The Backyard at Bee Cave

Love the new venue! It reminds me of the old venue but bigger and more of a hill and more trees. Plenty of beer lines and the bathrooms seemed adequate. Great sound and stage. Too bad there isn't any camping here.

Parking is easy here (it was for me) -- but getting out is really tough. My advice - be handicapped.

Great place to see a show.  Big bathrooms, lots of bars, and it's a life oak ampitheatre- what else do you want?

I seem to have had a very different experience from most of the people reviewing this place, because I went to the String Cheese Incident shows this past Friday and Saturday nights, and absolutely loved the venue! Jamband crowds tend to be pretty friendly and conscientious, so it's possible that affected my experience, but I had a great time at the new Backyard.

Parking was easy and cheap (I'm used to $7-10 parking at most amphitheaters, so $5 was less than I expected). Parking attendants got us in place quickly, and the walk to the front gate was just a minute or two. After the show, the roads around the venue were pretty packed, but I don't see that as the venue's fault. Put a couple thousand people on ANY road at the same time and you're going to get traffic.

Entry was quick and easy. They had two or three lines going, with people at the first station checking your bags, then the next station scanning your tickets. They didn't allow any kind of camelbacks or water bottles - I saw a few people get pretty ticked about that.

The stage was big and attractive. My husband said he thought the sound wasn't as clear as it could have been, but I thought it was great.

There was no seating that I could tell - it was all GA, and everyone just stood, danced, and moved around at will. It was full, but not so packed that you couldn't make your way fairly close to the stage, and all throughout the venue, there were hilly areas and steps where short people like me could position themselves to see over the crowd.

The bathrooms were not porta-potties, but buildings on either side of the stage with a bunch of stalls. The toilets were clean, had toilet paper, and all worked just fine. The lines took about 3-4 minutes.

Free water! Maybe this was just the show I went to, but a couple of the bar stalls, and tables outside each restroom, were dispensing free drinking water. Cups were replaced frequently, and the water was cold. This was probably my favorite thing about the venue.

The trees blocked the stage view slightly from some parts of the venue, but they did make the venue prettier, so I can't complain too much about that.

The ground was a little rocky and uneven in places, making walking around after dark a little tricky, but I figure it's an outdoor venue with a LOT of fot traffic, so a few rocks is to be expected.

Overall, it had its minor flaws, hence only four stars, but I had a great time there, and nothing about the venue hampered my enjoyment of the show. I will absolutely go back when a band I like is playing at the Backyard!