Time Warner Cable Uptown Amphitheatre Charlotte

Great outdoor venue. Not too large at all! Lawn seating still has great view of the stage. I also really like the pavilion on the side where they sell all the food/​drinks/​tshirts and have the bathrooms. It’s nice and very convenient. Also, the parking was nice and easy, and FREE! Great to pregame at VGBG which is right next door. Super easy to get in and get out.

I’d probably give this place four stars, if it weren’t for the lame «Rain or Shine» policy. I’m not sure if it’s strictly a Live Nation policy, the amphitheaters, or both. I guess that’s just the nature of the beast for an outdoor, open air concert venue. There are no covered seats!
Recently, we went to see Jim Gaffigan — it rained and rained — and then it rained some more. After about thirty minutes we left and went to VGBG to dry off. As we were leaving VGBG, we could hear applause as the opening act came out. It was still raining and an 8PM show was just starting at 9PM.
I will base my review on previous events. The acoustics are pretty darn good. Lawn seating, although it can feel overcrowded and over sold ticket wise, is perfect for a concert. I no longer feel the need to be close enough to see a musician’s nose hairs. Chances are the people in front of you would be standing up anyway, forcing you to stand up as well. I’m too old to stand up at a concert — I’ll just sit on the lawn.
I do find $ 11.50 -$ 13.50 for a can of beer fairly grotesque, even if it is 24 ozs.
Tip: every once in a while, lawn seats for certain shows pop up on Groupon — this is a great way to avoid all those extra ticket fees.

Saw our first show here last night, the Counting Crows. There were 2 opening acts but we missed both of those while having dinner. The parking at NC Music Factory is free and since we were so late it was a half mile away probably in the very back of the lot but free and plenty are two good words to describe parking. It was pouring when we pulled in so we sat in the car. The Music Factory tweeted the show schedule so we knew we had time and waited out the storm.
When the rain slowed we made our way in. Policy here says you can bring in one unopened water bottle per person. It also says you can bring food inside a gallon ziplock but we didn’t need to but I thought that would be good sometime. The bathrooms and all of the concessions are in the plaza area opposite of where you walk in. Plenty of clean bathrooms in spite of the crowd and rain. We didn’t partake of the beverages or concessions but there are lots of options including local craft beer and wine.
The stage is covered but that is it so if you have a ticket you may get rained on. You can bring a lawn chair in for the lawn or a towel. Overall loved the venue for a show. Intimate for sure with all of the reserved seating offering a great view, we were in section 102 and row 22 and felt very close. The lawn is close too.

An outdoor concert venue that’s conveniently located in uptown and doesn’t require a $ 40 cab ride? Yes please!
I’ve been to a lot of different shows at the Uptown Amphitheatre over the years. Smashing Pumpkins, Citizen Cope, Zac Brown, OAR, there’s always a good variety during the warm months. There’s really not a bad place to post up here. It’s smaller than PNC, so even the lawn provides a great view.
The bathrooms are clean and there are a lot of stalls. Even if there is a line, it moves pretty quickly. Just like all concert venues, expect to pay a lot for drinks. There are some great pre and post event spots here. I recommend VBGB or Small Bar. It doesn’t take too long for people to get out and leave, but still a good idea to stop by one of these places and grab a drink while everything clears. Why sit in your car when you could be enjoying a drink or playing giant Jenga?
Show time advice: don’t wait to the last minute to try to get inside. This may be a small venue, but there are only a few people checking tickets and bags. Sometimes the line can be lengthy. Make sure you allow yourself enough time to get through the line.
Pro tip: traffic backs way up here from uptown when there is a concert. To avoid getting caught in this mess, bypass the NC Music Factory entrance and take a left onto Statesville Avenue. Go left onto Callahan, immediate left on Polk, right on Hamilton. You’ll follow Hamilton through the neighborhood and will pass the school on the right. This will completely back door your way in to the Music Factory. (I would like to thank the amazing Heather C. for this equally amazing advice)

