Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre at Freedom Hill — Attraction in Sterling Heights

This was a better experience than Pine Knob Music Theater, but certainly not without its flaws. Nowhere in the online policy does it say pants chains are banned, trust me because I always very cautiously check these things prior to concerts because of their barbaric policies that lead to personal property being thrown away. It’s about time money hungry venues at least offer bag check or something to hold items. Included is a screenshot of their exact policy so you can try to find it yourself- nowhere does it tell you pants chains are banned. The most warning we had was when we arrived at the gate we were told it had to be removed, then a staff member walked by the line AFTER this and started yelling it to people. So we were left with the choice- hike all the way back to the car or throw it away. Maybe had they started yelling it before we arrived at the gate there might have been a better option, or even just put it on your website so this could have been avoided!

Once inside, the staff was actually nice, especially compared to Pine Knob, but there was a clear lack of internal communication that left many of them unable to help us. We had VIP tickets that said item pickup would go until 7:30- we didn’t even realize we had bought VIP tickets until we received an email saying this. The email was vague so we approached staff around 6:30 about where this could be picked up, and we were bounced around to 3 different staff members until the third one said pickup ended at 7, which by that time it was nearly 7. The email was excessively vague and the staff all didn’t seem to even know there was a VIP experience either, so we were all lost! Not even sure what I missed, but had I known I might have been happy to take part in whatever the VIP entailed.

The venue itself is fine if you have a show past sunset. Ours was a 3 artist show, we missed the first, but watched the other two. The second artist was right as the sun was going down so the entire time we were being blinded by the sun… which wasn’t optimal. Major architectural design oversight there, even the artist made a comment about it.

The last artist had the benefit of being past sunset so it was a much better experience but I’m not sure if this was on the artist or the lighting setup here but a lot of the light work would just strobe in the audience’s face. Not lights on or from the stage, but bright lights specifically pointed into the audience that were blinding. I had to put my sunglasses back on! I usually sit to the sides at concerts so maybe this is a common thing to happen towards the center that I’m better off continuing to avoid.

Finally, parking was obnoxious. The traffic to get into the one entrance and exit was incomprehensible and indescribable. We were 5 minutes from the venue for an hour. Getting out there was no rhyme or reason to the flow to leave so it was incredibly clunky and slow. Overall much better than Pine Knob, which isn’t hard to do, but still this continues to dissuade me from amphitheaters. Artists are great, money hungry disorganized...

Queens of the Stone Age. North American tour ,first stop It's smaller than Pine Knob, it's more intimate with the band ,and i also found it to be less expensive,with a lot less drunks! Everyone had a great time and acoustics are great! . Bathrooms were clean. Merch table ( I saw 2) lines were long any band could always put a merch trailer outside the gates the day before, and this would help. I know Taylor Swift did this downtown, and I thought it was smart, even people who just like the band but maybe couldn't go can buy merch too. Obviously, people going could buy their merch the day before and wear it to the show..id just a thought. Lots of seat leg room and I'm notbsitting on my neighbors lap so thank you freedom Hill . I didn't wait in any lines and bought 2 shirts 35 dollars each, which is still under the average price this year of 50 dollars. I bought a 20-ounce drink pop and some chips 11 dollars.( at Pink Knob just the drink costs this) security was tight as people returned prohibited items to their car, and I heard people saying they couldn't get from the lawn to the pavilion with no pavilion ticket. It was the hottest night of the year with the humidity, and yet it's set up, so nice breezes come through FREEDOM HILL was a place we'd go party at when I was younger. When no music played there, it was a band shell and never locked up . Even now, there is a park you can go to on off hours. They host festivals and local events when not hosting touring bands . I have pictures. I was 5 or 6 rows from the pit, and I wish more bands played here. The grueling ride to PK with the inasne orange cone filled traffic and knowing the drunk people who are super rude as they are drunk would have made me not go.which is a shame because I had the best time here ! I posted longer videos but this app said it was cutting them to 30...

I give this theatre 3 stars. It’s a beautiful venue, like a mini Pine Knob. It seemed like the pavilion was more spread out than Pine Knob. Entering the venue, you pass the concessions and restrooms before you get inside the seating area. It was easy to find our seats. I love the size of the venue. We saw Falling in Reverse and Black Veil Brides. The show was awesome. It appeared to be sold out and everyone was so engaged and very vocal. Detroit has the number 1 fans! It was easy to refill drinks and use the restroom between bands with no line for the bathrooms.

Two downfalls. This theatre is NOT smoke free. People were walking past ushers with cigarettes and vaping. No one said anything to them at all the entire concert. The venues site states it is a smoke free venue. It clearly is not. Everywhere in the seats, people were smoking all over the place. It didn’t matter that it was an open venue or not. The layer of smoke was ridiculous. We suffer from bad asthma and cigarette smoke is a huge trigger. You just don’t understand what it’s like to suffer an asthma attack. Luckily I always remember to put my inhaler in my pocket. They should enforce the no smoking rule.

Next downer is the parking. Beware when you go. Trying to get out of the parking lot is the worst thing I’ve seen. People We’re driving all over the place. People were angry and we saw several very close calls. Many drivers just lost their tempers and went crazy. It took so long to get out of the parking lot. It was horrible. It was way worse than any of my times at Pine Knob. And that’s saying a lot!! Parking is worse than any venue I’ve been at. Expect to sit in your car for over an hour before you can even move.

I honestly never want to go to this venue again. Unfortunately I will have to if any of my bands play there. I’ll go. But I’ll be...