Bank of America Pavilion
Categories: Stadiums & Arenas, Music Venues [Edit]
Neighborhoods: Waterfront, South Boston290 Northern Avenue
Boston, MA 02109 (617) 728-1600
- Price Range: $$
- Accepts Credit Cards: Yes
- Parking: Garage, Private Lot, Street
- Good for Groups: Yes
- Wheelchair Accessible: Yes
- Outdoor Seating: Yes
- Music: Live
- Best Nights: Fri, Sat, Sun
- Happy Hour: No
- Alcohol: Full Bar
- Smoking: Outdoor Area/Patio Only
31 Reviews for Bank of America Pavilion
To say a place "blows" is not to just say that it "sucks". To Blow is an aggressive outward act while to suck is an aggressive inward act. That is all.
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A really great outdoor venue for shows in Boston. Better than the Hatch Shell in everything except for location. Great lines of sight from anywhere in the pavilion and good sound overall...it gets a bit echo-y on the sides.
One of the best nights of my life was here...Bjork and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs got moved from Suffolk Downs (!!!) to play here. It was wonderful!
The "box" seats around the edges are actually ideal, but they're exposed to the elements. God help you if it's windy out. Note to people with lots of hair: wear a hat or tie it down! Bring a sweater too....the breeze off the ocean can get cold!
Beer is ludicrously expensive, as are most snacks. I'd advise eating before you get here and save your money for a brew or two. Beer and snack selection, however, is excellent.
Parking is convenient at local garages and relatively cheap for most events. Best of all, one doesn't have to deal with the same Tweeter Center style parking nightmares.
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Lets just state the BASICS on why if any band you like comes to town and plays this venue, you should be there!
EVERY SINGLE SEAT has a great view
For a "big" venue" it feels very intimate
Great food options (for a concert venue)
Decent Beer selection $7 for a small bud $9 for a large Harpoon (expensive, but cheaper than other large venues)
Gorgeous views of the light of the city from the water
Great acoustics
SUPER easily accessible by T, or car
(parking ranges from $11-$20 and you never deal with a packed parking lot and line to get out)
Just please please remember to bring a sweater even if its a bit cold. Since its RIGHT on the water, take whatever the temperature is in the city, minus 15. The cold air blows right off the water and can TOTALLY ruin your otherwise great night!
***This is the only place I have EVER seen the main act booed! Death Cab for Cutie tried to tease the audience about green Red Sox hats with shamrocks on them and they legitimately BOOED him! Honestly, it gave me more respect for Death Cab, but it was pretty crazy because I have never seen that happen before!
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Now seriously, who wants to see a show at the Fleet Center.. I mean the TD BankNorth Garden? The Pavilion is intimate and offers great views of the ocean. It is also easy to get to via the Silver Line! And if you're hungry, the place offers Pizzeria Regina and Ben and Jerry's for dessert! By far, my favorite place to catch a concert in or around Boston!
I can't wait to hear who will be at the Pavilion this summer!
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Without question, The(name your corporate sponsor here) Pavilion is my favorite place to see a show. Great accoustics combined with interesting acts are the reason behind the 5 star review.
Also, any nocturnal activity on the waterfront in the middle of summer would be fun, but The Pavillion is truly special.
Great venue, good times
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Iiii aamm am am goo inng inng tooo givevvve itt tt-t-t threeee sttttaaarrzzzz assss assss itttttt getttssss reaaallllyyyy chilly y y ly ly sommmmm e e nighhtttzzz.
Or else, I would give 5 for the ocean view, and the harbor and 4 overall. But 3 stars to attract your attention : especially in the fall, be careful what you wear at night.
Decent acoustics. Not too small. No bad seats. Sometimes you can just go to the seats in the back, put your feet up and enjoy the show. I love walking around the pavilion at times. It feels free. Even when walking around, I can follow the stage via the large screens on the sides. A definite fresh breath from all indoor concerts.
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"Phenomenal [concert] powers! Itty bitty [seating] space!"
The Powers:
Amazing acoustics, beautiful lighting, large video projections on either side of the stage...I could go on and on. It truly is a wonderful outdoor venue. It's such a shame that the only space you can really appreciate that this venue is on the water is in the VIP section. Yes, the seats are plastic folding seats...but guess what, this isn't a year round venue. And at least chairs are provided unlike a lot of other venues in town. Need to go to the bathroom?? You'd be hard pressed to have to wait in line, even in the women's room. There are sooooo many stalls! Good work, BoA Pavilion!
