[cjr888]

Saw Ben Folds at The Beacon last night -- what a wonderful show just him and the piano.  Loved him with the band, but frankly enjoy him so much more by himself.  

Great show, great seats, great sound, absolutely happy...

Never seen such control over an audience and crowd participation in my entire life -- could get _every_ person in the place do sing along and do harmonics with him.  While directing the crowd, a simple hand motion had the entire place stopping on a dime...  Amazing.

Been itching to seem him play by himself for quite sometime and missed all previous opportunities.

Would do anything for tickets to go see him play again tonight..

If you have the opportunity to catch him play - GO!

One of the best shows I've seen in a long, long time.

[MediaSeth]

I love the Beacon Theatre.  The last show I saw there was Neil Young in '92.  If they haven't done any restoration work on the theatre  since then, I hope they do.
The Neil Young show was great also.  They even wheeled out a pipe organ of sorts for a few songs.  It was mostly acoustic.
The audience on the other hand was very disrespectful to opening act, Victoria Williams.  She gets no respect as an opener, but she's great. The audience at a Lou Reed show I saw at Harbor Lights in Boston(now called something else) was almost as rude to her.
But at the Beacon, they were even booing Neil Young!  Not to be an elitist, but it looked like the local inbred bars from the outer 'burbs...way outer 'burbs like maybe the Carolinas... organized some kind of a field trip there.  They were pissed he wasn't playing "Southern Man" and insisted on chanting it during during the show.
 
That's why a theatre is probably the largest venue I'd attend unless the act was really really good.  I prefer small clubs where if someone acts like a jerk everyone can turn and stare him/her down

Who opened for Ben Folds?  I'm sure the audience was much nicer.

[cjr888]

Duncan Sheik opened, but due to work obligations and lovely traffic getting to the city, I wasn't able to catch him.

Beacon is a great theater, though I think the last time I actually saw anything there was Phish with the Great Country Horns somewhere around 92 or 93..

Usually get good sound at the Beacon and Irving Plaza..

Last two shows I saw at Roseland I was completely ticked by the sound.  Saw Badly Drawn Boy and Wilco there recently, and with Wilco the bass was so boomy it drowned out some great guitar and vocals way too often..

Miss The Wetlands, and wish and still can't believe its closed..  No, not the greatest sound in the world, but it really doesn't matter when you're always 10 feet from the performers.

Thing about The Wetlands and The Beacon is that it's always 1000 degrees....

Itching to catch a show at NJPAC.  Still haven't had a chance to see anything there since its creation, but have heard great things of it as a venue and for sound...

[MediaSeth]

I think I went to Wetlands a couple of times, but for some reason I only remember the King Missle show there.  Maybe it's because I saw them there twice or something.  It was a good venue.

The place I went to most often was Maxwell's in Hoboken.  The sound there improved in the early 90's when they rebuilt the stage with layers of sand and whatnot in it.  Small places like that tend to be my fav, such as Mercury Lounge and even CBGB's.

I also like Irving Plaza.  The Bowery Ballroom is neat, too.  I don't really know why, but I never saw a Roseland show.  I think the oddest place I saw a show there was called the Manhattan Center fo the Arts(?).  It was several floors up and looked like a large hotel ballroom.  At a Stone Roses show smoke started filling the room, the alarms went off, and we were of course evacuated.  It was nearly the end of the show, anyway.

I've been in Boston since '96, and since '93 counting my college dorm years.

I still make it down to NYC a lot and prefer shows there to shows in Boston.

[cjr888]

Go to Maxwell's alot.  Good friend used to lived literally right behind the venue, and could open his window or sit on the fire escape and listen..  Other friends play at Maxwell's from time to time.  Get to see a lot of good shows, whether its local stuff, or folks they bring in.  Probably the best show I saw was seeing Martin Sexton at Maxwell's in that small little room..

I think I went to Wetlands a couple of times, but for some reason I only remember the King Missle show there.  Maybe it's because I saw them there twice or something.  It was a good venue.

The place I went to most often was Maxwell's in Hoboken.  The sound there improved in the early 90's when they rebuilt the stage with layers of sand and whatnot in it.  Small places like that tend to be my fav, such as Mercury Lounge and even CBGB's.

I also like Irving Plaza.  The Bowery Ballroom is neat, too.  I don't really know why, but I never saw a Roseland show.  I think the oddest place I saw a show there was called the Manhattan Center fo the Arts(?).  It was several floors up and looked like a large hotel ballroom.  At a Stone Roses show smoke started filling the room, the alarms went off, and we were of course evacuated.  It was nearly the end of the show, anyway.

I've been in Boston since '96, and since '93 counting my college dorm years.

I still make it down to NYC a lot and prefer shows there to shows in Boston.