Stifel Theatre — Attraction in St. Louis

Horrendous experience at Stifel Theatre to see Bob Dylan on 10/04/23. The music sounded great but the staff at Stifel was horribly disorganized. Bob Dylan required phones to be locked in Yondr bags, which is fine, but the Yondr team dropped the ball big time by locking our phones in the bags and not writing our tickets down on the paper ticket like they were supposed to do. Additionally, the lines were long and slow getting in with the Yondr bag process, but Bob Dylan started exactly on time despite the venue and Yondr’s flubs. I didn’t know of the paper ticket they failed to give me, and apparently the Yondr staff member didn’t either. However, I already knew what my seats were before they locked my phone in the bag. When we got up to the theatre doors I told the attendant verbally what our seats were and he refused to seat us because I couldn’t show it to him on my phone (I didn’t know I was supposed to be given a paper ticket. He seemed misinformed also cause he told me I need to get my phone pouch unlocked to show him the tickets on the phone, which made no sense because it’s a no phone policy). They tell me I have to go downstairs to have an attendant open the Yondr case and write down the seats numbers on a paper ticket (Which was the exact seats I had told the attendant earlier). By the time we got to our seats a woman was sitting in one of them, and refused to move so I had to get the attendant to have her move so my wife and I could sit down. By the time we could get seated we missed half the show. Earlier when I asked for a manger downstairs that didn’t happen. Eventually I got a manager and she blamed everything on Bob Dylan’s team saying he is the problem because of his requirements. I got no apology. She just tried to deflect blame. I corrected her that the whole problem is Stifel’s mismanagement and horrible execution of this show. I hope I don’t have to come to another concert here, but I suppose I will if Smino does Kribmas there again this year. The experience at Stifel is trash and not worth the money I paid....

Wow.. This theatre is STUNNING! I geek out on the small things, the details... the attention to detail in every nook and cranny of this facility is awe-inspiring. I was almost as interested in the venue as I was the act we travelled over six hours to see!

How was the show? Sound? Staff? The short answer? They were all (mostly) fantastic! The long answer? 👇

The show: We booked a Loge box for our show, and while this was a spendy upgrade, I'd argue that it was worth it - here's why: it was cold outside and we didn't have to wait outside for the doors to open. We were able to wait in the comfort of the lobby until the doors officially opened an hour prior to the show. With the loge box we were granted access to the Peabody lounge. This lounge included free, delicious food and soft drinks. The loge boxes are located along the upper deck and provide a nice, though somewhat obtrusive view of the performance. These seats are not the most comfortable (they are high top bar seats) however, so you might find that standing is preferred... unless you aren't at least 5ft tall, in which case you don't have a choice but to sit - the wall here is bit too high. The surface in which you can set beverages is also only about 6 inches wide, making it uncomfortable to sit here as one would at a table. A final perk of the box upgrade? Personal wait staff - which sounds great and would definitely be, if they had come around more than one time during our 3 hour event.

Sound: Really good but not great. The audio was a bit bass heavy and muffled the vocals a bit. This might have been completely out of the theatre's hands, so hard to fault them.

Staff: We worked with Jen to secure our tickets and the process was a pleasure. She was very detailed, quick to respond, and incredibly friendly. Everyone employee we interacted with was friendly helpful.

Do yourself a favor and start checking the event calendar for the Stifel Theatre and plan your visit... you...

I really like the Stifel Theater, and I was very happy to attend the Chris Rock show. However, due to show requirements banning phones (understandable), the lines outside were ridiculously long and slow in pretty sweltering heat.

The system for getting people in the doors in a timely fashion was poorly executed, and several people in line (including myself) fell ill or passed out from standing in the heat. Nothing was done by on-site staff to get people who were visibly struggling indoors and to safety as soon as possible. And from what I was told by my friends who tried to get help for me and another woman nearby, very little concern was shown. Also, the lines were so long and slow that hundreds of attendees were still outside when the show actually started.

Once inside, mostly physically recovered, and phone secured, the kind gentleman who was operating the elevator was funny and engaging. He definitely put me, my friends, and other attendees in better spirits! He very sweetly directed us where we were supposed to go and said an usher would help us find our seats. Only problem was... we couldn't find an usher anywhere. We had to scramble in the dark to find our row. Visibility was terrible because everyone's phones were locked in Yonder cases. We couldn't see row letters, much less seat numbers.

Once we got to our row, there were people planted firmly in our seats. The show was already underway, not an usher in sight, and all I wanted to do was get seated before I passed out again on a steep staircase. So, now we're scrambling around in the dark AGAIN to find three open seats and hope against hope that other show attendees who were still outside didn't show up looking for the seats we were in. It was a very poor experience, logistically.

I've been to Stifel many times before, but have never had an experience like this. The man in the elevator was a bright spot in an otherwise very frustrating ordeal. I'd give him a...