Ntelos Wireless Pavilion

This is what I like to call a Throwback Thursday review. Believe it or not growing up, I didn’t really go to concerts unless it was like a free one at Busch Garden’s or a local high school band was playing or something. Even as a teenager, saving up lots of money to see a musical artist just wan’t appealing to me. When my friends caught wind of this, they bought me tickets to the Hot Summer Fiasco in June 2013, because they knew that I was a big fan of Carly Rae Jepsen and she was headlining the concert. So you could say that this is where my first «Real» concert.
What I like about this venue is that there is plenty of room to move around, especially in the pit, because at other venues, sitting in the pit feels you’re being packed in like a bunch of sardines. Also if you need to get away from the loud noise for a little bit, there’s plenty of space to walk around still hear what’s going on at a comfortable volume, because there sound system is excellent. Also if you’re at a concert where there’s a dance floor (no seats) and you need a break, they have no problem with letting you go up on the lawn to take a seat and relax and then returning to the dance floor when you gather some energy back up.
The one drawback to this venue is that food and drink is so expensive, but that’s to be expected at any concert venue. All in all, I’m glad I had my first real concert experience here. It was really special, and I haven’t stopped going to concerts whenever an artist I like is in town since.

I was really excited to see my favorite band play at this location, but I wish I had picked a different place to watch them play. The outside venue seemed cool at first but even with the covering over the seats we had raindrops falling on us through the seams of the covering overhead.
The staff was also incredibly grumpy. Even though our tickets were checked at the door and the first time we went to our seats the ladies wouldn’t let us freely leave our seats to use the restroom, buy merch/​food, or explore the venue without our ticket in hand then we had to wait in line again to return to our seats. One lady actually stuck her hands out forcefully trying to stop me from walking to my seat and told me to get in line. I watched them not let a man in because his ticket was in his wife’s purse (they had already found their seats). He had to call his pregnant wife and have her come over and show proof of their seats to the same lady they originally checked in with. I think the attendants take their jobs way too seriously and instead of assisting those who need help they were wasting time and causing unnecessary crowds.

After seeing several concerts I felt compelled to review this venue. I do agree that it has a nice intimate feel that larger venues don’t but unfortunately the staff ruin it. I would suggest you only see music there that doesn’t encourage dancing because if you do dance and it’s not in your seat… say in the aisle or up front, the staff will harass you and eventually kick you out for enjoying your self. Kind of ruins the fun of good music I think.
Also, in comparison to a few other places I’ve been the acoustics are horrible! If you enjoy listening to music for more then just background noise you will be disappointed. The sound is completely muddled by the poor acoustics to the point you can not often times understand what is being said.
In short. Great band. Crap venue

While OCMS puts on an amazing show this venue is terrible. I’ve been to many of bluegrass concerts in the west as I travel professionally and they nearly always have a dance area or at least never begrudged people their space at the front. This pavilion gave people nothing.
You put on a good show like Old Crow Medicine Show and people want to dance, give them a place to do it that is safe and fun.
Sadly the sound is also poor and resolves into a muddy noise.
My first east coast concert and I am really unimpressed. There are good places I am sure and I will find them!

REALLY love this location. Its by the water, nice acoustics and just an overall great venue. Only problem just wish it was bigger to get more variety of entertainment.

Located in downtown Portsmouth, this small outdoor concert venue delivered.
While I didn’t take advantage of the food or drink, lines seemed to be moving fairly quickly.
The stage is over five feet high, so be aware of that, especially if you’re buying tickets up front.
Staff was generally very helpful. The only negative for me was that most of the nearby streets were shut down and there was no effective passenger drop-​off point. I had to walk a significant distance to enter the venue.

This is a very cool music venue due to being located right on the water. It’s one of the smaller venues in the state, but it doesn’t take away from the great sound and views to the stage. The staff is very friendly outside and inside. The pricing for the concessions are what you would expect at a concert. There are plenty of great drink and food option’s available and clean restrooms. I will definitely be looking forward to my next concert at this location.

I have been here a few times before, but returned for O.A.R. and Phillip Phillips after a few years away.
I was quickly reminded why I love this venue so much. It’s smaller than Farm Bureau Live in VB so it’s a cozier venue. The staff also clearly enjoys being there.
The restrooms were clean — even at the end of the night. There are PLENTY of vendors so you won’t wait in line long. I appreciate that they offered local beer on tap and some unique vendors you won’t find at VB (grilled soft pretzels were amazing!!).
There really is no bad seat and sitting on the lawn has its advantages — like a cool breeze off the water on a warm night.
Truly a fun, memorable evening!

