Saint Andrew’s Hall

Good location for a venue. Depending on which artist comes here this can either be the perfect size or too small, you be the judge. This place is really old but it’s a good layout and great drink prices. They ask you if you want single or double drinks. They do a good job of advertising upcoming shows/​events at the entrance.
I do think this venue would benefit from good ol’ fashioned spring cleaning. The women’s bathroom smells and looks so yucky, grimy and disgusting. I’m talking worse than your average bar/​venue women’s restroom.

Almost everyone who works here is a complete fucking asshole. Look, I get it, Mister security guy. You’re awesome. You work at a Detroit venue and you’re bad awesome shit. Congratulations. That doesn’t give you the right to be a douche or dick to the rest of the paying public who helps you to have a job and a paycheck. They completely oversold Anberlin. They didn’t post when they canceled Savoy. They completely fucked the Alex Clare show we are currently at. Get your heads out of your asses and quit ruining great shows.

At Andrews hall was a fun evening! Adults of all ages dancing the night away! Upgrade your ticket for a place to sit while you enjoy the view of the dance crowd! It includes a drink & pop or water! Great choice! Nice evening!

Phil at the door is the best! He was so kind, he went above and beyond to make sure our experience was the best! Kim is the sweetest too!

Saint Andrew’s is such an institution it cuts them slack they really probably don’t deserve. I mean, the other night I thought about writing a review, tapped on four stars, then paused to reconsider if I wasn’t overrating them just because of coolness factor or nostalgia or something. I slept on it, and I decided I was. I like the place, the fact that it’s in an old church, and it’s in-​between size, but it’s not the greatest.
And really, I haven’t been to a lot of shows here. I just went to Built to Spill here last month, and it had been about 5 years since I had been to St. Andrew’s before that — Negative Approach in 2010. I still remember trying to go see Jon Spencer Blues Explosion here back in the day, and getting wasted at Steve’s Place cause it sold out. That’s what adds to my overestimation of the place — the shows I couldn’t get into. More often I showed up to 3 Floors of Fun and just got wasted to different DJs spinning.
It’s too hot in the summer. Sound can be weird. The place I first tried to stand for Built to Spill things weren’t sounding right at all. I could barely hear the guitars. Then I moved to the other side and closer to the front and they sounded a lot better.
The basement has always seemed like some rich kid’s slumming it party to me. The main floor, I tend to feel like human cattle if the place is anywhere close to full. And good luck getting upstairs.
I do remember I was up there for the Flaming Lips back in the 90’s. This was right after they got their one-​hit wonder 15 minutes for «She Don’t Use Jelly». I took a bus downtown and got there way early, a long time before my fashionably late friends. I got a big beer from one of the twin bars, one of those fat oil cans of Foster’s if I’m not mistaken, and managed to retreat up to the mezzanine, all the better to lay back, and spot my friends from on high. Shortly after I sat down, this old man, like old with white hair, not me trying to sound old by telling old stories, sits down near me with his grandson, who I think was in third grade, and both were excited to be seeing the Flaming Lips! I talked to them for a couple minutes before retreating back into drink and self-​absorption, and then meeting up with my friends. The band put on a great show, and as I was leaving I saw the kid and his grandfather, still smiling. And now that kid is old enough, he could be taking his son to see bands at St. Andrew’s.
St. Andrew’s just has that sense of place where when you leave, you feel like you’ve been to an EVENT. And it’s good enough for it to endure, generation after generation. But it’s not good enough for me to loft it up into 4 or 5 star range.

I love this venue and have seen many great shows here through the years. The place has a great history and many famous acts have played here. The basement bar is fun when they open up after a show, sometimes you can get lucky and party with the band like I did with William Reid from the Jesus and Mary Chain. That was a few years ago. What a night that was. I had to promise my wife never to come home that drunk again lol. I don’t remember it all but my friends said I was bartending at one point in the evening. I think I gave William Reid my hat. Ha haha.

I have been to plenty of event and concerts at St. Andrew’s and have never been disappointed.
It probably one of the best places to see an up and coming band if you are looking for a more intimate type setting.
Don’t plan on sitting down though, St. Andy’s does not have seating it is general admin open floor kind of deal. So push and shove to find you perfect spot and don’t move. lol
If you want to hang out there is a basement bar that’s pretty cool, not what you would expect that’s for sure. Its pretty nice.
Anywho yea St. Andrew’s is so of a Detroit staple… if you haven’t been you should check it out.

