Irving Plaza

Easily the worst venue I’ve ever attended in 30+ years of concert going. Security was incredibly rude and uninformed with no regard to patrons. Once we were inside they couldn’t have cared less what happened to us. It was horribly hot, people were fainting left and right and there was zero assistance. The air was not on and even the performer was uncomfortable. I was glad I did not pay for VIP as they seemed to have it only marginally better than those of us on the floor. I would never attend an event here again under ANY circumstances.

This review is especially to a thank you to the General Manager, who helped us have an amazing evening. There was an unfortunate miscommunication with a bouncer, who became very angry, yelling and cursing at my husband (as well as at me when I tried to intervene and calm down the situation). We were then told we would not be allowed in, even when I tried my hardest to explain, and to just leave.
The General Manager stepped in, apologized, calmed down the whole situation (resulting in apologies from both sides; a rare feat), brought us into the VIP section and even a free drink, which made watching the amazing Benjamin Clementine even more amazing.
So thank you for — despite the recent tragedy — making guests feel respected and, you know, like actual human beings, which is increasingly uncommon.
Plus — the sound system is really good too :)

This is the absolute worst venue in NYC, standing room only, no seats, and if you want a good place to stand to see the stage they charge you an additional $ 50 per person! What a scam. We will NEVER EVER come back to this venue again. Can’t wait to get in the car and go home!

Unilocal says «A-​OK» so that’s what it’ll be. Ive been here numerous times for many acts and have never been truly disappointed. I mean its a Venue and its in NYC. What more do you expect? Prices of drinks are on par with other bars/​clubs/​venues in NYC. Its an older place and it shows in spots. Its not all that dirty. If those walls could talk though!
People complain about there not being enough bathrooms in this place but once again its an older place and wasn’t designed to be a bathroom destination spot, I mean its a venue, these things should not be on your mind when you’re partying. Maybe its just me.
I like this place because they feature a lot of metal bands and that what I like so id continue to go to this place.
**UPDATE** There was a fatal shooting inside this venue the other day at some rap show. Great! Now getting in this place will be even more annoying!

Great Venue! I attended a Fetty Wap concert in February and it was an amazing experience. The security at Irving Plaza was very nice and did their jobs well. It was a sold out show and I arrived 3 hours early. When I arrived there were people already standing in line, but luckily I was able to get extremely close. Would definitely recommend.

Great place to see your favorite band. There are three levels here. The lobby area has a coat check, bar and lounge area and the restrooms.
Once you head upstairs, the main room has the stage and the floor area. There’s a cut out balcony for the third level. The bars are in the back of the main room and balcony. Most of the time the bands have shirts for sale in the hallway getting to the main room.
There’s a platform on the right side for the short people, like me.
It’s a great place to see a band. Very intimate, especially the bands that usually play bigger places. Irving Plaza always seems to have plenty of those.
The staff here are cool too.

The worst.
Here’s why:
1) rude security and staff
2) $ 4 coat check
3) annoying staffers asking repeatedly if you’d like to upgrade to «VIP seating» for $ 35, aka the balcony where you can sit a table and watch from a TV screen???
4) advertisements displayed on projector screen between sets like a movie theatre
The whole place is just a racket. They bring in good acts but I would much rather see them somewhere else. Will not be going back

It seems more bands I want to see play Irving Plaza than any other single NYC concert venue. Which is too bad because it’s my lease favorite NYC concert venue.
Every simple service you’d expect at a venue seems that much worse and more expensive here. Ticket, coatcheck and bar prices all are like 10% higher. Employees, especially bar attendants, seem less kind and helpful — one time I was refused a cup of tap water and forced to pay $ 5 for a bottle.
Even the audience members at shows performed here seem less… i don’t know… into the music. Like they attend to be seen and heard and not for the music. It doesn’t matter if your in the front or back.
Then there’s the layout, which makes it terribly inconvenient to move around, get a drink, go to the bathroom, return to the coat check or even leave.
Like I said, it’s too bad it’s a popular venue since it’s a midsize capacity venue. But while it’s location is far more convenient than say Terminal 5, the quality of my evenings here are much worse. I just wish Live Nation utilized Gramercy Theatre more.

The Ghostface and Raekwon Show was awesome! I witnessed such great energy among persons in the audience (myself included). Fabolous and Mobb Deep coming out as special guests were the icing on the cake… Irving Plaza was the right place to put on such a great concert!

