Harpos

Yes, its a dump. BUT that is part of the fun. Anything goes !!! I have been going there for over 20 years. Seen great shows like Gwar, ICP, Sebastin Bach, disturbed. Great prices for concerts, but beware of bathrooms lol.

This place is a complete piece of shit. Invest some money in the building and at least keep the roof from collapsing. I’m shocked that the building isn’t condemned yet. The only good thing about Harpos is the music. Beers crap, there probably dried piss on the bathroom floor that’s been there for 30+ years, and they treat bands like complete crap. Did a local show there years ago that they were putting on and they acted like the band’s playing were a bother. Nice…

In a word– shady… lots of skinhead-​looking types lurking around… located in a sketchy part of town… I saw Clutch here before, along with a couple of other less noteworthy musical acts… definitely a dive… the drinks are way overpriced (I’m sure that my crappy draft beer was at least $ 7) and very limited. this place is putrid… watch your drink or it might get drugged… it appears that neither the heat/​AC functions properly (so freeze your ass off in the winter and swelter in the summer), and apparently neither does the plumbing… beware the taint of society hanging around… dash to your car parked on the street as you run for your life from the criminal elements roaming the city… you know, it actually gives «dives» a bad name…

You need a shot of penicillin to walk in the door and another to use the bathroom. The whole building smells of stale urine, probably because people were too afraid to use the actual bathroom. It’s like 12 degrees outside, so we definitely needed to wear a coat to stand in line. They had a coat check, but it wasn’t open. At first I was annoyed… But then I realized there was no heat in the building and I would actually need my coat the whole time. The bartenders look like their souls died (possibly froze to death) and hate their lives. They don’t take credit cards, and also don’t have enough change in the register for you to pay with a $ 20. I don’t care how much you like local bands or washed up rock bands of the late 90s. It’s not worth paying $ 30 per ticket for such terrible experience.

This dive doesn’t even deserve one star. From the beginning. Parking is shit and you are left to park in a narrow area without an attendant to guide or direct you. Then you find out you’re standing in the freezing cold an hour longer then needed cause there is only one guy who could give two shits about his job letting people in as they pass through a metal detector. Walk in to a poorly lit smelly place that is need of some serious cleaning. I love the idea of a dive bars and the people along with the bands that play in them. But i’m also all for heat. This place was literally just as cold inside as it was outside. The only thing colder was the watered down beer served by people who don’t take credit cards and only give singles for change regardless of the tender given. I didn’t even stay to see the band I wanted to see it was so bad and of course they won’t refund the money. Don’t go!!!

This place has not changed since 1980s. No heat in the building but the price is great for a show. The bartenders have been here since 1989. Park in the back but come early. Normal price for drinks and pizza is available too. Smoking is still aloud here. Aaaggggg!

Went back last week, and noticed they managed to crank their beer price up AGAIN.
Seriously, WTF. How do you charge $ 4 in that dungeon for a plastic cup of watery tap drippings, when Foran’s doesnt even charge that much for gourmet beer? Yall need to check yourselves. This ain’t fuckin Midtown, get a grip.
Until they start patting people down at the door again, I’ll be crotching a flask every time i come in here from now on.
AND HOLY SHIT, i just remembered they also jacked up their ticket price too …$ 30 to see Gwar? I’m pretttttty sure it was still $ 20 last year. You got to be OUT your %$#@ing minds.
We noticed that there is now VERY NOTICEABLE roof damage – even though the interior lighting is kept very low (undoubtedly to hide the shittiness of the place), I could see several spots where the ceiling has begun to rot from major roof leakage. I mean, far be it from me to complain that Harpo’s is ugly, since that is part of the experience, but if youre going to jack up your ticket prices by 30% it better be to start a roof-​repair fund. I would be more than willing to pay a little extra for that. But somehow, i don’t get the feeling that’s what’s going on. I get the feeling that the owners are milking it for all it’s worth so they can scram back to St Clair Shores with the $$$ when the place is finally condemned in the near future.

