Boutwell Auditorium — Attraction in Birmingham

It’s a trap! Don’t do it!

Where do we begin. Let’s just begin by saying the previous reviews were from visitors not people who actually encountered working with the Boutwell staff. From the first meeting we had, they sold us a dream. They made it as if we could do all of these extravagant things just to get us through the door with contracts signed and dates locked. This past weekend at the Boutwell was a complete nightmare! We were told that we could enter the night before our event to preset everything. I cannot fathom how misleading their staff is. They are compulsive liars. Their disappointment is habitual. We discussed 8am for Saturday so we could do any other necessary placements and also get a run through for our dance competition. Friday night they told us we couldn’t come in until 9am. We bit the bullet and arrived shortly before 9am. Once we got there, they told us we couldn’t come in until 930am. That’s only the beginning. After we made our final payment Friday they rushed us out for a “meeting” They had so many “meetings” and didn’t know what was going on the entire day of our event.

-The staff told us we couldn’t put up signs to direct people/teams because they didn’t know what was going on because they were in a scramble -They were no where to be found when needed for custodial or directional purposes. -They made us PAY for things that were not there that were listed on contract (I.e. 3 police officers, 10 “T-shirt security guards, an EMS team that was not there. Side note: someone had a seizure and the EMS team that we paid for had to be called to come, pretty bad huh.. -Their staff wasn’t friendly to our guest. -They said the air wasn’t working in the arena when it worked in other areas of the building -They kept asking the DJ for extension chords because they only had 2 -Our events typically last 5.5 to 6 hours, Saturday it last 9 hours -They told their concession staff it was a 200-300 person event and they ran out of food. Out of the officers and security we paid for we only saw one and 4-5 security guards -They were extremely money hungry -They told us one price at the start and a week before our show we had to pay $6000 more -They wanted to Run an entire event off of fans to Keep people cool -They tried to limit how many times we can go in and out to grab things we needed FOR THE SHOW

Indubitably, We would not recommend this place in the least. Go to metroplex, find an amphitheater, do a parking lot concert, just don’t come here!!! It’s ghetto, unorganized and half the power on the door doesn’t work. Maybe because they switched the breakers off.

Not to mention after we were utterly mistreated the lead guy Rory made mention of a possible return and may I make this very clear. We will NEVER return to the Boutwell unless it’s to collect the money that we were...

Horrible experience. There is zero space between rows. If you are over 3 ft tall, you're legs and feet will be folded and painful. The back of the seat in front of you touches your space so you keep accidentally touching that persons head. Being 6' tall with severly bad knees, I was in tears with pain. Standing up from the seat was a challenge because there is nowhere to place your feet. It was also extremely hot. There were not enough handrails and the few there were literally wobbling back and forth. I saw many older people struggling to get up and down the very steep steps with no handrails. My child's graduation ceremony was miserable for everyone because of the poor seating. The event staff stopped checking tickets and many parents got left outside crying because the auditorium was full. I will never go back to this place. I advise anyone to stay far away from here. They obviously do not care...

Seats on floor are absolutely too close together!!..for a tall person no leg room whatsoever..you have to get up from your seat when someone wants out...plenty of room on floor to have ample enough space between seats..also a safety hazard..not the first time from reading reviews that people complained..ALSO SECURITY WAS NOT DOING THEIR JOB BY NOT KEEPING PEOPLE OUT OF THE ISLE'S ON THE FLOOR!!! OTHER PEOPLE WERE LEAVING SEATS STANDING IN ISLE'S ON FLOOR !!..WHEN YOU PAY $90.00 plus FOR A FLOOR SEAT YOU SHOULD'NT HAVE TO BE PUSHED OFF LIKE THAT!! SHAME ON WHOEVER IS IN CHARGE OF SECURITY TO NOT EMPLOY AND ENFORCE EFFECTIVE SECURITY PERSONELL!!! ONE SECURITY GUY HAD HIM A CHAIR SITTING AT FRONT OF STAGE!! SHAME SHAME SHAME!!!! THIS WAS MAZE...