by Ehwmatt » Tue Jul 10, 2012 1:42 am
Red Rocks is definitely on my bucket list. I want to see a concert there very badly. I've been there to hike, but never during concert season.
DTE/Pine Knob in Detroit is a great venue. It has all the perks of Blossom here in Cleveland, but none of the downsides (namely, the ridiculous parking situation).
Here in Cleveland, my favorite mainstream venue is probably the House of Blues. It's just a fun place to see a show, assuming you're all right with standing all night. Nautica/Scene Pavilion in the Flats is a beautiful venue on the river, but I've seen too many shows there that have just featured horrific mixing. I don't think it's totally the venue's fault because I did see Crosby, Stills, and Nash sound 100% perfect there about a month ago, but all in all, I've seen lots of shows hampered (Dream Theater, Todd Rundgren) and some flat-out ruined (Boston) by the sound issues there. So I have to disqualify that one.
For non-mainstream venues, there's also a great little bar called The Winchester in Lakewood, Ohio (10 minutes west of downtown Cleveland) that gets some pretty good acts. It's a very intimate venue. I've seen Steve Lukather, Ambrosia, Al Stewart, and Bernie Leadon (first lead guitarist of the Eagles) there. Phil Keaggy is coming Saturday, but I'm already seeing Bachman Turner in COlumbus. Anyway, you get the drift--it's a very nice intimate venue to see some good acts. I sat probably about 10 feet from Luke when I saw him.