The Seating:
It's so small. I don't think there's a bad seat...and even if there are a few less desirable places to sit, they're not nearly as bad as some seats elsewhere.
...Wait, it has a seating capacity of 5,000? For serious?? Because of the layout and probably some other design techniques I didn't bother to pay attention to (for once), they can afford to book slightly larger names without having a nose-bleed section. I much, much, much prefer this place to the TD Bank North Garden. And what's more? The prices aren't ridiculous.
This really is one of my favorite summer venues in Boston.
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I love this venue. I've seen many shows here (Tori Amos, Morrissey, Bjork, Chris Cornell) and each time the lighting and sound have been great.
I'd give it 5 stars if it weren't for the staff- rude and disinterested.
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I LOVE catching shows here!
I find that it is really, really easy to get to with PLENTY of reasonable parking. $12 to park in a garage the night of the concert is not expensive AT ALL. SO if you're thinking of either driving or taking the T, DRIVE!
The food is not ridiculously overpriced. I love the fact that this venue has actual brandname food like Legal Seafoods and Sbarros. I was able to get two GIANT pieces of pizza and a soda for $9.
The seating is great! I've had a chance to sit in a few different places at this venue and no matter where I sit, I'm comfortable and the acoustics are great. The staff is friendly.
It feels intimate without everyone sitting on top of each other. The tent is a really interesting structure and the ocean breeze is definately appreciated on a hot and/or humid night.
This is by far my favorite place to catch a show!
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I would definitely recommend this great venue. To skinny people.
The seats are about as big as those mini-folding chairs you get from the wedding rental stores. You know the ones... They barely fit a 7-year-old, much less a full-grown adult. So, I was sandwiched between my husband (who is quite large) and another large, tall gentleman. I had to stand sideways. Sideways! And, dancing was definitely out of the question.
I would also recommend bringing much warmer clothing than you think you'll need. I was there on a breezy fall day, and I had on three layers - a cami, long-sleeved shirt and a zip-up sweater. It still wasn't enough (although, if I had just brought a windbreaker, that would have done the trick).
Otherwise, it is a great venue. Good food options, nicely laid out, well situated, and great accustics. Also, there is some relatively cheap parking nearby and it's easily accessible via the Silver Line.
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Amazing place for a show...as long as it's not to hot out. I saw Morrissey here...twice. LOL!!
I love that there is no lines to get drinks, that you can stand away from the crowds, get a drink and still hear the music.
Now...just to figure out if the VIP club is worth it???
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Feels smaller than it is, which is a good thing in a large theater. Their beer policy - only one beer per person - means that you may chug your beer so you can finish it and get another one when everyone else is. No, I'm not an alcoholic. Nor did I mean to get ragingly drunk. But their policy to prevent over serving ended up with me being over served!
Anyway. The G-love concert was awesome, plenty of bathrooms, wicked easy to get to. I would go to another concert here in a heartbeat.
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Went here last night for the Live & Collective Soul concert. The only thing that sucked was that it got pretty chilly towards the end of the night since our seats were right near the side. We had AWESOME seats, right next to the VIP section. I too found the folding chairs lame, but we weren't sitting most of the time anyhow. Also it kinda sucks to be a short person, especially when much taller people are standing around you and block your view. The video screens help a lot, though.
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Amazing venue - yes yes yes. Let's talk about staffing, though. Kudos to the very nice ladies who saw we were swooning at tall, dark Chris and moved us right up front, but a v large smack upside the head to the loser old guy in the "staff" shirt guarding the stage for telling me he "runs the place" - hahahaha, staff shirt man, come on! - and moving me back a row - just cuz he could, apparently. Relax and breathe dude, i'm 125 lbs. Hardly a threat.
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Saw Wilco here last night, for my first show at the BOA Pavillion. I loved it, the key points are.
- Great food and beer selection (though beers were pricey - $9 for a 20oz harpoon)
- Open air on the sides, but covered above. Rain is a non issue.
- RIGHT on the waterfront makes for a nice breeze and atmosphere on a summer night.
- Folding chair seating is lame
- Good sound for someplace that seems like it would have bad sound.
- Two jumbo screens abutting the stage show live footage of the show, so you get a nice view of random things on stage even if you are far back.
- No real bad seats, we were pretty far back and it was fine
- Big and clean bathrooms
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This is my favorite place to go for a summer show, and here are my reasons why:
+The seating is good and angled and there's not a truly bad seat in the house.
