Madison Theater: User Reviews

Concert promoters
By Juvenal, April 22, 2010

Overall rating:

In response to previous reviews regarding the venue management's policy on acceptable behaviour, I can reassure you that concert promoters & tour management take notice of this. Besides potential distractions or security concerns to those in attendance, concert promoters want to book their artist's at venues that respect the artist. If an artist notices that the crowd is disrespectful to them or other concert goers, they tell their tour management not to book that venue in the future. Smart venue owners take notice of concerns like these & make adjustments to their policies.

If they serve beer at a concert, drunk people will be there
By UCGrad2004, April 21, 2010

Overall rating:

I had a similar experience to the bad one below. It wasn't anything as serious as that, but I did ask security to tell someone to please stop trying to get my phone number/ask me out because he wouldn't leave me alone. They talked to the person, but until I said I felt physically threatened by the guy, they didn't do much else about it. Serving alcohol means there will be drunk people around, so that's the risk you take in going there. But I do think anyone who paid money for a ticket for any concert anyplace has a right to not be harassed by someone who has been drinking, and it is the staff's job to do something about it before it reaches the "punching" stage, not after. Live and learn.

A Bad time at the Madison
By cincioh, April 13, 2010

Overall rating:

From the last review - It sounds like this "patron" is going to someplace that really doesn't fit their style. I have been to the Madison on may ocassions, both as business and entertainment and can say that I never saw any of these types of issues. I've never seen people act obnixous, and the staff has always been accomidating and pleasent. Maybe this environment is just not the other poster's "cup of tea"

My ticket said "Jakob Dylan with Neko Case" - not "The Obnoxious Drunk Guys and Their Groupies"
By Love_and_Monsters, April 11, 2010

Overall rating:

This was my second concert at this venue, and it will most likely be my last. I had hoped that the unpleasant experience I had here with drunk patrons in 2005 was an exception, but it seems to be the norm. The venue itself architecturally is wonderful - it is the "event staff" whose job it is to ensure safety and a pleasant concert experience that are the unfortunate and ongoing problem. Much like during my visit in 2005, the staff at this concert had no interest in actually doing their jobs when it involved curbing behavior that is disruptive to other patrons.

It was not the three loud, obnoxious, intoxicated men and their two unpleasant female companions who showed up 10min prior to the opening act and continually bothered us and everyone within a 10ft radius that were asked to relocate or leave for being disruptive. It was my boyfriend and I, who had stood for over an hour prior to the show to be up front (and an additional half hour between the opening act and the main event) who were told to relocate because we'd “bothered” the event staff multiple times by asking them to do something about the fact we were being harassed (and ultimately threatened) by the people behind us when *we* had asked them to be quieter multiple times ourselves.

The venue manager told us that until one of the belligerent drunks actually hit one of us (being deliberately hit in the back for 45 minutes prior apparently didn't count), they were not going to say or do anything to stop them. The icing on this cake was the fact that the staff person closest to our side of the stage, whom we'd asked the most to intercede and ask the other people to be quiet or move, APOLOGIZED to the obnoxious people as the concert let out for having bothered *them,* whereas we or anyone else who had complained about those people were not offered an apology, a refund, or any other restitution for having been deliberately disturbed the entire show by disruptive conduct that the venue staff refused to address, no matter how many times we (and others) complained.

My first experience at the Madison was a much smaller concert, but the venue's method of handling intoxicated belligerent patrons – i.e., doing nothing at all - held true for this visit as it had for the first over 5yrs ago. Having to do the dirty work of curbing disruptive behavior from the few so the majority can actually have a pleasant experience is not high on this staff’s priority list. I doubt I will see another show here in the future. I pay to listen to the music - not to be forced to listen to intoxicated people assert their First Amendment rights at a volume that drowns out the music the rest of us came to hear, because no one who works there wants to be “bothered” by the task of asking someone to leave.