Jiffy Lube Live

Reviews 3

A

A Private User

This really is the worst venue in the entire DMV area. Ive been here many a time, and lived in the area when it first opened in the 90s. First off, I wont even complain about the tailgating. This venue was already doomed long before they decided to make things even worse by forcing the patrons to pay their ridiculous $10 a beer prices inside. If anything, the no-tailgating policy seems to fit the general dismal state of this place. If you are forced to go to this hell-hole of a venue located off of I-66, make sure you arrive early. The entrance lines can sometimes back up for miles and onto the interstate itself. Unfortunately, this causes a dilemma since one could normally offset having to arrive early with a nice, relaxing tailgate. You can always enjoy the overpriced junk food and beer that they have on the inside. The lawn and the pavilion themselves are pretty standard for your generic outdoor 25k person pavilion. Despite the general horrible aspects of the venue itself, Ive seen a few great shows here (the music you come to see is the only redeeming quality of this place). On Getting Out: As difficult as it may be to get into the venue, a sold out show can be twice as difficult to escape. Ive heard horror stories of people waiting 2-3 hours as their cars are slowly ushered out through a single exit. Word of advice: Leave the show early if youre going to play by the rules when leaving. Otherwise, it would be wise to have a 4WD vehicle. The mess that exists in the parking lot after the shows is easily avoidable by simply driving around all of the cars and running over a few cones to get to the entrance/exit. Yes, I know this is deplorable to those who have been waiting hours in line, but sometimes you just have to do these things unless you want to condemn yourself to suffering. Some notable experiences: At a Radiohead show a few years back the parking lots flooded out, making it even more difficult to enter the venue. About 3,000 people still in line to get in were turned away at the end of the first set (they played 2), in order to restructure the cones so people could LEAVE. Luckily, I wasnt among those turned away, but to those who hadnt experienced/anticipated the horribleness of Nissan, er- Jiffy Lube Live, they faced an unfair situation of missing a band that rarely comes around the area to tour. The show was sold-out, yet there were plenty of spaces in the pavilion to sneak up to since so many fans had been shut out of the parking lots. At another festival event in the summer of 2011: Despite charging $8-10 for beer, they promptly allowed a cigarette tent to shell out packs for $2 a pop in exchange for the patrons contact and license information. This is the type of venue that LiveNation runs. Its not surprising. Theyre all about their own profits and couldnt care less about the experience of the concert-goers. Merriweather and Wolftrap are far and above better pavilions than "Jiffy Lube" in all aspects. Just pray that a band or act you like doesnt play out in Bristow. It wont make the music suck, but the venue could be more appealing almost anywhere else in the area. edit: looks like my paragraphs dont work in the review text box...

GA

Gayle Wocoski

My hubby, daughter, son in law and I went to see Lynyrd Skynyrd/Bad Co on 7/14/13. My daughter had looked at their website and found the limitations on water and food, which I think is a little outlandish: a 1 gl Ziploc bag of food and 1 unopened bottle of water? I am physically challenged so I need to take meds and also drink a lot of water to stay hydrated. They are making PLENTY of money of the alcohol drinkers ($14 for a lg can of beer???) so they should lay off those of us that cant drink for medical reasons. With handicapped plates on our SUV, we were sent to park in an area right outside the gate- very easy access and no problems! We had bought lawn tickets, not because we were cheap, we just cared more about hearing the concert than seeing it. I guess with all the rain from the previous days, the lawn area was a mud pit and we would have been screwed since we brought chairs that were too tall and only 2 small blankets, that NEVER would have been enough for the other 3 people in our party to sit on. A wonderful young worker there named Lindsey, was so helpful when we stopped and asked her how did we get UP onto the lawn section when there were only stairways going up onto it??!! She told us to find someone with a walkie talkie to page a specific supervisor who could help us out. This supervisor (Julie) was PHENOMENAL and went above and beyond to help us out. She got us seated into the handicapped section because it was far from being sold out. So, we had Section 203 seats instead of back in the "lawn boonies!!" I was so thankful that they helped us get into handicapped accessible seats, so I hate to review something that would have been better in the lawn section: the acoustics! They had a bit to be desired from Section 203 - sounded like the singers had the mic right up to their mouths and were mumbling at times and it was so loud that you couldnt understand the lyrics. Thank God I was able to pick up on a few musical notes and recognized the songs!! So, we gave up acoustics for a mucho better view. I dont know how it was getting out of the venue after the concert, because we waited a good 15-20 minutes before we even left our section. We also didnt want to hit anyone in the back of their legs with my walker!! By the time we used the restrooms and got out to the parking lot, it was almost empty and we cruised right out. All and all it was a good experience, and I put that up partially to the fact that I was handicapped and was treated with respect and EVERYONE on staff was so helpful and friendly. A BIG THANK YOU to Lindsey and Julie!!! YOU GO GIRLS/LADIES! You both helped make my concert experience one that I shall not forget!!!!

A

A Private User

Went last night for Brad Paisley and Dierks Bentley. I was really worried about the parking situation after reading all of the reviews, being my first time at Nissan, and also with the "zero tolerance - alcohol and games prohibited" warnings everywhere in the parking lots. We got there a little bit after the lots opened, prepared with some sandwiches and cokes, and it didnt take but 20 minutes to get in and parked (compared to other venues Ive been at that actually DO take hours!). We were shocked to see people openly drinking beer and playing games EVERYWHERE! Not a single cop or lot attendant said anything or even drove or walked by. I have pictures of people playing games and drinking from beer cans (and bottles) right underneath the "alcohol strictly prohibited" sign. What a joke! Why even bother with the signs? Everything else was great. Had some food and drink, line to get in was short and easy, show was excellent. Yes, everything inside is overpriced, so dont buy anything. Eat and drink in the parking lot, use the restrooms INSIDE the gates once you get in (very few port o potties outside but ample facilities inside), go before you leave, and have some food and drink after the show. We got some food from the trunk, relaxed and watched a half hour of a movie in the car and voila! the lots were empty and we drove right out. Show was over just before 11pm and we were out of the lot by 1230ish. Its no worse than any other venue Ive been to that holds 25,000 people! Just be prepared to wait; you will not zip in 30 minutes before the show and zip out 30 minutes after...be realistic. Yes the infrastructure should be built better to handle more lanes of traffic and faster ingress/egress, but its not as bad as some other places Ive been to. I would go back, better prepared next time. What was most disappointing was not the pavilion itself, but the people who came to see the show. It was absolutely disgusting seeing the amount of trash left behind from a large number of disrespectful show-goers. Made me question my faith in humanity. Two trucks tailgated beside us and left an entire pickup truck load of trash strewn about between the two of them; they left cups, cans, broken bottles, grills with smoldering coals, broken lawn chairs, styrofoam coolers. This was not an isolated incident, it happened Id say about 40% of the parking spots. Some people kindly bagged up everything and left in one bag in their spot, which is much better. But come on people, you brought it in, why not bring it out with you and clean up after yourself. Disgraceful...and you people are all blaming the Pavilion employees for not caring? Come on!

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