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| - Stage AE reminds me of the Cleveland House of Blues. If you've never been there you can read my review for that particular crime against music to get an idea of where we're going with this one.
Stage AE is large that the CHOB but still has that shoebox/your mom's basement feel. There is a snack bar and bar neither of which I explored so I can't comment on the food/beverage options of this place. Parking was easy and cheap ($10) for the North Shore. I imagine if you are there during a Pirates or Steelers game the parking situation will probably get a bit dicey.
Let's get into the meat and potatoes of this place.
First, this venue does not allow you to bring umbrellas inside. This was a big WTF as it was POURING when we were there. Have there been a lot of umbrella gougings here before? I just didn't understand this. My options were to take my umbrella back to my car or leave it along the wall outside of the venue and hope nobody takes it. This rule is moronic.
Second, the sound here is terrible. I mean absolutely awful. It was so quiet I had a hard time hearing the opening act. I thought maybe once the headliner came out it would be better but nope! Still had a hard time hearing over the douchetastic former frat boys standing next to me. The sound issue needs fixed pronto. What is the point in going to a concert when you can't hear the music?
Third, the standing room only thing. I don't mind standing room only venues. For the most part it is usually pretty easy to get yourself into a position where you can see the stage and not have Gigantor and his friends standing in front of you. The floor at Stage AE is that really hard shiny concrete. I was wearing ballet flats. Wrong shoe choice for a floor that hard. If I had known it was like that I would have worn something a bit more supportive as I had knee surgery last year. The floor was uneven and had a bunch of drains in it. I'm sure this is great for cleaning but it is not by any means great if you have balance problems (or are heavily intoxicated) or wearing a pair of heels with a thin heel. You will get your heel caught in these drains if you are wearing stilettos so be careful! This floor was so hard it was really difficult for me to stand on for more than the first 90 minutes. After the opening act I was aching and my poor surgically repaired knee was complaining. We went on the hunt for a place to sit so I could rest it for 15 minutes. There is a balcony that has seats and was about 40% full so I said, great! Let's head up there. The boy said he'd been to shows where you can go up there so it shouldn't be a problem. We get to the stairs and it is roped off. We ask the worker if we can head up. He says no. I explain about my knee and having just gotten out of my brace not long ago and went so far as to show him the rather gnarly scars I'm sporting and he basically tells me sorry, no dice. Wouldn't give an explanation as to why we weren't allowed up there just that we weren't. There are no seats anywhere else in the venue. Not at the bar, not outside, not along the walls. The boy gives me his jacket so I can sit on the floor and give my knee some rest. This is kind of a big deal to me. It's really hard to enjoy any music when you are in pain. This could have been easily fixed if they just let us sit down upstairs for a few minutes! I have been able to stand for long periods of time for a while (and have been to other concerts with minimal pain) but the floor was so hard. I've never been to a venue that has a floor that is so difficult to stand on. I'm not asking for plush carpet but honestly there are plenty of flooring types that are easy to clean and have some give so people are more comfortable.
So to sum up, terrible sound, goodish parking, moronic no umbrella rule, and floor that is uneven and way too hard for a standing room only venue.
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