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Nokia Theatre L.A. Live
Rating Details »
Category: Arts & Entertainment [Edit]
Neighborhood: Downtown777 Chick Hearn Ct
Los Angeles, CA 90015
(213) 763-6030
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
91 reviews for Nokia Theatre L.A. Live
great sound from this venue, awesome bar, very nice over all.
if you arent within the first half seats near the stage, CENTER sections... dont bother buying tickets.
watching from the side is pretty bad.
This is a very good venue on the inside but it's mostly intolerable on the outside, if you're like me and not down with malls for adults. Parking is pretty nightmarish around here. If you don't mind a walk, I recommend the $5 parking lot several blocks north on Figueroa over the pricier lots a block or two closer.
But the venue, yeah, it's really good. Excellent sight lines, a pair of video screens on either side to add visual accompaniment, and a generally pleasing if somewhat cold vibe. I've seen a pair of shows here--Echo and the Bunnymen and Leonard Cohen--and had a really good time. Too bad it's located in a charmless, vaguely Rick Caruso-esque vision of what a downtown center of culture should be.
We were one of the lucky 200 people that was invited to the Michael Jackson, This is it Premiere to watch red carpet front and center!! My first visit to the Nokia Live so I plan to go no matter how crazy it was going to be. :-P I was looking so forward to go to finally have the chance to go to Nokia, but it wasn't as good as I expected, actually the theater itself was a let down! Sound system wasn't all that great consider it was only a movie we saw.
The only good thing I enjoyed was the surrounding with the nice few restaurants.
Parking was not very convenience.
They wanted $25!! for parking because it was also a Laker's night.. We ended up parking on the street, 2 blocks back because we got there early. So that saved us some money.
They had three levels. Each Level has there own concession stands and rest rooms.
The seats were small.. barely any leftover space to squeeze in and to get out of the aisle to go to the restroom, etc, you have to make the entire row stand up so you can squeeze on by.
A pretty nice venue, but I was surprised at how small it was. Went here for the FRA benefit concert for the Philippines. There's a few "levels" from the bar to the stage, and there's seating upstairs (though I have yet to figure out how to get there). No seating downstairs, unfortunately.
The bartenders are awesome. No drink menu, just know what you want or how to make it.
In order to enter this establishment, you climb 2 escalators to reach the third floor. On each floor, there was someone making sure you were legit. Fine. Keep out the hooligans. BUT you might want to check out the peops you've got on the inside. The bartender artfully offered a sample of his special elixir made of mainly.... BEER (7/8) and then added a titch of Triple Sec and a squeeze of lime. He had a fancy name for it and it was good. Bravo. So my mate and I ordered one for each of us on the next round. I handed the bartender a $20 and waited for my change... "Oh, they were ten each," exclaimed the bartender. Neither my boyfriend nor I had any more cash so I promised the man I would double tip on my card for the next round. What I didn't see (and thank goodness my boyfriend did) was that this fool rang us up for two plain beers at $7 each and pocketed the rest. Very clever. We left right after we finished our $10 beers (which weren't Chimay) with the confidence that we gave a healthy tip and a promise to never return.
P.S. The DJ played only hits from 2003 such as 50 cent's "Candy Shop" and P. Diddy's "I Need a Girl". Had I known it was a college reunion party, I would have worn a dress. Give me a break.
Nice venue! We had loge seating which is on the second level. I was surprised that even at the loge seating, it still felt like we were close enough to the stage. But I do recommend bringing binoculars...which I always do to scrutinize the performers in more detail.
The people who worked there seemed very helpful and polite. The drinks were from 8-13 which is the same for all venues and the sounds was great. Good experience all in all for my first time at the nokia.
Tip: if you want to save a buck...park a block or two away. We parked for $10 compared to parking at the nokia which will cost you $25. And if thirsty while in the nokia go to the second level, no line there compared to the downstairs drink/food counter.
I came here to enjoy Star Wars: In Concert. Ahhh Michael and his love for beautiful LA. Mikey don't you feel like Homer Simpson in New York City? Remember make sure you pay for your parking tickets in LA, so you will not end up with a boot on the Supra. The L.A. Live place is a great place for someone to take a date and spend the day, if you have the cash to burn. There are plenty of other great things to do in the city of LA that are much cheaper and a lot more authentic to the city.
