The Riviera Theatre — Attraction in Lake View Township

Was a very pretty, clean venue to me and the bar staff was excellent! I went here to see Cavetown and he was absolutely amazing too! Which is why it pains me to have to give this place 2 stars. Firstly, ventilation was pretty bad which caused it to be super hot in the general standing areas. This was an even bigger problem because the security and medic staff were not watching the crowd as closely as they should have been and there were several times that someone fainted/ needed to be removed and Cavetown had to point it out on stage in the middle of the performance! Super unsafe!

Another negative things about this place is the insanely expensive…well everything. They charge ridiculous prices for basic things. My friends and I stood in line for 2 hours before the venue opened for the show and RIGHT before we got in, a security officer yelled that we needed to take out vaccine cards, IDs, and put on masks or we would be denied entry. We were not told this information earlier but it is likely that’s it is on their website so that’s not what I was annoyed about. What was a problem was that my mask had been blown out of my hand earlier into the fenced in yard of a private residence that we couldn’t retrieve it from. My friends and I were panicking and we asked the security guard at the door for an extra mask. He scoffed and told us in a rude tone that “I don’t know, go talk to that medic”. So we went out of the line that we had waited two hours in, still panicking, and the medic told us that the venue was SELLING these 50cent masks for $5. $5 isn’t the end of the world but it’s definitely taking advantage of panicking customers at the door. It would have been nice if one of the staff had gone down the line of people during those 2 hours and let everyone know what they needed at the door/let them buy a mask if they needed then. My friend literally did not stop shaking from the stress of suddenly not being allowed entry after waiting so long for the next 20 minutes. Also, I’m not sure if this is normal for venues but a bottle of water is $4 here which can get to be a bit pricey if you are in a large group. Three water bottles did not last my group of 4 friends for more than half the show.

I’m not usually a picky customer but maybe I am this time. However, the rest of the show was great! Great sound and lighting system and the stage team was excellent! Also shoutout to Cavetown, Tessa Violet, and Addison they made for a truly spectacular night!I would probably go back again if another great artist came through but this time with extra masks and my own...

I have been going to concerts since I was sixteen and have worked them as well as local VIP staff. So I am VERY aware of how concerts work for a bit of a backstory.

To keep it short: my sister and I flew from Fargo, ND to see Luke Hemmings May 21, 2024 and while Luke himself was amazing, some of the venue staff wasn’t.

The venue is very beautiful but they need to do something about GA. Luckily, I had reserved loge.

Security was yelling throughout the night to fans for various reasons: security lanes, merch line, etc.

The main issue I had was a rude staff member when I was trying to get back to my seats in the reserved loge upstairs.

I thought she asked if I needed help finding my seats in which I responded “no thank you.” I quickly realized after she told me “that’s not how concerts work, is this your first concert?” that she probably wanted to see my tickets (which duh??? I should have known that). I was super nervous after security ALREADY yelling at fans in general so it slipped my mind. I showed her my tickets after that encounter but it was just very off putting. I get that I probably misheard her because she most likely did say “do you need help finding your seats?” If that was the case, even being frustrated, she could have repeated herself because I was NOT rude to her. At ALL.

Aside from that rude worker, this was one of my favorite concerts I have been to. If you have the option to get GA or reserved loge, GO FOR RESERVED LOGE. My sister and I originally had the second row towards the front of the reserved loge and we had a GREAT VIEW. The reviews saying if you are further back on GA floor are definitely right with the poor design on the bottom of the venue.

If I could give any advice to the venue, teach some of your workers customer service. I can get why security needs to be loud, but what I don’t get is an usher being rude to someone for mishearing them.. Everyone has bad days and I try to give them the benefit of the doubt, but that worker could have ruined that concert for me if it was my first concert. But, contrary to what she thinks, it indeed was my 20th concert so...

EDITED: I attended another show and wanted to give the venue another chance since Jam USA was able to get an interpreting team for another venue. This time I had the email of the person to contact so it was easier to ask ahead of time. John was great and was able to set up a team and I had such a great night. Masks and vaccine cards were checked and enforced especially in the standing area where I was. This time I was able to be in on what was being said on stage, and able to understand what was happening. I am very thankful the team learned from last times mistake and I hope they continue to put accessibility as a priority. I hope they can create an easier way to contact their team for accessibility needs instead of having to go through lots of hoops to find someone to ask.

Original review: Not good if you need any accommodations for disabilities. I’m Deaf, and was really looking forward to seeing an artist who I love. The theatre’s website didn’t have a spot to place a request for accessibility. It was “call, but only on show days”. I finally was able to find an email to contact someone of some sorts. They said they would place a request. I Followed up to ask if they got someone or not. No response. When I showed up and asked the manager apologized and offered a refund but I had traveled hours to get there. I wasn’t going to make my friend leave with me. Even though I was with a friend who knew sign, they aren’t trained to interpret these shows. They didn’t go to 4+ years of school for it. It just hurt to take off work & class, spend money for tickets, wait hours in line to get a good spot and not be able to get the same experience as everyone else. It hurt to look at the artist I absolutely adored and not being able to know what she was saying to us. But I spent loads of money when I could have stayed home and listened to her music with...