I've had my share of "wins, and losses and fails and falls" in my 8 years of Dallas concerting and I've decided to share a few of them with you to better your experiences. I am by no means a concert-going vet, as that would implicate that I've been to many free local places or hole-in-the wall venues. I've been to mostly all mainstream artists and a handful of indie bands due to the simple fact that Dallas is a mainstream city and Austin gets all the indie gold.
Let's start off with a few keywords
Venue: I once was told I got brownie points for knowing the correct term for a place a concert is held. I want to share my brownie points with you. No matter if you're going to a pavilion, theater, lounge, bar, arena, center, stadium, opera house, concert hall, night club, park, pub.. It's a venue. You can call it a venue if you don't know which of the above it falls under.
SRO: Standing Room Only. There are no seats in this venue, you must stand. First come, first serve. This is where magic happens.
General Admission: The holy grail of keywords. General admission mostly always means that every concert goer pays a flat line rate to squish into a concert in a first come first serve basis. If your favorite artist is coming to town and it's a general admission show, you absolutely have 100% of a chance at being a foot away from them. Yes, I've had the privilege and yes it's all it's cracked up to be. I have Alex Ebert's Perrier bottle and Big Sean's autographed lighter to prove it.
Sometimes, though, General Admission has a chance to be at the very front and also stuck between seat sections and other times, general admission means the very back. Be sure to check out your venue seating and what type of seating is being used for that specific concert beforehand, since every artist and band has their specific seating for all venues. Call and make sure since sometimes the website has their standard seating instead of the seating for a specific performance.
Helpful Tips: who, what, when, and where
Who is attending the concert?
People tend to underestimate the effect other concert-goers can have on your experience. I've been to many concerts in which the crowd dampened my night and viewing pleasure. Ask yourself.. Does the concert have an age limit? Do you care about the performer enough to endure the pain of teenage girls screaming? Does the performer have a young following? Some venues do not care to stop certain drugs, so are you okay with inhaling fumes on fumes on fumes of marijuana? Who are you going with? As in, what kind of concert-goer are they? Are they the first-in-line, push-through-the-crowd, or chill-in-the-back dude? Are you two conflicting opposites? Will they be annoyed or chill?
What are you wearing? If it's all general admission, somebody is bound to step on your shoes, so no- leave those Lita's at home. On second thought.. Why are you wearing heels to a general admission show? Are you crazy? You are only allowed to wear those to the AAC and sometimes the Verizon. And ONLY if they aren't paired with some awful cocktail dress with mesh cutouts or sequins. If it's cold outside and hot inside, or vice versa, your Texas layering game better be 100. Keep it simpler than you think you should. Keep the weather in mind. I wore an off the shoulder lace top and denim shorts to a concert in an amphitheater and when the weather dropped a sudden 20 degrees I wish I would've worn a band tee and some sweats as I was sitting on a cold bench and the venue was vast enough to have very few people to a bench. Another time I wore a cropped top and high waisted jeans and a leather jacket to an indoor hip hip concert and wished I'd have taken a much heavier jacket because the long line had me in 40 degree weather for about 3 hours. I got a cold.
I understand whole heartedly how exciting it is to pick out an outfit for a concert but it is simply not worth the discomfort of not enjoying your time.
When is it? This falls onto other factors such as where and what (in what way does the season affect your wardrobe) but also, what time is it? How many hours ahead will you have to leave early? When do doors open? Are there any places you'd like to hang around about 4 hours before the concert opens so you can beat traffic and have a bite to eat before hand?
Where is it? Is it outside, can you take lawn chairs or a blanket? Will it be 100 degrees? Will it be worth it to sit outside on scratchy grass on a humid, 90 degree Texas night? Will it be somewhere where you need to leave your house 3 hours early to find decent parking? Will it be in a sketchy part of town in which you absolutely must pay for watched parking? If it's general admission, again, you will want to leave more than 2 hours earlier if you want to be at the front.
The breaking down of Dallas venues:
The Granada: (SRO) Everyone's favorite. My personal favorite. The Dallas Observer's favorite. Stuck in Upper Greenville, no specific parking, but you can park significantly close among the neighborhoods as long as there isn't a sign that says otherwise. Many places to pre-game or catch some lunch nearby. The inside is of an authentic theater with steps and I believe the second level is a balcony-type thing. I've been there for their awesome Cowboys-watching parties and I saw Big Sean/Cyhi/Dustin Cavazos perform there as well as another indie hip hop artist I can't quite remember. The body-guard army men type people will try to keep everyone away from the aisles but once the performer comes out, it becomes a free-for all. I love the Granada for their awesome southern hip hop throwbacks pre-concert and their preserved architecture of the place as well as their awesome brother restaurant Sundown at Granada. Try their flatbread, it's organic heaven. The Granada is truly a Dallas gem.
Trees Dallas: (SRO) It's in Deep Ellum. It's sketchy, pay for secure parking. Walk from there. Other than that, it's an awesome little venue with an even more awesome setup. My first time was Dom Kennedy (who had a pretty awesome lineup of opening acts including Danny Brown) but my favorite was Curren$y by far. It was less packed so I got to actually move around and go upstairs to the little lounge with seats and I got to see all the tree-themed decor. You get a great view of the place from upstairs as well as on the stairs (not kidding) and downstairs. The crowd was way older at this concert, so that may have helped too. There was no pushing or pulling, just people everywhere talking and and drinking and having a great time. Also.. this place isn't called Trees just for the hell of it. Whoever named it must have known it would live up to its name at every hip hop concert. One tip: DO NOT FUCK WITH SECURITY. I almost got thrown out at both concerts, one time it was my fault, one time it wasn't.
