ARAMARK at Alpine Valley Music Theater Review

Jimmy Buffett will remain on my bucket list because could not see or hear him. Alpine Valley is off the list!! Having a good time tailgating but had no idea that my ticket wasn't even going to allow me a seat on the lawn. Waited an hour to get thru the precious gate area but again never been to this venue so still hadn't dawned on me how oversold this concert was and I was going no where once I did get into the place. Going to ask for a refund from Live Nation but not holding my breath. Won't be back!!

Staff is nice, organized & the sound is amazing for concerts

Saw Dead and Company here! It was amazing!!! Beautiful venue!!!

Had a great time listrning to Hank Williams Jr and Brad Paisley last night. Prices are way to high for things. $9.00 for a bottle of water is to dang much. I am suffering from dehydration today because of this. Didnt have enough money for water. I could see paying $2.00 but not $9.00.

I was extremely disappointed! After Alpine being closed for renovations, my group was extremely excited to continue our years of going to Alpine for Buffett. For tailgating, they packed everyone in super tight which made it incredibly hard to walk around and have enough room for a entire bus full of people to set up camp.
It really got bad while we were waiting in line to get to our seats. After waiting in line for 30 mins at the minimum without really moving; a staff member came around informing everyone that this was the line for those with no bags. If we had bags, we had to go to a different line. Then, when we finally got into the concert 45 mins after it started! We couldn't hear the music! It was awful! I was expecting to be able to hear the music from the gate walking in and the bathrooms. Which was another whole awful experience! The lines were incredibly long, and you couldn't hear the music while waiting!
I am so incredibly disappointed after the venue being closed for renovations that were so many issues!

Alpine NEVER disappoints. I've been to the venue twice, both for different bands, and have had nothing but a great time. Only complaint for me would be the insanely high prices for everything. $10 for 2 jello shots. $15 Summer Shandy tall boys.. I get it's a venue but COME ON Live Nation!

Music was great but it was as disorganized as it was the last time I was there fifty years ago! I will never return!

One of the very best concert venues in the nation. Show sound is good and there isn t a bad seat in the lawn because of the scenic valley view over the amphitheater

Amazing venue. Beer is expensive, and there were less local brews than I would desire. Other than that, this is a must see venue,

Excellent staff, amazing shows, absurdly expensive drinks, fantastic front reserved lawn seats with provided chairs were worth every penny extra. Need more ways to get in and out. The after show escape makes RFK look like a breeze (for those that remember).

Best place to see a concert in the country!!! Dave Matthews Band jams the roof off the joint every summer!@!#!!

I simply would not choose to attend again. While the pre-Jimmy Buffett tailgate was very fun despite the wet conditions, simply everything after that was sub-par. Getting into the through security was an elbow to elbow, tiny step penguin walk for more than 25 minutes. Repeat the same for the ticket check. Using mobile tickets was a challenge for many thousands. Porta Pot lines were 40 minutes long near the beginning of the show. Acoustics for the mid lawn area were sub-par. Crowd management was atrocious. Leaving after the show, was extremely poorly managed and dangerous -- a free for all of cars fighting their way out for more than an hour with drunk tempers flaring everywhere. It is very fortunate that there wasn't an incident like happened at Shake the Lake in Madison. This venue for all practical purposes simply could not handle any form of significant issues.

Love seeing concerts here. For an amphitheater the sound is incredible. Great, fun venue!

I love this venue! Despite the all day, continuous rain during Farm Aid we had a super fantastic time. Acoustics were great. I love seeing shows at Alpine Valley.

No stars. Paid for seats in row 10 of a Jimmy Buffet concert, then left without ever getting to our seats. Stood in a entrance line over an hour, people so mad they started yelling and swearing at each other. Got in and the aisles were packed, again people angry and shoving, not to mention that if an evacuation was needed, people would have been trampled. Worst venue I've ever been to. Never going back to this hell hole.

One of the greatest music venues in the country. Although there are now way too many "VIP" areas, it's still an amazing place to see a show.

My favorite venue. Once you have experienced Alpine, you will never want to go to Summerfest again.

Your driver can't get in after nine so you have to walk a long way to catch your ride....why have a drop off and pick up area if you can't use it!!!

Utterly dismal traffic management. More than an hour to get in, more than two to get out - parking assistants didn't know what they were doing, nobody useful directing traffic, only using a single lane to move 20k people in cars.

Awesome venue but minus two stars for how steep the lawn is!

Normally, I give Alpine a 5 star but last night, we were told by a guy standing on the deck we could go on to deck 11, we were on there with about 30 other people, all calm and enjoying the show, when 90 minutes into DMB, some worker comes up and tells us (and the deck below) we all have to leave. He wouldn't tell us why, if we had done something wrong, ect. He was pretty rude. Considering nobody was doing anything wrong, all we all wanted, considering it was a great spot to see and hear the show, was a reason we were being forced to leave, after 90 minutes. I could totally understand if we were kicked off at the beginning, or even during the hour we stood there before DMB even started...but 90 minutes in?!?!?! Very frustrating. Especially considering 90 minutes into a show, there is very little spots left to find to sit.
Other than that, parking is good, tailgating is awesome, food and drink are good, the venue is an epic spot to see DMB.

