Coachman Park — Attraction in Clearwater

I went to the new Sound at the brand new Coachman Park facility to see Peter Frampton. It is a great new venue. It is an open-air concert venue similar to the State Fairgrounds outside Tampa, but it is more intimate. It is on the water right near the Capital Theater in Clearwater. A short walk from there and the restaurants. The venue and park are very nice. As you go into the Sound from the park, there are a group of food trucks that greet you. There is a good variety, and there happens to coincidentally be my favorite food truck. Funnel Vision, with fantastic food and desserts. As you go by the food trucks, you go into the seating area, and it is shaped like a big semi-circle around the stage, which is very wide. It's not fancy. It just has the modern industrial design with all the large white pipes and roof overhead. The roof covers just about all of the seats except for some on the sides and back. After the seats in the back, there is a short lawn of artificial turf, and then there is a walkway that separates the very back of the area, which is also a lawn that slopes upward. At the top of the lawn, there are a couple of drink vendors and some bathroom facilities, along with a big building not connected to the venue. The seating is good and you can see well from any seat you buy. There's no need to buy the expensive seats unless you want to sit right up front. You will notice that the seats get a little uncomfortable after a while because they are hard plastic and all connected to one another. The best thing to do is stand up every so often to stretch. One thing about the venue because l think it's very new, is that the security is aggressive. From the minute we got in the ticket line which took a long time, they were kind of bossy, and when you got inside they were constantly telling people that they couldn't sit on the cement wall at the end of the lawn. The old timers were getting feisty with the security because they felt they were being denied something silly. For a different reason, one person even got handcuffed and arrested by the police who were actually less aggressive than the security. I had to laugh when l saw an old timer getting arrested at a Peter Frampton concert. Peter Frampton was fantastic, by the way. Even though he has a degenerative muscular disease, he put on a long show sitting down, and his voice is still very good. He was very personable and told many stories. He is a very positive person. Overall, the venue is nice, and l had a good time and would go back again. Especially to explore more of the park. Maybe for one of the markets they have there. It's worth a trip there. I heard that there were 20 shows happening this year. One more thing. The venue is great for night shows. Keep in mind you'll have to deal with the sun until you get under the roof. After the sun sets, the place is beautiful with the lights and...

What a cool-looking venue. If you want to experience a concert; however, I would NOT recommend the lawn seating since inconsiderate attendees will stand on the sidewalk and impede your view and the staff does nothing to discourage folks from loitering in those areas (which are designed to facilitate pedestrian movement - not as observation points). And it wasn't comfortable sitting for nearly 4 hours even with the blanket we brought. At the show we attended, lines for the single restroom were excessive at all times, as were lines for limited concessions. After a few $12.00 16-oz beers, we were hungry, and I went to find a couple of pretzels, waiting in line for another 10 minutes only to find that truck had run out of them only an hour into the show. The only other food choice was popcorn, and I fortunately got their last bag of popcorn, which was not a suitable substitute (a small bag for two people). Event staff informed me there were more food trucks on one side of the stage, but getting to them was impossible due to the crowded lawn. There were house speakers for the lawn, but if they were even on, the volume was so low (I couldn't hardly hear -much less feel- the bass drum or bass guitar) it had the effect of background music, so many attendees felt free to talk and socialize during the entire show. This venue evidently has no public parking. We found a private lot where we were charged $20.00 (some were charging $30.00). Lastly this show was advertised as beginning at 7:30; however the headliner did not take the stage until 8:00 p.m. I left feeling hungry, sore from sitting on the ground so long, disappointed that such a fine-looking venue would provide such a fraught experience, and a little ripped off despite an apparent fantastic performance by the...

I love supporting the community and attending events at the park however, its unfortunate the design, materials used, layout and location are lacking in common sense to say the least. I attended the grand opening of this park and noticed the overlay they used to cover the cement structures was pealing on day one. (I believe I did a review of this) There are not nearly enough shade coverings from the sun and just recently the kids splash area closed at 4pm on July 4th. I would have liked to see that area stay open until dusk. It's way to hot in the sun during the day to not have protection from the sun. EMT's and Fire Rescue did attend to a child on July 4th however, I do not know if this was related to heat or not. The park has also become somewhat overgrown with all the plants and greenery and the large parking lot at the top of the hill, on Fort Harrison, directly adjacent from the Library, I assume has been taken over by someone who doesn't want the public parking there as the lot is completely fenced off now. Complaints about the Florida Sunshine are still being heard due to the location of the stage, which is in direct view of the evening sunsets. So, while watching the concert you couldn't wait to see you may just discover you actually can't see with the sun shinning directly in your eyes. It is a great park but very disappointing, this park does have great potential. Bring your own chair, umbrella, cooler with food and plenty of liquids. FYI they do have a water station near the restrooms to refill your own...