Paper Tiger — Attraction in San Antonio

I went there last night to see Tilian with my girlfriend on August 18th. I want to preface that this was our first VIP concert experience, so I can't compare it to anything else besides word of mouth from other people's experiences.

We were instructed via email to arrive at 4:30 PM to check-in before the meet & greet with Tilian at 5:00pm. We arrived early and were told to wait outside of the venue in 100 degree weather with no water or shade. My girlfriend actually walked next door to Rumble to get water for us, which the staff at Rumble didn't mind, and eventually everyone in line was going over to Rumble for water. After about 45 minutes (5:15pm) we were finally ushered in to meet Tilian. We were more or less herded like cattle to give each person an opportunity to take a photo with Tilian (taken by a member of the staff so it was very rushed and you were lucky if you received a semi decent picture). After the photo you returned to the back of the line a second time for autographs; an overall 30 seconds inside the venue before we were kicked back outside to wait. We stood outside again for another 40 minutes until doors opened at 6:00pm. VIP ticket holders were allowed to go in first at least.... 2 minutes before everyone else so if you were at the front of the VIP line you maybe had a head start to get merch, get drinks, and get to the front of the stage. Paper Tiger also doesn't have any sort of VIP seating or standing area, so there's no guarantee you get a great spot for the show.

I do not blame the artist or the bands for this. I definitely believe the staff at the venue put little care or thought into the planning of this event. I get it, VIP tickets were not expensive. A regular ticket was about $18 dollars, and a VIP ticket was around $60. However, what we experienced was definitely not worth the ticket price.

Now, instead of just complaining, I'll provide some ideas that I believe could have significantly improved the experience, because judging from some of the other reviews (and word of mouth) not much has been done to address these issues:

Allow VIP to actually wait inside leading up to the meet & greet (especially when it's that hot outside) to get our passes issued, ID's checked, etc. Allow VIP an early opportunity to purchase merchandise. After doing the meet and greet, DO NOT kick VIP back outside the venue to wait. (Seriously, it's an empty venue and there were only about 25-30 of us) Allow them to walk around the venue, listen to warm ups, order drinks, you know, a VIP Ticket Holder experience. Potentially create a VIP area in the venue - I realize this is probably asking a lot, however, I believe with a VIP pass I should be allowed to have first dibs on seating/positioning for the show. Overall, planning a better meet & greet structure to give fans the opportunity to ask questions, listen to a jam session, or purchase merch early and just hangout, which would have been exponentially better.

After all of this, I cannot give anything above a 1-star rating. I will say the show was amazing, despite this, and all of the artists did a...

Went to the 6/6 Mitski show. The opening act Dilly Dally and Mitski herself were AMAZING (and the only reason I didn't have a completely horrible night). The bands on stage had to cut their sets because of the heat, the lack of AC caused the performers to fatigue very fast and even caused malfunctions with the equipment. Not to mention, the staff was incredibly rude to the patrons. Understandably, things got a little hectic after the thunderstorm hit, but they literally threw everyone that was waiting outside the doors (in an ordered line, as everyone just filed back the way that they had been outside the doors out of respect for each other) into chaos by announcing that there "was no line". People started to push to get to the front (In front of those who had been waiting 5+ hours in the heat and gotten rained on). It was horrible management, considering the start of the "line" was exactly where the ticket check was, causing people who had just arrived to cluster around those who had been waiting for much longer and still get a good spot due to the fact that no one bothered to direct anyone there and it turned it to a push and shove free for all. Continuing to antagonize an already upset crowd was not the move, sorry. It could've been handled so much better, and instead of taking complaints from their paying customers the Paper Tiger took to twitter to antagonize people who were rightfully upset at the situation and belittle them. Safe to say, they're absolutely lucky that there's no other big venue in San Antonio because their lack of service...

Awesome venue, you might remember it as the white rabbit from back in the day but it's all the same honestly. There's a bar outside and on the inside as well. Big public area to sit and smoke or vape and enjoy a beer with friends or some random people you meet up with! Has the main stage on the inside to the right when you go in and then also has a smaller stage in the back through the public pavillion for smaller/opening acts.

Bathrooms are alright they have a bunch of urinals available and 2 stalls for guys bathroom but one of the stalls looked unavailable and the other one didn't have a lock on it so expect someone to interrupt your private time lol

Other than that nice venue to watch some cool bands at, drinks are priced kind of high, $8 for a tall boy, didn't see the specials for other drinks or cocktails they were offering anywhere so that could be my fault for missing out on drink deals. Check it out though and if you're not digging it then you can visit all the other clubs and bars on the N Saint Mary's strip and you'll be sure to find a good time! Parking is varied, I've never found myself good parking right at the venue and I've always had to find parking down one of the neighborhood streets. I suggest getting dropped off by a friend or a ride share.

Also no more construction down there, at least not by the paper tiger so no more having to deal with those annoying construction lanes or anything like...