Orpheum Theater

This is a great place to see a concert. Â A nice open pit, with seats towards the back and up in the balcony. Â Would be a 5* but the bathrooms are small.

Although I love the ambience of this venue, our last experience prior to the doors being open was quite insulting. We arrived at the time doors were to be open at 7pm. It was raining and we were told we needed to form a line a block away by Noodles and Company. There were several male workers that continued to shove us away from the front doors because they did not want us to stand and wait there. There was a woman (dressed scantily clad, I may add) that seemed to be in charge of telling the men to shoo us away. The men walked us down to Noodles and Co twice, but we refused to stand in the middle of the sidewalk for no reason so we ended up standing around sidewalk benches, which are public property. Â We waited in the rain for 30 minutes and kept being told to move a block away so that we wouldn’t block the businesses. All of the businesses closed at or prior to 7pm. There were only about 15 – 20 of us, and when I asked one of the nicer gentlemen why we couldn’t just wait by the doors he answered «That’s a damn good question that I wish I had an answer for». So, even they thought the request was ridiculous.
Other than that, the facility is beautiful and the staff inside were friendly.

Since the vibe can change from day to day, I’ll keep this one simple:
+ A gorgeous new marquee on a theater that’s kept most of its original charm
+ Updated stalls in the ladies’ room — thank you, thank you, thank you
+ Doesn’t feel huge despite being one of the largest concert spaces downtown
+ I am short but I can see from back by the sound board or in the lower-​level seats; I’m no longer banished to the balcony or forced to push up to the very front
— Unreliable sound; it often echos or is just is a bit off — I’ve actually witnessed a band mocking it from the stage, asking if the sound person is effing with them and wondering what they did to make him so mad
Bonus points: the gig posters as of late have been beautiful, adding that extra bit of loveliness to the building’s façade when you walk by.

New management and some gradual improvements, but I can’t bring myself to rate this venue any higher than 3-​stars…
+ Gorgeous ballroom — so ornate
+ Perfect balance of seating and open floor space
+ Great balcony views
+ Plenty of beverage stands
— Beers have become quite pricey ($ 8 for a Two Hearted?)
— Cash only
+ Ticket window, security, ushers & servers — all are super friendly and easy going
My biggest gripe? The sound. It’s become unbelievably loud, distorted, uncomfortable, and just plain bad. I’ve seen a bunch of shows here over the past 2 years or so; the only one that sounded decent was Garbage — they nailed the venue’s sound system challenges. Every other band seems to try to be as loud as the system will allow, and that’s not good.
And the sound isn’t bad in just a few places; it’s bad *everywhere.* As a part-​time sound engineer, I like to geek out over the gear and I enjoy roaming around a venue, searching for the sweet spot. The Orpheum has no sweet spot… only obnoxiously-​loud spots.
So… Frank Productions, Intellasound folks & The Oprheum — *please* stop trying to shake the house down and deafen everyone! Please tame your out-​of-​control sound system. I’m sure you’ve got some driveracks (or similar) that you could use to limit the levels to something respectable and intelligible.
(Even the Dave Chappelle show sounded horrible… ugh.)

The theater itself is very old and classic inside. The balcony view is amazing. The people who work at Orpheum are very nice. I was not sure why they did a «Early entry» line for people for an extra fee. There was no indication of Early entry access to the venue on the website to buy tickets. That was really not cool of the venue. So there were 2 separate lines. I don’t know why they allow crowd surfing too, which is dangerous. The security said they can’t stop it from happening. That is a negative about this place. I had to be pulled out of the pit because the shoving and pushing was crushing me. The security does not do much at this venue.

I had spent  lot of money to to go and se Guster on 4÷8÷15. I am a very short person, and I was way off to the side, but I did receive some flack for waving a shirt that I had purchased from the band. I was not that close to anybody. It put a damper on the whole rest of the evening, and we ended up leaving early just because of this. Considering how much I had spent on a hotel room, and tickets, and the travel distance, it did not seem worth the effort. I was very disappointed.

Counting crows 12÷13÷14, was an absolutely amazing show! No bad seat in the house. The closest place to get drinks was a cash only bar, wish it would have been a card bar as well. Overall, great time!

Came here to see Wanda Sykes yesterday. I do not have a whole lot to say. The weather wasn’t too cold out that night but the inside of the theatre was. And our seats were very tight, very little leg room. After sitting for awhile during the show I became very uncomfortable and had to get up and walk around. The bathrooms are downstairs and there was no door to the women’s bathroom. Everyone coming down the stairs can see into the sink area.
The drink prices were very high; a can of basic beer was about $ 6 – 7.
A speciality drink like a hurricane was $ 10 each.

Umphrey’s 2,000^th show!
Not a bad venue at all, the sound was good and the security was cool. They have a place next door making taffy apples but of course we ran late both nights and couldn’t grab any.
Reasonable parking garage a block away beats crappy Madison street parking.

