Clyde Theatre — Attraction in Fort Wayne

They made me buy a full price ticket to bring my breastfeeding infant to the Nickel Creek concert. I found this out at the door, having purchased tickets online, and not seeing anything suggesting that would be the case on their website.

In preparation for the concert, I read the list of prohibited items, and purposely did not bring a large bag, a car seat/carrier, or any extra paraphernalia; just my infant in my arms, who would stay in my arms the entire concert, and a small bag with baby necessities.

When I spoke with management staff, at the urging of a very kind security guard who was sure it had been a mistake, they informed me that I had to pay for a seat "so everyone nearby would be comfortable" if I had brought a carseat in. However, I had neither a carseat nor the extra seat I had to pay for, because there were no seats available near our purchased tickets, since I had to buy whatever ticket was available at the door when the ticket agent wouldn't let my baby in.

When I explained this to management, they were not understanding at all, and instead implied that we could be moved to the cheaper seats so we could have the extra seat we'd paid for, and that we should be grateful we hadn't been charged more money for a seat nearer our section (again, a seat we did not want, did not need, and the baby could not use in any way).

Having three children, I have taken a breastfeeding infant to various concerts and sporting events in numerous venues over the past 6 years, and I have never, ever paid for a seat for a baby.

We weren't the only people blindsided by this at the door, as I talked to others there with babies as well (none of them tried to bring a carseat in either - all babies in arms) and management told me they had charged at least three other babies besides mine to be there that night.

I didn't let it ruin my evening, but I did feel the need to keep my baby awake so he could get $40 worth of enjoyment out of the concert, even though he was just there to be fed.

This is a ridiculous, greedy policy that needs to be changed....

I've only experienced The Clyde for classic rock cover bands so my review can't speak for other performances in the space. As a venue, it is unique in the Fort Wayne area. The main floor may have a slight slope toward the stage, but not enough that, for general admission (standing room only) events, you can see over those in front of you. There are also three irregular shaped loges (elevated standing/seating areas; left, center, and right. The elevation is maybe a couple feet, so you get a much better view of the stage than from the back of the main floor. At least the center loge has a railing where you can set your drinks if you choose. There are also box (VIP) seats at the upper-back. Two of the three concerts I've been to at The Clyde were all standing room only so I expected the third one to be also as the tickets didn't mention otherwise. Unfortunately, only the main floor was available to general admission ticket holders. All the loges were filled with chairs that you were required to go out front and request an upgrade to be seated there. As for sound, The Clyde is not ideal for rock bands as it is rather small and, despite being owned by Sweetwater Sound, the acoustics are terrible at high volume. If the guys at the sound board are on top of things, it is at least enjoyable. We saw Thunderstruck (ACDC cover band) and Pyromania (Def Leppard cover band) and both were decent as far as hearing all the players and vocals. The most recent band we saw was Zoso (Led Zeppelin cover band) and we didn't stay for probably the last half, partly because the sound was horrible and partly because the band played too many lesser known Zep songs that no one was getting into. Half the time you couldn't even tell what adding they were playing because the volume level was painful. I love good loud rock as much as anyone, but this was not the right venue for that volume. I'll keep going to shows because we like being able to get dinner and drinks at The Club Room (attached to the theater), but I'm buying some Eargasm earplugs for...

Very slow to enter the facility. They need more people scanning tickets and two security lines.

• Floor is flat in theater. Seating is folding chairs. Therefore; if several rows off stage, visibilty is very limited without sloped floor. Not recommended for events that are seated events.EDIT* Thank you for your response on October 02, 2023. Since everything in my review was not addressed, it is being edited. First off, let me qualify my review. My wife and I attend several venues equal in size to the Clyde across Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, and Virgina. The attitude and professionalism of Clyde's security people were pretty much the worst we had encountered. One individual did not like a small unique item on my keychain. He immediately, with no comment, took my key chain apart. [You just don't do this with personal property] He put the keychain in one hand and the item in the other. Then he asked me if I wanted the throw the item away. By his actions and body language the impression was he was going to throw it away in his pocket. The item to his amazement by the look on his face was requested to be given back to I could return it to my vehicle. He then proceeded to explain that I would have to go through the whole security line again in an attempt to discourage me from returning the item to my vehicle. *Besides, only one security line cauasing delay to enter the building trhere was only one ticket scanner person. That created a delay in itself. The other problem was the scanner device had multiple problems in scanning paper or electronic tickets. **In regards to seating: The flat floor for seating is really bad. The seats are too close together. The seats are uncomfortable. I would suggest to people that if they want to attend a sit-down performance they search to see if the entertainer is preforming at another venue in driving distance that is more compactable to sit-down performances. It very doubtful if we will return...