A buddy and I saw the Smallpools/​Grizfolk/​Vinyl Theater concert here on May 6^th 2015. We were close to the bar area and we ordered a few beers and mixed drinks. Beer was cold and the mixed drinks were spot on. All three bands sounded great although I’d like for the vocal sound be turned up a few notches and the bass turned down a bit. The crowd was mostly teen girls but for being a tall guy, I was able to see the stage pretty clearly.

St. Andrews is great for shows that will attract a crowd, but nothing too big.
I love that there’s a balcony– it makes it more likely that I’ll find a spot where I can actually see the stage.
Unless you’re some kind of VIP, expect to not have any seating available!

First time here over the weekend to see a new ‘up-​and-​comer’ called Halsey, my daughter is a fan so we drove down from Canada to check out the concert. Not normally my thing as the crowd was 95% teen girls under the age of 20, but being a good dad I thought I’d suffer through it.
This place is a great venue for smaller bands and artists, no matter where you stand you never feel too far away from the stage and the sound is loud but not over the top deafening. If you wanted to get away for a few minutes you could wander downstairs to the Shelter to soak up a little piece of Detroit nostalgia.
I have to give a shout out to Phil, all the staff were friendly and professional considering controlling teen girls is like herding starving cats with one mouse in the room, but he went one step further and allowed me to hang out and no feel so old for one night!
I would definitely come back here for the smaller venue concerts, awesome time.

Good venue space, decent sound quality.
We came here recently to attend a show of one of our favorite electro pop artists and she was great, but the sound balance and quality totally did not do her justice unfortunately. Treble and bass were too high, and all you could hear were the instruments. Need more vocals!
On the flip side, the wait to get in wasn’t long, and the staff was friendly. In fact, since Husband and I had metered parking, they were kind enough to let him exit to feed the meter. Word to the wise — once you leave, you CANNOT come back in. We heard so many people being upset that they couldn’t leave to smoke.
Prices of drinks are high, but I don’t mind paying because it’s part of the experience, and we don’t get to do this often at all. However, they only accept cash, so bring some moolah with you!
For a standing room venue, the balcony gives you a great view of the stage from multiple angles. They have rectified the heat problem, so you all can dress normally and not bake!
Aside from the sound qualms I mentioned, I would gladly return to this place for another show. It has that historical feel and you really feel the Detroit street scene while being here.

I went to a show over the weekend and saw Vance Joy. I hadn’t been here for a show since the early 2000’s so I don’t remember it too well from before. But this recent experience deserves five stars because I’m not holding it against the venue the retarded crowd that we encountered.
Despite having a group of 4 tall people in front of us creating a wall that we had to break up, then a tweaker couple, probably on Molly, making out and sweating all over each other’s faces, and a teeny bopper gossip party next to us that wouldn’t shut up the whole time about how they are in love with the artist… WE STILL ENJOYED THE SHOW!
Not sure if it was Vance Joy who made the experience so redeeming, or the bartender who was so helpful in suggesting a beer from their great selection of Michigan-​made craft beers, or the fact it was so easy to park for free and not have to wait in a long line to get in. I was already looking online on the way home looking for tickets to buy for our next visit!

Just saw a show here for the first time in ages. I don’t know what all went down in the past, but St. Andrews dropped from my radar for quite a while. The last time I was there, it was mid-​2000s. I waited forever for a beer, and I wreaked of smoke and sweat upon leaving. Sound quality was always questionable. That said, I saw some amazing shows there over the years. This is no doubt an iconic venue in Detroit.
Now back to the present. I walked in there and kind of thought I was at the Crofoot. Good craft beer selection, good lighting, I can breathe. Band came out — whoa good sound. All in all a great experience. As long as they keep booking good artists I will be back.

I had a ticket issue for the Gary Clark Jr show. Basically I threw a ticket away and kept the receipt. I called and spoke to Samantha and she made it right. Only at a place like St Andrews Hall can you still get someone on the phone who can think on their feet and make MY mistake right. Plus, it’s one of the best venues in the city to see a show. Easy to go pee and get a drink. What else is there?
Mike M.

This place is pretty cool. Saw Cherub there recently and it wasn’t really packed, even though it should have been because Cherub destroyed that sh*t!
The drinks are on the pricier side, like every other stinkin’ concert and sports venue in America. You expect that going in. But the scene was cool, almost an underground-​type vibe with a wide assortment of people enjoying themselves.
It’s one of those places all people from southeast Michigan have to experience at least once, from the people to the music to the overall good time. It’s a representation of what the city of Detroit really entails, and the architecture takes you back to a time that was much different and, dare I say it, maybe better than things are today. There is beauty in this place.