Went to Farm Aid, ended up back stage with Dave Mathews, Neil Young, and Willie Nelson to name a few. Unbelievable experience! Thank you Alpine Valley!

As always the parking lot was fun. Been at Alpine Music to see Buffett more than 12 times and think it was way oversold and the lawn filled and people were standing in the walkways, couldn't move. The sound was worse than ever before. Although Buffett was a good show. One positive is the staff at Alpine are very courteous a d professional as always.

Was one of the best outdoor music venues in the country. However local officials have ruined the experience. It's like Hitler's SS in the parking lot with local law enforcement. Too bad. Shame of the local government...

Hello Alpine, I missed you. You did an awesome job hosting Farm Aide!! Cant wait to see you again!

Make sure you eat and drink before you go in. They have sky high prices for drinks

Dead &Company was great,
Security was rude

The police presence is way overboard, but what a wonderful place to see a show. It sounds amazing.

They parked the rows of cars too close together. There was no walking isle between rows after everyone set-up. This is vasty different than previous outings at Alpine Valley....

Terrible staff handling the traffic and crowd control zero

The best natural amphitheater in the Mid-West, if your favorite band plays here be sure not to miss that show. DMB kills it here every time they play Alpine Valley.

Here's the problem, the venue itself is great in my opinion. BUT getting in and out of it is beyond a mess. Get ready for LONG waits going in and out!!

Plus, the cops go out of their way to bust people in the lot. It's never affected me as I don't break the law when hanging in the lot. But it just seems crappy that they'd go so far out of their way to bust people that they legit dress up and go undercover to bust people with marijuana.

Dead and Co 2018. Amazing. Been to plenty of shows over the years, great outdoor venue.

Worst venue ever! Went to see Jimmy Buffet. We paid for VIP parking. No directional signs. We wasted almost an hour backtracking to the correct entrance. Ltd REAL toilets. Huge lines at disgusting portapotties. If that's all you have then provide soap & sinks, please. Huge entrance lines. "Wine only" window selling other drinks as well causing more long lines. We paid for good seats. We arrived 3:30 for an 8pm show. We missed 1st hr of show due to lack of crowd control. My group will never go back to Alpine.

Hands down my favorite venue to attend a concert in the summer time...minus one thing.. THE PRICES are OUTRAGEOUS as far as food and drink. Its probably the only venue I hold back on purchasing those extras. Luckily, I'm 1st and foremost there for the music and not really the concessions. It would be nice to see those prices go down but either way il still attend concerts there if opportunity arrives.

It's a great place to ski and snowboard with friends. The lodges are great and the hills are well groomed!

Ok place but way to steep for a rainy night oh lord

Amazing outdoor venue. Good view and sound from anywhere! We'll be back!

Love the venue. Entrance and exit to the parking lot is a nightmare.

Sunday night Phish fry was amazing. If I were you I'd get tickets for the next Phish show at Alpine

I saw THE WHO. The concert just got better as the band played. You just have to be patient when you are leaving, no quick exit unless you leave before the show is over.

What an awesome venue for a concert. Tailgating, camaraderie, great sound.

One star removed because you guys HAVE to fix your exiting procedure. Concert ended at 11:00 but we didn't get out until 12:30.

Worst venue ever. Only had one gate open. Created dangerous situation with massive angry crowd.

This is one of the greatest places to see an outdoor concert! They have actual bathrooms in the Expo building which is amazing. Leaving can be a little hectic but if you are patient it really isnt bad at all. It is a must see venue for sure!!

I really love concerts at Alpine Valley. My only criticism would be Music volume and the amount of time it takes you to get through security. Granite I was there to see dead and Company and there were quite a few people trying to get in also. But it did take an hour to make it about a 100 yards into the venue. And by then the music was playing. And it wasn't playing very loudly. I was at The Concourse Midway up the hill by the beer stands in bathrooms. And we could barely hear it. We noticed speakers all over the Concours and Midway up the hill but they did not seem to be active. I wish the music was louder

There is very weak cellular service, so don't expect to be able to call/text anyone, check email or post on social media with reliability.

Buffet was fun, but the sound quality was terrible.

Got into the Jimmy Buffett concert 45 minutes late. We started to que into line 50 minutes before the concert. The sea of humanity to get in was massive, and there were about 3 ticket takers. Everyone had to get out their phone to be scanned. Took an eternity. When we finally got in, there was no one to direct us to our seats. We had to walk through the lawn seating, which was not easy. When we finally got through to our row, we had to kick out the people who were sitting in our seats. No usher helped us.

My advice would be to get into the amphitheater as early as you can. However, part of the fun of a Jimmy Buffett concert is the tailgate, so you really don't want to go in early, as it's fun to watch all the people dressed up. The other advice is to get Alpine to pay for more ticket takers. A horrible system. BTW - it took us 2 hours to exit the parking lot.

My husband was very uncomfortable in the bathrooms. The workers were hovering over him while he used the bathroom.