Saw The 1975 here in May. First off, love the location right on State Street with an awesome view of the Capitol building. The show was on a Saturday night, but was still able to find parking available in a garage just a few blocks away which was nice.
The venue is very nice. They had a pretty good system in which they handed out different wristbands for who can and can’t drink, whether they’re underage or designated driver. They handed those out while you waited to get in to the building. I chose to watch the show in the balcony and wasn’t disappointed. The venue is beautiful, and you have an awesome view of everything from there. The show was sold out, yet there was still plenty of space open in the balcony, so you could move around and find the perfect spot without any trouble. I could also feel a gentle breeze of what I assume was a ventilation system, which makes for an added bonus. Most importantly, the sound in the venue is great. Definitely a great place to see some live music.

Madison has 3 fantastic venues, and this is one of them. Have seen some great shows here, and its easy to get right up close, or sit back in the seats. really nice either way.
They lose one star for overpriced booze.

Come early for concerts to get best seats. Â Not sure if it was a one time issue, but we went on a hot night and there wasn’t any air conditioning.

Beautiful historic building! This was our first time being at the Orpheum Theater and we were very pleased with our experience. We were there to see a concert that Billy Currington was preforming. Was not sure how it was going to sound but the acoustics sounded great. We were able to sit where ever we liked which was nice. There was also good access to restrooms and the bar :) I would recommend to anyone that loves old historic buildings to go to the Orpheum if they get a change. I have also heard from several people that this is a fabulous wedding venue!

I LOVE SITTING AT CONCERTS.
I think it’s part of the contract of being in my twenties that I’m supposed to enjoy standing in a mosh pit five feet from the stage. ‘Cuz everyone likes getting sprayed with the lead singer’s sweat, right? Well, I love sitting at concerts and am instantly fond of any venue that has the option to stand up close and personal or sit and soak up some tunes from afar. As Steve said, not a bad seat in the place. One of my favorite venues!

Coming from Boston, I’m used to amazing music venues with the greatest and best bands.
The Orpheum Theater definitely lives up to my expectations. It may not offer the biggest names, but biggest doesn’t always equate to best.
Due to the smaller venue, the performers usually have something to prove, and end up putting on an amazing show.
I’ve been here a couple of times, from concerts to themed-​dance nights, and have had nothing but an amazing time.
If you can look past the overly bro-​y crowd and sorority-​esque girls, and just focus on the music, you will have a great time.

I went to the Orpheum this past Saturday to see the Avett Bros and damn was the show incredible. The theater is incredibly beautiful and historic. The venue was large enough for my dad and aunt to sit in the balcony with a great view and for my cousins, sisters and I to dance in the FRONT ROW of the pit! My complaint is that there isn’t a coat check; we’re in Wisconsin people… Regardless, the theater seems to have come into much better hands and I hope to see more shows in the future

It’s too bad such a beautiful, historic building fell into the hands of such terrible people.
Eric Fleming extorted myself and my husband for $ 1500 on a wedding that never happened, and they knew FULL WELL that they wouldn’t even have a liquor license at the time that our wedding was supposed to take place (late October 2011, but of course they never told us about that tiny detail) — when we heard inklings that bad stuff was going down, we cancelled even though we hadn’t even put a deposit down yet.
They harassed us and verbally abused us for the $ 1500 deposit to be paid to them until we felt we had no choice. They said they were going to sue us. What a bunch of crap — KARMA IS A BITCH!

Decent place to see a show. Â The acoustics seemed to be ok, the seats — well, after taking a look at them you might prefer standing instead.
The venue got to be pretty warm — on a spring night, it must have gotten up to about 85 – 90 inside. Â The show we went to wasn’t sold out, but it seemed overly crowded down by the stage.
Overall I’ve seen a few shows here over the years, and I try to save this venue for artists I «really» want to see. Â If you’re coming in from another city, just be prepared to deal with the chotch factor (i.e. dirty hippies and drunken frat boys) and you’ll make out a-​ok.
Also — side tip — there is a parking ramp a few blocks over, and it’s only $ 5.00 to park for a few hours (after business hours). Â It was a good deal, not to have to park out on the street.

Went to see Rusko perform this weekend. Management was relaxed and they didn’t overly search you upon entering the establishment.
Overall it was a fun time, there is seating in the back (and a pretty decent balcony that I didn’t care to explore) — always a plus to have a place to take a break from dancing.
Clearly the crowd was bound to be sweaty, and jam packed with people (it’s kind of expected when you go to these concerts, shouldn’t come as a surprise). One negative point was that a fight broke out between two guys in the middle of the crowd, and there was no security to really stop it (the crowd ended up pulling them apart).

What an unbelievable place to hold a wedding.
Our friends had their wedding here and it was incredible. Â The food, the décor, everything was spectacular.
The staff there was really friendly and helpful, and the place has such a special atmosphere.