First Niagara Pavilion

My husband and I went to see Nicki Minaj PinkPrint Concert at the pavilion. We highly recommend paying the $ 30 for VIP parking. You will get right in and right out (especially if you leave a few minutes before the concert ends)

Shabby. The speakers are 20+ years old and sound like it. They need serious technical upgrades. The sounds just sucks no matter where you sit or who’s playing. And the video quality is from the 90’s. And $ 15 for a beer? Plus the inflated ticket prices and parking fees? Give me a break! As one of the Top 5 most profitable venues of its kind in the entire country, they haven’t put a dime into it and it feels more like a wornout backyard funhouse. For shame, LiveNation! And shame on us for putting up with it.

First Niagara is a is a poorly run venue. For an establishment that has been holding concerts for years, they sure act like it is their first time. Everytime I go to a concert there I swear I will never go back, but apparently I’m an idiot.
Seating: Seating is ok at best. It is a very large venue with not a great pitch so if you are short you are going to end up seeing more of people’s backs than the stage. The lawn gets dicey due to muddy conditions and drunk idiots.
Parking: Parking is the worst I’ve seen for any venue. There is 1 way in, and 1 way out. The parking lot is run by children and is extremely disorganized. As I write this I’ve been in the parking lot waiting to exit for over an hour, and that is with us leaving 2 songs early. The only thing worse would be cancer wrapped in AIDS.
Food and beer are slightly higher than the normal concert venue. 6 bucks for a water seems a little much. Bathrooms where serviceable but not great.
Protip: if you leave the concert before the main act comes into town, you should only have to wait 45 minutes to get out of the parking lot.

Call me crazy, but I actually liked this concert venue. Granted, it may not be the absolute best facility around, but it serves it’s purpose well. It seems like the complaints, though warranted, can be easily avoided with a little planning and keen observation. We aren’t from the Pittsburg area, so here are a few helpful hints for tourists…
— Stay in a nearby suburb if the concert if your main reason for visiting Pittsburg. Traffic back and forth between the ‘burbs and the city can be really annoying. We literally lost hours stuck in traffic while summer construction ensued.
— Bring water. You are allowed to bring in sealed water bottles (i.e. Poland Springs).
— Lines moved quickly through security (hand pats) and through ticket check.
— If you purchased seats (and aren’t on the lawn), head to the covered pavilion toward the center stage. I recommend you purchase higher level seats. Otherwise, you’ll be standing on the lawn.
— Dress here is verrrrry casual (almost embarrassingly so). In the thousands of people that we passed, a large majority wore flip flops, jeans and tees. It is an outdoor concert venue built on a lawn. This is not the venue to dress up or wear your nice shoes, so save your outfit.
— Alcohol is very expensive inside of the pavilion. (Barefoot ran about $ 9 for 8oz and beer is $ 11, wine coolers $ 11). A smart alternative, put your cooler in the trunk and pre-​game. It looks like a large amount of people tailgate with their favorite «beverages» in the parking area before the concert.
— Parking is in a gravel lot and cars are lined up by workers. Take a mental note where you park because there are no signs pointing you in the right direction of your car.
— Traffic out of the venue can be avoided if skipping out of the concert prior to the set finishing. We left just a few minutes early to beat the crowd and exiting the parking lot was very quick and easy.

I really pondered for quite some time on what fair rating to give this music venue. On the one hand, the open-​air amphitheater is well laid out, enormous, and conducive to a great, live music experience. Also, the food services are actually pretty good, but as expected — very overpriced.
Now, the biggest problem we encountered — PARKING. This is by far the worst and most atrocious parking arrangement of any music (or sports venue, for that matter) I have experienced to date. The roads leading into this location are narrow, winding roads, and the parking itself is subjected to only two entrance/​exit points. I don’t know I will ever go back considering we spent 1.5 hours just waiting to get out of the lot. Add another hour to meander away from the facility and it all added up to a very late night.
To bad, since the concert was good but it gets overshadowed by the sour taste that the parking experience leaves behind.

Summertime in the ‘Burgh. It can’t happen for me without a concert, or four. I may be addicted to live music. I attended the «Boyz of Zummer» concert with Wiz Kalifa, and one of my favorites, Fall Out Boy.
I really have to give this place props. Wiz Kalifa can bring out the very strange and odd persons. First Niagara had their stuff together, with TONS security, extra personnel, even local Police. There was minimal drug use, next to no issues.
I have never seen it so crazy at the Pavilion. I’ve been a regular at X-​Fest, Ozzfest (I know, I’m old), and Carnival of Madness for years. I guess a «local» celebrity will pull in more of a crowd. So will a groupon. But, it barely fazed me, how well crowd control was taken care of.
I refuse to pay too much for food, and beer, so I can’t comment on the food, but those nachos were really calling my name.
Parking is always a chore here, but somehow I got a great spot. Easy in, but of course, even leaving before the encore, it still took fifteen minutes to get onto the road.
All in all, good place to go. :)

