The Wellmont Theatre

Address:	5 Seymour St, Montclair, NJ 07042, USA
Phone:	+1 973-783-9500
Site:	wellmonttheater.com
Rating:	4

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 8

Carl Coyne

The Wellmont is a nice old building. The entrance is on a side street not too far from Bloomfield Ave. There aren’t any permanent seats downstairs. I don’t know about the balcony but the main floor and Tiers 1 and 2 have removable seats. I thought they were comfortable but my wife didn’t. The acoustics aren’t the greatest though. There is a parking lot behind the theater and another one across the street from that (not across Bloomfield Ave.). There is also a parking deck about a block and a half away. It only cost me a dollar an hour. I spent three dollars for parking. There are a lot of restaurants in the area. The front part of the theater is sometimes standing room and sometimes seating. You have to look on the seating map for each individual show and see what’s offered. You can see if there are seats or general admission by looking at the map. I thought the front section was always standing but I was wrong for the Chris Isaak show. I got tickets in the Tier 2 front row but I could have paid a total of twenty dollars more and sat in the front section. The Tier 2, center section, front row were nice seats but I sat all the way to the left of the center section. There was a column in the way while looking at the left side of the stage. I should have gotten seats in the center of the section. That would have been better. Right behind Tier 2 seating there are three bars I think it was. They are easily accessed and priced about what you would expect. I noticed that the last row in Tier 1 was right up against the wall of Tier 2. If someone in Tier 2 had their drink on the wall they could easily spill it on you if you’re in the last row of Tier 1. Overall I thought that it was a great experience.

A Private User

I have now seen two concerts at the Wellmont. I saw John Legend a couple of months back and then I went to see Keane last night. The theatre itself is beautiful. The restoration was terrific. For some reason though, unknown to me, the audio engineers at the theatre refuse to let the natural acoustic amplification of the music from the stage off of the dome do its job. Instead, they blast the music at ear-piercing levels from speakers set up on either side of the stage. The music is so loud I cannot even hear my wife talking to me, and she is sitting right next to me. Not only that but my ears ring, my drink vibrates, and I cannot understand a word the singer is saying. In the end, the music becomes mere noise and not music. Too much emphasis is placed on how loud they can make the music as opposed to the sound and quality of the music. I went to buy some ear plugs at the concession stand and they were sold out......that should be a pretty good indication that the music is being blasted too loud. I think last nights concert will be the last I attend at the Wellmont, which is s shame because the ambience and setting of the old theatre is wonderful.

A Private User

Ive never worried about the structural integrity of a venue before, but this place is really old and actually made me nervous. The place looks like it was beautiful in the 1920s but now the entire ceiling and walls are covered with a mesh netting to catch the falling plaster. I lucked out with parking and found a place about 1 block away for $10. It filled up as I was walking out of the lot. Finding your seat seemed to be a problem for almost everyone there. There were only ushers inside the seating area and you had to essentially wave them down. Ive never really appreciated ushers until that night. Our seats were somewhat over and behind one of the entrances. Since seating was such an issue with everyone, there were still people being seated well into the show. Most venues will wait for a break or at least wait for the current song to finish before seating you, but not here. They sat people for about 20 minutes into the show which consistently blocked our view. Concession stands consist of one on the second floor and one on the ground floor (both tiny). David Garrett was excellent and the sound system was OK, but I will not be going back.

A Private User

I saw The National here the other night, thankful they decided to come through NJ so I wouldnt have to trek out to the city right after work. It was great to finally see the band live, but unfortunately a lot of the character they exude as a live act was not faithfully captured. They definitely needed to have mixed the drums better - The Nationals usually punchy drum lines that carry their songs were downgraded to what sounded like a kids junior drum set. The deep pounding bass drums that other venues mix as part of their sound eng MO was absent. The mid- to hi-range instruments - guitar, trumpets, etc., and the vocals often sounded clipped and muddled. And, as other reviewers pointed out, the seating is just oh-so-very tight. Ohhh well..

THOMAS KELLY

Great show ,but clown Bouncers outside refused to recognize early VIP entry saying they never heard of such thing While the sign right behind them on the door explained Rules for early VIP entry and where in theater to meet VIP LOUNGE Host, Also Im permanently Handicap and they forced me to the back of the line ,even though I walk with a.cane, 40. Minutes later finally got in. Missed the meet and.greet with the band missed.out on. Photos with band $250 paid for this experience and Schmuck security Drunks seemed Happy with their forced inconvenience 40 min8

Tricia Cenit

I saw Better than Ezra and The Wallflowers here a few weeks ago with my best friend. The security check line was well handled and they did a metal detector scan and light bag search. Getting to the barricade was easy (though that might have just been the crowd.) The food was unfortunately overpriced like any other venue. Merch was off to the side in a break in the hallway inside the lobby. If youre like us and arent THAT into one of the bands playing, you can stand (or sit) in the lobby and watch the gig on the screens there. All in all, great and chill venue.

elena niblock

Sound is brutal. In theory a nice local place to go to but in reality its just a shame. I have been to 3 shows & the sound was awful everytime. You cant hear the vocals. I am giving up on this place. ***update*** Just saw another concert there since I already had tickets for it & the sound was great so go figure. It was the Godsmack show so I am not sure if maybe they had their own soundguy as opposed to the house guy but what a difference. I bumped up my rating to a 3 since they are still inconsistent.

Tyler Lund

The Wellmont is Montclair’s historic old theater that is used for film screenings and events during the film festival. A film screening with live commentary held here was great though seats were not very comfortable for the time and the setup of the theater makes entering and exiting a bit slow. A concession stand and bar on the ground floor was quite nice though the beer selection was just ok. The temperature inside was nice though on a pretty hot day.