Sunshine Theater — Attraction in Albuquerque

I was not very impressed by this venue. I have been there twice and both times purchased VIP but both times nobody could direct us in the right direction. We went yesterday to see Spiritbox and Mastodon, both great bands I have never seen before and always wanted to see so I was very excited for this especially Spiritbox. I purchased VIP access and when we parked, there was no clear sign as to what was VIP line and what was the regular line. Thankfully, I asked the fellow concert goers what line they were in and figured it out on my own. I got in line at 6:50 as the ticket and website said doors would open at 7. Well this was apparently a blatant lie as we stood in line until 7:40! We kept seeing security guards come out but nobody announced anything to keep us updated. We figured they had a preshow and extra VIP people went in; however, they should have done this earlier at 6:30 and opened doors at 7 like they said they were going to do. As soon as they opened the doors, we went in and security handed us tickets but never told us what to do with them. I even asked the security woman patting me down but she had no idea what all the VIP package entailed. So, we went in and found seats right away and stood in the merchandise line and then waited another hour before Spiritbox came on. They did not play until 8:30 and only had time to play for 30 minutes which you could tell they were not happy about. If you have 2 bands playing then both bands should play for at least an hour. Spiritbox is amazing and I do not understand why the venue only allowed them to play for 30 minutes. That is not right. If you do not take care of the bands, they will not return and I do not blame them for it. My husband then went to the bar to get a drink and ask what these tickets we have are and they finally told us they were drink tickets. He asked where the ozone bar was for VIP but they had no clue. The merchandise people had no clue either. He could not bring his beer to our table either and had to finish it at the bar which was annoying as well. Then Mastodon came on after another 40 mins of waiting. After they played 5 songs, we went to talk to another security guard to figure out where the heck this VIP ozone bar was and apparently it was upstairs the whole time. He was an older gentleman, very nice, and informative so he knew what was going on at least with the VIP tickets. Finally, we went upstairs where we should have been the whole time and used our drink tickets. Upstairs was very nice and had its own private bar and bathroom and seating. Would have been nice to know that in the beginning instead of giving us the run around. I will say Mastodon and Spiritbox were/are amazing and the venue is a nice place when you know where you need to go. Sunshine theater needs to be more organized and post signs at least, notify all staff about the VIP package so they can answer questions accordingly, and have the VIP area clearly marked with a rope or something of that nature. They also need to allow time for bands to play as well and organize this better. I feel like I did not get my money’s worth for my VIP package and will not return back to this venue. I hope Spiritbox plays somewhere else...

I've been attending shows at this venue and at Joe Anderson's other venues for many years, since the early 2000s to be exact. I'd say my experiences have been overall positive, although I can say that I don't like a few changes that have been made in the past 5+ years, specifically Sunshine and Launchpad implementing metal barriers in front of the stage. While it does make it harder for audience members to get onstage, it also makes it so that people can be brutally rammed up against the barrier, and it also makes it more likely for crowd surfers at Sunshine to get spiked onto the ground. When there is no barrier, people can typically get onstage, which can be distracting to the band, but the band being distracted is better than someone getting dropped on their neck from 6 feet in the air. I can see why running concerts in a place that is attached to a bar has its unique challenges, but barriers are just brutal. Also, I think the security staff would have an easier time if they understood a little bit more about what to expect from certain genres and what style of moshing is fair game at certain types of shows. But I can also see the other side where Sunshine has to be concerned about people being injured at their shows and avoiding lawsuits. Also, I think Sunshine could use some more seating. I think there would be a more relaxed atmosphere if they improved upon the seating areas that are situated around the bar area. In fact, it might be better to just make the bar bigger as well. Maybe making the seating areas farther away from the stage, so that there's more room near the stage could be a good idea as well, because the "dance floor" area can become very cramped during bigger shows. Either more space should be made near the stage, or they should sell fewer tickets, because a lot of confrontations and fights could be avoided if people weren't packed in like sardines and being slammed around against a steel barrier that is 2-3 inches higher than the rest of the crowd. The barrier is also a big tripping/injury hazard because it's not flush...

Ive been going off and on to events at the sunshine since it still had theater seatings, late 80's.

But really anymore i can hardly drag myself in there. Its a wonderful classic art deco theater but its dark and hard to see any of that. Due to the low lighting and kinda dingy patina of old un-cleaned paint after many years of being a smoking Establishment)

All of the above is forgivable, but the biggest problem is the sound is always horrible! Some of it im sure is the system, some of it is the structure. (designed for un-amplified theatrical performances and movies) But some of it is totally the sound guys fault, they almost always over drive the system, muddy the treble crank the bass, and rarely mix the band well at all from anywhere. Even fairly tame vocal or synthesizer type bands. And top that off, They have built these plexi glass boxes around the 21+ areas that both block the view, and muffle the treble even more. They need to punch holes in it, or replace sections with mesh or something else. Because it just makes it even worse.

Part of the problem is, 1/2 of the sound is bounced down from the balcony, which is backwards from how the theater is built to handle sound, it should be along the stage or on the sides of the stage. also they need to take the loudness down from 12 to 9 or 8, it would greatly improve the quality of the performance.

At the door, they are very frisk happy, and generally treat you as if you are a thug even when attending a fairly low key mature event.

So yah I broke a nearly 4 year avoidance of the place to see a show there recently, and I don't know if I will ever want to go back. especially at those ticket prices!

Save your money, go to burts or the launchpad, or anywhere else until they fire their sound guy, and address the above mentioned sound problems! (not holding my breath, im sure its not been the same sound guy for the last 20 years, and it has universally sucked for anything that is not...