I come away from First Niagara with the same thoughts each and every time I go… never again! But after a few years pass I find myself back there forgetting why I say that.
I was lured to there last night for the Foreigner /​Kid Rock concert with the promise that it’ll be a party between friends. And that it was. Never mind the fact that although it’s a «live concert» unless you pay top dollar for front row seat you can barely even see the stage performance. Sure they’ve got huge video screens but I can watch a band on YouTube at home for free without all of the ensuing hassle. The so called «lawn section» isn’t much of a «lawn» but rather a mud slide. As other’s on here have mentioned, it’s far away from the city, the traffic into and out of the venue is pathetic and the overpriced beer selection sucks. But what left me with the most distaste at last night’s show (and I know that the management at First Niagara have no control over this but I just need to vent) was how Mr. Kid Rock shamelessly commercialize the service of our men and women in uniform for his own self-​righteous gain. «F» him and his music! I’ll never purchase a product of his ever again!
But back on subject, First Niagara is simply too big and too sloppy to provide a quality concert experience. Save yourself the aggravation and take your party to the Consol or Stage AE.

I had an easier time getting in and out of a parking garage right next to the Q in Cleveland for a sold out Cavaliers game than I did getting in and out of here for the Dave Matthews concert this past Saturday night. We literally sat in the same spot in line for 15 minutes! We sat so long that some cars had occupants actually get out and hold up the string barrier separating the parking lines so they could drive into the other one. Getting in, however, was worse than getting out. Gates opened at 6pm and we were right up front in lawn seating since we walked in right at 6. Our seats were awesome (minus the chick who kept falling over onto our blanket-​thank goodness she chose to wear underwear that day-​and her boyfriend that kept saying «just don’t let her die. I can’t tell her parents she died at Dave Matthews».) Food options were pretty limited-I’d endorse the soft pretzels or the chicken sausage if you don’t bring your own ziplock bag of goodies. Adult beverages range in price-​my bf bought a can of Beaster for $ 4 (although I think beer that bad should just be handed out free of charge) while I stuck with craft drafts which were-​insert fainting here-​$ 16 each. I had 3 (but only paid for two. I couldn’t in good conscience let my bf pay for any beyond the first). Their drafts were actually, surprisingly, decent-​I had Laguinitas IPA and GLB Burning River, just, obviously not worth the $ 16 but when in Rome… I like the atmosphere on the lawn, just dancing and jamming, so I’ll be back in the future.

This venue is a soul crushing monster that seemingly goes out of its way to make the events that happen here unenjoyable. Bathroom to concert-​goer ratio is atrocious. Beer is outrageously expensive. Any chance you want to go back out to your car if you forgot something? They won’t let you back in unless you buy an entirely new ticket. Forget to take medication and need to go back to your car? You are screwed. Need to take care of a family member who got sick? Tough luck. The place is locked down like a prison surrounded by guards who are just as concerned with your «safety» as they are concerned with making sure you leave pissed off.

This place is awful. I never have seen a more disorganized, unfriendly venue.
The employees in yellow shirts act like the guests are the worst thing to ever happen to them. Never a smile or «enjoy the show» from them.
The parking lot is a joke. It is so unorganized. They don’t enforce litter policies (do they even have them?) and you are lucky not to get a flat tire when leaving from running over all the trash people leave. There is only one way out of the parking lot and if they see you sitting in your car, engine off, waiting for traffic to die down, they yell at you to start your car and get moving (but move to where? 5 feet every 10 minutes?).
This place also has no recycling program. Thousands of cans and bottles trashed each night. Shame on them. Shame on First Niagara Bank for being the namesake of this venue.

As I have seen a lot of other Unilocalers say… This place has HORRENDOUS parking. Coming or going… You will at least wait a minimum of 30 minutes to enter or exit the parking lots. I waited approx. 30 to come in and 50 to leave. Having said that, the lawn is awesome. I bought lawn tickets to a show and they were great. We were able to see the show well and it wasn’t too crowded. Bathrooms were close by no matter where we were in the lawn, and the bathrooms were pretty clean as well. The beers and food were expensive but that’s to be expected in a pavilion.
Overall, I really enjoyed my time at first niagara, it is just the parking that is nauseating and makes me reconsider coming here. I will come again but I plan on leaving the next show a little earlier to avoid the traffic.

Sarah S and I got yelled at and escorted out (*edit* they kicked us out of our seats not out of the venue… Which is weird in itself, who knows? I wonder if we were the only people in the security guard’s section?) of the Oddball Comedy Tour for talking and laughing last night… Some people just can’t be trusted even with an ounce of authority. Really!?! We were disturbing others with our laughter at a comedy show!?! Well effe me, right? Thanks «Big Jim» security officer 1172, and security officer 220 who told me she didn’t have a name. You are both jerks.

