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| - I got to check out Stage AE on 6/12/2015 for the outdoor Flogging Molly/Gogol Bordello concert, as the Philly/Baltimore stops on that tour that were closer to where I live fell during long-scheduled vacation. It was Pittsburgh or bust, so I bought my tickets online and readied myself for the 3 1/2 hour drive.
I'm not sure what all the parking options were around the venue, so all I can speak to is where we parked: Carnegie Science Center, which was maybe a 10-minute walk, just skirting around the outside of Heinz Field. We got there early enough in the day to avoid the "special event parking" rates, roughly 2:30 p.m., and got back to our car around 11 p.m. Total charge: $5. No complaints here.
An added bonus to parking at Carnegie: We were a minute's walk to the Allegheny T station, and used it to grab some grub at Primanti's in Market Square beforehand.
We got in line 75 minutes before doors opened, and with about 15 minutes to go, I saw a security guard fling sarcasm at a woman asking if she could park along the curb right outside the venue. When she questioned it, he pointed to all the "NO PARKING" signs and said, "Yeah, English is a really hard language to grasp, isn't it?"
Fine...it may have been a dumb question, but you're still a representative of the venue. Show some class, will ya?
When doors opened, I was subject to a pretty vigorous pat-down and a super-close inspection of my keys. After a quick scan of my tickets, my son and I grabbed a bottle of water from the concession stand ($3.50), which they gave to me without the cap. Then we made a bee-line for the barricade to get up front and hopefully stay there at least through Gogol's set.
The layout is as described from many other reviews: There's a fairly-wide pit area that goes back about 100 feet (?) to the sound booth. Just beyond that area is a mildly-angled lawn area, separated by some gating/fencing. To the left and right of the stage are concession areas. Bathrooms were a series of trailers, but I have to give credit where it's due: They were air-conditioned, as clean as you could expect for a rock concert, and there were plenty of them.
The highly-praised (from Yelp reviews) sound wasn't too impressive for the opening act (Mariachi El Bronx), mostly in the vocals, but it got fixed over the course of their set. By the time Gogol and Flogging played, everything had been corrected and they both sounded fabulous.
My experience at the barricade was superb, and a far cry from the criticisms I've heard about security. From the get-go, a security guard was chatting me up and joking around, and it made the downtime go a lot quicker. During Gogol's set, security guards were offering people up front water if they looked like they needed it. They hauled a couple of girls -- who'd had enough of being rammed up against the steel -- over the barricade and toward safety.
My son took a shoe to the arm from a crowd-surfer and, as I tended to him, security guards were right there to make sure he was okay, and asking if we needed any help.
After Gogol's set, my son had had enough and suggested we move back to watch Flogging Molly. Beforehand, we hit the concession stand and I asked for a couple of fountain sodas, listed at a reasonable (all things considered) $1.75 per. They said they didn't have fountain sodas (although they *were* listed on the board), but that they had bottles. Thinking there'd be no difference in price, I got two and was whacked with an $8 charge. Ouch.
Despite that, the people at the stand were nice and asked my son questions about the show and if he was having a good time. So the prices weren't great, but at least they were trying to be friendly and sociable.
After we got our drinks, my son and I skirted around the farthest reaches of the lawn and I gotta say...there really wasn't a bad spot. At a sold-out show, I could see where it might be tougher to get a good view, just for how packed it would be. But for this show (maybe 75% capacity?), we couldn't lose. I worry about my son, because he's just a little guy and it's tougher for him to see sometimes, but he got to watch Flogging Molly's set without issue (or at least until he got tired and sat down).
As others have mentioned, the city backdrop is pretty sweet, and makes for some cool scenery at night.
I wouldn't hesitate to go back to Stage AE. I'd just be a little more careful about what I'm actually paying for concessions, but overall, I enjoyed my first concert experience there.
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