This is one of the state of the art venues I have ever been to. Sitting down enjoying the quality of sound coming from the speaker system set up in the venue is awesome. I would not mind going back here to listen to watch someone in concert (Echo and The Bunnymen is coming up). It is LA, but Michael I love LA...hahaha.
My husband and I saw Star Wars: In Concert last night at the Nokia Theater.
I would not recommend our seats for any performance, they were sold to us as unobstructed but this is false. They were in the second row of the orchestra on the left side seats 500-528.
Also every single row of seats we passed had cup holders but ours did not. This would have been a big deal with the seats weren't quite so narrow. The tall gentleman next to me elbowed me several times, he was very apologetic and could not help it.
I would not recommend these seats for an event like Star Wars: In Concert. The are low and there was an extremely large boom with a camera attached to it about 10 feet in front of these seats and a man operating the boom. It was very distracting during the performance. I think perhaps better planning when placing the boom would have avoided this issue for the most part.
We spoke to an usher and her manager before the show started as did several other people in our section. Some people were told they had to buy new tickets and I know one man did go ahead and by 4 new tickets during the intermission in the middle section for him and his family. I could see he was just trying to make the best of the situation for his kids.
IMO that was unacceptable. Getting moved was a big production, when they finally moved our seats the performance was 3/4ths over and we never got our ticket stubs back. Once we were moved to the middle section, our view was perfect.
Security was fast. The theater is new, clean and beautiful. The sound was great. The concessions were relatively quick.
I would probably come here again, but I would never pay full price to sit in those seats ever again.
Pink Floyd was awesome! Went and saw them on 09/24/09.
I'm just glad we have so many options in downtown area for concerts, planning on seeing Anita Baker soon...
Went to my very first concert at the nokia theater while i was waiting for MJ advance screening tickets.
I walked up the escalators and purchased my tickets. Was easy to get into and when I walked in, It was immaculate and very clean. State of the art televisions and a fully stocked bar with great bartenders. Prices of alcoholic beverages was very moderate and was reasonable. The upstairs was nice and has a door to go outside if you're a smoker and/or just need some air. The bathrooms are very clean also.
I would definitely attend another show or concert at this venue.
If it was not for House of Blues, this would be the worst venue in Los Angeles. First off, it's stale as can be, and stinks of corporate greed. I want my music hall to have music exhibits out front, I don't want to be sold a cell phone. Security here is a joke. At a Queens of the Stone Age show, I watched security make people throw away their cigarrettes at the door/not allow them in. Inside, it feels too big and akward. It just does not feel good, and the lighting is tacky. The sound is ok, and the stage is large, which is nice. However, I would rather see a show at The Greek or Universal (sorry, Gibson).
As for a tip, if you want food/drinks go upstairs, as the line is a mile shorter than the lines downstairs.
It's widely known that I'm a sucker for a variety of things; designer jeans, a home-cooked meal, hardwood floors, and curvaceous women with pretty smiles and no gag reflex to name a few. Live music is another. Music has also long been one of my passions as witnessed by the small fortune triple the GDP of a few unindustrialized countries that I've sunk into a massive CD collection over the years. Still, nothing beats actually hearing the songs in person with the backing of a live band so anytime one of my favorite artists swing through Lalaland I scoop up tickets with the quickness. Most recently, I went to check out one of the best soul singers of our generation, Anthony Hamilton at the Nokia Theatre.
This was my first visit to the Nokia, and while it's a nice, clean, and modern venue with a good location next to Staples and all the restaurants and spots in the new L.A. Live setup, it did leave much to be desired. The stadium seating and multi-tiered layout reminded me quite a bit of the Gibson Amphitheatre. It was much the same in that the seats were comfortable and the view was great, but the vast open space creates somewhat of a detached experience and connection between the artist and crowd. This is furthered by the two enormous LCD screens adorning the side walls that provide a crystal clear view of all the action on the stage, but essentially reduce the concert atmosphere to that of a movie theatre.
And that's what it boiled down to; I felt I was watching a concert rather than attending one. Anthony Hamilton and his band did their best to overcome the limitations of the venue by keeping the crowd involved throughout his amazing performance, but I believe the overall experience would have been far superior at a smaller and more intimate venue like the H.O.B. I hear the Greek Theater is an incredible venue as well, but I'll have to wait until John Legend in September to get the low down.
Ultimately, even with Nokia's shortcomings, it's still not a bad place to catch a show, and I wouldn't hesitate to drop some $ the next time an artist I want to see is scheduled here. Anything for some live music. 2.5 stars.
