Marathon Music Works — Attraction in Nashville-Davidson

Friendly staff and lots of room at this venue. Area of town is a bit sketchy. Almost no chairs (and certainly no comfortable ones) for sitting down, and with the hard poured-concrete floor your feet can get sore from standing after a while. ADA seating is generally off Stage Left with limited visibility depending on the sound equipment stack on the stage. This part is important -- NO RE-ENTRY once you're inside. So if you bought a VIP ticket with a quick meet-and-greet that takes place maybe 2 hours before the show (as is common, and as happened with me yesterday) you're stuck inside the venue for the duration with no comfortable place to sit and pass the time. The few metal stools they have in the vestibule are better used as end-tables instead of seats -- rather uncomfortable for prolonged sitting if you weigh more than, say, 80 pounds. See your car outside getting broken into? If you leave to attend to that you're gonna have to pay admission again to get back in. Leave something important in the car, like your phone charger? Gotta pay to get back in. I can understand the "NO RE-ENTRY" policy but there seriously needs to be at least a little flexibility built into that. Get a gift bag of merch from a VIP ticket? Better hold onto it for hours and hours, because you can't run and put it back in your car EVEN IF THE DOORS HAVEN'T BEEN OPENED TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC YET. Unless, of course, you buy another admission ticket. You can check your bags at the Coat Check counter for a fee, but it is still a little irksome that you have to buy your way out of that inconvenience. I was parked 30 feet from the door and they wouldn't let me run to my car to put my merch away. 30 feet. Sheesh! In their defense, the AXIS security company was running security for the event and one of those guards went to the office and got me a padded chair to sit in while we were lined up outside before the meet-and-greet. I was walking with a cane due to a series of injuries and she volunteered that chair to me because she was a decent person (thank goodness). And they took the chair back as we were filing in. After the meet and greet I tried to get comfortable in the ADA seating area, but those were very thinly-padded chairs and after about 4 minutes I felt I was just sitting on a plank of wood. So I went to a staffer and asked for the padded chair and she cheerfully went to the office and got me one that I ended up using the rest of the night. I'm grateful to that staffer! But if you go that venue, and especially if you go early for a VIP meet and greet and aren't permitted to leave the building and return even seconds later, be prepared to stand a LOT. On that type floor it can be a lot to endure. Wear very comfortable shoes, or at least don't be overweight. I have another function to attend there in about 2 months (again with VIP early entry and hours to kill before the show starts) and I'm half-dreading it. Maybe there was other seating I just don't know about. I'll find out soon enough. Oh, and the acoustics can be iffy. The two opening bands last night sounded fine but the headliner sounded a bit flat. Maybe it was their sound guy. Maybe the room is a difficult chamber to get good quality in. It can be...

I’m baffled by the positive comments about the sound quality. Overall, I have mixed feelings about Marathon, but ultimately they have failed (me) as a music venue.

Pros: -I can usually find parking relatively close by -Getting in to the show is usually simple and quick -They have huge fans to keep the air moving, though sometimes they’re sooooo high it’s freezing and your eyes dry out, but it’s way better than suffocating heat -The security has been GREAT, especially at the Idles show. Most helpful security ever! -Daddy’s Dogs (which has a veggie dog!) is available if I can’t eat before a show -Bathroom is clean -You can see okay from most areas

Cons: -The sound has always been TERRIBLE. Like, to the point that I feel so bummed when I find out an artist I like is going to be at Marathon. 90% bass; muffled, echoey, barely audible singing; everything else is a toss up. Maybe it’s because I’m usually near the stage. I have been to several shows and have never been able to hear the singer well, or at all. The sound is so bad several people Shazam-ed a song playing before the show and none of our phones could identify it—because the only audible thing was the base line. Eventually I recognized it and realized you couldn’t hear the prominent guitar or the singer AT ALL. Maybe the sound is better in the back, but some people are always going to be near the stage, sooo… it really needs to be sorted out. Thank god Idles had their own sound guy! -Because of the material and shape of the room, the acoustics are horrible. It’s a big concrete box, so everything echoes. On top of the sound mixing being terrible, the sound of low-level chatter gets amplified and everything gets muddy. This is especially noticeable when the opener is performing since people tend to chat more through that (which is rude but sadly true). PLEASE get some acoustic panels or something sound dampening!

Even though there are several pros, ultimately this is a MUSIC VENUE. From house shows to arenas, I have never been to a venue with worse sound. I wish I had positive experiences with the sound like...

I'd like to start by saying the band I was there for was phenomenal and I loved every minute of their performance. The first few openers (Strange Music) were at least in my opinion pretty trash and went on way too long. This was for Tech9 x Hollywood Undead. The concert started at 7 but Tech9 didn't come on until about 9, and then Hollywood Undead at 10:30. I'm not a hug fan of Tech9 but he was okay and was very engaging with the crowd. Hollywood Undead killed it up there though. I am disabled and the ADA section was pretty small and cramped and like others have said before, a lot of stage equipment is in the way of the view. Thankfully HU loves to stand up on platforms to sing so it was easier to see them than anyone else. There was also some dude completely trashed over in the ADA area who was not disabled, unless you count being blackout drunk as a disability that is. Security removed him thankfully and brought out more chairs since they saw me sitting on the floor behind this dude. One other complaint is that when we were entering, I was told the sign I made was too large although I hadn't seen anything on the website about a sign size limit and many videos I've seen others post on the reviews had larger signs. It was a memorial sign for my friend who committed suicide when she was 12 and never got to see her favorite band, Hollywood Undead, in person. I wanted the band to see it and see the picture of her so they knew that she existed and loved them. I didn't have time or anything to trim it down with so I put it back in the car. When I got back to the line the security man shoved me back when I was turning towards the ticket lady who was behind him to scan my ticket. I get they have to be uptight but damn dude how am I supposed to get my ticket scanned when you're shoving people around. Overall, the venue to me was pretty bad besides the overpriced but good drinks. Sound was okay. Wear earplugs. Wish I could of got my money back that didn't go to Hollywood...