+It's all covered and I've seen once of the most beautiful shows when it was raining like hell all night (Elvis Costello and Allen Troussiant).
+I won box seats by putting my name in a drawing last year, and we ended up having VIP seat roped off for The Stokes and Wolfmother.
+Good drinks/food options.
+It's easy to get to, via MBTA, foot, or car.
+YOU DON'T HAVE TO GO TO THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE TO SEE AN AMAZING OUTDOOR SHOW! I've driven and been stuck in rush hour traffic to get the other venues, and none of them compare to good old Harbor Lights.
It's almost the time of the year for good shows to come rolling in, and I am crossing my fingers some of my favorites play here.
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great in the summer.
good sound, atmosphere, bathrooms, food, assortment of bands etc. I've only done two shows here, one with Lou Reed and one with Elvis Costello, and they were some of the easiest staff to work with.
For some reason I have been here a few too many times at the end of the season during a cold rainy night with the beginnings of the flu, and I still find people to help me out with hot water for my own tea.
oh, and I always can see and have a good time.
I can't hate it if I tried.
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I'm so glad I had a chance to check out the Pavilion last night, I thought it was the shit. What a great venue to see some music at a somewhat intimate place. And what a kick ass tent structure. I found myself staring straight up at the tent throughout the night - and i wasn't even trippin! Really cool architecture. The acoustics sounded great to me. I thought the staff was pretty cool - they did shine their flashlights at a couple of stoners a few times, but they didn't kick them out or chase them around, like I've seen at other venues. The beer prices were a bit high, $8.50 for 20oz, but it was a big ass beer, so I pretty much expected it. And on the way out we caught that free trolley bus thing over to Lucky's. Good deal!
If you want to see a band/show in a great summertime atmosphere (right on the water on good old Boston Harbor) this is the place to see them. As other reviewers have mentioned, the sea breeze and the tent are a welcome plus on a hot/humid summer night. The stage is fairly low to the ground and there is almost no bad seat( even the last few rows are decent) though they aren't the most comfortable seats, who cares! Does anyone sit down at a concert?? The sound is clear and the acoustics are excellent all around the stage area (this is a fairly new arena so the sound equipment is up to par) and the lighting is top notch. Lots of alcohol and food stands as well, so the lines are minimal though the beer prices aren't cheap I believe you get 16oz cups so who am I to complain. I had a damn strong Margarita here though so if you have the $$ I would invest in at least one of these puppies! One of the best shows I saw was Iggy Pop and Fischerspooner at the WFNX Best Music Poll. They had tons of booths set up and it was just a awesome summertime concert. Hopefully they will do another here soon!
I have had the fortune to see two shows here. Great venue with covered seating area so shows are generally "rain or shine". The Pavilion is located near the water so it can become chilly which is usually welcomed on warm summer evenings.
What I truly love about this venue which was particularly noticed during my recent visit here is the abundance of flat screen televisions throughout the venue area outside of the tent. It's great to get a beverage or some food and not miss a beat of the show. Also, a large screen on stage projects the show enabling all for a GREAT view!
As others have noted, the seats leave much to be desired although they are padded so they are not as uncomfortable as one might expect from prior descriptions. The proximity of the rows makes one feel a bit cramped as you can usually feel when somebody behind you is moving about .
Expect to pay at least 20.00 for parking in nearby lots but be sure to get there early as the lots fill up quickly. If you arrive early, take a look at the amazing architecture of the Paviilon from afar and then truly take a close look when inside the venue. The tent is particularly beautiful when lit at night ... Check out my photos.....some from just a camera phone but still showing the aura that the tent exudes :)
Great venue for concerts. I went to see sigur ros here. Despite it being 40 degrees and rainy, the show still was awesome. The beers are expensive, but you get like 230923 ounce cups, so it's actually a good deal for a concert. If you're favorite band is playing the pavilion, don't miss it!
Saw the Beasties here last night (bumped into the guy from sabotage). Been here dozens of times - the setup is amazing & so are the acoustics. The bathrooms are suprisingly bad though (toilets looked like they came from a g-d scrap yard).
One other annoyance was they consider the umbrella a potentially threatening/hazardous object & need to be checked w/the coat check (why not be up front about this on the web site? you are an outdoor pavillion).
Other than that, I've seen tons of great shows here & look fwd to going back soon!!!
