Isleta Amphitheater — Attraction in Albuquerque

The Isleta Amphitheater has a lot going for it, but there are some important things to know going in. Read below for useful details (lines are complicated!) or skip to the bottom for the big picture.

ARRIVAL: You can arrive REALLY early. For Paul McCartney, we got there two hours before the gate was supposed to open. (It opened late.) There's paid parking, and general parking. There's no need to get paid parking unless you want to feel really special: it's just another two minutes of walking. We got a great free parking spot, ate, and got in line. Easy arrival.

HOW LINES ARE ORGANIZED (SERIOUSLY, this is helpful!): Lines are spread out. Stick with your group as if you separate out based on bags/blankets you won't be with the person with your ticket! They should have signs explaining each lane and lines separating each lane in different colors. They don't. That would have prevented anxiety and literally thousands of questions. Left line(s) are for people/groups without bags or blankets needing inspection. Right(ish) line(s) are for people/groups with bags or blankets needing inspection. FAR right line is the fast lane, a paid service for expedited inspection/ticket checks. This supposedly special lane was used for everyone as soon as the gate opened, so I'm not sure how useful this paid service is! There are several stages: bag inspection (clear small bags only), metal detector, and ticket check. Only then do you enter the sacred event!

SAFETY: Bag checks were thorough, not just lip service. More impressively, there was a lot of proactive management: attendants to answer questions, organize folks, and check tickets for validity. Best of all, they were quick to respond to two minor medical emergencies I saw. There were also some emergency folding chairs on the side of the venue, and that proved useful when a gentleman fainted.

AMENITIES: Beer, food, etc. is overpriced as usual, but it's fast, friendly, and good. I was also delighted they allowed you to bring sealed gallons of water. At a summer event in ABQ, that's a lifesaver and a money saver. My real complaint was the porta-potties. It's a facility for 15,000. They should have actual bathrooms!

CONCERT EXPERIENCE: This is where Isleta shines. Acknowledging that sometimes you're going to get rained on (we did), it is absolutely magical watching the sun set over the stage. It's also surprisingly intimate. It's impossible to feel truly far away, and the audio quality is superb. The unexpected special effects during McCartney's concert were beautifully carried off. Plus, the open-air experience makes a frequently claustrophobic experience absolutely pleasant. I could forgive a lot for this kind of concert. Which leads us to...

THE DEPARTURE: UGH. There is ONE entrance/exit. One lane. 15k people over 4 hours? No problem. 15k people exiting at once? A NIGHTMARE. We left at the start of the encore (don't judge us, babysitter stuff), and we had a great parking spot. It still took us 45 minutes to get off the road of doom and onto the highway. It didn't help that they again lacked clear signage and we saw only one person directing traffic poorly. Also unclear: it seemed that VIP folks were able to zip past the general parking lot, but I don't think they were able to cut ahead on the actual feeder road. In other words, I'm pretty sure they were equally miserable leaving despite paying an insane premium on parking. (I think the sign said $125 and $175 for VIP depending on your row? It was crazy.)

WHAT IT BOILS DOWN TO: It's a really special event, but they need to fix some things. Some would be incredibly easy fixes - a few signs, a little paint. A bigger issue is toilets. But all of that pales in comparison with the issue of the single feeder road. For small events, it's absolutely a winner. But settle in for suffering or just go somewhere else...

