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| - With its 9,000 end stage seat concert capacity, Petersen Events Center does fill that tricky gap between Consol Energy Center and Stage AE in terms of larger indoor music venues. Formerly the site of Pitt Stadium, "The Pete," as it is nicknamed, opened in 2002, its construction mostly funded through a 10 million dollar sum donated by philanthropists John and Gertrude Petersen for the primary purpose of hosting college basketball games.
Spectacular mirrored and futuristic enough to behold from the outside, the grand lobby is virtually a museum of trophies and sports memorabilia, which brings me to my point: Leave this place to the hardwood contests, a pastime I can take or leave.
I attended a Judas Priest gig here recently, and while I had myself a fantastic evening of sound, sight, and fury, it felt as if I was in an oversized high school gymnasium. The planks that covered the floor gave the arena a makeshift feel, and Britain's elder gods of metal deserved so much more.
The sound was fine I suppose, but hell...Priest, man, Priest! Yeah, Consol may have been too big (roughly 14,000 end stage) considering Perhaps a two-night summertime open-air stand at Stage AE (5,500 outside, 2,200 inside) would have been more apropos?
Are ya thinkin' what I'm thinkin'? That Pittsburgh needs another music hall for events at this level?
P.S. I can't comment on the concessions as I usually try to eat before such events to avoid being gouged by peddlers of sub-par grub.
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