre feeling about them; nevertheless, it was comfortable and the audio was bright.

My only gripe is the location of the bathrooms, presumably secure so as to prevent the ingress of vagrants in the downtown area. Making your way to the commode is an exercise in tedium, with much ado about locked doors, descending staircases and left hand turns. It's less than ideal. My advice is don't drink beer while you're here. I ordered a Stack LaCloche here, and, while tasty, had me soon joining a fellowship of travellers in search of the depths for facilities.

That aside, I enjoyed the low lighting, and got to get my book signed by the Hadfield himself. A good evening at...

The Capitol Center is an amazing place. Always have a good list of concerts to go to and I have been going for concerts for a couple years now and I have gotten to attend VIP receptions upstairs in their gallery room. I have met many celebrities like Randy Bachman, Howie Mandel, Sheena Easton, Dan Hill, Larry Gowan, Lighthouse, Les Stroud the Survivorman, Bobby Bruce impersonator/tribute to Neil diamond, the Canadian Idol top 3 tour idols, Jon Anderson from the band YES, the drummer who plays with performer Lights, Marshall Button did the comedy show Helter Smelter, The Stampeders, Paul O'Sullivan from the play Stephen Harper Musical, the drummer group BAM, the Platters, Natalie Choquette the La Diva, the hip hope group Supernaturalz, Sheesham and Lotus who played music from the 1900, The Four Bitchin Babes Band, Jesse Peters a Jazz Pianist, A tribute band to Frankie Valli and the...

In general, the Capitol is an excellent arts centre. My two pieces of constructive criticism are:

1. The box office has limited hours, which can make it difficult to get tickets for shows. I know they close when it's not busy, but getting in when it's open can be tough.
2. They encourage people to use the online ticketing, but then charge a fee for internet sales that they don't charge in-person. What's with that? So, if you want to save the extra fee, you have to find a time to get to the box office, leading to problem #1 again! I also find that most online ticketing systems are painful to use & often don't work right. If you want things done correctly, go to an...