I came here last night with a friend for the Oddball Comedy Tour. This is the first time we’d been to this venue. After reading the other reviews, I didn’t have high expectations for it. Our experience was a mixed bag – in some ways, it exceeded my (low) expectations, and in other ways, it still managed to fail them.
On the pro side, getting in/​out and parking was smooth sailing. Then again, we arrived and left early (the starting time wasn’t clear from the tickets), and I don’t think this show was as popular as many of the acts that this venue hosts, judging from the amount of empty seats and the fact that nobody was sitting on the lawn (true even for people who’d purchased lawn tickets). Also, the bathrooms were acceptably clean and didn’t flood – at least, when I used them before the show and at intermission.
On the con side, people were smoking up a storm at this show – even in the seating area, which was clearly posted with «No Smoking» signs. (Some of this smoking definitely involved substances other than tobacco – if you catch my drift.) About every 10 – 15 min. during the show, I saw someone exhale a huge plume of smoke several rows in front of me. During intermission, the clouds of smoke from people standing along the railings behind the seating area and milling about were overwhelming, to the point that we felt lightheaded, almost to the point of nautiousness. I’m not sure if this amount of smoke is par for the course at this venue (I’m guessing it is). However, at the very least, the no smoking policy should be enforced in the seating area so that those of us who pay extra for seats because we don’t want to be exposed to smoke the entire night don’t have to put up with it.
Despite that my experience wasn’t as horrible in some ways as I expected, I’m doubtful that I’d return to this venue, due to the smoking issue. If I did, it really would take an out-​of-​this-​world show to persuade me to come back here.

They sell you water for $ 4.50/bottle and they throw away the lid.
Thank you to Aramark for the poor service.
One star.

This place has always been a huge mess of traffic. There used to be a company that offered a chartered bus service to/​from the Pavilion from Station Square for under $ 10. Sitting in an air conditioned bus with some snacks certainly eased the traffic woes.
The lawn seats are terrible since no one sits down. People just will stand right in front of your blanket. Once, I got lucky, and Aerosmith played their set of vintage songs («Mama Kin,» «Sweet Emotion,» etc.) out on the lawn on a tiny stage and I was close enough to touch Tom Hamilton. That was my only good lawn experience.
As far as the seat go, those aren’t great unless you’re in the first 20 rows. I used to have a family hook up to great tickets and saw a bunch of shows from rows 1 – 6. So I was spoiled for a time.
The one place where this was a decent enough venue was when they did multi-​stage shows, like X-​fest or Lollapalooza. You at least could see the bands, and often, I wasn’t interested in the closer, so I could leave and beat the traffic.
Besides the traffic, the other point of ridiculousness is the ticket prices. Unless Ella Fitzgerald comes back from the dead to perform there (and I’d hope she’d pick somewhere with a bit more class), there’s not a chance I’m paying $ 120+ for seats or $ 60+ for lawn.
99% of the time, I would rather check out a concert DVD from the library than go here.

It’s alright to see a show. Lawn becomes a mudpit. Parking will take you longer to get out than the show you watch. If the artist is going to consol energy center, wait and go there.

Parking was a disaster and the pit was oversold. Typical cookie-​cutter outdoor venue owned/​managed by Live Nation. If you can catch a show about an hour away at Blossom Music Center, do it!

Pros:
Hmmmm…
I don’t really have much to say here
Cons:
Over priced everything
Horrible beer selection
Parking is a clusterfuck
Safety — A lot of drunk people driving around after the show

Yup, it’s still a mess to get in and out of. You will wait and wait and come close to running over drunken concertgoers who never look to their left and right before darting out into traffic.
The bathrooms flood each and every time.
Rocks populate the lot, making it treacherous to walk on sometimes.
The food is expensive as well as terribly processed and unfresh. A plastic bottle of Sprite cost me $ 5 this trip.
When it rains (and luckily it didn’t this time), the lawn becomes a stadium-​wide mudpit, especially when inebriated fans start tearing up sod and launching it at each other.
However, I must state that the sound and spectacle are acceptable.
My ticket for Kid Rock and ZZ Top (I was there for Billy, Frank, and Dusty) was free, courtesy of a friend who works for Live Nation, and had it not been complimentary, I probably wouldn’t have gone since I resent this venue’s very existence, especially with the birth of newer, better, and closer ones (What other areas does FNP serve besides the Pittsburgh metro area? West Virginny? Don’t they have their own outdoor sheds?) within the past few years. Fortunately, last night was my only reason for going there this season (I skipped Mayhem Festival due to the mostly drab line-​up and for not being able to get a day off to go).
Unless a really massive concert tour that you can’t say no to is headed to The Burgertown Pavilion, I’d skip it were I you.
P. S. Take the shuttle bus (you can buy roundtrip tickets for any event through Ticketmaster) to and from the pavilion instead of driving yourself. It costs around $ 20 but will alleviate much of your commuter stress. Just be on time at your pick-​up points (the bus departs for Pittsburgh 15 minutes after the last song) since the bus drivers are unforgiving to stragglers.

Just incredible. You would think that this place had never hosted an event before. Like every single time they are taken by surprise by having to plan how to park and seat this many people. If you sell 16,000 tickets, have an appropriate number of parking spots.
I’m going to repeat what everyone has said before, but please believe it: great venue, just awful infrastructure. Whatever the price of the ticket, expect to pay twice that amount in pain and suffering. It’s going to take the second coming of Christ playing a one night only concert to make me come here again.