PNC Music Pavilion — Attraction in Charlotte

PNC is still a decent venue but some things in recent times have made me enjoy them less than I used to.

For one thing, for lawn seating you can no longer bring your own chairs. Why? Well my best guess is that they really want people to rent a chair for the night from them.

Problem is, the price to rent a chair is the price one can buy a decent portable folding seat! ($15!) And when you buy, that's a one time fee - this is per show! Over the course of a summer it would be very easy to spend well over $100 on chair rentals!

I thought okay guess that's just the new going rate! Until I went to an outdoor venue up the road in Raleigh and saw their chair rentals there are $6! For $6 it's totally worth not having to carry a chair in, for $15, no thanks, I'll stand or find something else to sit on!

Now the other drawback here is that you can buy a decent seat in a front section even, but if you are not in the front row of the section you will not be able to see the stage AT ALL! Why? Well they have zero restrictions on people standing and holding their phones over their head (or stupidly, a bit higher than just in front of their faces, basically watching the show thru a tiny screen! Lol!)

They supposedly restrict selfie sticks but people still bring and use them too (honestly those are less intrusive than holding with arms! The sticks take the phones higher up and do not block view nearly as much!)

Recently, I had an $89 seat I bought on a presale that I was quite happy with - until the show started and I realized I could not see a thing, from any angle, seated or standing. All I could see was a sea of phones! I could barely even see the show on the screens! Very quickly I gave up my $89 seat and headed for the lawn so I could actually see the show! I really wish they would go back to the days when even taking a few photos during a show was frowned upon!

Also about seating - even when a show has tons of empty seats, it seems seat upgrades are just no longer available. You used to be able to purchase a seat upgrade both on site and also online ahead of time.

Now you have to arrive there, find the upgrade booth, scan the QR code, view the available upgrades, choose one, attempt to check out - only to get all kinds of errors. When showing this to persons at upgrade booth, the standard answer seems to be, "oh yeah, I guess there's no more available! Others have been getting that message too!" Or, "oh they must be sold out!" (Even when there's a ton of empty seats to be seen!)

I do want to mention one extremely positive thing from just the other night at the Imagine Dragons show - There was a guy working at one of the booths near the entrance who was extremely helpful, friendly and gave excellent directions! I WISH I had got his name! It was a PNC booth that was on the right side, not far past the entrances if one came in and turned right...

Overall, it's hard to beat an outdoor concert in a (relatively) small venue. As for the venue itself, there was some good but enough that could be improved to take off the star. First, the good. There seemed to be plenty of vendor stands for food and drinks. There also seemed to be plenty of restrooms (my wife didn't have to stand in lines, so, all you ladies know what I'm talking about). Our seats were covered, so, no worries about weather and they were fairly comfy. Also, it is a stadium seating setup, so it made it easier to see. I'm a short guy and didn't have any issues. Now, for the loss of the star. It all boils down to parking. While parking seemed to be plentiful and fairly well laid out, it wasn't really all that intuitive. The signage for parking left a lot to be desired. For example, one sign said "General Parking" and had arrows pointing to the left and right. Unfortunately, the gate to the area on the right was closed, so it was misleading. Also, while parking attendants were present, all the ones we interacted with seemed to either not want to be there or just didn't want to do much of anything. Another example...there was an area designated as "Tailgate Parking" that was in the same area as General Parking, with the only difference being that tailgating parking cost extra and was only marked with a difficult to see banner. We actually had to interrupt a conversation between 2 attendants just to find out that the entire area was NOT for tailgate parking and also that the idea was to follow the people with yellow vests to get parked. The only folks with yellow vests were a couple of guys riding around in a golf cart and not wearing said vests. What little assistance they offered was to point in a general direction. Other venues do a much better and more efficient job by having folks posted at each turning point with a person or to giving very specific directions. The other issue I had was that I think the overall volume was too high for the space, so if you didn't know the song it was difficult (if not impossible) to make out the lyrics and extremely difficult to hear the performers if they were just talking. I don't know if that falls on the venue or the artists' sound people, but it was an issue. It could also have been the difference between being in the seats vs on the lawn. I didn't have the same issue at a different concert where we were on the lawn, but again, I don't know whose responsibility it is for sound. Overall, this is the 2nd concert I've been to at this venue and I would go there for another one. Hopefully someone from the venue will see the review and work on the...

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️☆ (4/5)

We went to PNC Music Pavilion to see AJR, and it was an amazing show! The venue itself has a lot of positives, with just a few things you’ll want to know before going.

🎟 Tickets: You can buy through Ticketmaster or StubHub. Just note that if you get your tickets through StubHub and there are any issues, the box office at the venue can’t help you—you’ll need to handle it through StubHub directly, which can take longer.

🎒 Bags & Entry: The bag policy is strict. Nothing larger than a fanny pack is allowed. I had to take my purse all the way back to the car. They do offer a bag-holding service for about \$11. No outside food or drinks are allowed, but you can bring in an empty water bottle to refill inside.

🍔 Food & Drinks: They had plenty of food options (including a nacho bar) and alcohol sales. I didn’t check prices for alcohol, but shirts ran \

40–\\

🌿 Atmosphere: The smell of marijuana was pretty strong throughout the venue, which was surprising given the number of kids there. It didn’t bother us, but it’s worth knowing ahead of time. Overall, the environment felt safe—no fights, lots of security, and everyone seemed to be having a great time.

🎶 Seating: Honestly, the lawn was my favorite spot. It’s spacious, comfortable, and surprisingly free of bugs (I assume they spray). You can bring your own blanket or lawn chairs, or rent chairs at the venue. The reserved seating closer to the stage is good if you want to be seen by the band, but the lawn felt more relaxed.

🚗 Parking: There’s plenty of parking, but it fills up fast. Expect to park across the street and walk a good distance unless you arrive early—two hours early is a safe bet for closer parking.

🚻 Bathrooms: Be prepared—they’re porta-johns only. Ladies, avoid rompers (lesson learned). If possible, use the restroom before you arrive.

👮 Staff & Security: Most of the staff and security were friendly and helpful. The only negative was a rude box office worker, but otherwise, interactions were positive.

✨ Overall: Despite the bag hassle and porta-john situation, the setup is really nice for concerts. Great sound, safe environment, and a fun atmosphere. We had a wonderful experience and definitely plan...