darien lake performing arts center

Went here on August 21st, 2014 with my 16yr old daughter when I won tickets from a local radio station to see the Linkin Park concert with 30 Seconds to Mars, & AFI special guests Carnivores Tour! We were in General Admission section 6 of the Lawn Seating area. Funny how I got told we were not allowed to bring chairs in by friends and/or people online, & WHOOP WHOOP we WERE allowed to bring our own lawn chairs. The cooler I had to leave at the office & pick up after the show which wasn't a big deal; it was a small cooler I thought I could bring in for our 2 cold water bottles. (yes they do allow you to bring in one water bottle.) So anywho, we were in the FRONT or as close as we could get to the lawn section which was pretty awesome; I LOVE hearing Burn It Down live among others. Yes it rained a bit on us, but that did NOT stop us from having a good time. It was our 1st time attending the Performing Arts Center aka PAC, & now I know they have souvenirs, as well as food & drink booths too. I did splurge a bit, & got a guitar shaped cup for a Strawberry Daiquiri. lol My husband dropped us off, so he didnt have to pay for parking which was good. Unless u like souvenirs, my best advice was, they allowed pictures so I enjoyed taking those with my cell phone camera. I'm always one of the good people; I didnt take videos; not sure if they allow them; probably not.. Getting out of here does take a bit of time after a concert, so just be patient, & you'll be out before u know it. Or go the opposite direction of where all the traffic is going. Luckily that was me. lol The workers here were VERY helpful as well!

The venue is a little drab. Parking is in a grassy field, which wasn't disclosed at time of purchase. It would have been nice to know, as my car sits very low. I drove a long way for this concert (which was amazing, by the way), but was pretty disappointed with the venue. It's much smaller than it looked on the website, and just gave the general feeling of not being well taken care of.

We had excellent seats but the seating area was cramped. The seats did not fold up so it made it hard for people to get in and out and for you to stand and dance throughout the concert. The VIP tent was nice and the venue staff were all very helpful. We lucked out with parking. We arrived 1.5 hours before the concert and were parked along the treeline which made us one of the first to get out but I could see where people in the center would be waiting hours. There was also broken bottles all through the parking area and it was obvious that these were from previous concerts and not the one that we attended. Many people commented that there was nobody directing traffic on the way out this was not true. There was security staff encouraging people to take turns and the sheriff was at the exit to assist with getting people onto the main road. The problem is that everyone is essentially parked in a huge field and there really is no "lines" to follow so everyone was trying to merge from every direction. I would be hesitant about attending this venue again because I could see not getting so lucky the next time and being there for hours.

Sat in 200 section-great seats. Seemed like anything in 300s would have been ok as well. Great sound. Drinks were pricey but to be expected at a concert. It was nice that they had the option to bring in one sealed water bottle each. I also read on their website that a small cooler of snacks is allowed- may be beneficial if you plan on entering early to get your spot on the lawn. Parking-took about 45 mins to get out of the lot... So if you need to avoid this I would suggest leaving a bit early. But then, if you are enjoying a great concert what's 45 minutes of waiting after? :)

amazing seats, 1st row of the 2nd section. No seats in front of us. Band was amazing. Parking, at least leaving was an absolute nightmare. It took 3 hours to get out of the parking lot. The park provided no assistance and I do believe the police we called in to direct traffic after a couple hours. I would recommend going to a concert there if you can either stay at the lodge/hotel or camp. Especially due to the hopefully fixed concert parking exiting.

2 of my young adult boys and I went and had lawn seats. The show was pretty much sold out and very crowded. Missed the opening act because we waited til almost the last minute to head there. Alice Cooper was first and played some great music, plus his theatrics were fun. I enjoyed Motley Crue's setlist was pretty good, but all the smoke makes it tough to see anything. They need more garbage cans, and bathrooms, there was always a line for those. I saw vendors were running out of food and drinks before show ended. although i never bought anything. they need more staff directing traffic inside the parking are at the end of the show to keep things more orderly. overall though ew had a really good time

It's a must to have seats here if you want to enjoy a concert. Looking to party hard??? Get lawn seats. Overall good time. My wife says she enjoyed the concert from the trailer rented. She heard everything. ALOT of staff and security. A little to much. All in all good show good times.

I took my granddaughters to see the Fresh Beat Band (NickJr) and the venue was a big disappointment! It was nothing like their website. It wasn't dirty but it didn't feel clean either. It wasn't elevated like their website showed. It was on a small incline and the girls really couldn't see well.

ok venue. The parking isn't great- huge parking lot with not alot of staff giving directions. We parked in 1st row so we could get out faster. Darien Lake seems run down- bathrooms gross, not alot of staff. Concert was great, we had lawn seating and was afraid because it might rain (as I read other reviews) that it would be muddy, it sprinkled for 5mins and there were no issues as they had hay down on ground I assume to avoid muddy mess (least there trying to fix). And even though we were mid section I didn't feel we were to far away that we couldn't see performance. Sound was good, TV screens could be a little better. We left just as they did last encore song and rushed out to get to car and we didn't have a big problem getting out, yes with lots of people its hard to avoid line ups. Just be prepared. OH FYI i read Darien lake doesn't allow lawn chairs but people had them?! So looks like it depends on concert or who lets you in. Oh and you can bring 1 sealed water bottle per person.

We were here in August for Linkin Park and 30 Seconds to Mars. Venue is just average. They had plenty of staff and security before and during the show. We sat under the pavilion in section 202; Seats had a good view of the stage. Only thing is they aren't really on a grade so if you do have a tall person sitting in from of you then you're shifting back and forth the whole show trying to see around them. I would suggest trying to sit in the front of each section to avoid this. Pavilion section has its owns bathrooms which is a huge plus so the lines aren't as bad like the lawn section bathrooms. Also, I was surprised at the bad quality of the big screens, they seemed really blurry. From reading a lot of the reviews on here that said parking was a nightmare we were prepared to wait hours. Actually, it only took us 30 minutes to get out from the chaos and we were parked far from the exit. Yes there were drunk people, bad drivers, and trash everywhere in the parking area and VIP parking was sold out or we would have purchased it.

One of the best experiences ever. We had LPunderground summit passes and spent he day backstage and with LP. Hands Down the venue was organized and amazing.

The Darien Lake venue for concerts has improved in the last 10 years. Security is pleasant - but parking, getting into the parking area and leaving is still a pain.

I attended the Luke Bryan concert on 8/16/14. I had lawn seats and wasnt allowed to bring in a lawn chair. Parking traffic was a nightmare and they did not have enough bathroom facilities in the lawn area. I'd say they had about 10 total port a johns for the entire sold out crowd. 30+ minute waits to use one. I wouldn't be surprised if they are in violation of a health code somewhere. Never again will I attend a concert here.

They have changed the way the parking is for events there. Not user friendly as it used to be. Just be mindful of this. Parking agents are mot helpful either.

We attended the Luke Bryan concert this past weekend. Luke Bryan was absolutely amazing. The parking and entry into the concert is an absolute nightmare. This was our first time to Darien Lake so did not know what to expect and we will definitely not rush back. 1 hour and 35 minutes to get out of the parking lot. No one from the park directing traffic and it was a complete free for all. Standing in the line to get in was dangerous, most of the people had open beer or liquor which was thrown where ever once that got to the front. There is no drop off as someone was killed a couple of years ago, my guess is there will be someone killed in the parking lot eventually. Really they need to put some effect in fixing this problem. Unfortunately people are willing to deal with this to see their favorite star so Darien Lake really does not have to make changes to this. One last thing, unless you are willing to miss part of the concert do not attempt to go to washroom.