As a live music lover, I spend a lot of time at different venues. I have had the opportunity to visit Croc Rock twice. Both time were pretty terrible.
The music is overly loud (even with earplugs) and the crowd is, well, weird.
Their liquor license is currently suspended, but even when it's not, it takes forever to get a drink in the place.
Not to mention that it's FREEZING COLD in the winter. And the only heat source is three tiny 1x1.5' heating lamps that they have on the floor towards the back of the venue.
You either love this place, or hate it. Personally, I love it, because I've seen and met all of my favorite bands there, but I can understand someone who would never want to step foot in there again.
For bigger name bands, it's ALWAYS overpacked. If they even know what their sell-out limit is, they don't adhere to it. Shows are hot, sticky, sweaty, and dirty. If you're on the barricade or on the side garage door, you're good. Otherwise, plant your feet and make friends with the people around you because you're gonna be much too close for comfort.
The pizza place up front is mediocre, but when it's the middle of February and you've been waiting in line all day, the food is good enough. Bathrooms are sketch city, but they get the job done. If you're expecting clean bathrooms on Hamilton Street in Allentown, you've got another thing coming.
Overall, I'd say this fits a younger crowd. My friends & I love this place and come here as often as we can because we know the routine and the staff and how it all works. If you're into sweaty, dirty rock shows, this is the place to be. Otherwise, take your complaints somewhere else ;)
2 stars only because I've experienced better venues. It's small, they don't give you re-entry or at least when I went you couldn't get back in once you had gone inside. it was my first experience here and honestly I probably won't go back. everything is set up horribly. they set the merchandise stand in front of the bathrooms so you don't know whether the line is for the bathroom or to buy shit. there is no air conditioning to my knowledge. they just opened a steel shutter door to let air from the outside in. WTF. lol yeah if your favorite band is playing here then why not but if they're playing anywhere thats closer you should probably go there and not here. all in all it was a great concert played in a shitty venue.
Review Source:This venue attracts some big name entertainment, but is too small for the crowds it attracts.
There is a bar at the front of the building where you can have a drink before watching a show. Â However, crowds and lines to get into the concert venue at the back of the building can develop fast, so "showgoers" should be sure to get here early if they want some casual time to relax and grab a beverage.
The concert venue at the rear of the building is split into sections, one for all individuals (in front of the stage) and another for only people over 21 where drinks are sold. The separation of the venue causes more congestion than you would typically feel in a concert venue with more bottlenecks than you would experience in an open floor format.
The bathrooms are small and relatively dirty.
As a venue, I give this a place 2 stars. However, some of the artists performing here make it worth your while for a visit.
I went there two weeks to see Steel Panther and I was very dissapointed with how the club's personnel handle it.
1- It was super cold outside and it looked like they did not care. The line was outside freezing and they opened 20 minutes after it was written in the web.
2- The security personnel were rude, I understand that they neen to act in emergency and be assertive but if people is just asking questions, they shouldn't give you any bad attitude.
3- The helping people was not trainned at all, when I asked about where to pick up my "will call" tickets, they did not know.
4- The place was overpacked... not enough ventilation.
5- Drinks were overpriced
Well, it looks like you are the only place in the area, you can do whatever you want, uh?.
Absolutely awful. Â I've been to well over 250 concerts in the United States, and this "venue" is without a doubt the worst. Â The term "venue", from here on out, should be substituted with 'dump'. Â I arrived at this dump around 5:30pm, which you'd think would be in plenty of time to park, have a beer or two at the bar and go inside to enjoy the show. Â You (and I) thought wrong. Â When I arrived, there were only about 10 people in line, so I figured I'd sit at the bar (at which I payed $4.50 per Miller Lite, which is also laughable...this isn't a major arena or uptight theater, come on) and kill some time, wait for the line to enter at 6:30, and then go inside. Â 6:30, 6:45, 7:00, 7:20, 7:30, 7:45....still a line, which extended out the door and down the block.
The opening act went on around 8:15, 10 minutes after the "doors" opened. Â At that time, only a handful of people entered (after being carded, given wristbands and having their tickets checked by the inept staff). Â It should also be noted that there was a separate entrance for those under 21, which wasn't clearly stated at all, which led to people's frustration. Â The place was completely oversold, people were packed like sardines and angry. Â I'll never return to this dump, as I'd rather spend a Friday night at home watching TV over being herded like cattle, poked and prodded, overcharged for cheap beer, sweating and just generally annoyed and uncomfortable. Â Wish I could get my $25 admission back. Â Avoid this dump at all costs.
I typically take bad reviews with a grain of salt, but I should have listened this time. I went to Crocodile Rock for the first and last time a few nights ago for a show I was excited to see. When we drove by and started to look for parking, we saw a line out the door. Little did we know it would be more than an hour before we'd get inside.