Always one of the most annoying venues to deal with. The staff here are always so rude and give you so much attitude even when you are a VIP guest for the musical performance people that are on that night. It always painfully pisses me off when I hear my favorite artists are playing here because i know i will have to deal with the venue people here. The place is old and sometimes smelly. Sometimes I believe it adds character to the space, but most of the times I’m just like seriously can you put some renovations in this place it’s almost going to fall apart. Biggest plus is only that it’s conveniently located in union square. Layout of the space is also weird when you’re crowding around waiting in line.

I really don’t know why people hate on Irving Plaza. It’s located conveniently off the Union Square train stop. Get off the 14 st & 4 Ave side. It is a block away from the 4 5 6 NQR & L trains. The security who works here are really obnoxiously rude but hey I would be too if my job was to feel people up all day. Ladies do yourself a favor and don’t come here with a bag. They take forever looking thru bags. I came here to see Bloc Party with my SO the other night. Now we got here around 8:15 when the doors open at 7. Do yourself a favor and go here an hour after doors open so you don’t have to deal with lines. The band came on around 9.
Stick to the beers. The mixed drinks were really small and really weak. Or pregame pretty hard before coming here. Yes it’s a small venue but being able to see your favorite bands that close in an intimate space is amazing! Sound system ain’t that bad either. I left the venue with minimal ear ringing. A first at a rock show!

I love concerts and I really love that NYC has so many venues on the small side so you can get pretty close to your favorite artists/​bands. Irving Plaza is one of those said smaller venues, but it’s one of the worst in my book.
The layout is just super weird. Whereas other venues are more wide and maybe even have a floor that slants upward so that people in the back are a few inches elevated than the people closest to the stage… Irving Plaza is more narrow and long. They pack people in like sardines and some people even had to stand directly behind the sound booth — how to they even see there? It’s basically impossible to get drinks or go to the bathroom during the main act because of the crowds you need to squirrel around both going and coming back.
There is only 1 bathroom in the whole place which is all the way downstairs by the venue’s entrance. There are 3 bar areas though — one by the venue entrance, one on the main floor, one on the top floor. However, you can’t really access the one on the main floor during the show because there are too many audience members right up on the bar area because there is nowhere else to go. There are also people spilling out from the main floor doors into the hallway (fire hazard much) because they would get a better viewing from the hallway than from all the way in the back.
Also, there are areas throughout the venue that they section off — i.e. the sides of the balcony, an elevated area on the right of the main floor — where they have people pay to get a better view and to get out of the crowds. This isn’t VIP where you buy your VIP tickets before the shows to get better views /​seats /​posters /​swag … this is DURING the concert, where there are bros all around you so you can’t see on the main floor and instead of being at a concert to just listen to the music, you might actually want a stage view, so you ask the bouncer how to get up on the elevated platform/​side balcony and they charge you and additional $ 25+ on top of whatever you paid for your ticket — just because you are short and can’t see.
On the last time I went to Irving Plaza, I had friends that actually bought VIP tickets and they stood on the top balcony above the sound booth which is pretty far away from the stage. They were mad that I was on the floor with my $ 25 upgrade and seemingly had a better view than they did even though they overall paid way more than I did. It’s just not fair! VIP should be allowed to stand in whatever section they want to — especially if they are not in the «best» section of the house.
Also coat check: $ 4 per item! I was charged $ 8 because of my coat and my purse even though they were put on the same hanger. I’m glad I wasn’t charged for my scarf too! Hubs had a messenger bag and he was told there was a mandatory bag check while he was coming back from the bathroom. He didn’t have cash on him though, so they checked his bag for free?! But there were so many other people in the audience with backpacks and large shoulder bags, so how do they decide?

It’s an ok place to see a show.
Obnoxious that they have doors opening 2 hours before the sets start and make you call in to find out that fact.
Also, just saw a non-​rock show here, Cuban music and the sound system made it sound very artificial, not sure if it was overboosted or something. The lighting design also had patterns that for some reason would pivot the lights out towards the crowd frequently, blinding you every few seconds as you tried to watch the stage.
All in all, quite underwhelming, particularly for the prices charged.

