Rio Theatre

I went to see Mason Jennings the other night. The Rio web site said the tickets were $ 25. When I got to the door, the lady told me they were $ 30. I said the web site said $ 25. She said that was the «on line» price. It didn’t say anything on the web site about the $ 5 increase at the door.. I didn’t go in. Either I was being scammed or the information at the web site is seriously flawed. I sent a e-​mail to management asking for them to explain this. I haven’t heard back and I don’t expect to. I had never heard of this guy before. I just heard the promo on the radio and the short bits of music it included sounded interesting to me. So it was no big loss to me not to go.
There should be a straight forward explanation for this. I’ll let you know if I get one. Until then. I’d be careful if I were you.

From the Rio Theatre to Rio del Mar Beach, this past weekend has been an interesting one. The theatre is pretty old — I don’t think I’ve been in one this old, except for the nicely restored one in downtown San Jose. It’s like traveling back through time. Santa Cruz time. But as long as the venue supports the performers, the sound is clear, and the audience is courteous, you can forget about the surroundings. In the case of Sam Bush, the audience was very much enjoying the music no one was standing when they should have been sitting or smoking when they shouldn’t have been. The Sam Bush musicians did take a smoking break too close to the entryway and we found that to be few minutes of unpleasantness. Other than that, the funky old vibes of the Rio Theatre was one more cool thing to experience in this short lifetime of ours.

Small, friendly venue, try The Crêpe Place for a great bar and/​or restaurant before the show.

I had never been to the Rio before so I had no idea what to expect. Now that I’ve been through the experience I’ll share something’s that I noticed. First of all the ordering process for the tickets will be waaaay easier if you do it all online and have your tickets mailed to you because if not you will have to stand in the will call line and depending how popular the show your seeing is, it can be a bit long! Then stand in the actual line to get in after you get (or already have) your tickets. If you have a gold circle ticket, you will not have to wait in the line to get in! Score! Just go to the front of the line and show them your ticket. If you can afford it I definitely recommend getting gold circle. Just save yourself the headache of endlessly waiting in line.
Parking was a little crazy but there was a good amount of side street parking still available 45 minutes before show time. I will say that nearly everyone who worked that night except for the girl in the will call booth was in a crabby mood. I mean at least act like you want to be there! Im here for a good time– don’t kill my vibe with your sour faces!
They definitely need to do a overhaul in the ladies room. 3 stalls for a packed house with plywood doors that don’t even lock?! Nonsense! Also it kinda sucks that they don’t allow drinks in the theater. It would be nice just to have some water with me during the show! I thought it was weird that no one introduced him. I know we all know who we were seeing but still just a short «were pleased to welcome …» woulve been great. It needed a hype man to kick things off & would’ve made the energy in the room that much better. Pretty much just ran up stage and started playing. The show itself was fantastic and completely worth the hassle. Bottom line if your seeing an artist you really love your gonna have a good time!

I saw Tim Flanery last night and it was great. I haven’t been to the Rio in a long time and it was wonderful.

The Rio, a classic independent theater of the highest rank. In a world where big box corporate theaters (you know all the names) control most of the market share and popular culture along with it, independents are few and far between.
I’ve seen Warren Miller here a few times when I’ve missed it at home in San Francisco. The theater has an old school «how can this place still be in business» kind of vibe. The have concerts and comedy shows as well as movies. One screen and limited hours, I always love the opportunity to come here.
I remember when the Capitola Theater closed it’s doors and the drive in closed it’s screens. I was fortunate enough to go to the last showings at both locations, I hope The Rio never is forced to go down that same road. Santa Cruz is lucky to have this place.

This theater is nice, but it is very outdated. Only one ladies bathroom with three stalls to accommodate all female event attendees. Gnarly.
Three stars docked for the stage manager busting my chops about smoking cigarettes. I haven’t smoked cigs for 27 years! His staff «told him someone was smoking in the front row.» Yeah, I wasn’t smoking cigarettes. I was partaking in the medication I am legally prescribed.
I won’t be back there. Who would have thought that smoking marijuana in Santa Cruz was such a bummer. Go figure.

Tomorrow one of the world’s greats GORDON LIGHTFOOT is coming to the Rio Theatre on Thursday (9÷25÷14) at 8pm. We are soooo lucky to have him at this terrific venue.

