Stanford Stadium — Attraction in Palo Alto

Went to the Coldplay concert today and while the band and artists were amazing, the event staff and organizer were by far the most atrocious I have encountered. There were no signs anywhere and no help staff anywhere to be found. Everyone was walking around confused as the lines split and had no end in sight. Staff members gave conflicting information, leading us to stand in line for over 30 minutes only to find at the gate (as we were about to scan and enter) that the line was only for floor entry. The staff then redirected us to a gate that took us all the way to the other side of the stadium, forcing us to basically walk the length of the entire stadium (through dirt and wood chip) since our section was right where we were told to enter in the first place.

Sections were blocked off for no reason, concession stands were run poorly with insane wait times, not to mention the supposedly “water filling stations” didn’t work. The water was coming out in droplets so each water bottle took several minutes to fill. All this happened on a day where there was a heat wave and people were dehydrated and standing in line or being redirected with wrong information under 90 degree heat.

We’ve been to venues all over the Bay with events as big as Levi’s stadium for Taylor Swift’s Eras tour and this experience is by far the worst. Coldplay and the openers were amazing and we enjoyed the performance very much but the way this stadium handled logistics and the crowd is something that will prevent us from ever coming to a...

We saw Cold Play in May 2025. There’s a lot to know about this venue. Firstly - you must bring your items in a clear bag. The security is extremely strict about bags that aren’t clear. I brought a tiny lululemon fanny pack and was turned back and had to go check my bag into a bag check tent. The tent was disorganized They had so many checked bags that they were having to throw them in numbered bins and then try to figure out which bag belonged to whom at the end. This process was inefficient and extremely time consuming - especially when you’re trying to get out of the venue quickly to beat the traffic.

Regarding food - the food available is expensive, limited and not particularly good. The lines for the food and drinks were at least 30 people deep at every food and drink station. You could barely move around the venue because of the enormous lines everywhere. There were some smart people who had brought burritos and sandwiches and pizza from outside. I was so jealous.

Like many outdoor stadiums one side was so sunny and hot that we couldn’t even take our seats until the sun had nearly set. We were on the left as you faced the stage.

Lastly - the parking was $80 per car onsite and $50 per car if you parked at nearby second party parking - like a shopping center or church. And there are limited routes in and out with only small roads. So it took forever to get in and out of the stadium. I’d suggest getting a ride.

If i’d known then what i know now - this experience could have been...

I left a review on the survey Stanford sent me. Let me just say....worst football experience ever! It was 96°, but it felt like 110°. It's a bunch of twists, turns, and roundabouts to get to the open fields to park. The officers directing traffic were amazing, the best thing going (kudos). There was pretty much no tailgating going on. The music was mediocre at best. There were probably just a handful of students walking around, no school spirit to be found anywhere. The food was overpriced. The stadium seats about 50k+, there may have been 5k people there, and most of them were probably VT Hokie fans. The tribute to Toby Gerhart was disrespectful. The man contributed to both football and baseball, and all they had was a shout-out and plaque for him. The band was pathetic. They had no enthusiasm, and whatever their cyber-truck performance was, it was absolutely terrible. I had high hopes for my 1st visit to The Farm, I was highly disappointed. The stadium is small, so at least the view was up close and personal as Stanford got scraped by VT. Overall, Stanford stadium is overrated. I'm just being honest. Worst 1st experience to date. The drive from Antioch, CA, was...