Germania Insurance Amphitheater — Attraction in Austin

This place was pretty cool. We had lawn seats and a decent view of the Staind/Godsmack concert. The reason it is only 3 stars is because of a few issues that happened before we got in.

First off, when buying the tickets, there was no options to upgrade parking shown, and there was parking available right next to the entrance and it only cost an additional $25, but had to be prepaid. As a disabled vet, I would have absolutely loved to not have to walk a little over a mile in the direct sun.

Second, we checked on the FAQ if we could bring chairs since we had lawn seats. They said yes. I called the day of the concert and asked if we could bring chairs. They said yes. We got there and after carrying the chairs for that entire walk, they stopped us at the gate saying "no chairs". We had to pay for locker storage for our chairs. They were polite about it, and we know they were just doing their jobs, but it was incredibly frustrating.

Third, we verified that purses and small backpacks could be brought in. My wife has a backpack purse and after we paid for the storage for our chairs, we tried to get in again and they turned us away yet again, saying "no backpacks unless they are clear". That was not anywhere in the FAQ or in the ticket information. So we had to step back out of line for a second time, and go store her purse. Again, we know they are just doing their job directs them to do. It was just frustrating to lose our place in a long line TWICE before finally gaining entrance. Thankfully the guy working the lockers said "you already paid for the chairs storage, so here's a key for a locker... You already paid for it". Awesome dude.

After all of that, we FINALLY got in and could get drinks to cool off from the insane heat.

Our seats were decent and we had a good view the entire time. The only other issue was at one point some dude was rushing back to his seat and tripped and pushed the trash can across the walkway by accident. He was fine, just embarrassed, and he went on his way. Seconds later, some maintenance crew walked past and looked at the can where it was now, and checked the trash level. They walked away not moving the can back, so we figured it was fine, and moved forward to where the can was and sat on the wall. Between the concerts, my wife went to find food for us and I was holding our place. A maintenance guy walked up and tried to scold me saying "you can't be moving the trashcans" and pushed it back right against my leg. I firmly said "I didn't f*cking move it dude so what the hell is your problem?" He just stared at me and walked away. I turned to return to where we were and someone else took it, so we had to scrunch in next to the trash can to keep our place without having to find standing room the entire time.

Outside of these issues, the event was amazing. The speakers were well tuned and distributed well to fill the entire amphitheatre with the music, and there was a massive selection of food, drinks, and alcohol for us to enjoy. If we didn't have the issues, this review would have been 5 stars.

Edit: Earlier today, I was talking to a close friend and telling him about the concert experience, to include the issues from the venue. And he started talking about how he was having similar issues with the place he was supposed to go to for a concert. After a few minutes, I realized it was the same place. He confirmed the name of the venue on his confirmation email. He was told he could bring chairs... I corrected that one for him. And he was guaranteed to receive his tickets by Friday afternoon (September 1, 2023). On Saturday evening, the tickets were still not received. No communication whatsoever from the venue regarding the tickets. He did receive the confirmation from them that his preferred parking pass was processed and ready, but the tickets themselves never came. This morning, it's Sunday, the day of the concert, and he still hasn't received communication about the tickets. It seems like the concert was cancelled for some reason.

They have not refunded the tickets or...

