Review: The Warfield(Venue)

Review of The Warfield
Street: 982 Market Street
City: San Francisco
Phone: 415.567.2060
Description: The Warfield is a historic natural auditorum owned by Clear
Channel. It's a concert venue with a bit of nightclub outside the
concert auditorium. The Bill Graham Presents arm of Clear
Channel holds many concerts here.

Review Title: Go There if You Dare. The Warfield is a Safety Hazard.
Overall Score: 3
(Overall Rating: 2, Value: 4, Fun: 4, )

My Opinion:
Earlier this year, I finally went to my first concert at the Warfield and I could not have been more disappointed given all the great things I've heard about the venue. Usually, I'm a sucker for the "historic" label on a venue, but in this case, I say burn the craphole down before it burns down while people are still inside.

The Warfield is a rundown dump full of safety hazards. The seats are uncomfortable, squeezed together, and poorly labeled. Good luck trying to find your seat in the dark, unlighted walkways. The volunteer ushers were only marginally helpful in getting us to the right seats and it was obvious by the way they behaved and worked that very little attention was made to train them. One of them was apparently too cool to carry a flashlight and used a lighter instead, which resulted in a visit from me to point out that we were in a tinderbox auditorium that didn't appear to have a sprinkler system installed.

Even if they did have a sprinkler system, I'm not sure if it would have made much of a difference anyway. While we were trying to make a quick exit out of there after the show, the water went out in the bathrooms. The only good thing about the Warfield is the sound. It's a pretty good auditorium, but the place makes me fear for my life and I'm never going to a show there again. The venue is simply not safe on many levels.

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Review Title: My Night(mare) at the Warfield
Overall Score: 2
(Overall Rating: 2, Value: 2, Fun: 2, )

My Opinion:
Now, in this highly litigious era, one hesitates to publicly voice strongly negative opinions about any place run by a mega-corporation. However, I must say that I think that Sheldon's review of the Warfield Theatre on the Social Wave site was...well...a bit too tempered. I would call the Warfield an enormous death trap.



I have more than 10 years of experience organizing and managing concerts, and I love funky spots with a ton of character. I also happen to have a real liking for concert venues that are unusual and...well...kind of a dump. The Warfield, unfortunately, is a disgusting, poorly-organized dump, and while I would say that their ticket prices are standard for events like this around the Bay Area, it's way too much for what you're getting at this venue.



There are tons of ushers, unfortunately, none of them appear to be properly trained. On the night I attended, most of them were unsure where seats were located (which was unfortunate, since they were standing in the aisles and it was clearly their job to direct people to their seats). They were also not dressed in any sort of uniform, nor did they appear to have any nametags, etc. to distinguish themselves as ushers - the only way we could tell they were ushers is that they stood in the middle of the aisles and occasionally asked people who looked lost if they needed help. Very few ushers appeared to be equipped with flashlights, which was unfortunate since most of the audience arrived after the opening band had started, and had to find their seats in the dark.



Yes, all this was extremely annoying as an audience member, but I would like to point out that this was also dangerous. The role of ushers is not only to get people quickly and quietly into their seats, it's also to assist audience-members in case of an emergency. If someone in the audience suddenly has a siezure and paramedics must be brought in to care for that person, you want an usher there who is trained in the procedures for contacting emergency responders and keeping the audience around that person calm until help arrives. If a fire breaks out in the theatre, you want ushers with flashlights who know the best way to direct a crowd to safety. It was clear to me that ushers at the Warfield were, in all likelihood, incapable of dealing with safety issues. I, too, witnessed the usher who was using a cigarette lighter in lieu of a flashlight to illuminate seat numbers, holding that flame right up to the (probably inflammable) seat cushions. I don't care if they're volunteers, ushers are representatives of the theatre and should always be trained properly.



The Warfield itself was messy. The bathrooms were old, poorly maintained, and the plumbing barely worked (it stopped working in the women's room after the concert, as a bunch of us were desperate to use the facilities before we drove home). The seats in the concert hall were old and very uncomfortable. The ventilation in the hall was also poor, as I found out when a bunch of people around us smoked throughout the entire concert (yet more open flames). I assume there must have been some sort of fire alarm system, but I can't be certain, as I know that sometimes older buildings like the Warfield can be grandfathered into new building codes. For the first time at a concert (and I have not been prone to anxiety in any number of old buildings in which I have sat all over the world), I found myself keeping a clear eye on the fire exits (which were, indeed, well-marked) and hoping that I wouldn't be crushed in the stampede to exit should anything bad happen.



My night at the Warfield was the first time my concert-going experience was spoiled by a venue. I wouldn't advise anyone to go to a concert there. I wish Clear Channel would pour some of the money it's making into the theatre, since it clearly has potential to be an interesting, historical site with decent acoustics. All it needs is a big rennovation and decent management.

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Review Title: I Love The Warfield
Overall Score: 10
(Overall Rating: 10, Value: 10, Fun: 10, )

My Opinion:
Yikes, Arsnova, I'm sorry you had such a bad experience at The Warfield. It is my favorite venue because most of my favorite musicians tend to play there. I also prefer the small, intimate setting to my two least fave venues that everyone else plays, Shoreline and HP Pav (the sound is awful at both and the view way back is non-existant -- the only good thing about them is that they are only a 15 minute drive for me, and if you don't mind walking, there's free parking.)

I've never had a bad experience at The Warfield. I've only sat in the seats twice; I prefer to get floor tickets if I can. I guess that explains why I never really had to deal with the ushers. The last time I sat in seats was for Linkin Park, and after my friend left to use the bathroom, two Asian guys who didn't speak much English came and tried to sit in his seat (I guess lousy ushers and their lack of English comprehension explains that one.) The bathrooms I figure are like any other bar or club -- you'd be hard-pressed to find a nice bathroom in those kind of establishments. There was one month when I practically lived at The Warfield (I saw 3 or 4 concerts in that time.) I have never been to a bad concert there.

The first time I saw my musical hero, Moby, was at the Warfield in 2000. I am also seeing him there again May 6th! I've also seen some of my other favorites there -- Audioslave, Velvet Revolver, Zwan, Linkin Park, Box Car Racer, Neil Finn (of Crowded House) and many others...

The only other venues that are comparable are The Greek Theater at UC Berkeley and The Oakland Coliseum. Slim's and Bimbo's are also nice intimate settings. None of my favorite musicians have played Bill Graham Civic, The Fillmore or the like (and I have been to at least 50 concerts in my concert-going career) so I haven't been able to experience them. Like I said, they almost always go to The Warfield.

I am sad to hear that The Warfield is owned by the evil conglomerate, Clear Channel, tho. They are horrid. I literally cannot stand half the crap Channel 104.9 plays, yet they also play some of my very favorites bands, and Live 105 doesn't always come in well.

I love music and going to concerts so much that I honestly can't say I've had a really bad concert-going experience. The worst concert I've ever been to was one of my favorite bands, Coldplay, at Shoreline. God, they were awful. They were phenomenal at The Greek in Berkeley a few months before. They just really went downhill after Gwyneth and I am not expecting much from their new album. The singing was subpar and the concert was the shortest concert I've ever been to. They had two incredible albums out at that time, so you can't blame lack of material. I felt cheated. It was really the first time I had gone to a concert and had to listen to the band in the car on the way home because they didn't play enough or well.

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