The bands that they book get five stars. Irving brings in a diverse array of acts of all different genres and decades, and they are constantly filling the calendar with goodies.
Unfortunately, this review is about the venue and not the performers that come through. And the venue makes me reaaaalllly angry. A few reasons why:
–They oversell tickets and pack people in like sardines.
–And then, as if it is not crowded enough, they section off areas that should be part of the GA standing room and sell tickets at a premium VIP price.
–That is really effed up.
–There are three floors and only one small bathroom that is on the first floor all the way in the back (the only floor that you can’t see the stage from) so prepare to miss a good chunk of the show if you need to venture to the bathroom.
–Drinks are outlandishly overpriced.
It’s sad that they have no regard for paying customers. You either have to be subjected to awful overcrowding or pay extra just to stand in a spot that should not be VIP. Seriously, I’ve heard of VIP areas on balconies and top levels but to section off parts of the pit and charge extra? Madness.

Nice place for an evening indie concert — if you’re short, consider staying at the mezzanine (;

I attended Hillsong Church here on a Sunday. It’s not your typical ‘church’ venue, but it worked. Very small, not too much seating. More of a stand and listen kind of place.

If you are short avoid this place like the plague.
This place sucks. If you are under 6 feet tall forget about being able to see. The lower floor has a lower hanging ceiling over a 3^rd of it, so if like many shorter people you figure you can move back to see better well forget it. As many of us shorter people know if you get too close to the front taller people will just stand in front of you and you’ll be squashed. There is an upstairs area but the entire thing is VIP except for the part where your view is completely obstructed by the lighting/​sound board wherever. That part totally open!
I’ve seen shows at plenty of standing only venues like Hammerstein, Music Hall of Williamsburg, Bowery Ballroom, and Terminal 5 and though I am only 5’1 I’ve never had a problem seeing. Ever. I can always stand far enough back or go to an upper level and get close to the railing.
But as Irving has made the entire railing area upstairs and down VIP only (which was practically empty by the way) you’re basically f**ked. I even heard guys who were 5’10 complaining.
I will never be seeing a show here again.

Irving Plaza is lots of fun! I’ve seen a bunch of music acts here over the years and have always had fun. You just have to keep a few things in mind when you’re going to a show at Irving.
First, be prepared to be on your feet the whole time and to move about throughout the night. I mean, this will be the case unless you have VIP tickets for the balcony area or are lucky to get a seat on those couches by the bar on the upper level. When I saw Television here, my friends and I moved about to different spots in the venue throughout the night.
Second, mentally prepare ahead of time to be in close quarters with other concert goers. If you are into personal space, you can forget that happening if you’re going to see a show here. It can get really packed. Once I’ve actually listened to the show in the hallway upstairs because it just got to be too crowded below (it was towards the end of the gig anyway).
Third, you are close to Union Square where there are tons of places to grab some eats or have a few drinks (if you’re into that). Even though drinks are pretty damn pricey at Irving, you’re close to alternatives that you can hit up before going to see a show.
That being said, I’ve had some really great times here. It’s totally worth going to see a show at Irving Plaza.

I go to close to 50 concerts a year, and I have never been treated so kindly by the staff than at Irving. My two friends and I attended the Marianas Trench concert on 7÷8÷15 and we were so well taken care of by the whole staff, especially Leif and Rawson. They were extremely cool to us, they really made the experience one that I will always remember.
All of the security staff was friendly as well, we had a really nice conversation with one (I don’t think we ever got his name) about the best and worst shows he’s work. All around, it was a fantastic night. Even before that night I had had great interactions with the staff over the years but that night really impressed me.
I highly recommend seeing a show at Irving Plaza if you get the chance. The venue is gorgeous, service is great, ticket prices are usually very reasonable, and you get to meet great people along the way.

Went to a Juicy J concert here on a Monday night… they were FREE tickets ok; this is a no judgement zone! Anyway from reading the reviews I didn’t know what to expect but perhaps since it was a Monday it was a pretty low key excursion. No lines whatsoever to get in, the ‘security’ ppl at the door merely glanced into my many compartment bag so I could have snuck in a kilo if I so pleased. but instead it was a 13 oz flask. BAM.
Bathrooms were cleaner than expected, drinks are bogus-​ly expensive (hence bring a flask.) It was friggin $ 4 a pop for a cup of soda, $ 10 – 15 for beer/​wine/​mixed drink, but whateverrrrr. The «VIP» upper level was a joke from what I saw from the plebe floor GA section and I’m sure we could have waltzed right up there no problem and no questions asked. We got there at 8:30 and left at 11pm. By the time we bounced, we were both high as kites from second hand reef smoke alone. Apparently its very 420 friendly in there, esp when Juicy J comes to town.
All in all, small venue, not terrible, not the greatest. Overpriced drinks, solicited for what the idiot called ‘white girl’ aka coke within 5 minutes of arrival. My advice, just make sure you’re wasted before entering.