If the weather cooperates, it’s such a beautiful venue to attend for concerts. My wife and I went to a NeedtoBreathe concert in the evening and it was simply gorgeous! We sat pretty close on the left in the seats but we were able to walk around and take it all in. There really isn’t a bad spot anywhere. Even from the lawn in the back, you could see the stage clearly.
The bathrooms were state of the art and very clean at the beginning of the day and, as expected, worsened as the night went on. Plenty of stalls and overall well designed. Also, there were numerous concessions stands and never any long lines to deal with. That was huge! The only problem… the cost. Waters were $ 5 and beers were $ 12. Whoa! Other than that. It was awesome!
Enjoy!
Ian M.

This place was really unexpected. First time coming here for a hardcore show. The area/​complex is really cool and free parking is wonderful! Fairly small venue, but it was really nice and kept well. The bathrooms were really cool and clean; exposed brick walls and new fixtures along with plenty of stalls. There wasn’t a line to the ladies bathroom all night which is always a plus for me. Also, plenty of vendors for drinks/​food so never had to wait. The food and drinks are a little expensive, but that is expected and it wasn’t crazy. I paid $ 4 for dasani and $ 5:50 for a bottle of coke. It was really fun and not at all super crowded; there’s enough space where people aren’t on top of each other. I would definitely come here again despite the 3 hour drive from Raleigh!

Great venue that holds 5k. Easy entry and exiting too. Bars and restaurants surrounding the venue. Too bad the beer is $ 11 and bad wine $ 9.

OK, we really dig this place.
I can’t stand the big Charlotte Ampitheater, whatever the current corporate sponsored-​name is these days. The one out by the race track. Because parking there sucks and it takes entirely too much of my life just getting in-​and-​out in the car.
Uptown Ampitheatre @ The NC Music Factory is such a cool venue. The size is perfect. It has a good sized seating area and a small lawn behind it. The whole venue is intimately sized to where you feel like you are up close to the stage even when you’re in the back row of the lawn (or seats) or in a short line for a beer. The faciliites are clean and well kept, and the staff have always been helpful and hospitable.
We’ve probably seen 5 or 6 shows here, and considering it’s a few hours from home we are careful about travelling this far for a bad venue. This place makes me lean toward «yes» when there’s a band or show that I am on the proverbial fence about.
Parking Uptown isn’t without it’s challenges but, and maybe it’s partly due to the smaller size of the place, you can get in and out reasonably without losing chunks of your life waiting in those awful car-​lines.
Cold beer, live music, great merch setup, it’s the whole package.

Mr Jordan, @TheReal_MJ₂₃
I want you to know how great your staff is here over at «Time Warner Arena» Louis from the «north club», was extremely helpful. I hope all their hard work is recognized and rewarded. Thanks in advance

Clean venue and scored some super close free parking, but the lady at the ticket booth was a huge downer and the reason for a lower rating. I was asking quite a few questions about box seats before shelling out hundreds of dollars on a shared VIP box minutes before the main act was about to perform, and the sales lady was so rude and wouldn’t give me the time of day. If I didn’t purchase the over-​priced tickets the seats would’ve been vacant and for someone who’s job is to SELL tickets she was doing quite the contrary. Boxes aren’t worth the money… especially when you don’t purchase the whole box and you’re the bystanders in someone else’s VIP section. Service was slow sooooo… I will gladly sit in the lawn literally 2 feet away from where I was sitting for a fraction of the price next time.

