Merriweather Post Pavilion

Merriweather is a place I’ve been to twice since living in Arlington.
I went first to Freefest back in 2013 where they had multiple stages set up around the venue where they had bands like Icona Pop, City and Colour, MGMT, and Vampire Weekend. Needless to say THAT was a great time.
It’s pretty easy to navigate around the grounds and actually pretty easy to get to in general for other shows. I came here for Of Monsters and Men in mid-​September and it was an easy enough drive from Arlington on a Sunday night.
We got lawn seats and they were serviceable for the $ 40 we paid per ticket. The show went off without a hitch and we were able to see and hear everything fine from the lawn.
Concessions prices are your average for a concert venue… super high. Seemed like it was easy enough to sneak in whatever you wanted, though.
MPP is a lot like Jiffy Lube Live in terms of layout so if you’ve been there you’ve got it. Overall, this is a nice place to see a show outside.

It’s a good outdoor concert venue. I am pretty sure it is a historic venue. When you come in you can see various signs and plaques for past events. There is a huge lot with plenty of parking for smaller events. There are a few parking garages you can use on evenings and weekends after the businesses are closed that are free. It’s actually easier to get out of the garages in my opinion. The venue is very hilly so make sure you wear appropriate foot wear. Most of the seating in on the lawn unless you pay extra for pavilion seats.
Food it expensive and drinks are expensive as well. I recommend eating before you come. They have the same prices you can expect at most other venues. The sound and acoustics are pretty good. There are a couple of big screens so you can see what’s going on on the stage from the lawn. Over all I would Mel coming back. They are planning a few renovations in the future.

Saw Death Can for Cutie and Explosions in the Sky last night with my husband! It was EPIC. We arrived at 5:45pm (7:30pm showing) and got a great parking spot – and great lawn seating!
We brought in food, which was nice, and really enjoyed our night.
Im not sure why people complain about Merriweather they way that they do. The bathrooms were clean, staff seemed friendly, and the sound was awesome.
Only thing that would be better I if we could bring alcohol in. I just can’t begin to describe how much I don’t want to spend 10.50 for a drink.
I would go back in a heartbeat!

I don’t know if it was because of the sold-​out show that we attended, or if this outdoor music venue is always this bad.
The concert (summer fest 10^th year celebration with Erykah Badu, Anthony Hamilton, etc.)we attended was very packed, and you would think they would plan accordingly since the tickets were sold out a month before the concert.
There are literally oodles of staff members walking around but no one can direct you to anything. When we went to our seats under the pavilion, the staff lazily points to the direction your seats may be in. Good thing we had our phones to use as flashlights!
The sound system is booming, but somewhat booming too much. It got difficult hearing the artists over the band music.
The food vendors ran out of food by 8pm, and all that was being offered was popcorn lol. Eh, popcorn and alcohol though?
The good news is they had bathrooms and portajohns… the bad news is the bathrooms were so overused and disgusting that people had chosen to use the floor as opposed to the toilets that had not been flushed for hours. (Try your best not to get a mental image — it will give you nightmares!) All of that staff dragging around, and no one checked the bathrooms ever? So weird!
One word to sum up the whole place: yuck.

MPP is a fantastic summer concert venue. I have seen around 25 shows there over the last 20 years from Wu-​Tang/​RATM to Phish over 10 times, this place never fails.
The venue itself is great. There are multiple entrances depending on the parking lot or drop-​off location, but all of them have a forest, park-​like feel. Police and security are present, especially during Phish, but not overly intrusive and generally happy and polite.
Once inside you’re either heading to the lawn or pavilion. The pavilion is awesome with great sound. The lawn can be a little hit or miss with both view and sound. For sold out lawn shows we generally go in early, spread out a blanket and relax for an hour. If you try to find a spot on lawn right before or after the show starts you might have to take a spot that has limited or no view of the stage. The sound in the lawn always seems to start out low as well and grow louder in the first sets.
Around the lawn are trees, a porch and a walking path with vendors around it and near the entrances. The inside maintains the cool woodsy feel of the venue. The vendors offer a good selection of food and drinks (as noted in the Phish song Walfredo).
We usually get a hotel room and taxi to show. Sheraton is walking distance, but sells out early for good shows. When we do designate a driver, the parking can be dicey. If you are early you should get a spot in the venue parking, which is fine. If you are driving in within a half hour of showtime, you may get pushed up the street to public parking which can be very far away. For Dear Jerry in 2015, we had to park over 2 mi. away!
Overall you can’t beat MPP for summer shows in the DC area. Wolf Trap is amazing, but doesn’t have as many good shows and Jiffy Lube Live is horrible. MPP is reigning champ and I don’t see that changing anytime soon.