I'm surprised by the glowing reviews. I wanted to like the place - easy to get to with public transport, outdoors on the water, very good acoustics. But overall, it's like sitting in a parking lot. You don't feel like you're near the water; you hardly feel like you're outdoors. The layout is helter-skelter and the buildings are just plain ugly, the food/drinks are overpriced, everything is kind of dirty, and they have weird and inconsistent rules about what you can and can't bring into the area.
For example:
-Disposable and digital cameras are allowed, but "professional" cameras aren't. What does that mean, exactly? Couldn't a professional camera be digital? What about my prosumer SLR? And couldn't they put this information on the Web site?
-Plastic bottle drinks might be allowed, it depends on the perfomer (according to the staffer), so you can try to bring your own but you might have to pour it into a plastic cup they provide at the entrance.
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I pretty much loathe outdoor venues. The acoustics make me want to poke my eyes out to distract from the pain my ears are experiencing.
However, I love the Pavillion! Here's why:
1. it's small
2. it's walking distance from the Barking Crab, which you should very well take advantage of beforehand
3. there's not a bad seat (in my experience)
4. they serve monster sized beers
5. tickets are normally reasonably priced
6. the seats in the back with the tables - I got these last summer and at first thought they were going to be terrible but in fact were terrific!
7. there's actually decent acoustics
I can't wait to see this summer's lineup!
EDIT: two of my most favorite shows were seen here. Radiohead in June 2006 and Damien Rice September 2007. I live so close, and the fact that Fort Point and Fan Pier are exploding as of late, this area is going to be THE place to be very soon. PLEASE continue to bring amazing talent here!!!!!
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There isn't a better place to see a show around these parts. The Pavilion is an amazing open air venue that sits right on Boston Harbor. You get to watch the band do their thing as the sun sets and it's true, there really isn't a bad seat in the house.
I also enjoy going to shows with different food and drink vendors to visit and this place has that going for it as well. The ticket price is a bit higher than your average club -- but I really can't complain because it's money well spent and I'll gladly invest in keeping this place's appearances up. I'm even considering seeing shows here that I normally wouldn't go to (Willy Nelson's playing here in a few weeks? Heck, why not?) as it really is just highly enjoyable to hang out here. Top honors.
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Am I really able to convey just how much I love this venue with only words?
Hell I will try my damnedest........
First off, mmmmmmmm....I smoke. Yeah, Yeah I know. But you do not have to wait HOURS to have a smoke.....Since it is outside you are able to smoke just outside of the seating areas........PRO!! PRO!!!
Next, their isn't a bad seat in the house...they even have tables towards the back.......just so cool.........You also don't have to climb over a trillion people if you want to go get a drink or use the restroom
Next, they have several restaurants in the area if you want to eat beforehand and also the typical Pizza Hut stands inside.....so cool
Next, it is on the water so during summer nights it isn't extremely hot....the view is awesome and the air smells FRESH!!!!!!!
Easy to hop on the T...just a five minute walk once you get off the silver line..........also....everything is SO clean...........
The only con...the bathrooms......almost feels like you are at the beach........they are in a wooden structure on stilts........I dunno.....not the cleanest.........but oh well..........
Definitely get out here and take in a show......you will not regret it!!!!!!!!!!!
There are some good things about this place (LOCATION!) and they do get good acts (Elvis, Cowboy Junkies, Shawn Colvin were all great!) but this place needs work. The crummy folding chairs are horrible, and the front sections on the far right and left can't see the stage. you're better off in the second price section, or hanging back near the food/drinks. Not to mention the fact that a few of the security guards are absolute utter jerks (ie, you have to sit in that seat that you can't see from, rather than standing next to the row)
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My favorite summer venue ever. It's always cool and breezy, shows are fun even if it rains, and the sound is great no matter where you are. The beer isn't even all that overpriced! In the 3 years I've lived in Boston, I've been to about 10 shows at the Pavilion, and I've never been let down.
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It's an awesome place to have a concert whether it's spring or summer. You can mix the great outdoors with great music, and ALL seats are good seats here.
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I am fully and completely obsessed with seeing shows here. Every concert I have seen at this venue has been amazing - the acoustics are great, the location is fabulous, and there isn't a bad seat in the place.
Grab some drinks at the Barking Crab beforehand and make it a perfect summer evening!
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summer concerts, outdoors, by the water, tickets under $50 ...... nuff said. buy your tickets early because its a small venue and sells out fast.
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