Starland Ballroom — Attraction in Sayreville

I'm embarrassed that it took so long for me to make my debut here. My chum and I came by last Friday night to see Saves the Day, a band both of us saw live multiple times in high school (I saw them open for Green Day and Blink 182 at PNC in 2002). Based on Starland's calendar, there's clearly a heavy emphasis on alternative/punk music, which is pretty much the only genre I listened to back in the day. I can't provide a lengthy list of positives concerning the aging process, but one of them is that all of the bands I liked when I was a teenager aren't as popular now, so I can see them cheaply and easily. In this case, we got tickets for $40 each, and if I had been so inclined, could have stood right next to the stage if I had elbowed aside a few 40-somethings wearing knee braces. I stayed classy though.

The location has pros and cons. This is honestly one of my least favorite sections of New Jersey, teeming with congested highways and strip malls, interspersed with marshland (I'm guessing this is less than 10 minutes from Cheesequake if that gives you an understanding of the topography/terrain). But the venue itself is not on a particularly busy stretch of road, and is basically a standalone, nondescript warehouse-type building. We were able to park pretty easily and get through the door in less than 10 minutes. The $10 parking fee seemed a little much, but I've encountered worse.

We had dinner right before, complete with cocktails, so neither one of us ended up buying anything at the concert. It looked like they had several bar islands throughout the main room selling mostly beer, though I didn't pay too much attention to the selection. Plenty of people imbibed but I don't recall seeing long lines at any of the bars, which is a plus. I did pay a visit to the restroom (helpfully directed to by a bouncer nearby), which was super clean and pleasant. Anyone who has been to their share of concert venues knows that the facilities can be super hit or miss - I recall a duct taped toilet seat with a floating used condom at CBGB's before its untimely demise - but this was unquestionably a hit. And aside from two Gen Z-ers happily filming themselves on their phones, it was totally empty.

In terms of the overall environment, this was definitely my scene in high school and I didn't mind revisiting that era. My chum and I spent several days beforehand pondering what to wear, but based on what we saw in there, we overthought it - everyone was just wearing what they clearly wore in high school. I threw all of those outfits out by the end of college, but apparently I'm in the minority. The main room had a lot of wood-paneling going on, so if you're into 1980s grandparents' finished basements, this is the place for you. We were too close to the speakers (which was my chum's fault, no one else's), but the sound quality was perfectly fine. And at the risk of turning this into a review of the performers versus venue, Saves the Day was just as good as I remembered. I would have liked more selections from the second album, but that's just my preference.

We saw a few other intriguing musical acts on the calendar later this year, so I wouldn't be surprised if we made a return to rock out alongside other...

Drink prices are too high $17.50 for jack n ginger ?? Crazy expensive But what truly put a dampener on evening was Security woman Suzanne that totally blew my HIPA rights out the window She wanted to dig through a my medical bag , at first she asked me to take bag off and put on table I explained that it was a battery pack for my heart , I have an lvad , and she asked I explained that it’s surgically attached to me , she looked at me in a disapproving manner pointing at table So right there in line I felt compelled to lift my shirt in front of everyone in line to show this Neanderthal the cable entering my stomach

Previously she looked through my personals and found a glass pipe in a carrying case that I use to carry my medical marijuana for anxiety , and she stated no glass allowed in venue

Then she went to start searching through my bag in a very disrespectful and uncaring method stating no pharmaceuticals were allowed The only thing in bag was tic tac

She then continued to search She found a small pen knife I carry for work and at that point I found her actions so disrespectful that I just pickup my belongings and went back to my car to leave my pipe Your staff had no idea what they were dealing with and I felt so disrespected by her commands This is not the 1st time I’ve been to a venue in my 3 years as LVAD patient I’ve been to many places giants stadium , Yankee stadium , Citi field , Pnc arts , count baise ( red bank , Montclair , Dunellen theater , state theater and many more And never has someone wanted to inspect. Inside my bag or been so damn close minded to ask me 3x to put my bag on table This Suzanne , brunette in her mid-late 50’s actions were upsetting and I found myself alienated . The other security guard , big tall guy in gray , saw what happened and followed me out the door but I was already upset and didn’t want to hear anything

On top of that I had to get back in line and missed Murphy law , which I came here to see, since I got separated from my friends I wasn’t able to have my ticket paid for and I had to pay $40 Which now my friend had to eat $40 because he had an unused ticket Suzanne needs to get some training in dealing w sensitive issue w patients or have her not have any interactions w guest

Oh by the way im 60 yo man Not a young kid here to get drunk

I found my exp w your venue to be dispicable...

Me and my lady recently saw The Used play here on 4/18/24, 3 days ago. They were so much fun, we been wanting to see them for 20 years…. HOWEVER… A small proportion of the night turned out to be unfortunate because of the crowd and the people around us who were SO RECKLESS!!

Nobody was looking out for one another, nobody was there to spot the crowd surfers, security at the barricade didn’t really care at all about anybody getting injured or bumped into.

There was a crowd surfer that kicked my girlfriend in the head and then suddenly a tall dude elbowed her in the nose and her glasses literally fell off…. Then some crazy girl behind me kept shoving between us with her phone, kept balling me in the back of my head with it and then another dude in front of us rudely shoved me and my lady because he wanted to go into the pit.

This could’ve been handled SO MUCH BETTER!!

My lady was breaking down in the pit and I held onto her so tightly so she wouldn’t get hurt again and I sad and angry as much as she was. This pink hair woman asked us if we were ok and I told her to make clear for us and that we had to get out because my girlfriend was hurt. That was the only good part about the crowd was that they let us through and we did find a security guard that had told us we can go sit out by the entrance and get some cool air, so my lady can catch her breathe.

We still ended up enjoying The Used from the very back of the venue by the bar, but we will NEVER come back here again.

It’s bad enough that people who drive in Jersey are assholes, but these people around us were rude, reckless and again… NOBODY WAS LOOKING OUT FOR ANYBODY!!

We can handle being shoved and pushed, but it was way too excessive. Not worth any other time to come back to this venue. Seriously… Anybody who goes here for any show and they’re in the pit, needs to treat other like family. If somebody falls in the pit, you pick them back up.

I will say the security outside the building when we wee in line were really cool, but overall the staff at the barricade were the opposite. Never coming here to have my lady get injured like...