8÷11÷13
Treated BIL and two sisters to Under the Sun tour tonight. Five bands from the 90s: Fastball
, Vertical Horizon
, Gin Blossoms
, Sugar Ray (vocal Mark McGrath mentioned his vision of this lineup, so I assumed he organized it)
, and Smash Mouth.
We all agreed that Vertical Horizon, Gin Blossoms (!!), and Sugar Ray (!!) performed the best (great energy and stage presence), and Smash Mouth was a HUGE letdown. Lead singer Steve Harwell’s vocal cords were shot– the spoken bits of their songs sounded fine, but whenever he sang, his notes were all off-​key. (I attributed it to heavy touring all summer long, but I see that the first show was on July 4^th???) It’s a good thing most in attendance knew the words of «All Star» word-​for-​word (but not me!), because Harwell didn’t even need to be present! He did a lot of walking from one end of the stage to the other, and holding his mike stand out over the audience during the number. Don’t get me wrong, SM played good music, but after Vertical Horizon, Gin Blossoms, and Sugar Ray’s sets, Smash Mouth’s was very anti-​climactic. I’d say the combo of the earlier bands’ lively performances, Harwell’s blown vocals, and the day’s heat and humidity had drained us of energy by concert’s end… It was fun to see and hear band members moonlight on other bands’ sets– very cool. (I enjoyed Fastball, but sisters and BIL weren’t familiar with their songs, and so didn’t care. I just wished Fastball had put more effort in showing that they were happy to be there.)
Should you attend a concert of this magnitude, I suggest you arrive early! Gin Blossoms’ Robin Wilson invited everyone in attendance to move in closer to the stage by the second-​half of their set, per amphitheatre’s general director’s discretion. Yep, lawn seat ticket-​holders moved into seats that others had paid upwards of $ 80 or more… Two men almost duked it out two rows ahead of us– guy and his date arrived late to claim their $ 75 seats, only to find lawn seat ticket holders standing their ground. Hey, I’d feel the same way if someone wouldn’t give me the seats I’d paid for. (I paid $ 208, surcharges included, for four center row seats.) There were other open seats available, many closer to the stage… Ah, well.
Be sure to have your tickets with you should you need to use the restroom, or buy drinks at the concession stands, for you will need them to return to your seats. Correction: we needed them, until the invite was given for the audience to move in closer, and then security and ushers left their posts.
p. s. Compared to the Ak-​Chin Pavilion (Phoenix, AZ; seats 20,000) I was at a few days before this event, this Charlotte arena is VERY SMALL (3,000 max capacity?; couldn’t find much info online). Still a nice venue, and I wouldn’t mind catching another concert here in the future.

Awesome summer venue in the CLT. Kinda like Verizon Wireless Amp but much smaller, meaning there is not really a bad seat in the house. The lawn is spacious so good view no matter where you decide to lay out your blanket. Of course, like every concert venue, the drinks are pricey with a beer running you $ 9 to $ 11 bucks. I’d advise come early and grab a brew at one of the many neighboring beers, like VBGB. Then head over to the venue afterwards.
The place holds about 3,000 folks so leaving is not a big issue either after the show — be aware the entire venue is uncovered so rain may damper your evening.
Unilocal tip right here — for the bands you like but not love, my friends and I will head over to the Wet Willies patio — you can’t see the band due to a strategically-​placed black curtain but you are about 30 feet away and can hear everything crystal clear.

So first off, this place kicks Verizon Wireless Amphitheater’s ass! It’s a lot smaller in terms of capacity but it is so much easier to get into and out of, easier to move around, easier to get a beer and go to the bathroom, and just overall better in every sense of the word. It’s also right in the middle of the NC Music Factory so you can come early, get something to eat, and head on in when you’re ready.
I’ve been here for a few shows, most recently Ben Folds Five a few weeks ago. I’ve never had a bad experience here. The lawn is good sized and it’s on a nice incline so you can see over the heads of the folks in front of you. The seats in the front part are pretty well spaced out and it’s not hard to get in and out of the rows. And there is a walkway in between the lawn and the seats that is convenient to get to and allows you to hit up the concessions and get back very easily.
One thing to note, there are no covered seats so you are at the mercy of the weather!
This place is very well-​designed and one of the best places in Charlotte to see a show!

