Kohl Center — Attraction in Madison

I'm not very sportsy, but I am rocky, so my review of the Kohl Center is based on my experience at the Foo Fighters concert on November 7, 2017.

Foo Fighters = A++++++++++ Kohl Center = C or C-

Pros: The building is laid out nicely. There aren't bottlenecks at the doors when people are entering the arena. Getting in/out of the building is easy, and the concourses are roomy. Getting through security is quick and efficient. The security consisted of a purse check and walking through a metal detector. Coats/jackets could remain on. The bathrooms are big, clean and have lots of stalls. The bathroom lines (even with a sold-out event) are short. The arena itself is clean. It seems like a totally new structure even though it was built in 1998. Ushers are friendly and helpful in directing you to your seat. Parking is not bad. While there really isn't ample parking very close to the arena, we only had to walk a few blocks after parking in the State Street garage.

Cons: Concessions are very limited and not vegetarian- and/or health-friendly. The choices included hot dogs, hamburgers, nachos, popcorn, pretzels, mac & cheese, ice cream and some candy items. A larger variety of food options -- wraps, various sandwiches, salads -- would have been nice. Concession stands were quite pokey. I stood in line for over five minutes with only two orders in front of me. The people working the concession stands did not appear to work quickly or try to keep the line moving. Alcohol. I understand the campus is a "dry" campus, but a FF concert isn't a school event. Why is alcohol not served at a rock concert? It's my understanding that the Kohl Center has served alcohol at other concerts before. The answer I received from the concession stand lady was that alcohol is not served at the Kohl Center because any venue associated with the UW doesn't serve alcohol. How does this explain alcohol sales within the suites at the Kohl Center?

While I'm happy Foo came to Madison for a concert and I enjoyed the show, I don't plan on returning to the...

We messed up by buying tickets from a Craigslist scammer for tonight’s Metallica concert. We had everything the scammer had given us, including what was a receipt with a what I’m guessing is a fake persons name and address on them. The tickets looked to be real. They said they were purchased from the Kohl Center box office on the tickets and receipt. We got in after my husbands ticket scanned. My daughters and mine did not, but we were let in anyway, they removed the bar code and let us in. We went to find our seats after getting something from the concession stand only to find out our seats didn’t exist. We asked for help and everyone was really nice until we had to get taken to the ticket purchasing area and spoke to the person in charge. He stated that there wasn’t anything he could do and that we needed to purchase new tickets to get in. We had paid $500 for 3 seats and didn’t have any more money. We told him our situation and he said if it’d been a sports event they would’ve been able to work something out, but since it wasn’t we were out of luck. They gave our tickets back to us and we filed a police report with some officers that were on stand by. They took the tickets as evidence and took all the information they could to use. My 12 year old was crying and upset because she was looking forward to seeing the concert and of course we were upset as well. I just feel that they really could’ve done more given the...

I'm sure this venue is a fine place to watch basketball but they should never host a concert again. It's a college sports venue, I get it, but zero alcohol sales can be a bummer for someone trying to unwind with some good American rock & roll. Also, once you're in, you're in. No re-entry at all, like some middle school dance, so forget about getting any fresh air or chatting under the stars during a set break. Finally, all concessions close nearly two hours before the show is over (this was my personal experience, my show ended at 12). This left all the sweaty, out of breathe, dance the night away types to desperately search for water most of the night. There are a few water fountains but that's hardly enough to quench the thirst of a few thousand foot stompers. In the end, this venue didn't ruin my night for me, but it didn't do it any favors either. It does look very pretty from...