I’ll up to four stars because a manager contacted me mere minutes after my review posted to open a dialogue about the not so awesome parts of my concert-​going experience, as well as feedback on the parts that were awesome. He came across as sincere and I think a business that reaches out to customers not just based on bad experiences, but to ask how to improve even on the good parts, speaks volumes.
Maybe, MAYBE, I’ll go back for a concert. But, I still think that I’d be more inclined to go to a different type of event for the reasons in my prior review.

We’ve done two of our larger Pink Slip Party events here now, both with over 700 people at them. I’ve also been to other events here just to show up and see something. Great place overall.
— The staff is incredibly helpful and flexible leading up to an event.
— They’re also great when it comes to getting things setup the day of and rolling with situations as they evolve.
— When chaos happens (and what event doesn’t have a little chaos?), they’re on top of it and ready to help in any way they can.
Parking??? Well, parking’s always interesting downtown. It is what it is.
Highly recommend getting here for an event of any kind, or booking them for your own events. We’ve already booked for next year, if that tells you anything.

I came here so often as a teen they probably thought I was part of the crew. I had not been back in years though. A Unilocal event brought me to bask in the nostalgia.
There have been improvements. It is not nearly as hot and claustrophobic as I remembered. It looks a bit less trashed than in the good old days but I was at an adult event, not some drunken wild crazy, ahem ok moving on.
The sound is still not awesome in here but I used to love hanging out in the balcony area or crushed around the stage at any rate. There is a intimacy here and you definitely feel a part of things. As an adult it feels impossibly small but I never noticed much as a kid because I was too into the experience.
It was cool for a party with the multi levels and cozy nooks. I definitely could see it being used for more casual things like that easily as long as the music was off. The acoustics make conversation during kind of impossible.
Sometimes it is fun to take a step back in time though.

My friends and I returned for another Prince vs. MJ Experience w/​DJ Dave Paul. I was really excited to see that his 1^st visit to Detroit was successful & he came back!
This time I was able to convince several other friends who were nervous about the area and it’s reputation. They missed out on a great time in April! I didn’t feel like my safety was at risk before or after the event. Security was present outside and inside the club.
We had even more fun this round. I didn’t have beer goggles on last time either. The bartenders were on it all night. I never saw a big back up of people waiting to get drinks. We had the opportunity to get on stage with a bunch of other people & dance with the DJ. No one was obnoxious or rude. Everyone seemed to be having a great time. DJ Dave Paul is awesome & puts on a great show and SAH is the perfect venue. It wasn’t overcrowded at all. It wasn’t hot, even for a summer night in August. Believe me, I get hot before anyone else. I was comfortable all night. The womens’ bathroom was still pretty clean, which really says a lot. Really. Women are gross when it comes to public bathrooms, especially in bars or night clubs.
We’re looking forward to the Unilocal event in September. I hope Dave comes back & would love to check out a band soon.

Reason number three million and forty-​two I adore my partner is that he sometimes just asks me to get in the car and we go somewhere. Surprise! I open my eyes after the drive to Detroit only to see that he has brought me to… church? A church with hipsters smoking outside? No, no, it’s ok Sam. It’s a music venue not a youth-​group-​ambush/​intervention. Phew.
So this is the way I see it. There are the DIY music venues of punk-​rockers and grindcore kids in warehouses or anarcho-​collective-​homes. Then there are the small dive bars. And then, there is the terribly awkward adolescent jump into mid-​size music venues. There is no inbetween. One moment you are playing to a crowd of 100 people in a packed tiny room. The next, your record makes a decent splash and for your next release, you are playing to a crowd of 150 in an 20−80% empty large room.
I don’t know. Like the jump from childhood to teenhood, these kinds of midsize venues lose all sense of logic, intimacy, connection, and community. You are around staff who work the venue even if someone they hate is playing and that apathy and irritation shows. Plus the sound system is like a pubescent boy’s voice cracking — if you’re standing too close to the stage, there’s not enough distance for the bass to break so you just have empty muddy sound. Finally, there’s such a weird mix of audience members that everyone is awkward with each other — no one really fits in.
I’m terribly happy I went in the winter for a show because even with it being 25 degrees outside, so I was uncomfortably warm inside. I will definitely not come in the summer after reading your horror stories. That said, the stage was a good size and visible. And the lighting was nice along with the fog machines.
I don’t know if I’ll be revisiting the awkward growing-​pain feelings of my youth again by coming here. But maybe if another show rolls through in the winter, I will brave it.