State Farm Stadium — Attraction in Glendale

We decided to attend a Home Show there (first time at this location) and it was a bit of a fiasco. (I will admit here that we saw an ad and that neither of us are big on using cell phones.)

First, we arrived 50 minutes early as both of us are senior citizens and didn't want to do more walking then we had to. Spent 30 of those minutes trying to find the right parking lot for show visitors (as opposed to vendors and employees. One lot attendee gave conflicting directions and two flat out didn't know, one with the excuse that it is 'too early' (40 minutes before opening) We got a good view of 3/4 of the stadium's grounds though? Okay, parked and get in line. Should be smooth sailing now. No. Get up in line and smiling attend tells us that as Senior Discount visitors we have to wait until the opening hour. Fine with that. But ten minutes later (five minutes to opening) I notice a lot of the ticket booths say Credit Card Only. The last booth is out of my view so I ask the friendly attendant if that last booth is the one we need to go to to pay with cash? No. ALL of the booths are credit card only. State Farm Stadium (located in one of the United States states) does not accept United States cash. You know, that paper that says 'legal tender' on it. WTF? Am I in China? Not even on Seniors Day for the group that tends to pay small amounts in cash? At this point I'm ready to walk back to the car and go shop at Home Depot down the street. However my companion (grudgingly because he doesn't like this either) brings out his card to pay for two tickets that way.) Opening minute and the attendant advises us to use the booths to our left instead of the ones right in front of us because all should be open. They are not. We have to wait until the people who came after us get their tickets in order to get to a free teller.

Now, finally inside, we get to see the vendors. Go down the stairs (no mention of elevators being available by the stairway attendant to anyone even those using canes.) View the lower section then head up. Going up stairs is harder on aged knees, let me tell you. Still nothing from the attendant on available lifts so we shrug and persevere. Now I decide to use the restroom before leaving. The ones below had clearly marked areas, but the Men's was being cleaned so I had decided to wait so we could go at the same time. Mistake! The ones up on top have two entrances. As with every other store I've ever been to this meant that if one was marked Mens then the other was obviously the Womens. Nope. I backed out of that entryway REAL quick. Look around.... only one sign saying Mens in this WIDE entryway. No sign on the other side to warn those coming form the opposite direction. Nice Vendor noticing my plight advises me that the Womens is down the way. I remember that way was blocked and that I didn't want my male friend to wonder where I was when he came out so I waited figuring I'd use the clearly marked restrooms I'd noticed at the Entrance point. Found out you can't just walk around the upper section. No, goodness, no. You have to WALK ALL THE WAY BACK AROUND the way you came. Finally came to the exit, used the proper facilities, got back to the car and told my friend we are never going there again or anywhere else that doesn't accept American cash or have clear signing inside and out. With the amount of time and gasoline we spent there we could have gone directly to the offices of the three vendors we actually hoped to see. Would have come out at least even on cost too.

Pros: the employees were always friendly in demeanor, the restrooms clean, and the steps (though many) were at least shallow in depth.

Times sure have...

Mixed feelings about this review. Been to the stadium numerous times in the past for football, concerts, monster trucks etc. never really had an issue. Friendly staff, clean grounds etc. Prices have been high for years for food and drinks. Post COVID: Stadium tour concert: Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Poison and Joan Jett. Couldn’t wait for this concert in this stadium. Floor seats, which were amazing but cheap chairs. Who sits much anyway during one of these super concerts !! Couldn’t buy anything other than can beer or water bottles on the floor!! Had to go to upper levels for soda or any kind of food or snacks!! That was ridiculous since we paid premium prices for our tickets. We shouldn’t have to run to the upper levels to get something, putting us farther away from our seats and have to show our tickets every time to get back down to the floor. This was very frustrating!!

But the icing in the cake for the lower rating is the parking situation. We contacted the stadium twice about driving our motorhome and parking in the oversized lot. We were told where it was, how to get there, what time it opened and how much. We were completely prepared for everything. 2:30pm on concert day traffic is horrendously backed up already. We tried to turn where the oversized lot was but it was barricaded and staff said the oversized lot was on the other side, follow traffic and turn on 91st. We did just that as he said. Knocked over a bunch of cones due to they weren’t made for our small motorhome but for cars. Proceeded north to get to the lot only to be stopped by staff saying we can’t come through there and need to turn around. He moved cones and stopped traffic to get us out of there. We told him we were told the oversized lot was over here. He said no, back the other way.

SO damn frustrating when we’ve already been sitting in traffic for over an hour and still haven’t parked. Staff have no idea where to send us and we’re screwed with no where to go. Thank God the church had parking available. They parked us next to the house away from everyone else. We were still 1/4 mile away at this point, hot and sweaty from sitting in traffic with no air from sitting still. Only one person taking money to get into the parking lot was not a wise move either for such a big event that was 2.5 years in the waiting. Altogether State Farm Stadium dropped the ball so bad on this one. When we do our due diligence only to be brushed aside by staff is extremely irresponsible of such a giant company running events. Shows a true lack of organization to keep all employees on the...

I learned an important lesson at The Rolling Stones show tonight. After wasting my money on tickets to see an iconic band for the third time, I learned…… NEVER ATTEND A CONCERT AT THIS VENUE!!

The parking was managed well and rather pricey. Since it was not optional, we paid the $30. Getting in was okay, getting out was a breeze, as you will understand below.

The signage in our area was wrong, seriously an error on the printed section sign, which led to some confusion. Why has no one printed a new sign? The seats were comfy enough and the cup holders were a plus. There was even more legroom than an airplane. The opening act (fun fact: he is from Hermosillo, Mexico) sounded awful. We presumed it was because they had no experience with big venues. We just sort ignored it and watched the crowd filter in. Then the opening moment. Time to “Start Me Up” for a loud, fun show. But it wasn’t. Immediately we noticed the reverberation and delay of every beat. We noticed that the words did not line up with what we could see. This was particularly disappointing, as we had decided at the moment we sat down - “it’s okay, we are here for the music”. The reason we resigned ourselves to just listening to the music will be evident in the attached photo. We purchased 417 row E seats 3&4 very intentionally. See, I have bad feet and cannot stand on them for long periods. So we wanted to be able to remain seated during the show. We chose seats that were on the handrail. They were NOT marked “obstructed view” and there was no reason (looking at the seating diagram) to believe they were less than ideal. They were the same, expensive, price as all the seats in that region. Yet, they clearly did not offer the same viewing experience. Between handrails, safety glass, show-watching ushers and confused guests looking for their seats (remember the error on the sign?), we saw a VERY OBSTRUCTED view of the stage, screens, catwalk, etc. Since we couldn’t really see the show, and the sound of the music was awful……. we left during the fourth song. Exiting the parking area was easy! No lines, a visible exit sign near our row and easy access to the freeway. There was a steady stream of people walking out the exit doors and driving away from what could have been a momentous event. But instead was an expensive frustration.

You read this long review for advice, so here’s my advice-

Do not spend money on tickets for a concert at this sports venue. Use the same money to upgrade your stereo system and you will have a better...