Missed seeing Christopher Titus on his east Bay jaunt a couple of months ago, so was excited to see him coming to Santa Cruz. Excellent, by the way, but this review is about the theater (or as they advertise it theatre a la francaise).
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The Rio is an old movie theatre which is also used for some surprisingly good acts at excellent prices.
In the recent past and future there are acts as varied as Joan Baez and Chick Corea.
Online is the best way to book, at least it was for Titus.
Parking on a Friday wasn’t too difficult on the streets close by, an hour before the show started.
Tickets are sold in two levels; a VIP level which is the first 10 rows then the rest which are GA. And boy do people line up for them. At least 100 an hour before opening.
We strolled in and got some pretty good seats 3 rows behind VIP with great sight lines.
Chairs comfortable without the authentic dusty smells of a lot of the old Bay Area theaters. A little warm on the night, so much so that Titus tweeted about it the next day.
It’s a 600 seater and was once a prettier place but does its function just fine now.
The staff all look like this is where Jeffersons starship finally landed, and are a very cool, chill lot.
The food and drink is horrifically limited to coffee and cookies; is it because the scrutiny of a liquor license application wouldn’t pass muster? I would definitely be interested in the brownies.
Never mind, next door is a truly average looking little organic oriental/​Vietnamese food place serving outstanding pad Thai.
Looking forward to seeing another concert here if something else should come up.

Small theater in Santa Cruz that has various music events, movies, and other special events throughout the year.
We went to see Antsy McClain and the Trailer Park Troubadours here one New Year (2012). We’ve seen him a few times and always a great time.

Recently came here for a live concert with Jake S. and the on-​site staff were super disorganized. Consequently, they were repeatedly asked where to line up for general admission, will-​call, premium seating, VIP seating. Imagine standing around and having to hear the same questions over and over again because no one at Rio Theatre had their act together. NO SIGNAGE or explanations until a lot of people starting showing up wondering what the hell the deal was.
Would not recommend venue to others and definitely will look for another next time instead of coming back to this theatre. Unless walk or you arrive super early (1.5 hours in this case), parking is going to be a huge PITA. The only redeeming fact was that the performance itself was outstanding.

Management:
Your folks who run the front have confused over 30 people in the last 30 minutes with what where you should stand in line.
The venue looks very established, so this shouldn’t be such an issue. Not coming back.
Only came for Jake!

UPDATE:
We went to see Beck last Sunday at the Rio. The show was amazing, and the sound was fantastic. The usual «Gold deck» area was open space so you could get close to the stage if you wanted.
However, someone needs to give the usher staff permission to develop a back bone. In the seated area there were two very tall guys who refused to sit down and were blocking the view of at least 20 people. When we complained to the ushers, we were told they couldn’t do anything. Huh? It took an audience member’s up close and personal beratement before they sat down after about the 3^rd song.
I’m sorry, I’m not going to pay a ticket price to a theater to have to police other people’s bad behavior or look at the back of someone’s head for part of a performance.

I have mixed feelings about the Rio. It’s sometimes hard to separate the venue from the crowd, and last night’s crowd at the Robert Earl Keen show was not that unusual. Mostly middle aged, respectful folk like myself, plus some less respectful, more chemically-​impeded patrons who like to hear their own voices, constantly talking, singing, hooting, hollering – I guess that’s all part of the fun at a REK concert. And it was fun.
But the staff at the Rio could sharpen their customer service skills a bit. I don’t go there often enough to know the whole routine, but I do know that they tend to (or at least used to) make people stand outside in a long, long line prior to a show and open the doors only about 20 minutes before showtime. Last night they opened the doors earlier, for which I am grateful. Gf & I got our seats and then I had to run an errand. No one said anything as I left, and there’s no signage indicating any policy about re-​admission.
When I got back, torn ticket stub in hand, two or three employees hassled me about not having a hand stamp. Well, if I needed a hand stamp, why didn’t anyone say anything when I exited? Why isn’t there signage to indicate this?
The Rio is still perhaps my favorite performance venue on the Central Coast – especially with the closing of the Golden State Theater in Monterey. They do a lot more right than wrong, usually. Even though yesterday was a warm day, it was relatively cool & comfortable in the theater. And the sound is almost always good. I’ll continue to attend selective shows here.

Love the vintage theme it has, old movie set lights and décor. Good sound system too.
Wish it had a bar…

Recently had the good fortune to come to Rio Theatre to see LINDSEY BUCKINGHAM & it was a wonderful evening from start to finish
Small theatre — holding a mere 675 people, we knew we were in for an intimate evening
As we were walking to the will call booth, I literally bumped into Lindsey — they were waiting for the backstage guy to open the door… roops!
Seats were pretty comfy & views were decent — given we were so darn close & the venue itself is so small, you’re guaranteed a good view
Sound was nice & loud but not overwhelming as can tend to happen at these smaller venues
Water & drinkys sold in the lobby, bathrooms were standard. Liked the Golden Circle option so we didn’t have to wait in the GA line after already waiting in the Will Call… but would have been nice to provide a print at home option so I wouldn’t have to wait in line at all
Regardless, would totally come back to Rio — nice excuse to spend the evening in Santa Cruz & great music is the perfect icing on this cake!

