Coca-Cola Amphitheater — Local services in Birmingham

Went to see Def Leppard and Brett Michaels last night. They were excellent! But this review is about the venue.

Parking, traffic control and ADA accommodations were absolutely a nightmare! Venue itself has ZERO airflow and is like an oven.

Getting there we found many streets blocked off. So, we figured that out. Cool. Next up was traffic control, not necessarily police but obvious employees that have never controlled traffic before. Had cars coming down what looked to be a one way where oncoming traffic was too be going. Dealt with it.

Next, ADA parking. That was a joke. Lot full and had to park in another lot. Seemed close until you had to walk two blocks back in the opposite direction of the amphitheater to get in line going up the hill and down it. You retraced your steps. Then after that another long leg going up again to the main entrance with steps, I saw no ramp there. If there is one, I didn't see it. What I did see were handicapped people sitting on steps, curbs and grass in sheer pain. We stayed in line but my spouse is a disabled veteran with a very bad leg in which walking is a huge chore like we faced. Also saw another HUGE problem. The golf cart shuttle was asked twice by handicapped individuals in front of us for a ride and were turned down. A few minutes later the same shuttle was carrying teenagers to the entrance. I've individual that had asked for a quick lift was sitting on the steps off to the side of the line in obvious pain.

It's way too hot outside and saw a few passing out before the entrance and inside the gates. This venue needs designated shuttles running for every parking lot, maybe a passenger bus or something. The parking is nothing like Oak Mountain.

Inside the amphitheater is nice. You have the typical pricing of what you're used to with BJCC and Oak Mountain. They do have water filling stations and you can bring in a tumbler. Make sure you have an empty tumbler with a zip lock full of ice since the filling stations offer room or ambient temp water. At the bars the water I think is $5-7 for a bottle. I never saw beer prices but if you buy a beer, a shot is $5 extra. They do not sell Gatorade, so bring in your powdered version to add to your water. Their margarita shaker drinks are $26 and refills are $21. Ice cream cart comes around in the venue, no clue how much though. Since I was overheating and pretty much dehydrated, I never saw the restroom facilities. I'm sure they were nice though.

Inside the actual amphitheater: Seats, views, stage, lighting and sound were all great. Here's the issue. Whomever designed this, needs to go back to school on design. There is absolutely NO AIR FLOW. Take the upper 80s with humidity factored in last night and add to no air flow and you have major issues. Everyone was drenched in their own sweat. Everyone had sweat soaked clothing. I carried two small fans in and they could only do so much, I was still overheating. The air was stagnant like you were in a hot box. No venue fans, nothing to move air. The amphitheater could have been built to allow for air flow but wasn't.

This is a summer venue that wasn't thought out too well. I was very surprised the lack of proper shuttles and the airflow issues. They really need to put in place more paramedics too.

Just be forewarned and prepared before you go. Make sure you hydrate the day before and the day of. It was sad to see so many overheating and passing out. I heard they had a huge issue the night before as well. Bring your tumbler, pack ice in a separate zip lock as the tumbler must be empty going in. Bags are the usual clear 12x12x6. If you carry a bottled water in line, refill at the free station once inside. Pack a portable fan, cooling towels, etc and backup battery pack for them. Pack hydration powders for water. You'll need these items once inside.

For ADA/handicapped or those with heat intolerance: Have someone to drop you off before the able bodies park. Don't try to walk it, it's tough. Please don't expect the shuttle golf carts to understand your needs, they...

Good: I attended Matt Rife's show last night, June 22nd, and found the amphitheater to be very nice and well designed. Fortunately, we had a nice weather night, since it is an outdoor venue. The venue made accommodations for me against the wall behind the accessible seating since the seats were sold out.

Mediocre: There are minimal vendor options. The Uptown area isn't too far, but it would be nice for a restaurant or two to offer reservations so you aren't waiting to be seated. The seats are very compact and hard. And there are only two sets of bathrooms with two separate Family/Accessible bathrooms.

Bad: Accessible seating not enforced.

When I purchased my tickets, all the accessible seating was sold out, so I chose the first row of section 205, thinking my service dog could be at my feet on the ground, but there is minimal legroom, a railing that he was being forced into because the concrete is slightly sloped to elevate each row behind another.

As I looked at the accessible seating area in front of me, there were so many non-accessible people sitting there that weren't even companions of a disabled person. (I know not all disabilities are visible, but accessible seating is designed specifically for individuals in wheelchairs and those needing that type of accommodation. There are semi-ambulatory individuals, like myself or those who need the aid of a walker or cane and don't do well on stairs who would benefit from accessible seating.)

The amount of able-bodied individuals who were not companions of a disabled person was astounding (the venue was not sold out because there were still tickets available for sale). Ticket Box Offices always include a caveat that the seating is for those individuals with disabilities who use wheelchairs or other mobility devices, and the venue may move individuals not meeting the criteria.

The number of entitled people using the family/accessible bathrooms off to the side of the restrooms is also disappointing because it makes the wait for those of us needing those bathrooms that much longer. I had a group of drunk, able-bodied women bowl me over and trying to walk between me and my service dog to rush into the bathroom as I was exiting.

Other than that, it was a nice venue and great show (minus the drunk people trying to hijack it to get attention...

We saw Teddy Swims. It’s my third year in a row to see him. Tickets went from $25 at Avondale to $130 for section 6 last night. (But now he has a pyrotechnics budget too.) Overall it’s a nice facility. They have really tried to think of everything. I pre-purchased parking at N3 parking deck for $20. It was close and convenient (so is the N1 parking deck). I arrived early so I could park and hop on the shuttle to go to Uptown. This is such a nice feature for concerts in the area. Not too far away from the parking deck, I got on a golf cart. The golf cart took me down to a shuttle van. The van took me to a drop off point directly behind Southern Kitchen in Uptown which is where I was meeting friends. (Look for the red tents if you want to hop on the shuttle.) After dinner the process to get back was just as easy even though it was much busier at that point. There are signs on the golf cart and shuttle van that say “no tipping.” So it’s nice that it’s an included service with as much as events cost now. Section 6 was on the lower floor level. It’s okay except if there’s a tall person in front of you or someone standing in their chair the whole time, it’s hard to see. There was a shorter woman last night that had an end seat. But she stood in her chair the entire time. Event staff asked her to get down from her chair but she refused and nothing was done, so she blocked the people’s view behind her the whole time. Also in this section- I understand they want to squeeze as many people as they can to sell more tickets- but we had some rather bigger people on our row so we all had to turn sideways when we stood up. Weight is a touchy subject but this should be considered when the seats are so close. If someone cannot fit in one seat comfortably, then it may need to be like airlines and they have to purchase two seats. We felt like sardines in the middle of the row. Also there are no restrooms close to the front left. They said there used to be porta potties but they “broke.” Also a tall high noon or Stella are $20 and a shaker liquor drink is $28. Overall the facility is incredibly nice but seating on the floor should be...