Roy Wilkins Auditorium — Attraction in Saint Paul

The crowd management for Highland Park graduation last night was dangerous. There was no need to use the unventilated skyway to the parking ramp to hold the line to get into the auditorium. Not only was the air quality terrible in the flyover, but had there been a medical emergency in there, EMS could not have gotten a gurney through the small crowded doorways and into the overwhelmed and overwhelming skyway.

In addition to forcing people to wait in hot, stagnant air, the venue did not provide any accessibility for mobility impaired individuals inside the venue. Everyone was required to ascend and descend stairs to get to general admission seating. Also, only the forwardmost parts of the upper level seating has rails at the stairs to the seats, so anyone unsteady on their feet could not get to a seat without physical assistance.

Rivercenter has a number of elevators, none of which were available for family members of the graduates for getting into the venue, to seating, or for getting out of the venue. In addition to this, by having people exit on a different side of the building from where they entered, those with limited mobility were forced to move much further than is necessary to get to and from their vehicles.

And if that wasn't enough, the sound system had excruciatingly long feedback during a performance of the school chorus.

The venue management was so bad last night that it overshadowed the relatively good experiences I've had with the Land o' Lakes dog show in...

Saw Sam Smith there earlier this year. His show was great.

I grew up in LA and went to school in CT, so I've been to a lot of shows at a lot of venues in LA and NYC. This "Legendary" Roy Wilkins Auditorium is anything but. I had high expectations figuring it had been there for a while and must be awesome if it has the term "Legendary" attached to it.

The venue has the feel of going to a minor league hockey arena cut in half with the lower bowl seats removed. It's a concrete mess. Having been around since 1932, wouldn't the owners have figured out that concrete isn't the best material for acoustics? Not to mention all that concrete is beyond ugly. Why not cover it up with drapes or murals of fantastic past events?

Size wise I would compare it to The Wiltern in LA and MSG Theatre in NYC. However go online and look at the decor of both of those venues. When you walk into The Wiltern you know exactly what you're going to see, a show. At the Roy Wilkins you have no idea what's going to happen.

Also, the main entrance to this "Legendary" venue is difficult to find. This place is a total design fail. I hope no other band/artist I want to see plays here again. Seeing a show here once was...

As a Street musician playing Bucket drums outside of the Auditorium is always a pleasure that my schedule only allows me to do once or twice a year. But when I do the energy is always phenomenal and therapuetic for my self and from my point of view very entertaining for my audience. Who by thier smiles thoroughly enjoy my beats as well as the shows they are attending. With this said the acoustics of the place are great and if you haven't seen any shows here you will be impressed by how much reverb it adds. If you haven't ever played here the same can be said.Enjoy and as always thank you to all who support me in my endeavours... know that your contributions help to empower my sobriety by allowing me to do what I love. Joey D the Upbeat Bucket Boy. You can find on YouTube under my name or under my latest project called... "Bucket Wild" please subscribe and read my go fund me page. Love you...