We saw George Lopez here on New Years Eve. He was so funny! I love laughing and especially loved the "sore" after laugh feeling I was left with. I think I was the only white chick there! G & I went with his sisters and hubbys. We had a great time and started off the evening at The Palm where I had a gorgeous piece of fish! The thing at The Palm was that the waitress knew that our show was scheduled to start earlier than our tickets stated. She made sure to let us know and also made sure we made the show! She told us what NOT to order if we wanted to be on time. Thanks to her we were able to enjoy the show!! On nice fully bellies I might add!
Back to Nokia Theatre......We had great seats and could see Lopez' expressions up close as we sat laughing with our neighbors. The concession stand "help" was far from helpful..... and the lines were so long, It just took forever and of course everything is super super expensive! We enjoyed ourselves and our VIP seats! What a treat!!! I'll never forget that show.
I came here to see George Lopez, the seating was great. I must compliment the architect for creating an experience at all seat levels. We were in the seats in back of the pit area, but towards the end. Our view was great. Our view of the two screens was great and sound was great too.
the crowd was supportive, no hecklers, because they were kicked out. Security was very competent but not agressive or rude. They had some food, hot dogs, soda, beer and chips but not much, mostly alchohol beverages.
Outside the Nokia center looked nice, we saw trees lighted up and screens anouncing events, the whole place looked nice.
This is definately a great venue for concerts, comedians etc.
Went to see Stevie Wonder here...amazing! (Not just the concert, but the venue) Very clean and well organized inside. Helpful staff, lots of space. I'd consider going there again anytime.
Parked off site to avoid the 25 bucks at their structure (after 6 PM parking is free on the street if you can find it, we got a 5 dollar structure spot and kept the keys about 1 block away)
Have fun, the outdoor mega screens really look cool at night. They're doing a lot to clean it up downtown, so we're trying to support that effort. A+!
I attended a Kpop concert here and I'm not even Korean. Don't judge me. I'm an Asian popculture blogger, get off my e-balls! Anyway, someone once told me that being inside the Nokia Theater was like being inside a Nokia cell phone. I've never been inside a Nokia cell phone, nor any cell phone for that matter, but I think I've come close with this venue.
For starters, anything involving color or light here, including 3 wide screen projections is large and bright. Guest service is incredibly nice and hospitable. The sound and acoustics are AMAZING. Much like the cell phone I wish I had. If you're sitting in the orchestra section, you can take decent pictures of the stage. If you can manage to ditch your seat in the orchestra section for one near the pit, no one will really hassle you unless your seat was preoccupied. Not like I've done this before...
Parking, I'll warn... is $20. But in a weird way, it's sort of worth it. There is an abundance of parking and the parking structure is designed to prevent any entrance/exit confusion. You're in and you're out, with no traffic to deal with. Not to mention it cuts the stress of finding an LA parking spot on the street, if you're like me and you're from Orange County and are totally intimidated by the idea of street parking. Overall, great venue!
I realize this is yet another late review, but "better late than never," right? Anyway, here's another review in three parts. Enjoy...
The Good
-Adele opened up for John Mayer. Beautiful voice, great personality, and better live than on her CD. A-maz-ing!
-In my opinion, not a bad seat in the house. They've got two large screens to the left and right of the stage for those of us without binoculars. Nice!
-Plenty of "eye candy" in the crowd (read: gratuitous boobage). Schwing!
The Bad
-$20 for parking?! Ouch!
-The overaged, wannabe hipster dude a few rows in front of us performing his version of nearly every John Mayer song rendition through the wonder of interpretive dance. Vomit a little in my mouth!
The Ugly
-John Mayer's "O-faces." Vomit times infinity!!!
Fin.
ps-Remy's gonna kill me...
Watched a concert at this nice theater, right across the street from Staples Center. This indoor place is pretty nice and classy. First thing though, get there early to find parking. You may have to walk far if other events are going on. Was $20 to park right next to the theater.
Outside the venue, is a large viewing screen showcasing the upcoming events. At night, it really lights up the area. I wish all of LA looked this good. Around the building and inside had some neon lighting, giving it a hip feel as you walk to your seats. Very clean and the seats were really comfortable. It was like a high end movie theater, but no movie. I could see that this could turn people off though, because it does have a "watching feel" as opposed to a "involved feel." However, people did get up off their seats and jam to the music, especially those in the lower area. I was in the center LOGE area and had a good view of the concert. Plus, with 2 large screen on both sides of the stage. It's pretty much easy to see what's going on.
