Manhattan Center — Attraction in New York

I attended the Perfume concert this weekend, and it was amazing.

While I am sure the venue is full of history and old world charm, I think the experience here can be improved. Firstly, as many other concert-goers have commented - if your are under 6 ft tall you will probably have to move your head occasionally to get a clear view of the stage. If you are under 5.5 - sorry to say this but you are out of luck unless you are within 5 to 10 ft of the stage , or at the back by the drinks and concessions. The design of this venue does not lend itself to general admission standing concerts - unless the stage was raised by a foot or two.

In order to get to the front it is best to line up early outside the venue. The venue itself has the large Manhattan Center sign out front ( and not Hammerstein ballroom). My second gripe would be the way people line up and are corralled into separate queues - it is totally possible for people in the back to jump the line and move up in front of you (which is what I did when I arrived 10 min before show start). If you want comfort and are willing to pay 3 times the cost of GA, I would suggest the seated mezzanine section for a unobstructed view of the stage.

The staff for this event were very respectful. Costs of drinks are in my opinion comparable to any major venue or sports arena plus a surcharge for being Manhattan - i.e expensive. A double Jack and...

While the sound in the venue was good throughout, security was non-existent. The entry line for the Hatsune Miku Expo was wrapped around an entire city block. Doors were scheduled for 7pm with a show start at 8pm. We were rushed in like cattle and there was no security anywhere. They hurried us through the metal detectors, that were loudly ringing with no one checking us. I was wearing steel-toed work boots and they always set the detectors off. There were no bag checks, no wanding, nothing! There were people that scanned our tickets to get into the main concert area. Once inside I stood next to the sound and light board, I heard from the walkie-talkies that the show would start at 8:20pm due to people still being on line. Security was a huge issue...

Saw The Smile perform an excellent show. We had general admission 2nd balcony seats and got there about 45 minutes before showtime because we weren’t sure what the seating situation would be. It turned out it was not necessary to get there so early. We were in second row and there were still seats next to us available when the show started. The pit/orchestra at this venue is so massive that the balconies feel so far away from the stage. Acoustics are OK. The bar and restrooms at the 2nd balcony are conveniently located right outside the seating area. This venue is also super close to major subways and LIRR, a block away...