This review is of the Merriweather Center as well as the Aug. 2015 Summer Spirit Fest. In short, this year’s Summer Spirit Fest was a disappointment. Most of the performers were excessively late. The performance by Toni Tone Tony did not include the recognizable group members (namely Raphael Saadiq). And due to the excessive tardiness during the show, the most important performer and headliner, Erykah Badu, was also late and only performed a few songs (which did not include her top hits), before she was forced to leave the stage. Further, the music videos during the long, excessive breaks were laughable, if not offensive. I spent more time walking from the parking lot to the facility than the time Erykah Badu performed on stage.
Conversely, 2014 Summer Spirit fest was amazing. Even though Lauryn Hill arrived excessively late, she performed several songs (nearly her entire Miseducation album). And if I recall correctly, there was an actual DJ set during the breaks between performers.
In sum, this year’s Summer Spirit Fest was a fluke. Fortunately, I was with amazing people, so I had a great time.

This place is disgusting I don’t care if Michael Jackson and Luther rises from the grave I will not ever attend another event at Merriweather Post Pavilion!
Cigars everywhere (check)
Cigarettes smoking everywhere (check)
Marijuana smoking everywhere (check)
No walking lanes for the lawn, seating terrible, and the lack of direction on what you can and cannot bring is atrocious! What’s so hard about establishing seating areas on the lawn and some sort of regulation.
I’ve attended the Spirit Festival in the past and sat under the Pavilion which was ok except for the parking areas. If my Fiancé didn’t have a group of friends sitting on the lawn I would’ve left by now!
#Fail

In the years I have been coming here I have never been disappointed. So many past shows and memories of this place. The Cure, Radiohead, Incubus, Nine Inch Nails, Jane’s Addiction, Refused, Faith No More…
I’ve done the lawn and also been in the General Admissions, and also in the far seats which was a blessing for the Radiohead show cause it was POURING like crazy.
Pinball machines, all with music themes (like the Elvis and Kiss ones), how friggin cool is that! The area is like a great green park as well, and I love that raised walkway through what looks like a forest uphill through the trees to the venue.
Sounds amazing, people are also real into the shows here. I even took my plugs out in the GA area cause it actually sounded BETTER. no kidding.
If you live near here, or even have a chance to see your fav bands play here you owe it to yourself to see a show at this place.

The wife and I went here last night for the Faith No More gig. We had seats in Row S which were central and had a great view of the stage. Sound quality was also really good. The seats themselves provided decent legroom and were only uncomfortable after an hour of sitting.
The venue was easy to find and thankfully parking is free. Also leaving the venue at the end of the night was painless and we had left within 3 minutes of getting to our car. A nice touch was the Pinball Hall of Fame with pinball machines only costing a quarter a game.
Of course the price of food and drink, and with any live entertainment/​sports venue, was excessive, so have to knock it down a star for that and the seats, but overall will definitely visit again.

I’ve been to two concerts at Merriweather. My experience has been rather positive. For one show I had a seat and the most recent it was general admission on the floor.
THE GOOD…
–easy to find
–pretty safe location
–free parking lot outside venue
–classic pinball ball machines that only cost a quarter a game
–the floor area has a lot of space
–getting out of the venue is pretty simple
–sound is pretty good from the inside
THE BAD…
–price gouging on food/drinks…expect what may cost $ 2 outside will cost $ 8 inside
Overall this venue isn’t too bad for a summer concert. Although I prefer a more intimate setting, I’ve never had a problem here.

Merriweather is overall a good place to go to a concert. The acoustics are good and it’s fairly easy to get to.
The lawn can get overcrowded, muddy, and disgusting, so I prefer to sit in the pavilion, which is relatively comfortable. Food and drinks are exhorbitant., so go grab some food and drinks before your show. Parking can be touch and go; I reccomend parking in the mall and walking across the street.