According to the website and tickets I purchased, the show was supposed to start at 7:30 and the doors were supposed to open at 6:30. Doors didn't open until after 7:30, and I didn't get in until almost 9. We walked around the corner to join the end of the line ... and had to walk nearly a block back, behind hundreds (a thousand?) people. I could tell that lines are the norm based on the Sharpie drawings across the bricked side of the building. When we finally got inside, the place was packed. People kept pouring in. They didn't sell out -- they should have, but this place didn't seem to want to turn away any $20 body until no more would fit.
Now, the show was good, but that's not a reflection of the establishment. And actually, toward the middle of the show, most of the people in the back (who couldn't see -- it's standing only) got bored and started talking. Then, they got "shushed" and, well, no one could hear the guy we all came to see.
The only other upside was that bartender was great and the drinks were reasonably priced. Â (I can imagine he was thrilled with the prospect of even a $1 tip from all the drinkers). And the bathroom? Unacceptable! There was an attendant in there accepting tips and passing out towels, but she didn't care how nasty the toilets were by the end of the night.
If Crocodile Rock ever had another show I wanted to see, I doubt I would go.
Probably my least favorite concert experience.... The show started at 8 and we had arrived at about 7:30. They didn't start letting people in until 8 and the first band was already playing. Everything was very unorganized and the venue was weird. You enter through a bar which connects to a pizza place and they both connect to the concert hall. The bathroom was atrocious and the whole place was generally filthy. On the way in security didn't do any pat downs and only checked id's. During the concert security was very vigilant about removing anyone causing trouble. Each time security had to handle something behind me (which was frequent) the security guard basically threw me out of his way, which was very annoying to say the least. There was also no coat check here. I doubt I will be back to this venue.
Review Source:I had a great time at the Croc. Â It is not a concert hall it is really a dive, but it is the right venue for the bands they get. Â It is great that they have the under 21s in there, they bring energy and a great vibe to the place. Â The show I went to was sold out and there was plenty of room. Â The drinks were reasonably priced, Â and the service was good. Â The pizza was good enough to hold you over if you need something to eat, but the better play is to eat somewhere else before you go.
Review Source:Growing up Croc Rock was the closest venue for me, so I went there a lot and I still go there, but I really wish there was another place.
Pro's
They get a lot of amazing bands
convenient location
can meet the band before and/or after the show
multiple bars
Con's
Way too hot
acoustics aren't the greatest.
Cash only at the door
weird set up
have doors to open to let air in but they don't use them
staff is uber rude
the pizza place up front is horrible
The thing is you can have a great time here if you surround yourself with awesome friends and see a great band, but if you are going to see a band you don't really like alone or with people you aren't close with, go somewhere else to see it.
Unfortunately, I will continue to go here even though I dislike it so much, just because they always get the greatest bands
While I had a GREAT TIME at a show I've seen here, there are a lot of things to nitpick about this place.
It's like, three things in one. A front bar, a side pizza joint, a venue inside, and I think there's a downstairs? There are like three different entrances which makes it confusing.
Will Call is very confusing as you can get shuffled around to get your ticket but you actually pick it up after they check for IDs inside the venue.
The music venue location is a confusing layout as it's awkward to how they section off the pit. They do that so you can't bring alcohol into the pit but you won't be able to enter after a certain point when the bands have stopped for crowd control, unfortunately.
The venue has a very low ceiling and can get hot. While I've heard many complains of it getting hot in there I've experienced hotter venues, but it still gets up there. Sometimes they will actually entirely open the side warehouse doors for ventilation.
While not in the greatest part of town, a lot of bands do come out to this place as a stop on their tour next to Philly. As far as the scene, ska and punk bring out a crowd so be prepared for a fun show with a vibrant crowd. The venue could be worse, but it at least served its purpose for what it was.
Usually, I love small venues. I cannot truthfully say that I loved going to Crocodile Rock on Friday to see Interpol.
The band was great. I saw them last year at the Tower, had front row seats, and it was one of the best shows I've seen in my 29 years. But this is not a concert review.
I work in Conshohocken, but live in South Jersey, so I just headed up 476 after work. Two disable vehicles, Poconos traffic, and two hours later I finally made it into Allentown. I met up with my friend and we had a pre-show dinner at Allentown Brew Pub (separate review).
The venue is SMALL. Smaller than the TLA in Philly, or the Trocadero even. There were a couple of bar areas, and you were not allowed on the front third part of the floor with an alcoholic beverage. Most shows I go to are all ages and I have NEVER been told I can't take a drink past a certain point on the floor. After being yelled at that I couldn't take my beer past that point, my friend and I were trying to turn around, but there were people blocking us. Then the bouncer was yelling at us that we couldn't block the walkway. What walkway?
