MVP Arena — Attraction in City of Albany

I have been to many different shows at MVP Arena over the last four years.

Back when it was called the Times Union Center, I Saw Five Finger Death Punch And Breaking Benjamin, Shinedown And Papa Roach. And most recently with the name change to MVP Arena, I have seen: Greta Van Fleet, Korn And Chevelle, My Chemical Romance And Waterparks, and The Trinity Of Terror Tour (Motionless In White, Black Veil Brides, And Ice Nine Kills) A-swell as I plan on attending the Motionless In White and In This Moment, Dark Horizons Tour In August.

Needless to say MVP arena does a good job at bringing in all different music acts from different genres of music. Bringing in artists in genres like: country, metal/rock, and pop. I appreciate the venue bringing in metal/rock acts. I feel since the name change the amount of shows being released have been way better.

As for the actual venue, it’s very spacious and well organized. Parking for the venue is attached right to the venue, aswell as having multiple parking options all along the streets of downtown Albany at the many riverfront parking garages. The event staff at the venue were very good at getting everyone through the ticket and security line quick and efficiently. The venue has many different food and drink vendors all across the Concorde of the arena. The bathrooms are well maintained and clean for the most part. The actual arena is very nice, and event staff are helpful for finding your seats, aswell as the labels above the doors of the arena showing what section you are in.

The only reason I’m giving MVP arena four stars is because of the merch situation. So when I attended the Trinity of terror tour and my chemical romance (which I get are popular acts). I found that the merch line was long and very slow. Luckily for my chemical romance I didn’t miss any of the show getting merch, but for Trinity I ended up missing the first half of black veil brides set as I waited in line for over 30-40 minutes. I found it confusing that there was only one merch area in the entire arena. I feel it would be better to have two smaller merch stations at two different sides of the venue, that way the merch lines can move for efficiently and faster. And people can enjoy the show that they payed for, without missing anything. I know it varies by show too on if the merch is run by designated merch vendors hired by the bands, or event staff at mvp that run the merch station. Regardless, I feel there has to be a better answer to fix the problem.

But honestly besides that it’s an amazing venue, and the only major arena in the upstate New York area near the capital (besides glens falls civic center). I definitely recommend catching one of the notable bands passing through the area their if you...

I’m giving this place one star- but i have to give credit to the security during the show for being so diligent on giving everyone water and being nice + helpful.

I went to see My Chemical Romance on 8/30/22. Waited outside for 29 hours, I was number 25 in line (we all wrote numbers on our hands to keep track.) The security came out and told us they would honor us by letting our line in 15 minutes early and that they’d let us in the venue in small doses so that we all could fairly make it to the barricade. Y’know, since we waited so long.

That did not happen. When we got into the arena, there were basically 3 lines, 6 total, on both sides of the stairwells. So many people were cutting in line. Then on one side of the arena, they started letting the others go through security first. The employees were all chatting with each other on our side, so we yelled to let them know the other side was moving already, and the security guard was ridiculously rude. The one man said, “well it’s your fault for waiting in line for so long, you’ll get there when you get there.” When clearly they were all talking and not paying attention.

So then a few minutes later they start letting us through security and ticket scanning. I’m 3rd in my line. I get up to the older lady who is scanning tickets and she keeps getting an error message. She says- “oh sorry, i have no idea what I’m doing.” Then proceeds to take her time trying to get tech help. Meanwhile all these people are running past having their tickets scanned instantly. Extremely frustrating.

I always pass out when I’m not on the barricade, hence the reason I got to the show so early, and i did not make it up there. I did pass out towards the end and had my MCR experience ruined for me. I am truly appalled at how horrible the venue organized this event considering how long I waited + I drove 9 hours to be there- and i was not the only person this happened to. The four people who were on the barricade in front of me did not have their hands numbered- as they were not waiting in line for hours like everyone else with numbers on their hands.

I will never recommend this...

I had never heard of this place until an opportunity came up to see the FIREBIRDS. The arena is like many arenas I've been to. The Arena Football set up is awesome though. The green grass (fake?) and the lines and there is so much to look at. Every seat is good and the sound is great. The screens are big for replays and the announcers get everywhere. The food is expensive of course but there are water fountains. The security and guards are attentive and even make joes about under age drinking. The bathrooms are huge and easily accessible. We've had paper tickets and digital tickets. Both are convenient. I've walked there from an AIRBNB which was convenient with places around to eat and even a block party when we first went. I've also parked for $10 which the exit after the game was very easy and smooth. Overall, I think it would be a great place for a concert if that is your cup of tea, I went for 2 football games and overall it was a great experience. I even saw a guy get kicked out due to over drinking. Nice! The second time I went for the Arena Football game there were many kids, young and old. This is great to see for the football games and for the arena. Very kid friendly. Sometimes there are promotions though that are not exactly obvious when you come in your entrance. The first time we went there were little red FIREBIRD towels to whip around during the game. The second time we went there were giant inflatable MVP ARENA clapper things. We didn't see those when we first came in so after walking around a bit we found them. So I would recommend walking around since those simple little promotions at a place like this are positive for everyone so they don't...