I ended up having a good experience here. Would love to come back here and and enjoy another event.
The Nokia Theatre is miserable. The slope of the orchestra and loge seats is at such a low angle, that it's almost impossible to see beyond Fat Head in front of you. In my case, Fat Head was a fat woman with a "Marry Me Simon, I'll Divorce My Husband 4 U" sign. Riiiiiight. Dream on chubs.
I'm sure my experience was made worse by American Idol, a/k/a "Teenage/Young adult/Middle-age Female Screamfest 2009." Seriously, I've never seen/heard so much high pitched screaming since my friend Kristi took me to the Backstreet Boys concert at Philips Arena in the ATL back in 2000.
Extra star added for their VIP valet. I got a free ($50 value, holy schnikey!) VIP valet pass through work, and it was SO EASY. Pull in, get out, take escalator up, oh hello theatre! Time to leave: take escalator down, car waiting and pointed right towards the exit on P1. Love love love it.
Is this theater a little too modern? Yeah, I suppose so. It's more a place to see concerts and whatnot, as opposed to an actual on-stage theater production. So why it's called a "theater," I do not know.
Both the interior and exterior are wrought with neon and glare, and it just adds to the whole Tourist Trap Feel of the downtown LA area. The courtyard in front of the theater is large and open, and can accommodate lots of people and vendors who mill about outside.
The inside is amazingly futuristic. There are lots of blue neon lights everywhere, everything is still fairly clean, and it just has a sleek look to it that anyone can appreciate. The seats inside the actual theater are really really comfortable, more so than any other theater I've ever been to. There are cupholders and plush cushioning, perfect for curling up and watching whatever show you choose to watch. The aisles are wide and the spacious staggering of rows also allow for lots of legroom. The stage is huge and the acoustics are great, so it's a great place to watch any sort of musical performance.
All in all, I'd prefer to be here than most other performance venues in the greater LA area. ^^
The good: no problem finding a drink or a bathroom
The bad: echo-ey sound and security who don't know the venue very well (yet, probably)
The other: I can't decide if it's cool or it sucks that it's in a mall. I mean, there's lotsa dining options, but paying $20 to park at said mall is a little painful, and I don't know that I liked Tron the movie enough to spend my evenings in a mall version of the same.
just to caveat, i do prefer smaller venues. But I came to see leonard cohen, so i expected a gigantic crowd of boomers and their children, as well as some more well-versed 20 and 30 somethings.
but this isn't a venue.. it's a place to get advertised to. I should know, i work in advertising. target and toyota were everywhere.
i didn't try any food or drink. the music sounded good, and the view was great. The seating arrangement isn't bad at all. But it's just way too big and looks like i walked into a super-trendy west side sushi restaurant.
I had free tickets here, and the seats were towards the back. They were pretty far from the stage, which was kind of disappointing. I thought the sound system was fine (though some audiophiles have told me that it is not that good).
Overall, the theater has a nice look to it, and there are plenty of things outside the theater to do before/after a show. The concessions are upscale--kind of like the concessions you would get at the Hollywood Bowl.
Going to the Nokia Theatre LA Live Theatre is like going to the movies, not to a concert.
My cousin is stalking John Mayer. Wherever he goes, she goes, and yes, she's been on the Mayer cruise (a new discovery for me). Johnny was playing at the Nokia last Saturday, and she had an extra ticket. If he was playing at the Greek, I would have passed because I've been to the Greek. I am not familiar with Mayer except that he dated Jessica Simpson. Since he was playing at the Nokia..it's a new venue..I've never been...ok, twist my arm, I'll go.
Parking was no problem but then again we paid $20 for the lot next door to the Nokia. If you're cheap or broke, I found ample of street parking on 11th street (west of the freeway bridge, about a 5 minute walk, before 11th St. turns into Chick Hearn Ct); you might just need to bring a pepper spray with you...
There wasn't a big wait to get to through the security check point or to our seats. Like everyone said, you have the grand stage in the center and two enormous screens on each side of the stage --for those who bought nose blood seats. I wouldn't be surprise if they start airing commercials on the screens like at the movies any time soon...We sat center left, row NN. I was able to see the bodies on the stage, but had to look at the screen to see what was going on. I think center left or center right and anything before row P are good seats. The space between your seat and the seat in front is very narrow, so you will def need to stand up to let people through.
