Intersection Lounge

Great place to see a concert the only thing I didn’t like was that there was only one person working behind the merchandise counter so we didn’t buy a shirt since we didn’t want to wait

Affordable drinks, easy parking, nice layout. I don’t know what all the negatives are for. Music quality was great for City & Colour. I don’t live here, but would have no problem going to another show here.

If you’re going to host a musical event at the Stash (small stage, not the Intersection stage) that you charge $ 15 for, at least have the decency to turn off the TVs at the bar. Seriously, the dance floor is just a walkway to the bathroom. Such a bummer.

Make your WiFi available to the public if you’re going to charge $ 5 for a Miller Lite can!

This venue is a nice place in the heart of Grand Rapids Michigan.
Standing outside is kinda cold though because you are under a bridge. So bring a sweatshirt.
I got there about 2 hours before the show and the line was only about ten people long then.
They did let us in about 15 minutes later than scheduled but oh well.
The guys stamped us M because we cant drink. And they scanned our tickets and we were in. There are some seating around but not much. Mostly kids parents sit there but its perfect for them. Getting close to the stage is so easy and the place sounds great. It took about ten minutes between set but thats fine because they play music from a radio to keep us entertained.
The water there was $ 3 from what I remembered. Not too bad.
After the show I was tired so I was sitting at a table for a few minutes then a guard told me to leave. Thats the only problem I had.
Its an awesome place.

As a daughter of a comedian, I grew up going to show after show, venue after venue, establishment after establishment. Never in my entire 25 years of life have I come across such an awfully run, poor excuse for a venue. The staff are rude, obnoxious, and entitled. I was deeply disappointed by the way my sister and I were treated despite our mature and kind nature. I will never ever be returning and I will be highly discouraging my peers, especially my artists ones to never attend or play this venue.

I’ve been going here for years to see shows and I love this place. Good size venue, there’s not a bad spot to watch an artist perform. Drink prices are on par for the most part with area bars. You won’t be disappointed.

Came here last weekend to see JJ Grey and Mofro.
Show was solid. I thought everything on the venue end was solid as well. Coat check worked smoothly. Everyone was friendly enough. The bud light/​miller light 16oz cans were $ 5.50. I felt like that was reasonable for a concert venue.
Really liked the fact that there were essentially four bars: the large bar in the front of the venue where no ticket was needed to be, the main bar in the concert portion, and two smaller stations on the side of the concert area. It was really nice to not have to wait for drinks at all — that’s my major gripe with most concert venues.
We didn’t get a table or know that you could reserve one, but I doubt we would’ve reserved anyway. The floor is concrete, so be prepared to wear comfortable shoes if you’re going to have to stand all night. Bathrooms were pretty clean for the amount of traffic. All in all, I’d definitely see a show here again.

Went here for the 80’s band paid $ 15 online to see band. It’s $ 3.00 to check your coat in. A beer was $ 7.00. Got there and all the tables were reserved, nothing on website about reserving tables. Staff was ok, not friendly. Parking is not good either $ 8.00 to park. Probably would not return.

This was probably the worst concert venue I’ve ever been to in my entire life, and I would consider myself a pretty seasoned concert-​goer.
First of all, they rob you with the parking. I’m currently handicapped and they had no handicapped parking option. Not that big of a deal since we were downtown, but there was a lot next to the venue with handicapped signs that was closed off to the public. Very suspicious. They had us coming through a small side door which was also inconvenient.
The venue itself was spacious albeit not very clean. The biggest problem I had was the handicap section, which was poorly placed toward the back of the venue on the ground level, even though there were two upper levels on the side where people were sitting. There was no way to sit down and see the show, it was ridiculous and not planned out well at all.
On top of that, the staff was just rude and not very helpful. I will not be returning.

My husband and I went to a show here last week. We had never been here before so we were excited to try it out.
Parking was a bit of a struggle but that is to be expected downtown. We ended up doing street parking near Founder’s.
Our show was in the back, bigger part of the Intersection and we were surprised how big it was. It was a nice big open warehouse type space. There were some table and chairs in the back and on the sides.
Neither of us got any drinks so I can’t comment on the bar or service.
I also went to the restroom and it was clean.
We enjoyed our show and the venue and hope to see more shows here in the future.

So sad you have to go here to see musical acts in Grand Rapids. They realize that you don’t have a choice. I don’t think the place has changed at all since I was here three years ago. The service from staff is nonexistent security and bar tenders were very stern. Not the type of attitude and tone you want to be dealing with when your out trying to have a good time. Then they want fifteen for admission alright, maybe you could justify that with a quality act. They will sell you craft beers at $ 3 until 9 when the music actually starts. Then magically it’s $ 6 for the same small clear plastic dixie cup of beer. Give me a break, it’s not about the money it’s the concept. I will be avoiding The Intersection from now on and traveling to Detroit and Chicago for music. If I spend more just to achieve the same results then so be it. I will be happy knowing I didn’t support The Intersection pricks in their efforts to screw over bands and shaft the fans that follow them.

Great venue for music as always. My one caveat is that my girlfriends and I arrived at a decent time, but once the coat check was «full» they gave you no options and were rude as to recommending where we should put our winter coats.

I have only been to the Intersection twice, but I am definitely a fan. It’s a large warehouse-​like setting with a bar in the lounge area and a bar in the main stage area with 2 smaller bars on the side, but they don’t seem to use those much. They also have tables and chairs set up in front of the bar and along the side walls if you want to sit and enjoy drinks before the show.
The only bad side about this place is that they don’t have their own parking lot. You have to search the streets or pay and park in the public lots.