Thankfully, we missed the opener. They may have had the air conditioning on but you wouldn't know it by the temperature in that room. It was uncomfortably hot. The layout was weird. There was a balcony area but we couldn't figure out how to get up there, even though there were a few people up there. There was a ledge around the floor I kept tripping over because A) people wouldn't move and B) it was too dark to see it.
I found myself hoping the show would be cut short because I was so uncomfortable. That's a really bad sign. Three songs into the encore my friend and I started making our way to the back of the hall, not wanting to get caught in the exodus. We were among the first ones out.
I won't be making the trek out to Allentown again any time soon, no band is worth it. Â I've been to Maxwell's in Hoboken, which is smaller than Croc Rock, but much better managed, and had a pleasant experience at that venue.
Also, $9 for two beers? Get off your high horse.
Major fail, Croc Rock.
First of all, two listed addresses? Dumb.
Second of all, 21+ Will Call is betwixt the entrance bar & venue but the under 21 entrance is outside along the side. I took my little brother to his first concert here last night. If my friend and I wanted to drink, we had to leave him by his lonesome in the obnoxious sea of underagers.
Yeah, right. Absolute bullshit. How many kids are successfully going to ask legit idividuals to buy them booze? How many idiots want to waste the time for tweeners? Or pass their booze off to younger friends? (Excuse me, why are you charging me $5 for a cider? $1 per 1% alcohol content? Tyrrany of the main bar joint in town? In other words, more BS) If the legal crowd has a conspiracy to get the little ones wasted, I never got the memo.
But I did want to chill with my brother. I wanted him to have an awesome time. Instead, by the time we entered where we were sposed to, the venue space was packed and we could only stand on the side.
SIDENOTE: if you're short, suck it up. We tall people don't owe you anything, and it's not our fault that our genes gave us the height advantage. Squirm your way elsewhere. It's a concert; you're going to hear the music no matter what.
Croc Rock security employees are pretty funny. They have to be laid back to endure the kids and some music they can't stand. Despite griping from shorter audience members, they appreciated our three person situation and inability (and unwillingness) to make the whiners happy. They earn Croc Rock's one star from me. The bassist was signaling to its sound people constantly to tweak things. Sound set up was pretty poor.
Otherwise, wtf are they selling so much under 21 space for? What on earth is the rationale for giving adults wristbands, stamping kids who are under age, and THEN segregating the drinkers anyway? No one from the venue even checked bags on the way inside! High schoolers were passing around the traditional liquored up gatorade bottles. Nice try, Crocodile Rock. Not.
I had my doubts about driving up to Allentown. Now I know I won't go back.
The Croc Rock has its plusses and minuses, but they seem to equal out making it a good place to see a band you really like and a miss if it's just someone you're so-so about. Â
The Good: Â The set up is actually a lot larger inside than you might expect. Â The sound quality was better than expected. Â It's an all ages venue, even if they keep the kiddies coralled like livestock! Â There are three bar areas and a beer station, so you really don't have to wait to get a drink. Â If there's a crap-band on the bill and you don't want to listen you can go to the front area and play ping-pong (for free). Â Yes, ping-pong. Â The bathrooms were decent, even at the end of the night.
The Bad: Â It's in Allentown! Â (It had to be said) This place is HOT. Â I mean temperature-wise. Â It was stifling in there--add to that a pizza kitchen and a crowd of sweaty kids dancing around and the mercury goes way up. Â At some point they finally decided to open the side garage-style doors to let some air in, but only half-way. Â The price for drinks is pretty high considering the location. Â
The Strange: Â We had about 5 tickets on will call and 2 of them were for underagers. Â Since the underage entrance is all the way around the side of the building, there really wasn't any communication between either of the entrance workers. Â So I guess if you're a little shady you can get twice as many people in than you pay for. Â
Also, I don't know who is in charge of booking here, but there were two really amazing bands rounding out the evening (Jealousy Curve and Innerpartysystem) but right before them there was a trainwreck of a "band" that was so bad we had to leave and come back. Â I don't understand what the point of booking someone horrible is and I guess I never will!
The thing about Croc Rock is that after all is said and done, it's just okay. Â I won't go back unless it's a really amazing band playing AND a bunch of my friends are also going. Â Otherwise it's just not worth the trip from Philly.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
so exciting to review a place my ex brother in law and dear friend who is a MUSICAL GENIUS played a gig I was lucky enough to catch. Â Cheap PBR. Â Booze... oh wait.. A SMALL LITTLE CLUB.
It has what you need. Â Awful or aggressively awesome loud awful music.
Sort of teeny bopper, but I am down with a open minded community. Â The under 21 section was about twice the size of the over section. Â Some might hate that. Â I like not having people with *actual* energy knocking my booze.
Anyhoo... fun joint. Â Just fine. Â Bar section if the music kills you. Â With small trivia games.