Good place to see a concert I saw the Who there last September

Alpine is always a decent experience, but dancing on a step hill all night is a killer on the legs.

My favorite place to see live music ,good acoustics and unique style is like no other.

Great place to see a concert. Getting through the turnstile took a ridiculously long amount of time.

Great Midwest Venue. Sound has always been terrific, but the 3 visual displays need a significant upgrade. Parking is included with ticket. The parking lot experience pre-concert is half the fun. Prices for beer and food are very expensive, but you are allowed to pack your own food in 1 gallon plastic zip lock bags.

I have been to this venue twice, and had very bad experiences each time. The second time I purchased Handicapped Access seats for the Jimmy Buffett concert on August 24, 2013. They were over $150 per ticket. The area for the seats were Not where pictured in the diagram for section 201 disabled access seats, they were so very far to the left of the stage that we could not even see the performers on stage, we were approximately three feet under the pavillion. My husband's chair was a metal folding chair. This for $150+.

Disabled parking access was extremely difficult to access. The attendants immediately told us to go back to the main entrance and then argued with us when I tried to explain that we were SUPPOSED to be there as told by Alpine Valley Music Theater staff on Facebook. We were challenged vehemently for not having interrupted them to shout that I am disabled. The parking lot for Disabled Access parking was at the golf course, no markings, signs or anything. Finally we found a small tent, and discovered that the "shuttle" was a golf cart and my husband had to sit on the back holding on to my disassembled wheelchair for dear life.

After the show, we exited through what is called the "Cattle Gate" and all disabled persons were told to wait on an extremely uneven surface, my chair almost tipped over twice while getting there. There were very few "golf cart" shuttles. After waiting 1/2 hour, one of the staff was told to line up everyone who was willing to "Walk" the 1/4 mile back to the Disabled Access lot in complete darkness and had to drive my chair over steep, uneven terrain liberally sprinkled with deep potholes which almost overturned my chair several times. My husband finally had to balance the back of it so I did not tip over. We finally arrived in the gravel parking lot to find that the tent was gone and the only "safe" place for me to wait for my husband to bring the truck to load my chair was next to a barrel marked with "CDL" in orange paint next to two girls in metal folding chairs.

I will never go to another event at Alpine Valley Music Theater again. I strongly urge anyone needing handicapped access to think twice about going there. It is NOT handicapped accessible and is dangerous to attempt.

1 star for unbelievably dangerous situation created by Jimmy Buffet entrance procedures. People were losing their minds freaking out, trapped in the metal fencing that had no indication for which way to move the 10s of thousands. People pushing, shoving, screaming at each other, jumping over the fence to get away from their anxieties. Totally lame Alpine Valley.

It took me a long time to get to Alpine Valley, and once I got there it was great. It's so beautiful and the energy of the place is off the charts. When you are on your way there you'd swear you were lost because it is really off the beaten path (unless your fastest route is Interstate 43). But once you get there, you'll find a great venue.

If you love amphitheaters, this is the place for you--which I do!

A few warnings: the hill going downward is massive so you'd best be prepared for that.

For me, I was only able to get lawn seats and being there early was well worth it. We were right behind the fence and could see fabulously. However, the patience to wait isn't always the easiest!

I thought the price of food and drink was decent for a concert venue, certainly less expensive than the other venues I visited this summer. You have to accept that you'll pay more at a concert, but if it keeps the acts coming, awesome. Plus, there is no reason to fuss too much because this is one of the few places that allows tailgating before hand.

On a last note, Live Nation manages this place, and the staff is exceptional. I went to another concert this summer at a venue they manage (Ascend Amphitheater in Nashville) and they did a phenomenal job there, as well.

Already excited to have another act come to Alpine that I love so I can go back!

Very muddy due to rain and people were sliding all over and getting hurt. I broke my shoulder

Sat in the next to last row BBB right side of stage view night one. Sat up on the lawn night 2. Both were enjoyable places to experience the concert. Only complaint, as always, is the concession prices. It should be illegal to charge $7 for a bottle of water.

Great place for shows but way too expensive. $40 for a drink with a double shot not enough bathrooms. Long lines for everything.

Love how they do the bathrooms here - extra women's bathrooms leaving the porta pots for the men. Brilliant.

Well, can be a good place to watch the show but why after all these years they can't figure out a good strategy for cars to exit is beyond me. Exit takes 1-2 hours and the staff is not helpful in the least. Multiple lots should mean many exit lanes. Please??!

Absolutely love this venue!! There is not a bad seat in the house I just wish more bands would play there

Saw the Jimmy Buffett concert about a week ago. Buffett concerts in their own right are something to behold but Alpine valley is definitely the place to be when seeing any concert.

Not such a fun and great place in the rain and you have lawn seats. Not safe going up and down the hill to go the bathroom. A muddy mess and people falling and sliding down the hill. Guys were standing at the top of the hill placing bets on who was going to fall first. Our friend broke her tail bone as were leaving...she fell and slide down the hill. Like the majority of us trying to safely leave...

First time for me. Lawn seats were amazing... only bad thing were people smoking next to us. Brad Paisley was awesome!