I don't know about the food, but they serve vodka! Cos and her friends had New Moon.
For the smokers, you just need to suck it in, because they don't allow readmittance if you go outside.
Surprisingly, I enjoyed the concert; Mayer is a very talented musician and a great drunk performer.
Would I go see a concert again at the Nokia? Probably not unless my seat is between A-J; I'm blind.
For the Mayer stalkers:
http://www.yelp.com/bi...
DONNIE WAHLBERG OF NKOTB KISSED ME ON THE FOREHEAD HERE. OH YES HE DID. 5 stars just for that.
The theater itself was nice, comfy seats, decent sound, I liked that there was a screen high up on either side of the stage for the performers to put graphics on, or the performer to appear on so the nosebleed seats could see better. Plenty of snack vendors wandering the aisles pre-show. Security seemed decent, and handled the New Kids making a pass through three aisles well, if not nervously.
I never go to big shows any more, the last one I was at was at Staples, so I'm comparing it to that venue, which isn't particularly fair. Nokia had very few options for food, and needless to say, they were heavily marked up. The VIP lounge was fairly small and nice, but not sooper cushy. Small bar, not too many tables, there were bowls of snack mix on the tables and a buffet with veg egg rolls, veg quesadillas, and Kettle Chips with three types of dip. An elevator will take you directly to any floor (I'm guessing if you're in there, Orchestra), and there's even an elevator operator! Also, in one of the rooms, odd paintings/prints of musicians, mostly the Rolling Stones. I don't get the giant picture of Keith Richards sitting down with his guitar, wrinkled and debauched...with a large parrot on his shoulder.
Tip for the ladies: take the escalators down to the very bottom (the sign says there's a lounge, but don't worry about that), there are more women's restrooms. Also, there's a coat check down there! Even after the show when everyone was leaving, there were little to no lines!
Prior to seeing him live, I liked Lupe Fiasco's music, but thought that he was a little too wimpy to play "Hide The Golden Vacuum Hose." But after seeing him rock the crowd last week, I'll likely ask him to play whenever he happens to be in my pants. "Kick, push" all you want, baby cakes.
From the outside, the new Nokia Theater is cool in that "let's see how many seizures we can induce by flashing annoying neon lights" kind of way. All of a sudden, everyone under 25 is suffering from ADD, requiring something bigger and brighter than your typical rainbow Dunks and bedazzled jean pockets. Kanye is nowhere to be seen, but bad imitators pop up like maggots in your week old pizza box.
/end old geezer's rant/
The interior of the venue is fairly intimate, like a cleanly polished HOB without the history. Before the show starts, sneak up to the fourth floor via side elevator and find yourself in a swanky lounge full of adult hipsters and overpriced drinks. If you prefer your "over 21" wristband to be enviously eyed by pimply potheads, stay on the third floor. The sound is fantastic. Although we ended up at the back of the crowd, I could easily see the flashy sparkle off of Lupe's coat and smell the sexy off his little body...then again, maybe somebody needs to wear more deodorant.
Smells like Teen Spirit. Smells kind of young. Rawr.
/end cougar's rant/
Whoever thought of the Nokia theater and it's layout is AMAZING. I want to give them my first born, because this venue is the future when it comes to lines, security and seating. First off, there is 343442331 entrances complete with girl to pat you down, guy to gave a metal detector over you and a full life size scan like the one they have in airports. Basically it's done so quick, you can easily slip in a gun.
No lie, they check out me and my body but the guard takes my purse away from the scanner and detector, that it's simply overlooked. Wow. I could have bought TWO GUNS if I wanted to. Odd, but whatever. The staff is awesome filled with sassy chicks who worry about their hair and if it's going to get wet. AND, the seats are crazy-large where I glance at my sister and she's a mile away even though we are sitting next to each other. LOVE IT. The lighting made me feel as if I was seeing a musical and the sound could handle all the screamers. I didn't miss a beat, I'm so impressed and pray that I could see some of my other favorite bands at this venue. But the only snag is that this place has odd choices for food.
Quick, go see a live concert at the Nokia Theatre. No, let me re-phrase that, go see a good band that has their sound check dialed at the Nokia Theatre.
I went to go see Kings of Leon at this venue --thank you, MIss Roubi K.--last night and it was the 2nd best concert I have heard in my life next to seeing Radiohead at the Greek! The place is immaculate and huge and the sound is mindblowing.
