Viejas Concerts in the Park

I went to see Hank Williams Jr with my then girlfriend. The price of the tickets were affordable and the fact it was General admission, you can't beat it. The sound system was perfect and we were able to here every word sang and the crowd was friendly. You can see everything from the shopping areas. The security is a bit of a stickler because they wouldn't  let shoppers stand in one area for too long. Hey, they spent money to shop let them enjoy the sounds at least. The only reason I gave it a 4 star rating.

Sure it's way way way out of the way, but it's an open park concert arena! It's set up pretty awesome and gives you a kind of utilitarian feeling in a close, yet comfortable atmosphere. The sound sucks pretty bad though.

Some fears people may have are:
- Driving to a far off land to see music sounds shitty. It is.
- Driving to a far off land and drinking doesn't make sense. It doesn't, so don't.
- Can I gamble after wards? I don't want to lose a shit-ton of money.  Well, the downside is that if you drink, you gotta sober up. And I'm sure that's where they take your fortune because the damn outlet mall is closed and the only thing to do out there is gamble, or more drinking. So you're effed either way.
- Can I meet the girl of my dreams there? Sure.
- What if it's not an idea date spot? It's way better than PB. You should go for it. Plus it gives you a long car ride to get to know your date.

Venue on the merits of being a venue.. Aces.

This past weekend I saw my third concert here 'in the park' (Flogging Molly, hell ya!). And I must say that all three times were awesome.

I don't ask a lot of concert venues but I don't like it when a venue
-Treats me like a criminal
-Treats me like cattle
-Rips me off

So I'm giving this place a star for the staff who treats you with respect yet keeps things orderly. A star for having a big open venue that's easy to move around. A star for giving me some good beer choices without charging me double what they should. Add two more for good sound, good sight lines and real working bathrooms.
And there you have a five star venue in a national forest, on an Indian reservation, in the middle of an outlet mall.