Great venue, but if they are going to open gates and make you wait an hour to go find your seat, they need to put more seating out in the food/drink/vendor areas. Very few places for people to sit while we were there for the Brooks & Dunn concert last weekend. It was so hot out and people were sitting on the ground in front of the port-a-potties and any place they could find. There was a lot of confusion between staff members about what entrances certain ticketholders were allowed in or out of. They shut down the main road going in so it was backed up before and we sat in the parking lot well over an hour after the concert, just waiting for the lots to empty out and even then, it was creeping along. We had seats in box 29 and had a great time until the last two people showed up about 3 songs into Brooks & Dunn's set and demanded a little kid and his grandparents move, even though the event staff told us it was first come first serve in the box as far as the seats go. When I asked them to do something about it, they just said they understood my frustration, and could get a supervisor. I have never been so ready to lay a beating on someone more than I was on that couple. We had a great server for our box, she was funny and was appreciative because they were trying to learn the new voucher system they just rolled out. At one point, I accidentally knocked my glass of pepsi over and an event worker with #1122 rushed over and told me he would take care of it. He told me he would get me a new drink. I told him I wasn't worried about the drink because it was my fault, but I was worried about the chair that got covered in pepsi being sticky. He disappeared for a little bit and came back with an even bigger glass of pepsi and a wet rag to wipe down the seat. Most of the staff that we encountered were great. We went to leave and they wouldn't just let you out. We were going to go out through the VIP exit, they wouldn't let us out there. We went to go out the ADA exit that we came in and they wanted us to stand in line for over an hour. We were parked in the reserve/VIP parking. We finally caught an event worker that let us out because we told him where we were parked at, that we weren't needing a ride up the hill, etc. The golf cart drivers were reckless. One hit a really nice car in the parking lot and went to drive off. My sister in law went and got a picture of his badge and while we were on hour 2 of waiting in the parking lot, the driver of the car came out of the venue and she and a guy nearby that had also seen it happen, went over and talked to him and gave him the info and pictures. There was another golf cart driver before the concert with purple hair that almost caused numerous accidents. She would whip the cart around a corner and wasn’t paying any attention to other drivers coming or going. We sat in our vehicle for almost an hour before gates opened and watched all the activity. She acted like she was in a constant hurry and it’s a wonder that she didn’t hurt anyone. The guys at the VIP entrance all had different opinions about which tickets were allowed in their entrance. We had box tickets and had VIP food and beverages but not VIP entrance apparently. Every person we talked to, told us something different. Even the parking lot attendants didn’t know where we’re supposed to park. I purchased a reserved parking ticket and everyone acted like they had never heard of such a ticket. They let us park in the dirt portion of the VIP lot, but it was a “just go over there, we aren’t sure” thing. Overall, it was a great concert, but all the other issues certainly put a damper on it. I don’t know that I will be back...

my friend & i saw pierce the veil & sleeping with sirens last night. the venue itself is great, always is. the views are good pretty much no matter where you are, the sound is great, there’s a lot of room, the bathrooms are usually decently clean, etc. i just have a big issue with the lack of organization & communication that always occurs. my friend paid for us to have VIP tickets, which included early entry (gates scheduled to open at 3:30). the gates weren’t opened until after 4:00, that’s not the biggest issue & i wasn’t too upset about it. my main issue was that once we were let into the venue, we were all filed into another line (like the one we were just in outside the gates, so what was the point of letting us in ?) & forced to wait another almost hour & a half in 98° heat with no shade & no water for almost an hour. they didn’t even want to serve water until the concession stands opened at 5 but i think they realized they had to with how hot it was. ALL of us were under the impression that early entry meant early entry into the actual PIT, like it usually does. so, as a result, many of us were unprepared (not just my friend & i). we expected to be able to wait in the pit, which is obviously shaded. so we didn’t bring extra sunscreen, didn’t bring an umbrella, others were wearing clothes that i’m sure were extremely uncomfortable to wear in the sun for that long, people were taking turns saving spots in line to go & sit in any shaded area, they had fans with misters but not anywhere near the line we were made to wait in (?????). i saw several people ask for ice & one of the concession stands flat out told all of them no (with MANY bags of ice sitting right behind them). my friend & i had a spot at the front of the pit & ended up having to move to the back because we’d overheated so badly & couldn’t stand to be around that many people at that point. i almost threw up because of it multiple times, & i’m sure others were right there with me. after the show, finding an uber or anyone that’s picking you up is almost impossible. the parking lot is incredibly dark, no helpful signs anywhere that we could see. people driving in every direction so you’ll follow a line of cars thinking you’re going in the right direction, only to be met with another dead end corner of the parking lot. i know it’s a difficult task to keep that many people organized, but it really needs to be worked on. there needs to be updates in that lot regarding signs, lighting, walking areas (almost rolled my ankle a couple times because of how uneven the ground is everywhere BUT where the cars are driving. not to mention, walking around with not a lot of light made it difficult for people to see us & for us to cross streets). all of these conditions are unsafe & need to be paid attention to before someone gets seriously hurt, especially when big events like this make the state a LOT of money. use it to make our...