Had the time of my life at Mega 80s night! I was pretty skeptical before arriving but the place was packed, people were really into it, and the band was phenomenal! I’ve never seen such a performance by any cover band. I’ll definitely go back!

A truly great place to see punk bands, Celtic bands, and anything else that is vital. Had an amusing time there; way too amusing to post. Kick it and head there.

One of the worst places in town.
1. Ridiculous prices.
You will pay $ 8 for a dixie cup with a splash of liquor in it. You might think the $ 5 tap beer is a steal, then. It’s not. STAY AWAY FROM THE TAP. It’s nasty.
2. Horribly run.
A couple years ago, this place went bankrupt from embezzlement. Somehow, it survived by continuing run itself in the worst way possibe. The staff would obviously rather be somewhere else (wouldn’t you?). They will be rude to you throughout your stay and kick you out as soon as the show is over. Also, they make their opening acts sell all their tickets for them, or else pay to play.
3. Horribly run-​down.
You’d think the absurd amount you pay to drink here would go into making the place a little better; however, possibly for reasons stated previously, it does not. The whole place is disgusting. And not in the charming, dive-​bar way. In the get-​me-​out-​of-​here-​before-​I-​contract-​diseases-​left-​over-​from-​college-​night-​grinding way.
4. Sound and Lights.
As stated previously, the staff would rather be someplace else, and the place has little-​to-​no interest in improvements. That leaves these aspects of the show laughable (maybe not right away — while the wound that comes from wasting your time and money is fresh — but you’ll laugh about it later).
4. Waste of a night.
I read someone’s review who gave this place 5 stars for booking Man Man. I was at that show too. I had fun, but they didn’t book that show. Someone else did all the work, and then had the show there. This place has survived too long because it was the only mid-​sized venue around, and Grand Rapids didn’t have a choice. Luckily, that has changed. There are enough awesome events and shows going on around town that it has become a waste of a night to settle on the Intersuction. Now, even if I like the band that is playing there, I won’t go. I don’t (and shouldn’t) have to. I’ll catch them somewhere else — and if you’re booking your band at this place, know that I am not alone.

The Intersection is a venue I didn’t expect to like so much. I love small venues and I always thought this place would be bigger than my liking. Plus they never seemed to book shows I wanted to see for a while. Then one day… Something happened. A little awesome something, called Man Man. The Intersection booked a band that I had seen in the past, a band that I felt I was alone in my devotion, a band that put on the single greatest concert experience I’ve ever had the pleasure of causing my brains to blow out the back of my head. Does that sentence even make sense? If not, it describes the insanity of a Man Man show.
Okay, I’m getting off track. The Intersection booked this band, when in the past I thought they booked a little more mainstream bands. Not a bad thing necessarily. Just not my type of music so even though I had been to tons of concerts, this was my first Intersection experience. Although I wasn’t a huge fan of the crowd (they were really rough), the staff was awesome! They would actually pull rough-​housers out of the crowd if they were causing too much trouble. I’ve never really seen this much at a show. And I really appreciated it. The only thing I’m not a huge fan of at this place is that they have a gate that prohibits fans from being right up against the stage. It’s not that big of a deal since I know a lot of venues are like this. But the benefit of a smaller venue usually allows you to get closer to the band. So that would be a nice change, or at least if they took it down for some concerts so long as the artists didn’t mind.
And the crowd isn’t always bad (depends on the show obviously). I just got back from seeing Electric Six and it was bar-​none one of the best crowds I’ve had the pleasure of spending an amazing show with. Everyone gave everyone enough space to dance. No elbowing, no pushing, no moshing. But everyone was still having an awesome time and if you bumped into someone from dancing too hard, it was no big deal. And it’s not smoky anymore… plus! ANOTHER good thing (!)…Is that they don’t throw away their drink specials just because there’s a concert. The night we saw Man Man was a Tuesday and all of their Michigan craft beers were $ 3 all night! And they have good stuff! Bells’, Founders, etc. Not to mention, it’s right down the street from Founders. Anything within walking distance to Founders is just awesome by association. They’re practically rubbing elbows, in a friendly-​not-​distracting-​you-​from-​the-​show kinda way, of course! :)

This place gets worse and worse every time I return.
I live in Chicago now, so when traveling back to Michigan for a show, The Intersection is geographically convenient… but that’s about all it has going for it these days.
The venue was run-​down, the chairs were falling apart, service was poor, parking was bad, and to top it off, the staff members were rude.
The venue had two «local» artists play before the ticketed acts, making the show last much longer than expected. The crowd was incredibly loud and rude during the final act (the one I traveled there to see) and the staff did nothing to help the situation. About 3 seconds after the final singer finished, a staff member was in the lounge screaming that everyone needed to «get out», leaving no time for guests to even consider buying merch.
From the artist’s perspective, things were poor. The list of invited guests wasn’t available and the staff made no effort to locate it (I had to find one of the artists and have him «vouch» for me to gain entry). The soundcheck was pointless and required the artist leaving the stage and going to adjust the controls himself.
Saying all this… I’d probably go to another show at The Intersection in the future… for the music, though, not for the venue. Just keep your expectations low and hope there’s no jerk at the bar screaming at the top of his lungs over the singers.

I went to this place a couple years ago to see Billy Corgan’s now defunct band, Djali Zwan, and had an amazing time. We spent three days camped out in front of this place, and the staff was nothing but nice. They kept bringing us water and bumming us smokes.
As for the venue, the sound was really great, though I can’t comment on the lines of sight because we were right up front. The bouncers were really cool people, and if they still work there, tell your boss I said you need a fucking raise.
If I’m ever in Grand Rapids again I will be stopping by here to see a show.