I actually was surprised at how nice this place was. The drinks were super expensive but you can expect that for a concert. My drink was 12 bucks. The bathrooms are actually really clean which is great. Just a nice, clean venue for an outdoor concert. They also have seating too if you don’t want to stand.

I came here to see Pennywise and Sublime last night. We got lucky. Our neighbor works for the Portsmouth government and gave us free VIP tickets and box seats. We had a nice waitress who let us open a tab and served us beer and fries all night. The venue is beautiful. It’s by the water and there was a perfect beautiful view of one of the ships in the distance. I’m about a 7 minute walk from here and you can hear the music echoing from my house. It’s the coolest.
The concert was fantastic, laid back, and it’s the perfect venue for a summer night with Sublime.
The beer isn’t totally badly priced. for 8 beers and some waffle fries, it was almost 70 bucks. I mean, that sucks, but at Farm Bureau, beers are 11 bucks.

Jill Andrews and her band opened for the Avett Brothers.
Wow, a great venue for a summer concert.
I had never heard of Jill before and I was just knocked out!
This was maybe the fourth time I had seen the Avett’s and they just get better and better. Their live shows have great energy and it’s so cool to be around so many people who know the words and sing along to the songs.
A really nice venue because you can stand in front of the stage or sit in seats and not be blocked out.
The beers are a little pricey at $ 12 for a 24 ounce brew.
I also like that you can see the video screens for the close-​ups of the band.

I went to see Mumford & Sons at the Ntelos in Portsmouth — incredible show. One of the most gracious bands I’ve ever seen perform — humble and sweet. Their harmonies gave me goosebumps and early on I regretted having lawn seats. Sometimes, the party is on the lawn. Sometimes, it’s for simpletons who only have a goal of drinking as much $ 8.00 draft beer as possible while acting like a total airhead. I am gifted enough that both on the lawn AND on the ferry, I seem to attract the one, really dumb, swaying, emo drunk girl. Thankfully I was not arrested last night on the ferry as Emo Girl threw her cell phone, not once, but twice in a fit of range. That little piece of technology was a missile. The second time, I very clearly warned her friend that it wasn’t going to end well if that little missile hit me. She kept apologizing for her friend. Please don’t be that girl. 1. the Emo Girl who looks a little whacked out and is drama, drama drama 2. or be their friend. There is much more to life than dealing with that. Quote of the night, «Girl, I still know a great bail bondsman in Norfolk, I got your back.»
Thankfully for her cute face and for my professional career, I did not have to give her some hands-​on motherly love. Just sayin’.
Oh, did I go off track. Sorry. Ntelos is fabulous — on the water, great view, parking is pretty easy in the garage or spring for the VIP parking and you’ll get in and outta there quickly. The lawn is great but you could have a night like I did — it’s sort of a crap shoot. The good thing is… it’s easy to move away from them, unless it’s a packed house like Mumford was. Every summer I see a lot of fantastic bands there — courtesy of my job sometimes I get treated to box seats. Great times!

I was standing on the lawn, against the rail closest to the stage, next to my husband, when some «undercover» dude sidled up to me and got way inside my bubble, looking down my top and putting his snout in my space for a very uncomfortably long time. He just kept creeping closer and closer and closer. It was obvious he was wanting to catch me doing something, so he could throw me to the ground and arrest me!
Apparently this is how it is in Portsmouth. I was warned about this type of behavior by friends in the parking lot before the show and they were not exaggerating in the least. I mean really, I don’t even have «the look» of someone who is drinking or doing drugs! (I do neither.)
As we left the show, there was a wall of police in riot gear, I kid you not, RIOT gear! The crowd was super mellow all night. I saw them take down one kid, knee in his back, just outside the gate.
At times like this I wonder:
What kind of country do we really live in?
Should I move elsewhere?
What will it be like in five more years?
What would they do to a truly rowdy crowd, shoot us?
Do I feel safe at these venues?
Did I really just spend vacation time, travel a long way and pay money to be treated like a criminal?
Are these police here to protect and to serve citizens or corporate interest?
We left in a very somber mood, did not even stop for coffee on our drive out of town. We left that place and never looked back. I assure you, we will never go to Portsmouth, Virginia, EVER again. It’s sad that there are cities like that in our country.
Wake up, you are scaring off the Goodpeople!