I saw a Ronnie James Dio here about 20 years ago. It was a great show but the place at that time was an absolute shit hole.
The carpets were sticky and the bathrooms were nasty. It looks like somethings never change.

Disgusting, but the best place to rock your face off! They would get 4 stars if they hired people to keep up with the bathroom — or installed more bathrooms. Just don’t use them. drinks aren’t bad priced, people are interesting. It’s a bad area, but security is watching your cars. too many people smoking all different kinds of things insides, but it was all expected at a hard rock/​metal show. Don’t go if you can’t handle the grunge and roughness of it.

I haven’t been to harpos in 25 years, So I was pleasantly surprised to see that the décor was exactly the same as it was back then, same carpet, same tables, same toilets. It was a rather nostalgic look back into the early 80s. Its so nice when these venues care enough about the patrons to not change anything ever. I was also excited about the ticket price (15 $) for Michael Shenker being almost double (25 $) at the door, trying to recoup for lack of promo I guess. Dont bother trying to go check on your vehicle They will just charge you a re-​entry fee, I guess Thats to cover the cost of security in the parking lot.

I have seen some great shows here. Also plenty of terrible ones. Harpo’s is a really grimey concert theater in a really bad area. The inside is dirty as all shit and the people who work here are usually assholes. They also have just straight up not paid some national acts and or don’t meet their gurantee. I come here when a good lineup does. Be safe and be careful about parking. Like I said, it’s a bad area. Good/​strong long island’s though !

If Cradle of Filth comes back though I’ll go. Maybe Dimmu Borgir, Slayer, Genitorturers. It’s rough, it’s Harpos. Never had a problem in the parking lot. I’ve walked the streets down there hours before a show, eating at a mom and pop coney type thats closeby, and drinking a pop on a curb outside the liquor store the other way. No troubles.

This place is a rite of passage for suburban kids who think they’re «street,» and it’s really REALLY funny to watch them here.
I love this place. I’ve seen a lot of great bands here — Type O Negative! Cradle of Filth! — but there’s a few things I have to get off my chest about the place.
First, I never understood why they have one of those disco light-​up dance floors. Isn’t this a metal bar? Still, if you wanted to do a Smooth Criminal across it, you could. It might get you beat up… but you still could.
The bathrooms are horrible. Hold it as long as you can.
Drinks are so cheap that any advice telling you to hold it is pointless.
The pit is rough. Girls beware. Guys, you’re going to have a long and hard night ahead of you if you plan to stay in it. I’ve seen titan-​sized men get carried out of it; it was this sight that made me realize that watching from the rail is probably my best bet.
My very last piece of advice would seem to be bad at first, but hear me out; do not park in the Harpo’s lot under any circumstances. The majority of the problems anyone would have here would be in this very location! Park across the street, down the street… anywhere but in the Harpo’s lot. It’s like a giant beacon inviting trouble into your life.

I saw GWAR here!!!
.but i aint ever goin back

this is a great place to see mostly metal music. i saw Kittie and it was an awesome venue. the prices are not too high i think i saw Kittie for like 25. its got some seats but a big floor where you can dance or mosh. if you like metal this is the place for you

Hey guess what?!
Detroit can be a rally fucking mean place when it wants to be.
What do I remember about Harpos?
Everyone pointing out the various locations where people got stabbed, shot or murdered. And I mean around the building.
Like I went to take a leak behind a dumpster and someone said,
«hey that singer from (so and so band) got stabbed there and bled to death.»
At my most vulnerable moment I replied, «oh really?»
They replied, «Yeah no one could hear him calling for help because the other band was playing…»
What do I say to that?
I was pissing where a guy died.
Other than that Harpos had a lot of really nice space to park and load… Oh and a stage that was like ten feet high. I was getting scared of heights for real.
The stage was plenty big but the way I run around and the inevitability that one of us will spill water on the hard wood stage spells disaster.
Here’s the thing about Detroit though… It may get super sketchy real fast but honestly ten minutes down the road and you end up in safe and sound suburbs just like any other city.
So Detroits rad in it’s own way.
Like wild mood swings.