There's a reason I avoided this venue for so long- because I didn't want to be pushed up against a bunch of sweaty people. But the right occasion and the right band pulled me from my comfort zone and into the Marquee Theatre. I'm not going to bitch about the parking, $5 isn't bad for an event and the lot was across the street. Once we got there they separated us into boy/girl lines. Since it was an anniversary gift for my husband, I had the cash to pay and had to jump out of line to give it to him. I tried going to the front of the line to see how we purchased tickets and they directed me back to the line. After I get searched, have by bag gone through, put my boots back on, get my drivers license scanned, get a wrist band, they finally ask for a ticket. Somewhere during that huge process you think they would have let you purchase a ticket. From the line we were standing in there was no way to see the ticket booths, never mind I had already asked some idiot working there. We finally get in and the drinks were stiff and reasonably priced. The theatre had very poor ventilation and airflow, it was like being inside a sauna. The stage is a decent size and the ground slopes down (as most theatres do) for better viewing. The sound however was not so great. I did like that they had little bars set up inside the theatre, it made the lines shorter. There's a patio with a few benches and that's all the seating in the entire place.
The Marquee was all I expected it to be except for the sound. You'd think a music venue would care more about acoustics. Oh, from the patio you can see all the people getting pulled over by Tempe police, watching someone get a DUI always puts a nice damper on your night.