Val Air Ballroom — Attraction in West Des Moines

Venue was nice but how things were ran was really disappointing and unorganized. I never leave reviews but I couldn’t even find a staff member besides security and bartenders to express my frustration. We live in Minnesota and go to many venues in downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul. My daughter loves concerts and likes to go early to get as close as possible. Well we got there at 2 in the afternoon. She sat outside in the cold wind until doors opened at 6:30. We were in one single line & my daughter was close to the front. A guy comes out and explains how to go through the detectors but then said ok I need 4 line at the doors. With no respect for the order of the line he had people just mash in what ever order in front of the doors. Then when the doors opened only one 2 of the 4 doors opened. People were supposed to take turns going through the detector. I lost my daughter and her younger cousin because I couldn’t even get a turn to get into the detector. Basically it was a mess. I’ve never been to a venue that was this disorganized and didn’t care about people’s spots in line. My daughter was so disappointed to end up way further back then she should of. We drove 4 hours for this venue. So disappointing. And then while she was in the pit people were rude and mean. Fights were close to breaking out. I asked the security guard by the stage about safety & fights starting to break out and he was like yeah that’s pretty normal. The bartenders were super nice and friendly but the rest of the staff I found to be pretty short and rude. I was really surprised at this experience and had completely different expectations. They really need to do things more organized- the line thing wasn’t fair. Just seemed like he was in a hurry to get everyone in and was annoyed by it. Not worth the 4 hour drive and the 4 hours sitting outside. I am actually writing this while inside the venue because I never could find a manager to tell them our experience. Also the women’s bathroom situation is ridiculous. But the drinks...

It was AWFUL. went to see Marshall Tucker on a Friday night. Arrived about 7 pm for opening band. Lines to get a drink, water or alcohol, were long and slow. The venue was hot inside. We were so uncomfortable that we had to move to stand in the doorway where our tickets were scanned instead of sitting in our seats. At least there was a cool breeze there. When we looked for our seats, we discovered that we were not on the aisle like we thought. My husband needs aisle seats so that he can stretch his legs. It turned out that our seats were on the end of the aisle but right next to a small round stage that juts out into the aisle on the right side of the room if you are facing the stage. We were in row 13 and our seats were in the 20s. That meant only one way out of the row and having to walk over 20 some people to use the restroom or get a drink. That seems like a fire code violation to me considering we had only one way out of our row in case of an emergency. There was a tornado warning in Des Moines that night and we found out later from friends that were also there that fans were evacuated to the basement. I wonder how quickly our row would have been able to evacuate with only the one way out. My husband said the online seating chart did not indicate that a stage was at the end of our aisle where our seats were and that we did not have seats with access to an aisle like we thought. Given all of the above, we left the venue at 7:15. We were home by 7:30 and safe in our own home when tornado sirens went off instead of trapped in aisle seats with only only one way out. Do your homework before going to this venue. So disappointed in this place. We won't...

Have only been here one time post renovation so I can’t speak on how it was before but will say that this venue is massive and is very easy to navigate and clean as well. Event staff are very present and helpful. During the show we went to, more than one person felt unwell and either the show was stopped for them and a medic was there within seconds or the crew were seeking out people who needed help off the main floor. Bathrooms had many stalls and were very clean. We were also pleased with how everything was VERY on time. Doors at exactly 7 and show starting 8 on the dot. It was an all ages show so I imagine this is something that is a little stricter for slot times. The one big massive downside for me was parking. Apparently it is a new rule to pay a cash only fee to park at the venue. Last night it was $10 and no where on their website, Instagram or on the event flyer did it indicate this. We were caught off guard and didn’t have cash on hand. Luckily there is a neighborhood right across the street and we just parked over there for free and walked the couple blocks over. It would have been nice to know this in advance so we could plan...