Really dig the Uptown Amphitheatre’s vibe and location. Hadn’t been to a show here in quite a while, but recently went to see Guster and Ben Folds and it couldn’t have been a better night.
It isn’t a traditional amphitheatre setup per say. Several front sections, open box seats with tables, a HUGE lawn, vendors peppered throughout, and people moving about the venue throughout the entire show. It’s hard to put my finger on the feel and flow, but I really dig it. It just always seems busy and bustling.
Another thing that’s crazy, and I recently learned, is that this place can hold 5,000 warm bodies. Dude. It may not look that big, but they packed people in there. It was cozy when we were there recently and it wasn’t even a sold-​out show.
Only gripe is the entrance as it can be a little confusing for newcomers. You can always tell who the first-​timers are. Be nice and hand them a map.
Looking forward to more shows this year!

My husband and I saw Grizzly Bear here. Really nice outdoor venue. You can literally get a seat anywhere and it’s still a great view. It’s not huge at all.
We didn’t get any drinks but I’m sure it was $ 10 a pop. There are a lot of neat bars and places to eat nearby… so I suggest pre-gaming.the alcoholic slushy place, Wet Willies is beside the venue! They have a bar with a sand volleyball court outside!
A good spot for live music.
Oh, and definitely go towards the right if you have pit tickets. Don’t go up the steps if you’re rushing to be up front. I would have made that mistake if I didn’t ask.

I’ve really enjoyed every show I’ve seen here. There isn’t a bad ‘seat’ in the house. With the overall intimate size of the amphitheater, even lawn seats have a great view. My wife and I went an hour early for the latest visit and had a great time at the surrounding bars and restaurants. Will definitely come back to see more shows here.

Attended a show here for the first time this week when my wife and I saw the Smashing Pumpkins for the umpteenth time. We both came away quite pleased with the venue and would not hesitate to go to another concert at the amphitheatre.
Bought seats in section 102 which put us squarely in the middle of the stage and there were great sight lines even with some tall folks in front of us. The concession lines were slow like most all concession lines and beer and wine is pricey to say the least. Again, like most beer/​wine prices at events like this.
All in all, enjoy this part of Charlotte as a whole as we’ve gone to other shows at other venues. Nice addition to our city overall!

Overall this is a very nice venue. It is basically a small, and much cleaner, Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre. There is a nice little «field» space for open seating and rather decent seats up in the front half. The main drawback is that there is no cover over the real seats like there is at Verizon so weather is a factor no matter where you sit. Also, like most venues, expect to pay $ 10 for a decent beer.
Aside from that, the seats are comfortable and the entire venue makes for a nice atmosphere. It does not seem like there is really a bad seat in the whole place.

I went here for the Trespass America tour and I was pleasantly surprised! It was a small scale venue which led to a very intimate show in my opinion. It was great, there were 6 bands there and it was on a Tuesday night, so the crowd was the perfect size. Actually I would have been ok with even more of a crowd, but I won’t complain that I had more than enough room to do cartwheels and back hand springs… yeah. You’re right, I totally didn’t do any of that, but I did dance alot if that counts.
The only reason I went was to see Pop Evil and because of the small crowd, I even got to meet them after the show briefly! It was so exciting and I even found a couple new bands to like, Trilium and Kill Switch Engage. (This music is usually much harder than what I prefer, but it was still a blast.) I can’t attest to the prices of the drinks or food, but the event itself was only $ 30!!! 6 bands for $ 30! WOW!!!
I loved that this was an outside event and it was surprisingly clean as well. It’s right behind the music factory and the balcony’s of some of those bars face the actual venue too so I bet that’s cool for some of these big shows on the weekends too. :)
Parking was free, there’s a little diner right by it to eat before the show. I loved it all. No complaints here. I’ll definitely be checking out other shows here in the future!

Went here for the OAR /​SOJA show. Nice small venue and the sound is great. It rained tonight but still so much fun. I wish the prices were lower for beer and that you could walk upstairs to Wet Willie’s.
This is a smaller version of the larger venue in the university area but this is a great location in uptown!