McGrath Amphitheatre — Attraction in Cedar Rapids

Recently visited to see a national act.

The venue, location, and sound were great. The bands were worth the travel, but the experience was not.

I have some notes on events management:

There’s a long list of rules, 2 I take particular issue with:

NO REFILLABLE WATER BOTTLES

I attended an outdoor show in the middle of July in Iowa and empty refillable bottles are not allowed. They had bottled waters at concert prices.

Other comparable outdoor venues like Des Moines Lauridsen Amphitheater seem to make it work without any safety or security issues.

Maybe keep people’s health in mind, use less plastic, and allow people to bring empty bottles and fill inside the show.

NO OUTSIDE FOOD OR DRINK

The food options provided were not good.

I’m Diabetic and my wife and I are vegetarian. No vegetarian options at all. Options were plain meat in buns with condiments.

My wife was offered a bun as her only option.

And because no food or drink was allowed in we couldn’t bring anything for ourselves.

GA lawn tickets are laughable. There are 2 narrow strips of grass on the far sides of the stage that barely have view to the stage and are completely outside of the sound system that faces straight on.

Also, I’m not sure how they ticket this but it didn’t even seem like there was enough room for everyone that bought a GA ticket.

Management is clearly trying to monetize ticketing at these events in spaces and ways that make no sense for the venue at all and result in tons of paid staff policing walkways to shoo people that are standing between their ticketed area and another. It was honestly just unsettling to feel like you were doing something wrong just by walking through shared areas.

I wouldn’t recommend anyone buy GA lawn tickets if you want to see the show and hear it well.

This is a great outdoor venue that gives you the opportunity to see some national touring acts up close.

With a few small but meaningful tweaks this can also be a...

POSITIVES: clean, spacious, helpful staff, quality drink concessions, proper bathrooms NEGATIVES: poorly labeled seats, third party ticket purchase cite

I was super impressed by the amphitheater. It was our first time and we will be returning for sure! High quality facilities, cold drinks, and great seating.

The staff through the entire venue was great. Everything moved smoothly and efficiently with their help. There was plenty of room for everyone, even with a full show, so you were never jammed into a tight line or waiting forever at concessions. The drinks were super cold even on the 100 degree day. (Of course expect to pay show concession prices, but at least they weren't lukewarm.) Luckily the venue was shaded for most of the late summer show.

The seats were clean and spaced enough to actually enjoy your experience with leg room to spare. The seats weren't labeled very well, but I'll take the extra bit of room for a tiny bit of inconvenience in finding my seat.

The bathroom building was way better than most shows I've been to where you have to use porta-potties. Even during the intermission between bands the line moved quickly since they had so many stalls.

In order to get tickets to the show, you had to pay a significant processing fee in a different website. I would have gladly driven to an office to purchase tickets in person or ordered them on a website directly from the venue, but that was not an option. I would love to see that middle man cut out for our next show.

Over all it was a wonderful experience and I won't hesitate in...

Attended Tracy Lawrence/Gary Allan concert. Before the show even started 2 girls sat next to me and my husband who were already quite inebriated. They kept hitting my hat and elbowing me. They were loud and rambunctious during Tracy Lawrence. I had enough and attempted to go to the ticket booth to see if there were any other seats available. I was told if I did I would not be allowed back in the venue even though I had a ticket in hand. The lady at the gate told me that when I attend a concert I should expect people to be drinking alcohol. I told I should not expect to have drunk people hitting and elbowing me after paying over $150 for tickets. I asked to speak to a manager. Some guy came over and he said I could go to the ticket booth. The guy was RUDE! I told him I would never Comer to this venue ever again. We also drove an hour and a half to get here. I was allowed back in and tried to speak to the guy who I assumed was the manager. I told him about the ticket booth guy who said I could not upgrade my seats even though I was willing to pay. The manager became upset and walked away from me. I then found the floor manager Carrie, who couldn't have been nicer. She deserves a promotion. She was the only one who made any attempts to assist me. The concert was fine and the drunk girls drank so much they settled down but after being treated so rudely by most of the staff, I will probably never attend anything here again. Also we paid for our seats, yet people were allowed in for free that sat on blankets next to our row....