Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena — Attraction in Atlantic City

On Thursday, July 5th 2018, attended the Third Eye Blind concert in the Etess Arena at Hard Rock Casino, Atlantic City. Beware when seeing a show at this venue. Even though they are open, they still have a lot of work to do.

As I entered the arena I made my way to my seat in section 102. I was very surprised to have not been greeted or have had my ticket/section verified, As is customary in any arena that I have ever been to. As the show began, I personally witnessed fans leaving the 200 sections and heading down to the 100 sections on the floor.

There are two immediate issues here:

First, the fans safety could have easily been at risk. The fans that came down from the 200 section were not stopped by any ushers or security. As such they ended up blocking the aisles and causing severe fire safety and compliance issues. I have photos and video to support this concern.

Second, aside from the safety concern, I personally felt cheated in my experience and my finances. It is frustrating that a fan can purchase a cheaper ticket and have the same experience as myself, who spent 3 times as much for a floor seat. This was unacceptable and disappointing as a fan.

After more fans continued to crowd the aisles, I sought out a security guard to address the situation. Nothing was done at that time. A few songs later, I spoke with Aaron Kaminski who introduced himself as the Entertainment Supervisor of Hard Rock hotel. I explained my concerns as outlined above. In doing so, I missed the remainder of the Third Eye Blind show. I was given many excuses by Aaron. The most repetitive being "We are a new casino" and "My staff of over 1000 people are all new." He said they were still in the "Process of learning." If a business is not 100% ready to be open, (from concessions, to security, to ushers, to management) then it (the Etess Arena) should not be open at all.

With these critical issues outstanding, most significantly those of compliance and fire safety, the Etess arena could easily be shut down. From a fan experience, there is no incentive to purchase a premium seat when others are allowed in the same section at no addition cost.

Due to this experience I ended up leaving the arena angry with no resolution, no addressing of the situation with staff, or compensation from the Entertainment Supervisor of the Hard Rock hotel in Atlantic City....

Was there for the 6/10/2023 Tina Fey and Amy Poehler show. Amy and Tina dominated and this feedback has nothing do with them, and everything to do with the venue. The venue is nice, but my biggest feedback is the speakers hanging from the ceiling blocking the center screen. We missed a good amount of jokes because the visuals were only displayed on that screen while the other two side screens were displaying the video feedback of the stage. For shows that include video usage, I highly recommend utilizing the side screens for those seated in these sections. (My group were seated in 212). Im almost positive the opposite side of the room may have experienced the same visual block.

Additionally, our show ended up needing to do an emergency evacuation mid show, and as far as I am aware - I didn’t receive any follow up communication from anyone explaining the cause, and after some time during the emergency we were just told to come back in to our seats and that the show was starting again. I understand unplanned emergencies happen, but given today’s climate - I believe having a clearer communication process would benefit crowd control and allow guests to 100% understand what needs to be done in that moment (you couldn’t understand a word that was being said on the emergency speakers - it was loud enough but the audio quality was so poor you were straining to understand what was...

I went here for a concert recently. Security let this girl who came in after all of us were standing there for 2 hours in the 'standing room only' area, we all had our spots and were respecting one another, well I guess because this girl was marginally attractive and thin, blatantly let this girl and her boyfriend force this guy and his son out of their spots, they were literally there before us. Security said not a word. I kid you not, this girl used her boyfriend to strong arm these people out of the way. Then she's wearing 8 inch boots and everyone behind her couldn't see a thing.

Then the girl has her boyfriend hold her spot that she stole to use the restroom, comes back and almost knocks me to the ground because I was standing in her 'way'. I guess people who aren't considered 'attractive' deserve to get thrown aside for some prim princess that bullies people into getting what she wants. Ridiculous I paid 400 dollars for a spot that I barely saw the act I came to see.

Not to mention, the opening act was late, threw off the entire band I came to see and the opening act was literally horrible. It was like listening to an Uncle Kracker cover band. INSANITY.

EDIT: I emailed them as they asked, still have not heard a single word back and to boot, got sent an email to review how they handled the situation after they literally never...