Great outdoor venue to see some excellent acts. What else can I say – it’s summer, its beautiful outside, grab a blanket and some friends for some awesome music in a lively outdoor setting. We had a blast The My Morning Jacket show. Everyone was chill and we enjoyed it all.

Come here every year for the Vans Warped Tour. I always have a little trouble. For example;
When I started moshing and busted my head slightly the teenage staff was panicking more than me.
The main stage «fills up» quickly supposedly? They didn’t let us go threw because it has half full and a danger, so we went to watch another band.
LOTS OF SPACE, and I mean lots! I have a hard time looking for stages!
Overall everything ok

My 1^st time at the Capitol Jazz Fest and omg.
what an amazing time we had! The venue, the artists and the music was phenomenal.
However, the facilities could use some upgrades. Thousands of people were in attendance and there were only a few restrooms. Hence the constant standing in line.
Overall, it was great.

Florence +The Machine review
Parking
You can park in their lot but I prefer parking outside of Columbia mall. They have designated merriweather parking in the garages on the outer perimeter of the mall and its a closer walk.
Food
They serve typical fare– hot dogs, tenders, pretzels (which was awful, I threw it away), funnel cakes etc. I believe I saw crab cakes somewhere near the back and a few other things. Walk around if you don’t see something you like. Food stalls are spread out and all offer different items. Same goes for booze (Budweiser distributor so you won’t find miller lite here). And everything is atleast a few bucks more than average price. Beers were $ 8.50 and up!
Seats
If you have assigned seats, come whenever. If you’re sitting on the lawn, come as soon as doors open! You pretty much will only be able to see the stage if you sit in the first few rows of the lawn. If it rains, you’re screwed. If you’re going to see an artist you truly love (like I was!), spring for better seats if you can. Otherwise the lawn is fine.
Our seats were in row g of the left center orchestra and they were pretty much perfect. It’s the first row after the floor seats so you’re not as close but you also don’t have to worry about tall or obnoxious people in front of you.
The venue gets a 3.5 but I’m gonna round down to 3. I would like to round up but the concession prices are just way too high.
As for the show itself, Best.Concert.Ever.

Getting there was disastrous but that was expected since we were on our way during rush hour. Farragut North area in DC to a parking spot in the Mall lot across the street from the venue took about an hour and a half (5:45−7:15). Then another 15 minutes to walk to the venue. There was no bag check before entering the venue which I found odd but I’m ok with that because next time I can bring my own booze instead of spend $ 9.50 on an ok beer.
I agree with Laura H who wrote her review after seeing Mumford and Sons last night. I’ve never been to this venue before but I have been to similar venues with the covered seating and then lawn space. They absolutely oversold this show. There were people camped out past the concessions and it was just a complete clusterf*ck.
There were also a lot of people smoking cigarettes all over the place. I don’t smoke, and I don’t really care that people were smoking there, but it’s funny that the venue website says smoking is illegal in public places in Howard County and yet there was absolutely no one enforcing the law at the venue.
Also, I was waiting in the concession line to get some food and drinks and a chick in the line next to me walked away with a beer cup full of wine. My eyes turned into little hearts of joy so I asked her how to order it. She said it was a double of wine (lol) and it cost $ 21. Expensive but it was definitely at least 3 normal size glasses of wine. When it was my turn to order I asked for a double of wine, knowing I sounded stupid but if it worked for that other chick it would work for me right? Nope, the chick ringing me up stared at me like I had 5 heads so I explained what I saw the other chick walk away with and she’s like, oh we’re not supposed to do that, I can only give you two cups of wine. Needless to say I was sad and just ended up getting an overpriced beer.
Besides the show, the best part was that the bathroom line is probably the quickest moving women’s line I have ever waited in in my life. I had to go right before Mumford & Sons came on (of course) and the line was long — at least 20 chicks in line. I was out of there in probably 3 minutes.
It’s a really beautiful area and I did enjoy the actual concert because Mumford and Sons can do no wrong, but it was way too packed even for a lawn venue.

