TD Garden — Attraction in Boston

The NBA was the last major US professional sport I hadn't seen in person, and that's now been crossed off the list. My top-tier chum who literally went to the school of hospitality (and is a giant Celtics fan to boot) and I wandered over to the Garden a few Sundays ago for the Warriors game. If this review were just about the quality of the game/opponent, this would have been a little rough - the Warriors were wrapping up a slog of an East Coast road trip, and it looked it. But this was a genuinely entertaining experience, which was boosted by decent seats and the ability to understand and see what was happening on the court.

I was enormously impressed by the arena/surrounding area - as a direct comp, I get that MSG is a legendary place in the annals of sports, but boy is the area surrounding it and the building itself poochy. That neighborhood by Herald Square/Penn Station is one of my least favorites, and while I don't think the TD Garden neighborhood is necessarily the best one in Boston, it was pretty clean with a lot of new, spiffy restaurants. It kind of reminded me of the first time (yes, this is going to be another NYC reference) I visited Citi Field after going to my beloved blue and orange eyesore Shea Stadium for years - an unequivocal upgrade in so many ways, though Shea lives on in our hearts.

It was very easy to get into the arena and ultimately our seats. I don't know if our timing was a big part of that - I wanted to get there about an hour before tip so I could see Steph Curry's warmup routine - but we were barely in line at security; I'd say it took about two or three minutes, if that. All of the employees that we encountered during this process were very friendly and professional. So were the fans, incidentally - one fellow offered to take our picture (we weren't actively seeking a photographer at the time) and it ended up being one of the better shots of the weekend. We interacted with a few other fans throughout the course of the game and immediately afterwards - everyone had potty mouths but was super nice, which to me is dictionary definition Boston.

In terms of the in-game experience, it's hard to really knock anything. It was a hotly anticipated rematch of the 2022 Finals featuring at least four Hall of Famers, and it was super cool to see all of them on the court at the same time during warmups; there was an understandable buzz in the air that I'm sure you don't get when the Wizards wander into town. We had seats fairly close to the court, which allowed for a certain level of intimacy with the game that you're not going to get sitting in the upper levels. During the commercial breaks, there was usually some type of entertainment or contest to keep patrons occupied (which is pretty much the case at any arena, to be fair). My chum was approached by the event staff prior to tipoff about participating in one of the games - again, a pretty common one, where they have an animated shell game on the jumbotron and you have to confirm which shell (or in this case a Celtics hat I think) has the basketball underneath it. She won, and I am now the proud owner of a gynormous green personal injury firm t-shirt. Woo.

The concession offerings were pretty decent in terms of variety; we've come a long way from the 90s when you were lucky to get some cotton candy or soft-serve ice cream in a plastic baseball cap. A rare negative of the experience was the pizza I had from Sal's Pizza, which I thought actually looked pretty appetizing but which was tasteless and a waste of calories and money (I think close to $15 for a super-size slice). The two of us ended up consuming the whole thing, but only because we're animals - it had nothing to do with the quality of the food. If I could do it over again, I'd sample one of the intriguing gastropubs nearby before or after the game and not bother with the arena options.

This was an awesome afternoon; I have a greener wardrobe, some very cool memories and I now know how to yell profanities in a Boston accent - it's all about...

My sister and I were so excited to see Tate McRae at TD Garden — this was supposed to be our special sister trip. We had a couple of martinis earlier at our hotel (CitizenM), then walked to the venue ready to enjoy the night. We made shirts, travel investment and ticket investment to attend.

When we arrived, we simply asked security to help us find our way to the floor seats we had purchased. The first guard waved over another (Asian male) security guard, who immediately asked us for IDs. We didn’t bring purses — just our phones — but offered to show photos of our IDs saved on them. He refused to even look, told us we were “done,” and had us escorted out.

We asked what we did wrong, and he said we “had been drinking.” We were honest that we had, but we’re both in our 30s and clearly of legal age. My sister just had a baby and doesn’t get many chances to travel or go out — this was something we’d been looking forward to for months. (After her last baby, we went to a Taylor Swift concert — it’s our sister tradition.)

Once outside, we were told we could only re-enter if we bought new tickets — despite already having expensive floor seats. Why would anyone repurchase tickets they already paid for? Then, unbelievably, security offered to show us to the parking garage and said they’d waive the fee — so apparently, we were “too intoxicated” to attend a concert but fine to drive home?

Two girls who saw what happened even asked if they could buy our tickets since we couldn’t use them, but security told them no. We were told we could request a report the next morning — which we did. When we returned the next day, security told us that they don’t provide reports and said to email customer service instead. We did, and have still received no response.

We also have audio recordings of our interaction with security — in which they repeatedly refused to explain why we were removed.

Between the loss of the concert, hotel, and travel costs, and the complete lack of accountability from TD Garden, this was an awful experience. We chose Boston because Tate McRae writes so many songs about it, but after this, we’ll...

The security guards are super-clogged, ignorant, rude, uneducated, the food and drink are very expensive, the parking lot is very expensive, the people are extremely rude. I went to the KatyPerry concert on 8/8/2025 and was thrown out of the venue for no reason. I bought a vip ticket and I was kicked out by the evil security guards with no empathy whatsoever. I'm going to go to the police and the event management to get my ticket refunded. I don't recommend anyone to go to this place. There are no qualified professionals working there. I was at Mariah Carey’s concert at TD Garden yesterday and it was a horror. It all started when I went to park my car at the North Station Garage which is in the TD Garden and has a cost of $ 60 dollars. I stayed more than 50 minutes to find a place inside the parking lot, employees pass incorrect information and are extremely rude and ignorant. As soon as I took the elevator and went up to get in to watch the concert another huge queue, a lot of disorganization, misplaced information, again disqualified employees who do not know what they say and are passing wrong information, a real chaos, long time to enter, huge queues. Already inside the TD Garden, I went to buy drink and food, huge queues, everything very expensive and mandatory tips for a terrible service. Horrible food and hot drink. Would not recommend. Already in my sector of the show had a very stupid security, ignorant, rude, rude, extremely rude who treated me like a person without any respect, just because I asked for information. I wish I’d called the police for him. If he had worn an ID badge I would have made a police report for sure. the worst comes now that soon after the end of the concert we were prevented from taking the elevator that gave access to the North Station Garage and was extremely exhausting. the amount paid in the parking lot was $60 and the staff were very disrespectful to me and everyone who was at the event. Due to this lot of embarrassment I spent yesterday at TD Garden I do not...