The Depot

I came out to SLC last month to visit a friend and see Andrew Bird here. This place is awesome! I love the different vibe you get on all of the various levels, and there are a ton of options in terms of seating. There are also enough bars and bartenders to where you don’t have to wait very long for a drink, even when it is super busy. I would definitely love to come back for another show in the future.

This place is the bomb. Hands down the best sound system of any venue in the city. Not only that but set up and lay out of the room makes it easy to get drinks and there isn’t really a bad seat in the house. Highly recommend a table on the second level.

All ages shows suck here! Also, the staff is not friendly. Sometimes, they’re down right rude.

Rev randy, one of the bartenders at the depot, is inconsiderate, rude, and sucks at his job. Hard.

This review is for some of the bar tenders at the depot, not the servers, not the bands, but the people behind the bar. It’s unfortunate you can’t write separate reviews because the bands are awesome, the servers are awesome, but at the bar, I was treated with total disrespect, especially from Rev. Randy. I asked for two specific beers, he asked if I wanted something completely different and then blew me off and helped others. Before that, I watched him yell at other customers. Downstairs, (18+ show) I went to get water from the free water cooler and had to tip it forward since it was nearly empty. I was told (by a different bar tender), «You can’t put your hands on that, I’ll fill it when it’s empty.» I told him it was empty and he was going to cuss me out, so I said thanks anyway and walked away.
One more thing… It’s the 21^st century… Where are your recycling bins?

Dear bartender Troy,
I assume you are neither the owner or manager for the way you treated us tonight. As I waited in line I watched you goad the other bartenders into taking nonsense trash about us patrons. About how ridiculous we are. About how much of a pain in you’re ass we are.
Dear Troy,
Your jerkishness reminded me of when I was a 19 year old girl who thought the world owed me something. I thought that if I paid my dues of being sexually harassed and treated like I was a stupid little girl that one day I would be respected. But you, dear Troy, reminded me of every piece of shit man that I have had to deal with and you, my friend reminded me of how shitty people are in your actions and in the way you treated me tonight as your guest. If i were the owner of your establishment I would fire you for knowing how much you belittled my clientele, the people who sign your paycheck. Because if it weren’t patrons like me, Troy, you wouldn’t have a paycheck.
However, Troy, you reduced your fellow co workers the courtesy of an outstanding tip because you treated me like shit.
I hope you had a good night. I did. But it isn’t from any thanks to you, dear Troy.

I come to The Depot, not because of The Depot, but because of the artists they feature every now and again. The bathrooms are clean and I do enjoy their ‘Over 21′ section. My only gripe is that they only offer fried finger foods and their fried cheese curds are really strange tasting.
All things considered, it’s a really nice venue that’s well-​maintained and I’m relieved when they’re listed as the location for whatever show I’m going to attend. Just stay away from the cheese curds.

This place is a great concert venue. The beverages are affordable and the sound is good. The bar line was polite and I was served quickly. This is a great venue to see your favorite band.

The venue isn’t bad, but the staff is. I have been here on a few occasions, and every time I am disappointed with the bartending staff and the security. The last concert I attended, there was a 50 year old security woman policing girls in the bathroom and yelling at them for trying to share a stall. There was lines to use the restroom and girls were trying to pair up to make it go faster. The security woman was literally banging on their stalls and threatening to call the cops. Door staff was lazy checking us in when we pre-​purchased tickets… they couldn’t tell us what they needed from the email confirmation we had, and they were super snotty when we asked them to try scanning our QR codes to see if that was what they needed.
I work in this industry, so maybe I have high standards, but I hate going to this venue based off of dealing with the staff alone. It’s never been a positive experience.

Cool venue, but the bar tenders are terrible. They will make you pay for a drink you didn’t order — make sure you micro-​manage your order.

Been here for a few events and it’s a fun venue.
This venue is small enough that no matter where you stand, you still have a good view of the band/​DJ. But it is also big enough that you don’t feel crowded all the time. What’s also nice is that they have chairs along the walls for when your feet get tired. Most venues only have seating for VIP so it’s nice to have a place that will let anyone sit when necessary.
As always, bathrooms are a big deal and their bathrooms are alright. They are kind of down a hall way but nothing too bad that I can’t deal with.
This venue also has two floors. It’s nice that I can go downstairs and dance but also have a place to go upstairs where it’s a bit more chill.

Just saw Hozier here tonight. This was our first time at The Depot. We loved it, the sound was fantastic, plenty of seating or standing room available. Great crowd. The drinks are expensive but no different than any other music venue we’ve been to. The bathrooms are awesome ha ha! Already have our tickets to see James Bay in May!