Traveled for the Mumford and Sons concert. We got there super early so I can’t speak to the parking situation. I can speak to the MASSIVELY oversold crowd. WTF MPP!!!
First, standing in A LINE that turned out to be the WRONG LINE is not cool MPP. People were asking the kid with the «ask me I can help» sign (Not very helpful). He gave us instructions to wait in the «gate crashers» line only to find out 15 feet later that the «gate crashers» line was the same as the regular line. So a large group of us got out of the regular line only to re-​join it later (looked like we were cutting). Thankfully everyone was cool about it but that could’ve started a problem.
The gates open for «gate crashers» with a super stupid «password only» rule (you get the password after posting on Facebook). You get in early only to stand in line AGAIN for another hour. Then the «ask me I can help» people start calling out letters. Some people get out of line when their letter is called (barely audible) and others had the «what the hell is going on/​what letters?» look. Maybe that’s something veteran MPP’ers know about but I had no clue. They finally open the gate to everyone when the crowd starts RUNNING from the back and sides to the lawn (no organization at all). No biggie — I knew I wasn’t going to see anything anyway from the lawn but come on MPP.
We sit down, nice and spaced out, not too close and not too far from your neighbor, and the wait begins. During our almost 4 hour wait for Mumford, SO MANY PEOPLE SHOWED UP. When I say packed I mean FIRE HAZARD PACKED. The annoying part is that people who showed up «late» just gave up on niceties. They pretty much just sat on your blanket. I lost a drink because random people smooshed me in and knocked it over.
I walked to get food…20 minutes to get to the concessions through the masses, 20 minutes to pee and another 20 minutes for beer.
Did I mention how packed it was? Seriously, the view from my seat looked like an ant hill.
So the show starts and so does the cigarette and weed smoking. Yep, I’m lame like that. I don’t like cigarette smoke especially in a place where it’s ILLEGAL. WTF? God help me if I get a random pee test at work this week.
We were so annoyed with the amount of people that we left an hour into Mumford. Thank God we did since the other reviews said the parking/​exit was also disastrous.
And the lawn was rough and uncomfortable. I know that sounds stupid but the grass was crappy, full of «mini cliffs» and dirt holes. It’s also at a very weird incline. I truly felt myself sliding and had to keep repositioning myself up on my blanket. Mental note, bring a sticky yoga mat next time.
I really wanted to come back to see Sam Smith but NO WAY… I’ll listen to him at home.
And sorry but I apparently really like «air quotes»

Tonight was my first concert experience at Merriweather pavilion and i would not even think about coming back here at all. Parking is a huge problem. I had to walk ½ mile from parking and when I got closer to the venue all I could smell was trash. Rude staff. I paid $ 80 and I couldn’t even stayed until the end.

This is my absolute favorite concert venue, and I’ve been to just about everyone, big and small, in the tri-​state area. Most of the concerts I’ve been to here have been sold out, and I’ve never had an issue getting parking that was reasonably close. The grounds are extremely easy to navigate what with the signage and general lack of complicated access points.
I’ve never sat in the pavilion seating, so I can’t comment on that part, but I’ve been in the pit area and on the lawn. The lawn is great if you’re on a budget or don’t care to be super close; you can still see the performers clearly with their big screens on either side of the stage. The pit area is great if you want a close show, but be warned; if you’re short, you might have a bad time.
The bathrooms are taken care of as well as they can be at a crowded venue, and they clear out during performances so you won’t have to wait in line if you time it well. The food/​drinks are expensive, but that should be no shocker to anyone. The only crowded portion of the place is the pit, the place is so big that even at sold out events, you have free room to roam around as you please.
I take advantage of any opportunity to come here, even if I’m not extremely interested in the performers. It’s just a nice place to be on a spring or summer day.

Good venue, but not notable by any means. Went here for a recent Phish concert and had an amazing time, however, I don’t think the venue itself contributed much.
If you’re a #phishhead then you know that its not just about the time that the band is performing onstage, its also about the pre/​post game festivities as well, and at Merriweather Post, there’s no Shakedown Street. There’s no one except The Fuzz, doing anything. Its one of the deadest parking lot scenes you’re going to find on a Phish tour in my humble opinion.
My other complaint is that if you are in the lawn, the sound is VERY MUFFLED. Seing/​hearing a show from the pavilion versus the lawn are two very different experiences at MPP. Not only is the sound sub-​par, but the sight lines to the stage from the lawn are small and narrow at best.
Sure, there’s some cool art work around the grounds, and the old white barn gives it that classic feel of Americana. But besides that, the actual musical experience is lacking and doesn’t compare to similar pavilion/​lawn venues like Charlotte’s PNC Pavilion or Verizon Wireless down in Alpharetta, GA where the sight and sound are exponentially better.