Ovens Auditorium — Attraction in Charlotte

My friend and I took my grandson to the In This Moment concert Saturday 11 May.

We stood in line for about half an hour before we made it to the door. As we were approaching the door we were instructed to take everything out of our pockets, take off all jewelry and belts that may set off the metal detectors. At this time, I took off my hat and began placing everything from my pockets into it; while at the same time trying to shuffle to the door because my belt was off.

As I approached the door I was immediately cut off and confronted by a middle aged white woman who told me I wasn't allowed to bring my "stick" in. Now, I have watched numerous people ahead of me go in with crutches, canes, and walkers and not be stopped and told they couldn't bring their "sticks" in.

I asked the lady if she meant my cane and she again told me I couldn't bring my "stick" in. I said ok, then you must provide me with one or with a wheelchair because I am not able to stand or walk for extended periods of time due to a disability. She then told me she had watched me walk the entire way to the door without using my cane. I confronted her and told her that was not true and that she was more than welcome to ask anyone behind me in line if I had walked without its assistance.

She then accused me of not using or needing my cane and would not allow me entrance with it. Now this was all occurring at the door in front of everyone to include my grandson. It was very embarrassing and at the same time very disrespectful.

I then asked her if she was going to deny entrance of a disabled veteran who suffered severe injuries 23 years of military service? It was only at this time that her attitude changed and she finally moved my grandson, my friend, and I out of the doorway and to the side. She then asked for me to provide proof of my disability (which is illegal), but I happily complied and showed her my VA identification.

At that point she knew she was completely in the wrong and then just tried to wave me off, as if I was now an inconvenience to her. I told her I didn't appreciate her questioning me or my abilities or lack of them, and she just turned and walked away without saying anything.

The actual musical line up that night was amazing and my grandson had the time of his life!

I would like to give shout outs to, Mike's Dead, I See Stars, Kim Dracula, and In This Moment for not only amazing performances; but for each of you and your band mates to take time during as well as after to acknowledge my grandson and for all of you to give him guitar pics, set lists, drum sticks, autographs, and pictures! You all gave him an experience he will...

Pro: Even though the line was long, it took no time getting in compared to other events attended. For me, I also liked that it was a no cell phone policy. That keeps you focused on you who are there to see. No they dont take your cell phone but I think it's cool they put it in a gray pouch and you turn it off. If you have to make a phone call, you can leave out and come back in.

As far as it not taking a long time to get in, the parking was also not bad at all. We got in very quickly even though we left the house a little later than we wanted to. For a sold out show, this was the quickest I was ever able to get into an event. I bought a fanny pack and it was too big. I had to return it back to the car. I came back and got back into the long line and we were still in with in 10minutes. Best organization I've seen at an event when working with large crowds in a timely manner.

Grow: Providing disclosure to audience who may have medical issues with the air quality before purchasing tickets would be helpful. The air quality is thick and there is no air really circulating. If you over heat easily, have breathing issues, or fainting, I don't recommend. However if this type of environment does not affect your health or breathing, I am sure this particular auditorium can give you a higher review experience.

I bought tickets to see the Dave Chappelle show. We weren't there for all of 10 minutes before us and a few other people had to step out due to lack of air circulation and thick air which caused over heating and fainting. Fortunately there were medics to check on everyone. Not to be bias, we have an event at this same stadium before at a concert and never had an issue with air. The concert we attended had a large crowd as well. I'm not sure why the air in the room was so thick this time or maybe certain rooms have certain temperatures I don't know. Lesson learned is that since it maybe due to getting older, in the future, we will just avoid big crowds and attend outside events. Concession lines are also long but that is at any big...

Maybe the worst venue experience I’ve had. I will not be coming back regardless of the show. We were first met by staff outside telling ANYONE with a bag to turn around unless it was a coin purse. She stated it’s for “the machine” to not go off while scanning bags. If it were about safety, at least have one of your 50 yellow jacket staff members check inside bags. We came back with the same bag she turned us around for and entered fine. We even asked security at the detector if they wanted to check in the bag and they said no.

As we entered I went to check the merch stand, I was standing off to the side looking at the selections for about 5 seconds until 2 staff member yelled at me to go to the back of the line. I wasn’t even interested in purchasing and just wanted to look but they demanded I move to the back of the line across the room. The security team here was at least 50 people. The venue wasn’t even half sold out and they were acting like riot control, directing people, yelling, demanding.

This staff obviously does not care about the guest experience. They were insanely rude and strict about someone taking a picture of their favorite band. But if they were about safety, they would put half the effort into entrance security than they do about taking a picture of a band. Half the yellow jackets were nice, the other half acted like it was Woodstock 99.

As we headed out I wanted to grab a water so I went to the concession stand and asked if they were still selling anything. One lady blankly said “no” after I seemed to interrupt their gossip session. As I was walking away the other staff member said “closed means closed bro” behind my back. As if there was any clear signage of them being closed.

I do not recommend going here. The staff completey ruined my experience going to see my favorite band. People pay $200+ to see a show here. I regret giving this...