House Of Vans

Last night was crazy! As part of Vans Almost Summer Series, they had three Saturdays of performances spanning different genres. For this last event Pusha T and Vince Staples came through to tear the House of Vans apart.
The experience here this time was a lil different than a few years back. The line for getting in was well organized even though the hypebeasts and sus boys were cutting the line.
Once you got in you can tell a lot of people only came through for free beer. The beer was PBR (watered down). I guess they had to stretch it but whatever. I noticed way too many people couldn’t handle their drinking as we saw dudes and chicks falling all over the place drunk.
Now for performances. Vince did a few joints off his new album, he got the crowd hyped and ready for the main event. Now when Pusha came out, it was all over!
Between the contact high and the free beer, everybody was messed up. I found myself dancing with random chicks, dudes were jumping into the crowd and when Pusha did Grindin (a Clipse classic) some kid on acid was doing back flips.
Overall the event was fun, and Vans out did themselves again. Although I still didn’t use that port o potty I’m scared.

nice warehouse with an area to skate. great shows all summer with free beer and food trucks in the outdoor area

Sorry but this place is pretty gross. It’s cool there are free shows but that’s not too uncommon in brooklyn. The beer is free because of course they can’t sell it (doubt they have any sort of license) and it runs out pretty fast anyway.
Basically you need rsvp your free ‘ticket’ online and bring all the info with you, then get there super super early (like, 5p) stand in line in the sweltering heat for 2 hours, get in but really you’re going to be in their back yard most the time when bands aren’t playing. So you stand in like in the sweltering heat again for your free beer. It’s tiny and you’re parched so you finish it in one minute then go up and wait for another one.
((If you get there after 6p, you will still be standing in this loooooong line in the heat, and even though you have a ticket, it’s not guaranteed you get in. first come first serve.))
After your tiny light beers, you have to use the bathroom and are then directed to a bunch of port-​a-​potties outside. good times.
The backyard part is fine but sucks in the heat of summer and when it’s down pouring rain.
Inside is fine, where the bands play. It’s huge (since it’s actually a skate park) but is also sweltering (though, that’s kind of expected at a venue so whatever). There are fans but…
Sure, everything is free but sometimes it’s worth it to shell out $ 15 to be able to pee in a real bathroom and not melt in the sun.

I saw Melvins. And Baroness. Together. For free. With free beer. What?!
Here’s a bit more detail though: Make sure you arrive early. They over «sell» the free tickets by more than double. It’s hot as hell, but significantly cooler underneath the giant fan. They always run out of beer before end of event (one time it was Heineken Light which is like a 3% alc./vol. beer, no wonder apparently everyone kept coming back) and the line is a bit unorganized. You’re best off drinking your beer while getting back in line OR drinking your beer while waiting for a portapotty to become available, because that takes a while too. Do these make this place deserve less stars? No. It’s all gratis. But it may be helpful to know what to expect. There’s also lots of free vitamin water. Great for people who like cough syrup (XXX) or that artificial sugar taste (vitamin water zero). Apparently they don’t stock the good stuff (Energy).
Personally, I’m just super happy I can get all this stuff for free, even with its faults. Where else does such a thing exist?

I was here recently again, last show of the summer for Les Savy Fav. They are an old school indie rock band and they did pretty good on this night. They really got the crowd into the show, it also helped that people had about a 2 hour free access to heineken beer. i got there kind of late so I only got two beers before they ran completely dry. These parties are still an unbelieveable good time. There are a few food vendors outside that will get you full as well. The place is kind of out of the way, a bit of a walk from the train but the excitement of this place is worth it. I have not actually been here yet on a regular day just to see the skate park.

The House of Vans has become one of New York’s staples for gratis beer and awesome free summer concerts. Vans’ alter ego is a skate park, making space limited and lines to get in atrocious at times. But on the plus side, there’s an open area in the back complete with free Vitamin Water, food trucks and a beer garden for unlimited Heineken. Unfortunately, you’re not allowed to drink beer beyond the beer garden so good luck enjoying a brew and the show simultaneously. But judging from the empty bottle of Captain Morgan left behind by the group sitting near me, it’s easy enough to sneak in your own contraband (if you’re OF AGE, of course.)

Went to the cursive/​Joyce manor show last year, free beer, free show, no complaints, just wish I was able to make it to a few of the other shows

Very cool place! It’s huge with a giant courtyard in the back. Free !!! concert with free beer, though you had to drink the beer in the courtyard and the sound wasn’t the best, who am I to complain about a free event.