A fantastic little venue. More intimate than the Amphitheater in Virginia Beach. If you beer up during concerts then you will be happy here. They charge about half of what you will pay in Virginia Beach for the same prodigious sized beers.
I think this place was built with Dawes and Mumford and Sons in mind. The setting and acoustics were perfect for their music.
Parking is free but spread out all over downtown Portsmouth. It makes getting ten thousand people out of there at the same time a bit of a pain.
If I lived in Suffolk I probably would have given five stars but I had to deal with the tunnel during rush hour to make the show. Grrrrr…
Ding goes a star (just because I can).

Great venue… Seen a number of artists here. Sound is great. Lines for restrooms and concessions can be long.
Very easy to get to from Norfolk via the paddle wheel ferry or by driving.

I’ve had fun here at a few different Widespread Panic shows, but I’ve had no standout experiences and one very bad experience.
One summer recently, I was holding my boyfriend’s beer while he was in the bathroom, minding my own business, just standing there being a cute young lady. I didn’t have my purse because I didn’t want to keep track of it at a show, so I gave my boyfriend my ID and debit card.
Suddenly, five cops surround me and begin barraging me with questions about how old I am, where’s my ID, where’s my boyfriend, am I underage, do they need to take me downtown. They didn’t give me a chance to respond at any point, but instead interrupted me with more questions and snide and sarcastic remarks. I felt bullied and rather terrified as I tried to answer their questions and menacing leers. (This may be a little exagerrated, but I remember it with a good deal of fear and anxiety).
And of course, as soon as my boyfriend came back, they dispersed, without so much as an apology.
This and the lovely sight of the fluid white structure sheltering fans are my most potent memories of this location. Otherwise, it’s the same pavilion you’ll see with many places in the South, complete with the rowdy lawn and extremely overpriced beer. It’s not awful, but I’m not impressed.

Is there anything better than jamming to your favorite artists live on the beautiful harbor under the stars? If so, I can’t really think of it. As far as amphitheaters and other oversized venues go, the Ntelos Pavilion is my favorite. You just can’t beat the stars twinkling off the harbor, the cool breeze and the opportunity to sneak away with your honey and sit by the water while Dave Matthews rocks out behind you. This place almost makes you forget you’re at a huge arena and gives the experience a much more intimate and natural feel.
Oh yes, free and close parking always available? Double bonus!

I won a free VIP package so I may be a bit bias…
I went here last night for BB King– Ntelos is a cute and intimate concert venue. This was my first time being in Portsmouth and the waterfront location made for a lovely evening. This place was extremely clean, tons of free parking, and no crazy long lines. I read on their website that Ntelos has $ 10 lawn tickets, no extra service charges, to celebrate their 10 year anniversary– good deal!
My only disappointment was the VIP Lounge. We stopped in 45 minutes after the concert started. I was expecting free appetizers and drinks, but all we got was free popcorn and $ 8 beer. A guy there told me that the free samples from the local restaurant were all out. However, there was plenty of tables and chairs, along with televisions broadcasting the concert, so it was still better than nothing.

When this place first opened (10 years ago this year — I can’t believe it either) I took a special tour of the whole place. I was taken on stage and backstage and got a special chance to realize what a cool, little outside venue this place really is. Think the Va Beach Amphitheater except smaller and more intimate. A lot of bands come here during the summer, even the all mighty powerful Phish played here a few weeks ago.
Another great thing about this venue is it’s located in Downtown Norfolk so it’s surrounded by great places to eat and drink and even sleep if you’re an out of town guest. You can walk to several places or if you’d rather drive a few blocks down to High Street which is packed with bars and restaurants.
This definitely gets my live music seal of approval!

The Ntelos Pavilion is a great venue. It’s big enough to hold major shows but not so big that you feel removed from the thrill a live performance is supposed to afford.
It’s right on the water in P-​town. So you can smell and feel the brackish breeze wafting in. The way the seats, lawn and stage are laid out seems very organic and easily accessible.
Once I saw James Brown there and there was torrential downpour before he came on. Everyone huddled under the tent and then… the hardest working man in show business put on what would be one of his final shows.
Another time I saw Fiona Apple and it was about 100 degrees out.
Did I mention the parking is FREE!?! Portsmouth’s got it going on with that part.
Now if they can just keep that damn roof from blowing off.