South Side Ballroom — Attraction in Dallas

Went to my very first concert earlier this week and was absolutely devastated when the experience was grossly dwindled down by the venue. I had people around me assure me that the venues they’ve gone to before are far more organized and not as chaotic. I was part of a fan line that waited days for this concert, we knew it was GA so we knew it was first come first serve to get wristbands to secure our spot. At 10:00am the venue opened up to get wristbands, the venue did not honor the fan line as they had assured fans they would and thousands of people were rushing to get to the front as fast as they could. People got hurt. With the multiple lines that the venue did not choose to condense by order of formation, it became chaotic. After 30 minutes of deliberation and everyone in line becoming upset, they decided to call the first fan line in order of which the fans had labeled themselves. We fell in order fairly quickly, as we had upwards of 300 to 400 people in that line alone. We were respectful to the venues wishes and made a line just like they asked. After 30 more minutes of standing in this line, their poor staff had to discuss with everyone that they were not going to do wristbands to get an order as they stated on their website and that It would become first come first serve later that night. Of course everyone in the line knew it was ridiculous to go back home and wait until the evening, because the line would only get worse from there. Some people left because they couldn’t wait on the venue to get it together. After another hour of fans assisting the venue with a proper game plan for the sold out show, they decided to actually set up the lines for the show and tell people that were remaining that they would order the fan numbered line first, then the rest of the line. We all fell into our lines, the venue again assured us that the numbered people would get in first. They let us know that if we went home, we would not be guaranteed our spots in line, like the wristbands would have done. So everyone waited hours with baited breath. At 7pm, they were letting in the seated folks in the line, which were not GA and paid lots of money to do so. Suddenly the last four lines begin to move up quickly , thinking that because they weren’t going that they wouldn’t get to see the concert. The staff was well overworked and overwhelmed at this point. One the seated people got in, it was time for the lines to start going in. Again, the higher ups at the venue had lied to the people in the line. All of the lines were going in at once, creating a panicked entry. The staff wasn’t able to proper check bags or scan people to make sure they were safe for entry. People who had waited days to see this concert ended up at the back of the venue because the venue lies to everyone, was terribly unorganized, and overwhelmed by a sold out show. Your staff who had been working that night need days off, except the people who made the final decisions, they need to absolutely be put in their place and showed how terrible they...

VERY rude, terrible communication, and disorganized entrance handling by venue staff. As a frequent concert attendee, i won't be going back to this venue ever again unless management changes. The day of my show, it was raining all day, so early attendees were under the patio to stay dry. A guy came out a few hours before entry and said "My line starts on the cement, not the patio. Ya'll knew it was raining." I didn't mind that information or change in line location but it was conveyed in a "screw you guys, I don't care if you get soaked" sort of attitude and tone. The group asked when VIP line separation would start because there was no signage and they were supposed to get in the venue at 6PM, and he said 5:30.

Want to guess what didn't happen at 5:30 and made all the VIPs freak out? So the attendees started trying to get the entry tiers separated instead (which is always a little messy but basically worked). Just before 6 the guy comes out again and yells at everyone to get into a single file line. The line was already wrapping around the venue and NO ONE at the back could have possibly heard him, and he ignored or talked over everyone who said they'd already separated the lines up front, and he insisted on one line. After 10-15 minutes of this he eventually yells for the Early Entry to move to the front (which was the third group that would enter)... causing more freaking out from the 2 VIP tiers who go in first.

TLDR: Basically 90% of this chaos, yelling etc. Could have been avoided if they had either listened to the fans in line, OR taken 30 seconds to explain IF they 1) understood the two VIP tiers will go in first and 2) were only wanting to separate early entry from them so they could start checking in VIPs. Instead it was a pissing match of yelling over the crowd that he was "in charge" but providing NO information that would help resolve the problem.

Inside of the venue was okay but the staff truly ruined the experience. It's all standing, no sitting areas, and thr stage is low so seeing the acts from the back could be a challenge. Some variety in drinks/concessions but they don't let you have the caps on your water bottles (WTH...

Let me preface this by saying ive been to probably 15 shows here and never had any issue until the From Ashes to New show a couple weeks ago. I read the rules on the website before coming and it says a small clear bag is permitted subject to search. No problem. I showed security my clear small bag and they smiled and were WONDERFUL. I get to the door and this young female proceeds to get major attitude and said no, uh uh, you ain't bringing that in. I said maam, it's on your page it's allowed and she smarted back but I said I read the rules. She yelled to someone and they said oh yeah that's just one person's rule of no bags but it's okay if it was searched. Southside, be consistent. She huffed and let us through. Part through the 3rd act I was feeling hot and tired so we went outside to the smoking area for air. I dont smoke so I politely stepped around them all and sat on the Top of the stairs. There was a barrier there pushed to the side but a 3 or 4 foot opening so we sat directly beside the barrier. Did not leave. A woman proceeds to yell at us to move over so someone can leave. We do and don't say a word. Next thing we know she grabs that barrier and SLAMS it into the other side of the wall and tells a man that is working there NOBODY STEPS OUT THIS BARRIER AND COMES BACK. Even he looked shocked. We sit a bit longer in shock and proceed to walk back inside and she screams at me nuh uh, you're gone, you left. I said maam, you watched us for an hour sitting on those steps and didn't say a word. She tried to gas light us and say she had only been outside for 10 minutes but we literally saw her as we came out. She gets loud, I get loud, security comes and looks like he desperately wants to tell me she's nuts but he said hey, she's the boss over here and I have to listen. I tell her how she was so wrong for treating people that way. We were quiet, polite, just trying to escape the cigarette smoke but NEVER left. Check the cameras. I get policy but the way she treated us was shameful honestly. She enjoyed every second of kicking someone out. We drove hundreds of miles and spent hundreds of dollars for 45 minutes of...