Gilley's Dallas; Southside Music Hall and Southside Ballroom (SRO):
Awesome venue with 3 different venues inside that can house 3 performances simultaneously. Usually, you can tell if the line that's already forming outside is the one leading to your concert. If not, ask. You don't want to be in line for the wrong concert. I've visited this place for Drake, Frank Ocean and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. There is a pretty cool bar inside with over priced, watered down drinks. Parking is pretty sketchy here too, so pay for it. Since this venue rarely has age restrictions, people get there super early. The only time I was "on time", I was there 2 hours prior to the doors opening. I got in to Edward Sharpe front row by getting there super early and buying something inside the bar. They had us in a lounge and let us in before the line outside. If a well-known act is coming in, prepare the line to be excruciatingly long. Speaking of excruciating, the A/C at this place is awful, and next time I go, I'll be wearing a tank top, cotton shorts and comfortable sneakers. Other than that, it's a pretty unique venue with beautiful antique decor and security is never rude. Also, the stage isn't guarded or too high so you can get as close to your devotion as you'd like.
House of Blues Dallas (SRO):
Pretty decent paid parking if you get there early. If you don't park in the lot, prepare to drive around many, many times since this is directly in downtown Dallas and traffic, along with the one way streets, will get the best of you. The venue itself dips down under.. It's probably the biggest of all the SRO venues in Dallas. Yet, as commercialized as all House of Blues-es are, they all tend to preserve that small-venue feel. The bar wraps around under. They have a nice balcony and you don't have to worry about A/C unless the concert is sold out or close to being sold out. Another venue with great pre-show music. This place is pretty fancy for an SRO, but I still love it. It's slightly pricier than the rest, but again, it's HOB. The staff also allows you in sometimes if you buy a meal at the bar or just hang in the lounge. Another time I was allowed to go in early because I had AT&T service. If this happens, get your smart helmet on and screen shot one AT&T home screen and send it to your friends. If you don't have AT&T or an iphone, you're SOL.
Dicks and Hooters are in walking distance if you're in the mood to pre-game or post-game. I saw Shwayze and A$AP Rocky/A$AP Mob/Schoolboy Q/Danny Brown here. A$AP and Schoolboy killed "Hands On the Wheel" and I didn't really mind the pushing and shoving and actual A$AP mob that the crowd formed. 'Twas hot though.
Verizon Theater:
Known for it's middle-class mainstream acts, Verizon gets a good rep. Known for everything else, Verizon gets a bad rep. Tickets sky-rocket, parking is hard to find, the area has nowhere to eat around. This is usually what you'd expect from a Theater, specially now so commercialized as Verizon is. I've been to Katy Perry and Boys Like Girls/All-American Rejects/Cobra Starship. Both tickets were nose bleeds and the nose bleeds here are worse than nose bleeds. They're faint-worthy. The elevation will make you dizzy. Your artist is smaller than an ant. Your videos will look like you filmed them from another state. I wouldn't go to this venue unless I purchased Pit/general admission/SRO tickets which are absolutely worth it since they're in front of even the closest seated sections. Prepare to eat movie theater quality food for twice the theater price.
Gexa Energy Pavilion:
My first venue. Huge, Texas style. There is a pit, then seats, then an upward hill/lawn. I saw Lil Wayne with Drake, Nicki Minaj, Trey Songz, Soulja Boy, Jeezy, TI and many more. It was one hell of a concert, let alone first concert. It was the last day of summer before I began my junior year in high school and the crowd, however funky, drunk, high, crazy, tatted, hood, white-trashy... Was awesome. It was everything you expected a Lil Wayne concert to be. I knew every single song and the opening acts were of no less caliber. On another hand, I went to a Mumford and Sons concert here as well and as amazing as they are, the genre of music just didn't translate to the open air pavilion. The concession stands are very state-fairish (It is next door to the State Fair)but not too unreasonably priced for such a huge place. Parking is vast, but you'll have to walk unless you find and pay for a tiny private lot. My advice is to try to get seats no matter how far in the back they may be and never over/pay. If you must sit on the lawn, get there early as it does fill up, if it's in the summer bring a blanket, sunglasses, sunblock, and don't wear a dress, girls.
*Extra tips:
-In the rare occurrence that in some twisted promotional fate of Cosmo events you get to see a big performer for free, be sure to bring something to snack on, something to drink, a fully charged phone, and someone you won't be tempted to kill with you. The lines are extremely long but the concerts end up being super worth it.
-Take pictures before hand! Before sweat, before alcohol, before messy hair, before the crowd.
-Try to only film half of their "popular song". Take pictures when they are performing one of your less favorite songs. This will leave you too enjoy the rest. Chances are you'll just upload the videos on Facebook and forget about it later. Don't record and take pictures the whole time. It will drain your battery and you will not focus on the show. Nothing beats singing your heart out to your favorite song live. Not even a million Facebook likes.
-If you can, buy tickets upfront instead of online. This will eliminate a few fees.
-If you must re-buy, but at StubHub. They show you the price in total whereas other re-selling websites won't show you the rest of their fees. They're also the most trust worthy when it comes to authenticity and offer a refund and even help you in finding last minute tickets if something goes wrong.
-Try your very best to set an alarm 10 minutes before your tickets go on sale for the public so that you can have your credit card ready. I can't recall how many times I've neglected to buy tickets as soon as they went on sale and had to pay at LEAST 50% more than the original price. I buy them as soon as they go on sale, regardless of they're fame. You never know exactly how your city will react to small acts.
Last but not least, have fun! Compromise! If something goes wrong and you're running late, make the most of it. Nothing is worse than having to pay 100$ a pop for tickets and having something inevitable ruin the rest of your night. Get over whatever small thing may have happened. YOCO! You Only Concert Once!
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