The Orpheum Theater — Attraction in Madison

Of the literally hundreds of concerts I have attended in my lifetime, I have never seen a venue so poorly organized and poorly staffed as this one. It was truly befuddling. It was not the tours/bands either, because I have seen these particular two bands each about 10 times before (I'm a concert junkie). First of all, for the VIP experience, they had us line up outside, took us inside to watch the sound check/meet the bands (were rudely pushed through the line by the venue staff), then made to go back outside to wait for the VIP experience for the second band. Rinse and repeat, and we had to go back outside for a 3rd time to wait for the actual show. This is Wisconsin: do they force people outside in the winter too?? While waiting in the lines outside, we were confused and asked several staff what was going on/where we should be, and were repeatedly met with "I don't know." Not "I'm not sure, but let me help you with that"; just blank stares. Because we had VIP tickets, we were first sent down 2 blocks to the end of the general admission line, then pulled from that line to a second early admission line, then pulled from that line to a third VIP line. This was not a mistake; this was their actual process to make people move from line to line outside. It's terribly inefficient and not good customer service, especially because they were all very snippy about it. Once we got inside, we were met with more staff who didn't have the answers to the following questions: where our seats were, whether or not we could sit in the balcony, whether or not we could leave the venue and come back in, and whether there was food available elsewhere in the building (they don't even know the building they're working in??). Then when we went to get food, the staff person handled both food and money with his bare hands and ignored my mom who was asking to order as well. The whole experience almost ruined seeing two of our favorite bands. The show itself was spectacular, but the experience in the venue made me almost wish I hadn't gone, and certain I won't go back to...

On 10/26/14, I saw Dave Chapelle perform at this venue. Great performance by Dave & his opening comedian. If this review was on this alone, you bet it'd be 5 stars. Its only 2 stars due to this... My experience was ruined because of the security (Event Staff) in the facility. Nothing that affected me directly, but it brings up the old addage, "Say what you mean, and mean what you say!" On the doors leading into the seating area and all over the place from what I saw, there were postings about the conduct expected while attending. Perfectly fine by me... simple rules to follow if you ask me. The very first rule (in all CAPS mind you) was "No using of cell phones DURING THE SHOW!" Apparently the management of the Orpheum deems it ok for their security (Event Staff for those who don't like the simple word) to dictate and change the posted rules to their advantage. Like I said it didn't bother me as I wasn't on my phone at the time, but for the people who wanted to get a couple of photos of themselves & friends to have for memories sake, the "Orpheum Goon Squad" had their flashlights, stern pointing fingers & radios ready to rock to eject people from the place (while others were being seated mind you). This really bothered me for the entire time I was there. Everyone there paid good money to attend, but yet we get herded in like cattle and expected to just sit there with our faces toward the stage as soon as we're seated! That was my first time attending an event at that venue, and probably my last for a very long time! Before those who my think of this as dealing with race, it does not. It covers the entire board. The 3 goons who ruined my experience and probably received their gold stars for the night were a chunky white woman with long hair & tats with glasses, a tall bald black man with a serious pot belly, and a short hispanic guy with a buzz haircut that thought his all black shirt actually slimmed his big belly. Again, my experience there was ruined for the shoddy way this venue operates its...

I would have given it five stars, but I didn't much care for the way some of the seating, etc. was handled. First I was told there were no seats up front and that the VIP seats were in Balcony C. When I arrived, I was told they put seats on the floor up front but I could sit in Balcony C still if I wanted. I was not told, however, that all the other people sitting where I was sitting got their tix for $65 (as opposed to my $150). I did get a bunch of VIP stuff, too, but didn't care about the swag, just the seat. Had I been given the option, I would have paid $65 for the Gold Circle like those around me and foregone the swag. I saw the same show at another venue and they handled it much more professionally and I got what I paid for, as did those sitting nearby me. I don't know if I would return to the Orpheum, even though it is a very pretty venue and the sound was good, considering the guys cranked their sound a bit louder than they...