I’m gonna be that guy who gives a 5 star place 4 stars!!! I will mention the missing one star at the end of this overly positive review.
Now, before I start, you might want to go to the website and RSVP for the next free show. Whether or not you like the band. OR, look at the list of remaining free shows for the summer, note the RSVP date, and get into a free show for a band you like.
Last week my friend and I went to the 7 PM Toro Y Moi, Shlohmo, and Jonwayne show.
We got there from NJ at around 5 something and the line had to have been about 100 people deep already. You wanna get there early. They give out 2,000 tickets and have a capacity of about 900 (I heard a guard say) and it’s first come first serve.
It might have been more than 100 people already come to think of it… we were like two blocks away and it was not a single file kinda line.
My friend drove and there is tons of parking in this part of Brooklyn FYI.
I didn’t print my ticket out or use data on my phone to show my ticket to the doorman. I downloaded it to my Passbook app and they scanned the QR code.
You don’t even need an app, just the QR code.
Simple.
We got in no problem and walked into a world of free beer, cheap Mexican food and ramen. There was also free Vitamin Water. Like… TONS of free Vitamin Water.
We chilled around in the outdoor area until the main act played. That’s when we went into the warehouse. It was sorta warm, but at this point it was 9 PM and there is a GIANT fan the size of a windmill spinning overhead.
This ain’t some wimpy fan. It’s the kinda fan that if it fell, all 900 people in attendance would die.
Even the people not inside the warehouse.
Just sayin’.
Anyway, the missing one star stems from the first time we came here 2 weeks prior and couldn’t get in. That’s when I heard about the capacity thing… why give out 2,000 tickets if you can only fit 900 hipsters?
But other than that, RSVP to a show… you won’t be disappointed. If you don’t like the music, drink and eat and then go do something else. It’s Brooklyn, I’m sure you can find some way to entertain yourself.

I saw Toro y Moi/​Shlohmo/​Jonwayne here last night for FREE. Yeah, all shows that happen at House of Vans are FREE. I think all the shows are on Thursday nights, which is a bit shitty since I work Fridays. Worth it though!
Although you can’t buy a pair of Vans here (not that they aren’t cheap as hell already), in addition to free performances, you can get free vitamin water and lemonade. I think the beer costs though? Don’t buy anything from the noodle bar, my friend hated it.
It was a pretty hot day out yesterday, but the giant ceiling fan kept everyone nice and cool even when the crowd got really huge. It’s also surprisingly clean inside (surprising because the outside is ugly). The inside is modeled a bit like a skate park, which you can actually watch the performances from. Hard to describe unless you’re actually there.
For parking — drive around the side streets nearby for long enough, and as long as you know how to parallel park, you will find something. Again for FREE
Also, print your damn tickets. Don’t be that guy.
Speaking of tickets, the line to get in will be long, but you’ll probably get in. If you get there early enough though, sometimes they give free posters to the first 70 people they admit.

Great versatility for a location. Skate park, concert center, movie premiers, art gallery; you name it!!! This place has FREE shows, and is so relaxed. Definitely a great spot to check out a for a show.

The place was dirty, sticky and smelly. The port-​o-​potties had a half hour wait and were thoroughly sprayed down with piss. But the music and beer was free… FIVE STARS! :)

What bad can you say about a place that puts on AWESOME & FREE shows. Oh they also have awesome sponsors that give you free beverages… including alcohol.
Be sure to actually print your rsvp like the email tells you to. They make 2 separate lines and if you’re the schmuck with it on your phone that ain’t good enough and all paper carriers go past you.
I had paper… I win.

Why why why why why can’t they sell their shoes here? *huge pout*
The reason I remembered to review House of Vans, as I recently saw a show here, is because I am looking for a freakin’ pair of Vans that I can’t seem to find anywhere. *shakes fist in the air* HOUSE OF VANS!
However, I did have a really great time seeing Fucked Up and the Cro-​mags FOR FREE here a couple weeks ago. Seriously, what an amazing experience. I haven’t seen the Cro-​mags since I was a kid, and I’d never seen Fucked Up before — and both bands definitely brought it. Add to that the fact that there was FREE beer, water, and coconut water (note: I love awesome gratis)… well, this was basically the time of my life. (As a side note, I had to laugh when John Joseph started telling everyone at House of Vans how hard-​core they were for not selling out… you know, Vans also sponsors the Warped Tour… obviously a different crowd, but still lolz).
This warehouse space is huge and has both an indoor and an outdoor skate area and a huge stage. I love the fact that someone graffitied «WINO» (like the metal musican) on one of the walls. Everything about this place reminds me of my childhood going to shows, and makes me duly happy to have returned finally to the East Coast. I absolutely recommend coming here if there is a free show you wanna see (be sure to RSVP) or if there is a show you want to see at all — with a capacity near 1,000, it didn’t even seem crowded — there was plenty of room for everyone. And there was even a taco truck in the outdoor area for the show. Are you kidding me?! \m/

Oh hey, since we’re a big corporation let’s blow a ton of money on an awesome venue for hipsters and skaters to chill out, drink, and listen to some badass music.
What? That’s not good enough? Let’s make a ton of events free!
Vans, you guys rock. nuff said

Yay. I’m first!
The House of Vans is a new ginormous event space and skate park that opened up in October of 2010 in the Greenpoint area of Brooklyn. It’s allegedly 24,000 square feet, and after being there to see a show I’m thinking that may be an understatement. I’ve never been there to skate but like I said, I went just recently to see a live show (Chairlift and Smith Westerns and Spectrum, respectively) and it’s a great place for that.
There’s lots of space, and since they only have private events it’s never over packed, even though it would require a whole LOT of people for that place to be overpacked. The sound there is great and they usually have great live performers on deck, and they definitely will this summer. I’ll say check the place out, you won’t regret it. Trust me!