NoVA/DC Concert Venues, Ranked (Wolf Trap, Washington: condo, house, safe area)

[Carlingtonian]

Originally Posted by michgc

Not funny. Hornsby, of course.

What do they call him? The Deputy? The Number Two?

[SmartMoney]

Okay, this is my new favorite venue! (MGM NH) Hands down. We arrived at 5:30 for an 8 PM concert. We checked out the restaurants and our biggest mistake was not to make reservations at one of the 4 seated restaurants. But we "made do" with the food court. Since I was not familiar with Shake Shack, I opted for that, while my companions got sandwiches and salad from the deli. Nothing is cheap at MGM, so be prepared for water bottles running 4 dollars. But, I was impressed with their water bottle refill stations at every water fountain.

We finished up and hit the penny slots.......started with $10, got up to $40, lost it all, + some, but we had fun. It's a large casino, lots of options. We did our thing and left for the concert.

The concert was excellent - I was not overly familiar with the artist that we saw, but I am a fan now. Seats were excellent. It's true, not a bad seat in the house. The auditorium was intimate, smaller than DAR, acoustics great. Bars are located in several places, drinks allowed in, cup holders at your seat. The only issue I observed was people getting upset at security as they routed the flow of the crowd moving thru the building. They would use rope barriers to make people enter from a specific area. This meant people would have to walk further to get from point a to b. All in all, they did a great job, taking care not to block exits. This was true of entry and exit.

Hands down the easiest exit ever! MGM knows what they are doing. Two lanes moving in exit lanes with police assistance. We were literally home in 30 minutes.

On another note, while we were on the casino floor, a concierge was roaming the casino offering complimentary tickets to the show we attended. It looked like there were blocks of seats towards the back that didn't sell. We got the tickets steeply discounted about 10 days ago (the closer to the show, the steeper the tickets are discounted).

A+ - make an evening of it, perhaps a half day. Make dinner reservations. After being able to pull up and park without feeling you parked in Siberia, never again to Jiffy. Seriously, one you see a venue operating like clockwork, you'll have to really want to see someone to take on a major concert hall.

[Carlingtonian]

SmartMoney, thanks for that info. Very useful. What main highway did you take to get over there?

BTW, with that screen name, we all would've expected you to clean out the casino.

[AlexandriaVa11]

SmartMoney, that's great info! Thanks!

Carlingtonian, I was predicting (hoping) that JLL would be way down your list. I *loved* the Bruno Mars concert I saw there a few years ago, but that was in spite of JLL. Took SO SO SO long to get out of there! (Among other problems.)

[lovely40]

Don't forget Blues Alley. Small, gritty, intimate & affordable. Always a great lineup no matter your genre preference. One of the better jazz cafes that I've been to in the U.S.

[lovely40]

Originally Posted by SmartMoney

Okay, this is my new favorite venue! (MGM NH) Hands down. We arrived at 5:30 for an 8 PM concert. We checked out the restaurants and our biggest mistake was not to make reservations at one of the 4 seated restaurants. But we "made do" with the food court. Since I was not familiar with Shake Shack, I opted for that, while my companions got sandwiches and salad from the deli. Nothing is cheap at MGM, so be prepared for water bottles running 4 dollars. But, I was impressed with their water bottle refill stations at every water fountain.

We finished up and hit the penny slots.......started with $10, got up to $40, lost it all, + some, but we had fun. It's a large casino, lots of options. We did our thing and left for the concert.

The concert was excellent - I was not overly familiar with the artist that we saw, but I am a fan now. Seats were excellent. It's true, not a bad seat in the house. The auditorium was intimate, smaller than DAR, acoustics great. Bars are located in several places, drinks allowed in, cup holders at your seat. The only issue I observed was people getting upset at security as they routed the flow of the crowd moving thru the building. They would use rope barriers to make people enter from a specific area. This meant people would have to walk further to get from point a to b. All in all, they did a great job, taking care not to block exits. This was true of entry and exit.

Hands down the easiest exit ever! MGM knows what they are doing. Two lanes moving in exit lanes with police assistance. We were literally home in 30 minutes.

On another note, while we were on the casino floor, a concierge was roaming the casino offering complimentary tickets to the show we attended. It looked like there were blocks of seats towards the back that didn't sell. We got the tickets steeply discounted about 10 days ago (the closer to the show, the steeper the tickets are discounted).

A+ - make an evening of it, perhaps a half day. Make dinner reservations. After being able to pull up and park without feeling you parked in Siberia, never again to Jiffy. Seriously, one you see a venue operating like clockwork, you'll have to really want to see someone to take on a major concert hall.

Great info! This venue is on my list to try.

[Bigfoot424]

Originally Posted by lovely40

Don't forget Blues Alley. Small, gritty, intimate & affordable. Always a great lineup no matter your genre preference. One of the better jazz cafes that I've been to in the U.S.

Can hardly compare this site to what's been listed when it comes to crowd sizes, parking and so on. Plus, where is this place? Sounds interesting.

[Carlingtonian]

Originally Posted by Bigfoot424

Can hardly compare this site to what's been listed when it comes to crowd sizes, parking and so on. Plus, where is this place? Sounds interesting.

Looks like it's in Georgetown. I'd heard of it but have never been there.

Maybe I should've done two lists; some of the places I ranked are also really small.

I also forgot to rank Lisner Auditorium at GWU, but I've only been once, years ago.

State Theater in Falls Church has a ton of tribute bands. I should start a Boston tribute but call it Ballston. We'll do their big hit, "Mortgage the Feeling." Or maybe I can be the almost-Boss, Ruse Springsteen. His big hit will be "Tunnel of Drunks."

[Bigfoot424]

Ever been to the Hylton Performing Arts Center? Very nice center. You'll never see a rock concert there but the shows the wife and I have seen have been very good. Parking is good as well as ingress/egress.

Hylton Performing Arts Center - Manassas, Virginia

[Carlingtonian]

Originally Posted by Bigfoot424

Ever been to the Hylton Performing Arts Center? Very nice center. You'll never see a rock concert there but the shows the wife and I have seen have been very good. Parking is good as well as ingress/egress.

Hylton Performing Arts Center - Manassas, Virginia

Wow, Bigfoot loves ballet!