Absolutely horrific. Â I went here to see Hanson in March 2007 and the show was sold out. Â Mind you, OVERPACKED. Â I met up and hung out with a friend who had come all the way from Delaware, and we were waiting together in line, only to be let in about an hour later than we were supposed to be let in. Â To make matters worse, Â it took another hour or so for the opening band to come on. Â There were WAY too many people, the security was obnoxious, and my friend and I were crammed into a corner in the back where neither of us could see the stage. Â The opening band was Mr. North, a local group from Philadelphia. Â They sounded great (despite the crappy acoustics), but I couldn't see them at all. Â As if that weren't enough, it took an hour and a half for Hanson to come on. Â Somehow my friend and I managed to get out of the corner we were crammed into, and if I stood on my tiptoes I could kind of see the stage. Â Regardless of where Hanson performs, they always put on a great show, but I could barely see them!
What disappointed me the most was that my parents came to pick me up before Hanson's set was even half done.  The next big undertaking was squeezing through the crowd to get out to where my parents were parked, but had to make a detour to the restroom along the way.  Ewww...how disgusting.  There were cigarette butts everywhere and there was no toilet paper, no soap, and no paper towels.  This venue does such a bad job keeping up their facilities.  If it's changed at all, I'd  give it another chance, but after that, it's not somewhere I'd go frequently for concerts.
I know I am getting old, so maybe I can stand to be a little more tolerant of music venues in general, but something about Croc Rock really just rubbed me the wrong way. Â I don't expect venues to be sparkly clean, nor do I expect bouncers or security to do happy dances and for my drinks to be inexpensive. Â Heck, I don't even expect the sound to be good at mid-sized venues like this, because if you're going to see a band at a venue like this, you have to realize that the band/organization sometimes does not have a say in what kind of sound equipment is used. Â Usually it's going to be either crappy or a little less than crappy. Â So it goes.
What I didn't like about Croc Rock is that it is yet again, another venue that caters to the under-21 crowd, and not vice versa. Â This is really just weird, in my book. Â Because my friends and I were legally able to drink, we were placed in a side section where we could have easy access to the bars. Â That's nice and all, but we were then forced to face the side of the stage and were roped off to a tiny portion of the venue, which is not large to begin with, while the youngins were able to have full reign of the rest of the joint, including the very important aspect of being able to watch the band and hear the music the way it should be seen and heard. Â
I understand the separation, and I actually agree with the concept; I've danced next to many wide-eyed sixteen year old tank top glittery kiddies before and I've wanted to shoot myself in my very sticky beer-soaked foot, but placing the adults off to the side was just a big disaster. Â I wound up walking out in the middle of the second set, which was the very first time I'd done that in what had been 6 years of seeing this particular band, and about 85 shows.
A live venue in Allentown, gotta give it points for that. Â I have been drunk here many times, usually watching out for an even drunker Matty. Â I do believe I watched Mr. Dunbar rock out on stage while opening for Monster Magnet years ago. Â Most of the time there is a cover, but they usually have some beer specials for a couple hours. Â Tell yourself that makes up for it. Parking can be a complete hassle if a decent band is playing and you're in the middle of downtown so street parking can get a little sketchy. Â This place is huge. Â There is the back where there's a bar and the bands play, standing room only but a lot of room. Â The front has another bar and pool tables. Â Then there is the downstairs, almost maze like. Â The downstairs is divided into a bunch of rooms, different music playing in each one. Â Usually there aren't very many people scatter around down here. Â It's really very dirty and smokey, but it's interesting enough to check out. Â They have couches spread out, who knows how many almost babies were made on those things. Â I've had a bunch of decent times here and I'm sure one or two more to come.
Review Source:One of the best places in the Lehigh Valley to see a show if you like rock or alternative bands. Well, actually...it's one of the ONLY places in the Lehigh Valley to see a good rock or alternative band, maybe that's why it's so great.
If you're over 21, you can go in the front...the main entrance. If you're under, you gotta use the entrance in the alley. On a safe note everyone gets frisked now before going in.
I've been there a few times, most recently the Three Days Grace / Black Stone Cherry / Arcana concert last September and it was good. The bands rocked bigtime but it was crowded and hard to move. Still a great place to see a show, though. Just be careful of the area once you get out...Hamilton Street in downtown Allentown isn't exactly a "safe" place at 1 or 2am.
Crock Rock is your regular club, it improves during the summer when they open the outside area. Â They bring an array of shows, from Rip Van Winkler (aka Vanilla ICe) to Social Distortion, who still have a great show if you've eer seen them. Â
Watch out for the gropers and werido's naturally but still a good time if you want to get out.
Part of Allentown's Entertainment district, Croc Rock is the best alternative music venue in the area. They often have low or no cover charges for 21 and over. Underage people can still get in on certain nights. Check the calendar for details.
It is often smokey, and has the usual beer scuzz on the floor as would be expected with this type of venue.
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