The Landis Theater — Attraction in Vineland

I really really really wanted to like this place. I got past the bad sound engineering, I got past the having to walk three flights of stairs to get food, but I just could not get past the security guard in the bar. He sits himself on a stool near the door and shouts "yo" or "hey" disrupting the entire bar when anyone gets close to the door with a drink. Regardless if it's alcohol or not, a woman or not, he disrespects every single person. He gets up to go to the kitchen and eat, which is about the extent of his physical ability. Beyond the terribly rude security, the food was mediocre at best. The tap beer wasn't at proper temperature creating a sour taste.

The seats are really nice in the actual theater. Plush and comfortable which was really surprising considering all the corners that were cut upstairs. If you do get center tickets in the first five rows you are pretty much right at the band, which is phenomenal. Unfortunately because of the PA sound engineering, you will need ear plugs as the treble will just pull out your tooth fillings.

All in all it seems like a low budget staff is creating the majority of the mishaps. But you get what you pay for, and at 35 bucks for third row tickets; you can't expect a whole lot. But I did expect a bit more, and would have paid extra for VIP. I purposely dressed in low end clothes that had stains on them to see if I would be treated any differently instead of my usual Google gear. I'll try again in my normal high-end to see if there's a difference.

But honestly the majority of the shows are just cover bands. So it will probably take some time to get back there, as there's no good reason to at the moment. But there is no other venue in the entirety of this area that is booking notable heavy metal bands when they can get them. That alone makes me want to give this place another shot. But if that security guard is there still, I'll be turning right around. Who barks at women like that, or anyone for that matter?

Edit: It seems the real problem is ownership. A fish rots from the head down. When an employee performs poorly, you look at management first before the employee. Customers are an afterthought, and they are not afraid to lose them. They claim they are in a depressed commercial area, and attack someone who simply gives their honest review; if it is negative. This would be an awesome episode of idiot owners! Can we get Gordon Ramsay down here for a owner intervention?! 😂 This person needs a...

Yeah, so, turns out this is my favorite place to see bands now. I've seen The Iron Maidens twice (once with Burning Witches opening), Zoso (Led Zep tribute with Beneath the Oaks opening), and The Land of Ozz. All headlining shows were fantastic.

The place is easy to get to, there's plenty of parking, and the seats are very comfortable. Tickets are affordable, too. I don't drink alcohol and I haven't eaten there, so I can't comment on that.

The most important thing is the sound though - and it's excellent. You'll be able to hear each instrument clearly, and you'll feel the thud with every bass drum hit.

The shows I've seen so far were all excellent, except for The Burning Witches. A few songs in, they wanted their monitors turned off. But then it seems something went wrong with the lead guitarist's guitar, because her solos did not sound right. Oh well, I was there for The Iron Maidens anyway.

One other thing: the place gets very cold by the end of the shows. Happens in any time of the year. Is it to help usher us out once the shows are over?

Edit after a couple of years: unfortunately, the occasional intoxicated, entitled jerk can also damage enjoyment of shows. Personally, I don't like when bands encourage people to stand up (this is a seated theater after all), because people then take that as a license to move to the front of the stage, and block the view of people who bought front-row...

I would like to modify my review to 1-star if it were possible. We attended a Bon Jovi tribute concert a few weeks ago. It was a pleasant experience, however, there were a few minor issues that we didn't feel rose beyond being slightly irritating. It was not an exceptional or even an above average venue. Hence a mid-range (3-star) review. The response from the ownership/management to this review was decidedly inappropriate. It presupposes that we were prescient enough to know of Charlie Kirk's assassination weeks before it occurred and punished the Landis Theatre well before it occurred. Additionally, the response assumes that any less than an outstanding review is associated with a supposed liberal bias rather than a failure on the part of the theater to earn accolades. I can only conjecture that the respondent suffers from an upbringing that reeks of pompous self-entitlement and a life of having...