I believe CMAC is as good as it gets when it comes to a venue in WNY. They bring in quality shows all summer, the acoustics are great, lots of parking available, choice of seating (reserved or GA), and plenty of food and drink options.
Of course there's room for improvement. Parking in a lot will set you back at least 45 minutes on your way home. This they should work on. Alternatively, tailgating in the lots is allowed; so those worried about over-priced food and drink can have their fun before the concert.
CMAC is definitely a larger headliner attraction. Parking is a biatch here. You gotta walk a ways to get to the venue unless you wanna shell out $20 for VIP parking and then have a difficult time getting out. It is 10 bucks for general parking. It is WAY better than Darien Lake's parking havoc though. Canandaigua gets pretty trafficky before the concerts, so give yourself lots of time.
Beers are $9 for a 24oz cup. I got a plate of Dinosaur BBQ for $10 and think it was worth it. They also sell kettle corn there.
The security is strict about hanging by the bars and fences if you have lawn seats. If you have lawn seats you can't see much. The sound quality is okay up close to the bar before the seat prices, but if you go too far up the hill you can't hear as well. You can't see much though. You are allowed to bring chairs.
I prefer going to places like Town Ballroom, Waterstreet, etc. but the nice thing is that it is way cooler outside at CMAC.
Pros:
-Good selection of food and drinks
-Good steep lawn
-Lots of free parking and police out to direct traffic before and after
-Almost never sells out
-You can bring in chairs & blankets
-Gets good bands that don't play darien lake
- Not Darien Lake
- lots of potties
Cons:
- Parking is super far away for the most part
- getting there is a pain when traffic is backed up to the thruway... give yourself a good 60 minutes from thruway exit to parking spot
- Almost never sells out... so there could be WAY too many people there
- By the time you get halfway up the lawn, the sound quality is terrible. i wish they would add more speakers somehow
- not enough covered seating!
I can almost speak no ill of CMAC. It is seriously a gem of a venue. Not only is it absolutely gorgeous but they really have their shit together for shows. They let you bring in one bottle of water and chairs are allowed. They sell many food options at reasonable prices and even have food from places like Dinosaur BBQ. The sound was great, the bathrooms were clean and getting out of the parking lot afterwards took no time at all.
My only complaint would be that they should be clearer on their website about what is and isn't allowed. They say no Tailgaiting and people were but I wonder how many people had to miss out on Tailgaiting because they thought they couldn't.
Also they said no chairs when I checked and then people were bringing them in.
This is the place for outdoor concerts. Parking is $10 for general and $20 for VIP. Easy to find and not that bad when trying to get out after the show. Only wish that there were more porta potties or permanent bathrooms in the parking area. Great choice of food and drink: Kettle corn to bbq, beer and wine. Â The wine was my favorite a 750ml bottle for $10 to $18, yes please and thanks I'll have another!
I remember coming here when I was younger and being able to bring in food and coolers, but of course times have changed. Â If sitting in the lawn you can bring in items to sit on or in such as fold up chairs or blankets. I personally love sitting on the lawn great view and people watching. There are 3 monitors so that you can see what is happening on stage. Â I do wish that they had more bathrooms, there can never be to many in my opinion. Great atmosphere!!
I was totally blown away by this venue. Â My first show at CMAC was this past weekend for My Morning Jacket & The New Pornographers. Â I only wish WNY/Buffalo had a similar venue for rock shows.. the closest in comparison would have to be Darien Lake PAC (subpar) or Artpark (above -average, but in need of renovations).
The parking was plentiful with a few options. Â You could pay $10 for general parking, $20 for VIP parking, or park for free nearby and hoof it to the arena (it's a bit of a hike). Â We paid for general parking and were able to get out of the lot after the show in about 5 minutes, which was fantastic as we had an hour and a half drive ahead of us. Â CMAC's website strictly forbids tailgating prior to shows, and there was plenty of police/security presence in the lot, but we found many groups partying at will. Â
A slight walk up a trail leads you to the entrance to the venue, where you will immediately find concessions, merchandise, restrooms, etc. Â You have many food options... standard dogs n' burgers, pretzels, ice cream... but also kettle corn(!) and Dinosaur BBQ (!!!). Â There is a wine tent, where you can sample local brands and several beer stations which carry Coors, Molson, Corona and Blue Moon. Â Beer / drink lines were short. Â We waited 5 minutes tops per trip. Â I went with the 24 oz Blue Moon for $8 - a steal compared to the smaller, watered down beers they sell at Darien Lake PAC for $12! Â
I was alittle leery about only one restroom location but it ended up not being an issue - very little wait throughout the evening.
The seating is covered and pretty standard for outdoor concert venues. Â I didn't get a good look at the lawn area as we were way up in the second row. Â Seats were not bolted down, so it was alittle annoying once people started shaking their tailfeathers during the show. Â Also, security was pretty lax - we had a bunch of party crashers up in our row throughout the evening, which got annoying after awhile. Â The VIP seating on the second deck on both sides looked interesting. Â I had never seen such a setup at an outdoor venue. It looked like there were waiters/waitresses fetching concessions up there as well. Â Not sure how much extra $ this cost though. Â
Sound is very good for an outdoor venue, and there appeared to be video screens on either side of the lawn area.
Overall, a unique and enjoyable facility, with a few points taken off for security and seating issues.
CMAC has been completely renovated since the last time I was here (in the 1990s). But in the last two weeks I've seen two shows here: Phish and Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds.
For Phish, we parked in an official lot ($10 per car). There were tons of law enforcement in the lots, local police and state troopers. Some with dogs too. Supposedly there is no tailgating or alcohol allowed in the parking lots. However, with a plastic cup, you can drink just about anything and the law enforcement will ignore you. As for drugs, I didn't see any busts, but I think people were more careful with such a large police presence.
For the second show, we parked along lakeshore dr, also for $10, in someone's yard, which made exiting very swift and easy. Â There is also $20 VIP parking available, much closer to the venue (and I think, with valet service). Â I've heard the VIP lot is very cool, but I have no experience there.
The venue itself is gorgeous, and they have some good food & beverage options, including Dinosaur BBQ (which, of course is not as good as the restaurant) and a Robert Mondavi Wine Tent (the venue's namesake is the largest wine company in the world). Of course there are also the typical other food & bev options too. The food & bev setup is pretty good, as we didn't have to wait very long for anything. They used to have Nick Tahou's too, where one could get a garbage plate, but that was no longer there.
The lawn is a natural hillside, so it is not evenly sloped toward the stage, but the natural beauty of it is incredible. From the top of the lawn, you can see a sliver of Canandaigua Lake and west shore's hill. Pretty good view of the stage, but of course far. There are video screens that can be seen from the lawn.
Inside, there are several sections organized by Left, Right, Right Center... and begin with A, AA, or AAA, depending how far back you are. Additionally, there are VIP seats in the balcony areas.
Security is pretty loose compared to the parking lots. If you bring in a bag or a chair, they will check it, but no body searches for these two shows. All in all, a gorgeous venue.
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