Alpine Valley Music Theatre

THE DREADEAD SECTION 203......dunt, dunt, duh!

Alpine Valley is a great place to tailgate and see a concert!

Here's my beef:
                            SECTION 203 (almost) RUINS MY EXPERIENCE EVERYTIME!
Section 203 is the far right section of the pavilion (stage left for you drama club nerds).

There are no bathrooms on this side of the pavilion!  So, if you're drinking fluids of any kind, you have to walk to the far opposite side of the pavilion OR walk up a very, very steep sidewalk to the bathrooms behind the lawn section (remember:  Alpine Valley is a ski resort) .

I paid extra money to sit in the pavilion, but I have to walk to the back of the venue, up a steep hill, and wait behind the nice folks from the lawn to use a Port-o-Potty?  

WTF?!    

If your tickets are in Section 203, do yourself a huge favor and work some craigslist-scalper action to trade/sell them a way for center  stage or stage right tickets.   You will be happy you did!!!!!!!  Or bring your hiking shoes and plan on missing a lot of the show waiting to pee in an overflowing Port-o-Potty.

(fyi:  "Tall boys" of beer are 13$ each)

I finally got the chance to check out Alpine Valley this weekend for the Zac Brown Band show, and I had a wonderful time.

We got there easy enough after dropping off the offspring. We arrived around 3:30 and got a nice close lot with fun people around us. The car next to us literally unloaded a couch and a coffee table to tailgate with. We started drinking and grilling immediately, and somehow lasted over five hours in the sun before going into the theater. It was all lines and mobs of people, but LiveNation had a ton of staff on site guiding people and asking questions.

There was an insanely long line to get wristbands for booze, but my company was a veteran, telling me that they weren't necessary. TIP: THEY AREN'T! I can imagine it would be pretty easy to get booze underage here. Be sure to have an ID on you in case they do decide to check, but I bought beer three times and they were so focused on getting everyone served quickly (awesome) that they didn't even care to check. NOTE, the beers, which are 13 bones, are big. I read that Bud Light snagged this place, but that musta changed this year as they were serving Corona, Heineken, Bud Light, Miller Lite and Lime-a-Ritas all in giant 24 ounce cans. I forgot that they were that big as I was quenching my thirst.

The hill is steep yeah, but much like a stadium, it prevents big headed people from getting in my way. I have no interest in watching the sixteen year olds make out to the ZBB song that played in their parents minivan on the way back from their first "date". I thought it was awesome to just sit on a blanket and listen to the music. I can say that the slope made my dance moves look a little more drunk than I hope I was, but it was fun. I definitely can imagine that it would be hilarious/dangerous to add the drunkards and the rain at this place.

It was packed to the brim, but I still could hear him which was nice. Did I mention how awesome the view is? Absolutely gorgeous. Yeah - port-o-potties, yeah - gross. Get drunk and get over it.

Awesome show, awesome venue, awesome staff, awesome time.

Despite how I felt the next morning, I cannot wait to go back.

I do not consider the summer complete or successful without seeing Dave Matthews Band at Alpine Valley. It is a religious experience. It's quite the drive for me but it's worth every cent of gas and minute on the road because DMB at Alpine is unparalleled. I think most DMB fans feel this way, it's our Mecca.

Getting there takes some determination. It is kind of out there in BFE. I get lost every time, but again, the concert experience is worth any problems you have up to that point. Traffic is horrible around the venue and parking is even worse. But Alpine is gorgeous and magical and I love it to pieces.

And... it truly is a very large venue. Much larger than you're expecting if you've never been there, acoustics are spectacular, it's a bit of drive and once you get close it's a significant frustration, but the experience is worth it.

If you haven't been there. Go now. Seriously.