Lakewood Civic Auditorium

I couldn’t decide between two or three stars. but I’ll play nice & go with three.
Saw an acoustic show here (Chris Cornell — heck yess!) & the sound was AMAZING. How much of that is under Lakewood’s control vs. the sound guys on the tour? Well, I’m not sure since it’s the only time I’ve been there.
Parking, though. Watch out. Get there early. Possibly very early. Over a half hour was spent driving up/​down side streets looking for a spot. Then came the walk, which is no biggie unto itself, but the whole process definitely took some time! My guy & I were not expecting that.

Went here for a middle-​school band concert. Nice theatre for kids to perform in with a good-​sized stage.
The Civic could use some love however. There were portions of the ceiling that were either falling down or I could see through.
That’s about all I can say because I didn’t go for a commercial concert.

I’d happily return to this venue despite the lack of booze. Parking is mildly annoying if you’re as lazy as I am (and arrive late). Basically you’ll park on a side street and walk a block or two. That’s like a 2 out of 10 on the annoying scale so not a big deal unless you’ve given up walking for Lent or something.
I thought the sound was pretty good. Honestly, I don’t know shit about sound quality but it was pretty crisp at the show I saw. Seating was great. Roomy with good views of the stage.
I’m a big fan of more intimate venues and was pleasantly surprised by this place even if it is a high school auditorium. I didn’t know Lakewood Civic Auditorium was in Lakewood High School when I bought the tickets.

Saw the Monkees back in the fall. Same drill as always. Shitty seats with obstructed views (we were against the far right wall). But the commute and parking from my house– easier than finding a spot at the Lakewood Library. No beer. Don’t mind. I don’t go to shows to drink, so I never care about that. Price? Reasonable. Not a very romantic or exotic venue like House of Blues or the Beachland or even Peabody’s. But good enough. The sound was decent. For such an important moment in my life (they are my favorite band of all time) this experience was just kind of underwhelming. Maybe the setlist had something to do with it. I don’t know. Just wasn’t feeling it like I have at 80% of shows I see elsewhere. I’ll definitely give it another go in the future, but I think I need to get loaded first.

This past weekend I went on epic Monkees road trip 2012. We had tickets to a sold out show at the Chicago Theatre and a sold out show at the Lakewood Civic Auditorium. The Chicago Theatre show was pretty incredible but it was the Lakewood show that truly blew my mind. And it wasn’t entirely over the act on stage.
First off, this ish IS A HIGH SCHOOL AUDITORIUM. No joke. I pulled out the tickets on our drive into Ohio and tried to get a sense of where our seats were compared to the night before and when I googled the venue for a seating chart I got a link to the Lakewood High School. «Oh, this can’t be right.» I thought to myself. But oh yes, it totally was. «Doug, you’re never going to believe this.» I told my fella, «but this is at a high school auditorium.» «Noooo. That must me wrong,» he said. «We just saw them at a sold out show at the Chicago Theatre!» We both remained skeptical.
I had read other reviews saying that, given that this is a high school, parking is sparse. SO we heeded the advice and parked a few blocks away. As we rounded the corner, still not believing that this was where we were headed, I saw the high school appear. We walked up and I saw the signs, the teacher’s parking lot, the Johnny Appleseed statues above the entrance to the auditorium. I murmured to my boy that I felt like I was going to a local production of «South Pacific.» The security ushered us in through the doors, took our tickets, and I walked through the massive merch line in the lobby. I expected to be handed a hand drawn program for the evening filled with senior class shout-​outs. Instead I left with 2 packs of Monkees buttons. Much better.
When we walked into the theatre I legitimately let out the most insane guffaw I have might have ever uttered. It was definitely bigger than my high school’s theatre but it was a school theatre nonetheless and I was in disbelief. At this point I actually started to get excited. The Chicago Theatre is pretty huge, around 4000 people. This theatre had a max capacity of probably around 1500. As a massive Monkees fan since I was about 4 or 5 years old I was genuinely psyched to be in such a small space to see them. As we got up to our seats I was even more geeked. They. Were. Awesome. And way cheaper than Chicago to boot. SCORE.
In days of yore (AKA – the 60s) seeing pop acts in high school auditoriums was common place so it actually really fit in with the theme of the night. My fella kept asking «Is this 1968?!» And for those 2 hours, it totally was!
But this is a review about the venue not the show so let’s go to the pros and cons of the space:
Pro: Small size means the show feels really intimate and awesome.
Pro: Spacious seating. I’ve been to theaters where the next row in front of me is right at my knees. Not the case here. I could really move around and shake my ass to Randy Scouse Git without trouble.
Pro: A good slant on the floor so I had a perfect view of the stage without the rows in front of me blocking my view.
SUPER MEGA CON: It’s not a professional theatre so they had a ton of tech issues. Sound problems, video issues, etc. Most people probably wouldn’t notice but since I saw a technically flawless show the night before it really stuck out to me. Also the sound cut out on more than a few occasions, a few of which were particularly poignant moments (THE DAVY JONES MEMORIAL VIDEO. Sigh).
Con: The show was multimedia heavy so they had to bring in a projector (a lot of venues already have one built into a sound board). Said projector was on a cart, not dissimilar to the kind they would put a TV on in your classroom (aka, the most exciting day of school ever). The cart was in the middle of an aisle and as people bumped it the picture shook which was kind of annoying. Probably would have been better to have placed it by the sound booth or away from 50 year old women TOTALLY FREAKING OUT.
Con: Acoustically not as awesome as other proper music venues, although I also have heard worse.
Con: No booze. It’s a high school, yo! But you could buy bottled water for a dollar.
Pro/​Con: I felt like I was in high school. Both delightful and kind of terrifying.
SO in the end it was definitely an incredible evening but most of that had to do with the act I was seeing and the fact that it was such a small venue. I also got a total kick out the space which keeps this rating at an even three. I could see how someone who doesn’t enjoy completely weird experiences (such as myself) might not find this spot to be «A-​OK» but on a whole it was a hilarious night that I’ve enjoyed talking about. And for some older dudes they rocked the shit out of that set list. Welcome back, Nez. Your glittery shoes looked exquisite.
Ps – later that night an old college friend of mine who lives in Lakewood sent me a text to inform me that that’s where her 2 year old daughter takes swimming lessons. Awesome.

Great venue, but they need more rules.
I went to see the Aziz Azari comedy show where people spent well over $ 40 plus for tickets and my entire experience was ruined because the Auditorium lets people in whenever they get there.
What, you couldn’t find parking? Maybe get there earlier. What, you don’t know where your seats are? Maybe get there earlier. What, you can’t see in the dark? Maybe you should get them earlier. People, you need to get there earlier!!!
At Playhouse Square they make everyone get there ON TIME and they hold everyone back till the first break. Nothing wrong with that, you’re late… you need to wait. Your problem, not mine.
At Lakewood Civ Auditorium on the other hand, if you get there late you know what? You get to stand in the hallways with your cell phones out and ushers with their flashlights, talking, confusedly telling you where to go, walking up and down the aisles, yelling to people across the way that you found your seats, which just so happen to be in the MIDDLE of the seating area which means everyone needs to stand up to let you in… Oh, you know, for the ENTIRE show!
Oh, wait… there’s someone on stage? Sorry, couldn’t tell.
Ugh…people!!! We didn’t pay to see you, we paid to see Aziz!