Address: | 610 W 56th St, New York, NY 10019, USA |
Phone: | +1 212-582-6600 |
Site: | terminal5nyc.com |
Rating: | 3.7 |
VA
Val Bess
Terminal 5. Ive been going to this venue for the past 7 years and as both a music-lover and someone who has been to pretty much all of the larger venues in the city, I can safely say this is up there with the best. Terminal 5 had a crappy reputation the first few years of its life and no doubt still has salty patrons being born day after day, but all of their vitriol boils down to two simple complaints - staff and sound. Now as far as staff goes, yeah, the staff sucks. The security is mostly overbearing and filled with aggression and $5 to you if you ever see them smile (unless theyre talking to each other). However if youre following the rules to a tee, you should have zero problems. Even then, once you sneak your drug-of-choice in, you should be fine. They do come around and check wristbands even after the line from time-to-time which is annoying. They do bust weed smokers if they can get to you and the crowd is calm (so youre fine if its pretty crowded). So consider those 1-star reviews people who got screwed. The sound: it used to be bad. Nowadays, the vast majority of the time the sound is fantastic. If you disagree, tell me what venue that is about the same size or larger than this has better sound so I can check it out. It might be the show you went to, the sound guy there, the bands setup. But the sound system itself is great. Now the other good stuff. Bathrooms on every floor. If you dont want to wait in line, go to the third floor. Bars on every floor, with two on the first floor. Prices suck, but that is expected. They have a few good beers. FREE water cooler stations on every floor including the first. Great, and very necessary. Usually never an issue with them being empty. Double coat-check line. If everyone brought their coat and youre coming in or leaving during rush hour, youre still going to have to wait but otherwise it goes quickly. Price is $3 currently if I recall correctly. Fantastic music. Terminal 5 consistently has amazing artists coming through which is why its my most-visited venue in the city. The stage/layout. With 2 balcony-floors and a large main-floor, youre going to get a good view unless you dont try hard enough or are unfortunately very short. But that applies to all venues. The stage itself is large and has fantastic lights, which makes me upset when I hear people crapping on this place. Between this and Playstation Theater (formerly Best Buy Theater), I dare you to find a better lighting setup in this price/size range - meaning, MSG/Barclays dont count. All in all, I love coming here and it doesnt deserve the hate it gets. The security/staff is the only reason I do not give it 5 stars but you must remember that the security is also used by other venues so its not solely Terminal 5s fault, though Im sure they give them specific instructions too. There is absolutely no reason not to come here if you want to catch an artist you like. Subways are a few avenues away but if you complain about that, then sit your lazy ass into a cab and stop whining.
JO
Joshua Versoza
Griz 2016... Show was great. The lights and the sound were mind-melting enough as it were... no substances (legal or otherwise) necessary. But were not here to review the headliner... as far as initial forays into uncharted territories are concerned (with respect to the venue), this was a pleasant experience. First off: getting in to the venue; the line for admission into the venue went by at the snap of a finder... simply flashed my ticket, subjected myself the the cursory pat down, showed my ID and got one of those "theyre-old-enough-to-drink" wristbands. The terminal is a multi-leveled behemoth of a big room; I believe there are 3 levels... but I cant be sure, as myself and my concert-going companion decided to gut it out on the ground level with the rest of the debaucherous horde. Not having listened to too much Griz prior to this show (and being even less familiar with the kind of crowd he attracts), I was bit surprised when the crowd was comprised of a certain type of burly and facial-hairy kind of dude, ranging in the height of 58-63; not what I was expecting from what I considered an "EDM" show. With that in mind, despite my own personal pride of being quite the pound for pound force that I am (weighing in at 1*5 pounds...), discretion was the better part of valor this evening, and myself and my show-going companion were content to post up by the railing near the back bar, instead of trying to fight the the crowd of lumberjack-ish brodies. While there was a throng of bodies on the main floor, we were actually very comfortable from our vantage point. Though we were a ways away from the front closest the artists, the lights and the sound and the energy of the performances still reached us in the back as we grooved to Grizs funky sound. Id likely be very content with watching another show at the spot that we set up camp at, despite my own natural inclinations of wanting to get as close to the front as possible. All in all, I appreciate the spaciousness of the venue, although I heard ramblings that this wasnt a sold-out show (likely because it was a Thursday night... although Griz had sold out the show the following evening). Would my analysis be different if the joint had been packed to the gills? Maybe... but as it stands, this experience was a pleasant one.
MI
Michael Brack
Im not going to say its terrible and give it one star, to me one star is for the worst of the worst food with roaches in it, waiters who slap your mother and the like. But the security personnel and general service about the place is at best inefficient at worst straight up rude and borderline menacing. The 2 color ticket system for coat check where people in the same area refuse to serve you if you have the opposing color ticket from the adjacent window and even if you already waited on a long line you are corralled to the back of the other line which has now grown to 3 times the length as you waited on the 1st line and the line is so long it went up the stairs 2 floors out onto the rooftop area... which is great if the weather didnt warrant the coat you are waiting to pick up. Rules are fine but this seemed arbitrary and despite all the employees seeming to know it was dumb they just ignored you or told you to move along, as we are on the stairs one guy keeps saying step down, step down, step down keep it moving... like were lolly gagging, loitering and waiting here for our health at the bottom of the stair a guy is yelling step up step up and marching around with his Kimbo Slice esque beard (R.I.P. K.S.) barking orders and getting im ppls faces. Completely unnecessary and kinda ruined the experience. If this is the only way to do this fine.. put up an fn sign or two and people may go mostly in the right direction more efficiently and you wont need so much rude security hearding them about. Print is cheap and courtesy is free. Less terrible but also not great last 3 shows place was packed and not well organized, kind of a free for all you have to push your way up to get any view or hang from a balcony and theres not much to see from one row back up there, and if you move away your spot is gone. There must be a better way. Oh and the "Free Wi-Fi" doesnt work... And the only "food" seemingly available are mediocre hot pretzels and some candy