They had my favorite beer, Newcastle, at concessions, so naturally I don't have any complaints about it. The prices of food and drink are what you'd expect, $7 for that Newcastle but $6.25 for a domestic brew, and $10 for a margarita.
Parking is uber convenient. But what I thought was strange was how they had all these Nokia phones on display in the concessions areas. I mean did the Glen Helen Blockbuster Pavilion at the time have movies for rent?
The greatest venue to see a concert...
Ive seen The Eagles, Carrie Underwood (my girlfriend wanted to see her), Kings of Leon, Shiny Toy Guns, Rush, Tenacious D, etc etc... I would not Hesitate to go back to this venue in a HEARTBEAT... Beautiful large concert hall, with accommodations to handicap elevators, seats are comfortable and have cup holders, the drinks and food are amazing "FULL BAR". The staff is hands on and everywhere giving a helping hand which was a huge plus and cant believe it every time I go.
and the best perk about this concert hall is the SOUND OF THE MUSIC... it's pitch perfect, it's beautiful it's sublime, its mesmerizing.
I would recommend this concert hall to anyone, even if it's a mediocre band I would still go see them just to be an the atmosphere of this place.
Five big, big stars.
State of the art and stunningly beautiful inside. Holds 7,100 but feels much smaller and more intimate. The sound is incredible and the football-field sized closed-circuit plasma screens on either side of the stage are crystal clear and almost hypnotic.
Yeah, the concession prices are crazy high, but pretty much every venue has high food/beverage prices. Eat your dinner and drink your booze before you get in and you'll be a happier camper.
Minor criticism: The seats could (and should) be a little bit further back from those in front of you, but so it goes. And frankly, I couldn't care less about the wall of Nokia phones you might see when you enter the joint. Sure, they are a little tacky, but you can walk by them in half a second. They didn't bother me one bit.
Well worth a visit.
I've seen a few concerts here and so far I haven't' had anything to complain about this venue. It's easy to get it, it's easy to be seated, I've so far had good seats so I can't say too much about the view of the stage if your not seated within the first couple of rows. Of course the longest line is always for the booze, which is on the pricey side so I recommend you hit one of the bars at L.A. Nokia during happy hour. The restrooms are always clean and it's so easy to exit this venue once the concert has ended.
The Staples Center "village" is a cross between NY Times Square and Downtown Disney, ridden with neon lights-galore. And somewhere in this maze of lights, bars, stores and people lies a high security, uber new and schmancy Nokia Theatre. (Question, why are there 2 entries for this on Yelp?)
First, fantastic sound system. If you're going to see a show, sound is primarily an issue. There were some spots where the sound was muffled under the lower ceiling areas (under the 2nd level), but those were merely pockets in the far sides of the venue.
Second, line of sight is generally pretty great for the GA (standing room only) area because of a tiered and sloping floor. And from the seats above, the view of the stage is breathtaking, yet precariously leaning toward nose-bleed/vertigo-city.
Now for the bar! I didn't expect a music venue to have a decked-bar that is comparable to the best of Vegas and NYC lounges.
Considering it's new and in the heart of a burgeoning downtown area, it's a great venue. I'm accustomed to the gritty venues sprinkled throughout the city, so this was an entirely new experience for me. I generally feel that the best shows are in a venue where you can feel (and unfortunately smell) the soul of previous shows. Since this is still so gloriously clean and new, it's hard to say it has a soul. But it sure has a lot of glitz and glam.
Main reason I'm a fan? It's booked by Goldenvoice. I love their work.
This place is just terrible. It's too big for an indoor venue. They let the audience take drinks into the theater and of course they promptly spill all that beer everywhere polluting the air with an oh so lovely carpet + beer odor. No good indoors...
The parking is terrible. There are too many other venues (Staples, etc.) close by which makes it much worse. Overall a real clusterfuck of a place.
I'm forced to come here because sometimes the acts don't play anywhere else in the region. Leonard Cohen, I'm talkin bout u... don't you have any sense?
Wow, this is a beautifully designed theatre. 97.4% of the shows I see are in HOB or smaller type venues. You know, shitty rock clubs & bars. I usually avoid big venues cause I don't want to pay the frequently exorbitant ticket prices to sit in the nose-bleed seats. But when I heard that John "I may be all over People Magazine, but am really an insanely talented musician" Mayer was coming back for round 2 of his holiday review at Nokia, I had to get tickets.