We saw Randy Rogers Band here and we had so much fun! I love the free (plus gratuity) coat check and the sound in the place is great. It holds a lot of people, but you pretty much get a great view of the stage no matter where you are. I love the selection of local beers on tap as well.

This is one of Salt Lake’s best music venues! They get great acts, and it’s almost ALWAYS possible (with a little patience) to get a front row spot. I could have counted Patty Griffin’s pores last week, had I been so inclined.
I don’t know anything about the drinks or the view from the balcony, because I take front row very seriously, but I’m sure they’re great too (read other reviews to confirm!).
If you find out your favorite band is coming to The Depot, GET EXCITED!!!

The 1^st floor of this multi level venue fills fast. We ventured to the 2^nd floor and got both better seating and service at the bar since the lines weren’t nearly as long. The bathrooms are huge so I don’t think lines for at least the Men’s side would ever form… I’m not confident I could say the same for the Ladies side though.

Awesome venue, especially for rock-​type shows. It may have been the show that I attended, but I thought that space wasn’t issue, which is notable given that every other show I’ve been to in SLC has consisted of shoving teenagers who are either too high out of their minds to know what is going on or who are too busy instagramming the show to care. The Depot eliminated this issue by requiring 21+ (sorry young’uns, you have to earn your stripes!) Alcohol selection was good, prices were what I would expect for this type of place (more expensive than most). Upstairs space is good if you want a break from the dance floor. Security was respectful and kept things from getting too out of hand on the dance floor. I hope more acts I like book this place.

I would love to give this place a better rating because I love the location and the atmosphere. I went to a concert recently and we couldn’t get an adult beverage downstairs so we went upstairs to get one. The problem was that almost the entire upstairs was reserved for VIP so there was nowhere we could stand to finish our drink but also see the band. We found ourselves slamming drinks in order to go downstairs and see the band & then coming back upstairs to slam more. What a disappointment! I’m not sure I’ll buy another ticket here.

The manager really does try to make it a good experience for everyone. There are are some issues with seating and where you are and are not allowed to stand, but overall a good venue.

Curious about the SLC music scene I decided to search for a venue to check out. I couldn’t believe it but Cat Power was on the books to play at The Depot on ¹¹⁄₂₅.
My sister and I went early and lucky we did because we got fairly good seats (don’t pay VIP prices). Yes, seats. Kind of strange and it didn’t work out so well that night for a few reasons. Our $ 35 ticket was over priced for how the show was organized and handled.
People pay extra for VIP seats up front by stage. $ 70 for VIP and $ 35 for general admission. See the problem with this is the people up front may not necessarily care to listen and are there to socialize and chat. They can, because they can afford it. Solution: make it easy and throw out the seats. True fans migrate towards the stage and the VIPs can hang back by the bar. Win-​win.
I’m not really sure why people talk at shows but that night it was crazy. CP didn’t take it well and the show turned into us vs. them. And there were stage light issues, rat maze layout and some weird heckling happening.
Overall, Cat Power sounded amazing and she has one of the best female voices out there. My ears were happy. I recommend catching a show there if you’re in town — it was a cool little place.

As some have mentioned, The Depot is a great venue for good quality sound. I think Utah is short on good venues with great acoustics. While not perfect, The Depot definitely beats out most other places. You can actually hear the music and the lyrics. You can distinguish individual words that are coming from the stage. That could be a combination of the better acoustics of the place as well as the audience.
Another reason I like this concert venue is because it’s 21+ for most shows. That means I don’t have to deal with a bunch of young kids who don’t care about the show and talk the whole time. Do I sound like an old lady? Probably. Sure, you still get some people who don’t know how to talk quietly but it’s not quite as bad as other places. Another perk of the 21+ crowd? Less pushing and shoving on the main floor. Of course, that depends on the show but I haven’t had an issue for any show that I’ve been to.
Being a short person at a concert is kind of the worst. I always manage to stand behind the tallest person in the building. No, I take that back. The tallest person always ends up standing in front of me. I don’t know how it happens. I think they just don’t see me and they see an opening. But at The Depot, they have a balcony. Sure, you have to get there early if you want a spot but this is perfect for a short girl like me. I can actually see the people on stage! Their whole body and not just glimpses of their heads! There are VIP seats on the balcony but I have no idea how to acquire said seats.
The biggest downside to this place is the price of drinks. I’m not expecting dirt cheap drinks since it’s a nicer venue but I think they’re a little higher than they should be. Also, every once in awhile, I buy a ticket for a show at The Depot because I like the smaller venue but then they sell out so quickly that the show moves to Saltair. Not cool. That is no longer an intimate show. I know that’s probably not the fault of the venue itself but it still sucks.