Came to watch the World-​famous-​popovich-​comedy-​pet-​theatre
From the outside the Rio looks small and retro. I didn’t mind really. The surprise was waiting for us inside.
The theater is actually spacious and has comfortable seats. Excellent view of the stage wherever you sit is a big plus.
Absolutely clean inside and great helpful staff.
The ticket booth that sits outside the double doors to the theater is so small and looks like it would only fit the guy that was it there. This is where retro truly resides:)
As most every reviewer commented. Parking is a tad difficult. So set some time just for that and you will be fine. It’s a busy stretch of steet but we found parking right next to the theater.
For empty stomachs there’s a really good burrito place next to the theater while you wait in line to get in.
There’s two lines to get in. One to buy your tickets and the other one to get in. I mean you buy your ticket and you fall in line again to get in. So it’s best if you and a friend can tackle the two lines simultaneously.
Ticket booth opens at 6 pm for a 7 pm show and door opens at 6:30.

Suh-​weet!
First off: We arrived to see Ryan Bingham & The Silent Comedy perform last week — 15 minutes after the show started.
Now, back in LA this would have meant: no parking! However, we snagged primo parking across the street w/​out even trying for it!
Easy entrance into the venue — door people were super nice.
Open seating and a nicely sized open floor /​dance area.
Bathrooms weren’t that bad, actually. No real scene here, which is nice. It’s like a stripped down place to watch music.
No beer /​alcohol is a drag, however, if you’re aware of it, you just plan ahead for it (ie. get your drinks before or slip a sweet flask into your purse).
Bottom line: a good place to watch a concert. Nothing spectacular, but nothing terrible about it at all.
Now, go see some live music!

The Rio Theatre is nice. They play «off-​beat» movies and lectures, and occasionally have concerts too. I usually go to the Rio for surf movies that are in town as part of their tour, and for the annual Warren Miller Film. Recently, I also attended UCSC’s Halliday Lecture in Astrophysics, which was packed and good fun.
The theatre is old, but they keep it well enough. It’s generally clean. The seats are old, and not the most comfortable things ever, but they do just fine. We were at full capacity for the UCSC lecture, which I think meant there were something like 500 people in the room… it’s a pretty good sized theatre.
Not much more to say. Parking can be difficult. In general, expect to park a couple blocks away and walk… especially for more popular events.

We went to watch Yann Tiersen at the Rio Theatre today. While Yann Tiersen has unquestionably mastered the ability to communicate something deep and powerful through sound, the Rio Theatre is most definitely not a worthy place for someone so talented. The acoustics are awful.
As you get off the highway approaching the theatre, if you’ve never been to Santa Cruz, you’d be shocked at how pseudo-​suburbia it seems. And yet, finding parking proved somewhat difficult.
The theatre itself seems to be an old movie theatre cum venue for live shows. It’s not too big, and the old theatre seats are used for «open seating» during performances for those who don’t want to stand directly in front of the stage. There’s a decent incline in the seats, but sitting closer to the center usually means you’ll have to tilt your head a little to the left/​right to get a good view.
There is no alcohol served inside. At all. No actual food, either, unless you want cookies and chips. (There is, however, a place next door that serves about, uh, 7 different types of wines.)
The crowd was lackluster. It was the first performance I’d attended that was made up of people who seemed to think they were above applause or making noise. Right in front of us, there was a lady who literally stuck her fingers in her ears for 5 whole minutes as her friend shook his head. Two guys behind us were talking loudly. It was so disrespectful how so many people just up and left within the first hour. And even worse, that so many opted not to wait for his encore.
Yann Tiersen has changed his music style — even if you were expecting to hear his older stuff, you have to respect the genius behind all that beauty enough to at least LISTEN to whatever it is he’s feeling inspired to do at present. He does incredible things with his violin. (The horsehairs kept snapping off with how quickly he was playing his violin!)
Also, Typhoon (the opener) wasn’t bad, either. They sold their CDs from $ 5-​$ 15, depending on what you could afford.
Anyway, Yann Tiersen is BRILLIANT.
The Rio Theatre, however… not so much.