So last night we headed up to the show from San Diego. Parking was super easy in a very nice, new-ish looking garage a few blocks away off 9th street. It was only $10 and the attendant said that our ticket was good through the morning if we were planning on partying in the area and coming back for the car the next day. We didn't need it last night, but it's good info to know. Getting through security and into the venue was probably the easiest concert experience I've ever had. They had more than enough staff to handle the 7,000+ people this place holds. That's damn impressive if you ask me.
While walking to our seats I walked by the house's mix console and gained quite the audio-geek boner when I saw they were using a Digidesign Venue console and had a bunch of Universal Audio outboard processors. What that means to someone who's not a dorky-ass musician like myself, is that they spent the big bucks to make sure the place sounds gooood. And once the show started, I wasn't disappointed. Granted it was solo and pretty much acoustic the whole time, but the sound was flawless and I imagine it would be the same for a full band.
The seats are your standard theatre seats. Not the greatest, but certainly better than having no choice but to stand for 3 hours. Their concessions were kinda crappy and expensive. But all venues have kinda crappy and expensive concessions so I'm kinda stoked when they have any at all.
Even though most of the shows I see are at small venues, for the 2.6% of bands I like that are big enough to play a venue this size I will always go out of my way to see them here. This place is really top notch.
Not a Bad place, plenty of Bartenders and had front row seats for Joe Cocker who never lets you down, but it did not look like a bad seat in the whole house. Also very clean and very fun and secure area with lots of restaurants around to get a good tuneup before the concert
The theater is great. The staff sucks big time. Typical low-level ghetto morons.
Long story short, the concession area will make you want to leave. Long lines (15-20 minutes to get through maybe 8-10 people in front of you). Incompetent staff (not knowing the drink/snack menu or prices). Poor planning/layout (15 minutes before show time the pretzels weren't heated. Staffer had to walk all the way to the end of the counter to find a champagne. Then he could barely find it. Took his sweet time to open it, too.)
Suffice to say, I don't want to go back. I've written a scathing (and unanswered) letter to Nokia in complaint, but have yet to hear back.
If you have VIP tickets, this venue is awesome. The lounge area is very swanky and cool and has cool little cabanas and good food. Be forewarned though: I thought based on the ticketmaster chart that I would be up close right next to the stage, but the actual VIP seating area is in fact on a balcony. That bummed me out quite a bit, but in the end the people performing came up to the VIP lounge, so it all worked out in the end. The VIP area is 21+ though, and they will check ID if you don't look it. If you want to also be able to get into the pit, it seems that you have to get a blue wristband when you get there, so instead of going up to the VIP area, see if you can get one of the blue wristbands and then you might be able to enjoy both VIP and the pit.
Also, the actual theater isn't where the regular big Nokia theater is, which was rather confusing at first. It's across the courtyard from the bigger theater.
So nice! Need better skybox and food. Convenient restroom locations, valet parking, escalators.
Best concert venue I have been to and I have been to hundreds! I saw The Who for two shows in the pit seats. Never actually sat down but the seats looked comfortable! Sound was great from up front. Very friendly staff. Actually gave out free ice water after the show!
I walked from the O hotel about 4 blocks away and saw ample parking all around. The web site also has a good parking map.
The exterior is much like the Ginza district in Tokyo, huge TV screens and electronic signs, lit up trees and music playing. When they finish the whole LA Live this place is going to rock.
So it seems Nokia Theater is the best place to hold a venue of status. Hence THE GLOW IN THE DARK TOUR. I bought tickets for my sister because she LOVES Mr. West. The seating was amazing we were in row 13 so close to the stage. Lupe Fiasco opened, the line was long to get drinks so we caught him in the end. Then N.E.R.D performed I was floored and so impressed with their performance the first two openings acts were so hype and got the crown pumped!!1 Then...came... Rhianna (WHY) I think she was included because of Jay Z. She was useless her performance was dull and lost the vibe and energy of the first two performers so My sis and I went to get more drinks :) Oh and the Hot Dogs and Popcorn were a great munchies snack...
Then the Main act KANYE... He literally is a one man show and DOES NOT need Back-- Up He was amazing. I am still in awe from the performance. He really put his all into this tour and it showed and reflected on him being such an arrogant performer. I really fell he has earned that right :)
GO KANYE!!!