This event was one giant liability, and complete chaos, from the moment we drove within 5 miles of COTA, and I literally felt lucky to get out alive. Ticket prices were exorbitant, parking prices were laughable, traffic was insane, there was ZERO organization or control at the venue. The “shuttle” from the ride share lot was a literal hayride. We couldn’t find the entrance to COTA, and were given wrong directions once we finally found an employee to ask. No signs directing foot traffic, no employees giving information. People not staying for the concert were panicking trying to get out because gates were locked, so they were climbing under or over fences. When we finally found the entrance, “security” was not checking bags or items brought in. No metal detectors, and people brought in tons of items listed as banned by the COTA/ Germania website. Anyone could have brought ANYTHING in without notice. Unbelievably, our tickets were never checked at all!!! Wish I hadn’t spent $500 on GA tickets when we could have just walked in. Fences & barricades had been knocked over or moved, so crowds just marched over them. I appreciated the number of portapotties available, but I definitely expected actual bathrooms from a permanent venue, especially one with such expensive tickets and such a potentially high profile clientele. There was no cell, text, or map service available, so when I got separated from my (stationary) party, I wandered for nearly an hour before I finally found them again. The concert started on time & Eminem was excellent. Afterwards, again, there were no staff in sight, so crowd control was nonexistent. People were getting crushed & could easily have been trampled. It was so dusty that many were walking with their shirts over their noses & mouths. There were a couple more signs directing people on the way back, but not many, and they were not clear. When we finally arrived at the exit, the “shuttle” arrived to take passengers back to the ride share lot. Before the TRACTOR DRIVER came to a complete stop, people started swarming on, climbing over the sides & pulling people up, like a lifeboat on the Titanic. Again, zero employees in sight. Once the trailer was packed beyond capacity, the tractor began to move, but quickly stopped. The driver, who, incidentally, had an open beer in his cup holder, jumped back out & yelled that he thought he ran over someone. While he was investigating, a golf cart crashed into the trailer. It is unknown if there were injuries. We finally got back to the ride share lot, and heard several people comparing the dust, rocks, & giant fence on the site to a refugee camp or the border crossing. No employees directing anyone. No signs. Just a few cones indicating traffic lanes. Mass chaos everywhere. We had to fight our way through the crowd just to get to our driver’s vehicle.

I was literally terrified for my life the entire time I was on COTA property due to lack of security, staff, and rules, not to mention the thousands of people over capacity the venue clearly was. Not only was this an embarrassment to Austin, Texas, and the US on a world stage, if one thing had gone wrong, a mass tragedy could easily have occurred. COTA is lucky if no lawsuits come out of...

Worst venue of any size in the Austin area. I was never a fan of the Erwin Center because of its poor sound but I'd take that over this nightmare in a heartbeat. Parking is terrible and a long way from the venue but the worst is their complete lack of regard for their patrons. While waiting for Neil Young in early May of 2024, a dangerous storm hit that would ultimately cancel the show. They had employees just standing around doing nothing until I had to go ASK someone if the show was happening or not. I was told 'no' and only several minutes after that was there an announcement posted at the front entrance (where only people right up front could see it, so many towards the back of the line were still not aware and just stood waiting to be let in) that a dangerous storm was in the area and patrons should "seek cover". In our cars. Which were about 2 miles away thanks to their horrible parking layouts. No one can control the weather, obviously, but their communication was absolute crap. The moment the show was cancelled, they should have had every available employee telling everyone in the line about the cancellation and the recommendation to leave and take cover. Strike 1.

That show was rescheduled for tonight (May 27, 2024) but ended up being cancelled again due to an illness in the band. Again, not the something this venue can control and shame on Ticketmaster for not emailing me to alert me (I bought they tickets from TM and THEY had by email address). But.... we've all known that Ticketmaster sucks for a long time now and for far more than just poor communicatoin. But my last check to verify the showtime was on the venue's website mere hours before the event and there was absolutely no mention of any postponement or cancellation. They had taken the event page down, but there was no mention that the event was not happening. And since I'd heard no other news of any cancellation, I assumed the event page wasn't on the venue's site because it was a rescheduled date; maybe they just hadn't re-done the original event page??). Either way, I got no email or text letting me know the show was not happening and with nothing on the venue's website alerting me, I drove nearly an hour from Leander, TX to Del Valle, TX and then all over the venue's lots wondering why there were no cars and where the heck the concert was only to finally encounter an employee in a golf cart who told me the show was not happening. Rather than taking the event page down with no other mention, they could have -- and should have -- easily left it up with a big "Postponed" or "Cancelled" notification added. Thanks for wasting my entire evening...

Between these and other bad experiences I've had here (don't get me started on trying to park at bigger shows like the Rolling Stones), it will take John Lennon and George Harrison being resurrected for a full Beatles reunion concert before I'd even consider going to this nightmare...