Varsity Theater Reviews

A decent venue for smaller artists. Bathrooms are meh, and a little messy. Nice staff and very solid security. I had a good time and will defiantly come back.

Saw Smino there!!!! I loved the venue and the bartenders.

Wi-fi sucks so print your tickets before you arrive. I was expecting a little more than rows of fold out chairs for a comedy show...at least small tables since they were serving drinks. The waitresses couldn't get to everyone because of this type of seating. The bar downstairs was crowded so no chance of getting any drinks before the show and nobody at the front let you know of the 2nd bar upstairs by the restrooms. Super weird layout for the restrooms, but I guess you have to work with the space being a small venue. 1st time there and possibly last time since it was also super difficult to find any parking being near the UofM.

First time going to an event there and definitely want to go back!

Great venue for concerts! Lots of space and I liked standing on the elevated platforms on the sides or on the stairs in the back.

Best decor for a venue in the Twin Cities. Even their bathroom is cool.

Can you please chill out on the security a little I mean we are adults they literally pay a guy to watch the smokers.

Liked the space, had an upstairs balcony and lots of seating throughout

Very cool venue to see live music. They have limited balcony seating which is a good alternative to general admission!

Large venue. Fun dancing. Drink prices are VERY high

Great concert venue. Even when the line to get in was around the corner they got everyone in pretty quickly. They offer a coat check and the drinks are not horribly priced. Definitely make sure you get upstairs to check out the bathrooms. They are unique.

Amazing building can't wait to come back to see another show!

Great venue for the size, a very personal feel to it.

This place sucks. They don t offer water at the bar; no cups of tap water - only
3.00 bottled. Only bar I ve ever been to that doesn t offer free water. Not even a drinking fountain. ADA Laws have to be broken here.

Been here for a concert one time and a my best friends wedding last week. GREAT VENUE for both! Cool bathroom set up and good staff! Nice work!

One of the best venues in the Twin Cities. Not to mention they have the best bathrooms.

Pretty cool semi Intimate venue. I fully recommend getting VIP.

Very lovely, smaller venue for shows. Great bar and beautiful setting whether on the floor or balcony seating.

My daughter went on her first spring break this year and saved her own money to go to a concert at Varsity theater. They would not let her in just because she didn't have an I.D. that showed a Minnesota address. This was just unnecessary disappointment. She paid for her seat just like everyone else!

Not the best acoustics, some lazy staff giving poor service. Bathroom set-up was the stupidest thing I've ever seen, communistic sums it up. fits in with the liberetard toilet the u of m and stinky town have become.

A great venue, unique ambience, great audio & lighting, good staff !!

A very cool environment. The music was great with a good selection of liquid spitits. Also, they have a coat check available. I caught a show on a Tuesday and felt very safe with over 4 security people and 3 police officers on site. The area around the threater also had a good continuous police presence.

Went to Blue October which was an excellent show, but it was a sweat box with no air conditioning which was pure he'll. Absolute BS nothing like the smell of pure sweat in the air when your trying to have a good time.

I have been to so many great shows here and it is one of my favorite venues in the cities! I m glad it has new management now and once COVID is over I look forward to more shows here. And yes, the bathrooms are very grotto like and totally live up to the hype!

Smaller venue with great views from any place. Huge bar. Love the vibe.

Would not let me use the bathroom was at a show for 2 hours

When to go see a show here and was surprised with how good the sound was. The volume was loud, it was a metal show so they can sometimes be a rough sound, but it was crisp and clean. There are no bad sightlines here. I would definitely go see more bands perform at the Varsity.

This place is wicked cool. Seriously. Saw Andrew McMahon for the Pen and Piano tour. The decor and style inside this theater is something to remember. Even the bathrooms were some of the most unique and epic restrooms I've been in.

I can't think of a bad thing to say about this venue so how's this: Just go see a show here and you'll know what I mean. Simply awesome.

Saw a show here and it was a blast. Sounded great everywhere. It's a smaller venue so you can see the stage very well pretty much everywhere. I was on the balcony and saw the artists on stage no problem. The two bars are cool. And the bartender was nice and make a great drink. I would go again.

My favorite venue to watch shows. You get up close to your favorite artists and always provides a great time.

Cool venue, interesting acoustics that are a bit too loud if I'm being honest. Also wouldn't serve me alcohol because it's "illegal" and I'm "underage"

One of my fave concert venues. It's standing only for the most part but the ambience is fantastic.

One of the most beautiful venues you'll go to. Crazy trippy bathroom.

Saw Lyfe Jennings here. The acoustics in the space was off, sounded like he was yelling and a bit squeaky even though typically he has a great voice live. Maybe they needed to do sound check.

The whole bone of this place is really cool, and it's bathroom is the best.

Sound was really good, lights were good. Drinks were definately overpriced. Would attend other shows here but will pre-drink somewhere else.

Great location, parking wasn't an issue. Lots of space for patrons. Bathrooms were plenty (for the girls at least) and drinks were quick. My favorite part was their security. Husband and I paid for balcony seats. Security came by multiple times before the show to make sure the people in those seats were the ones that paid for them.

Really interesting venue. Lights could've been better but clean and good sounding.

Great venue! Great staff!
My only complaint; I wish there was some food available inside because they don't allow re-entry if you wanted to leave to get a quick bite.

good venue, saw Small Town Murder. Wish they dint book a diffrent show right after it. Would of been great to stay and keep drinking and mingle with the hosts as they do at other venues.

Ultimate 80s party was terrible waste of time no wonder they wouldn't send you the tickets they were too cheap you had to drive out to St Louis Park to get them they wouldn't even send them in the mail because they knew it was so bad they wouldn't pay for the stamps LOL don't waste our time Kool 108

The place is always clean and the shows are usually well curated. The bar can be over-run a little at the peak of the night, but that's to be expected. If you go for mezzanine seats or reserved on the sides of the main floor you won't be disappointed in the viewing experience, but the view from the floor is never blocked by anything.

Awesome and intimate venue, never a bad time. Just don't get too wild or you might not make it through the entire show.

Standing room only with exception of maybe 10 seats in the back.

Now owned by live nation.
$60 sold out show was way over capacity to have an enjoyable view/time...$10 drinks...Bald Security guy gave my nicotine vape to the police cause he assumed it was drugs . Was so frustrated, i went out the front door, across the street to get a slice of pizza, and came back to the front door.. got denied from getting back in because of NO RE ENTRY, which no front door staff informed me when i was on my way out the door. $5 show, no big deal, but i spent $60 dollars to be at the show. Hung out in the alley/ smoking area.. because my friends were still in the show, and wanted to at least try to hear the music going on inside. Bald security guy comes around again, makes the judgment that im trying to sneak in. Gets the police to make me leave the area. YOU DONT OWN THE ALLEY!

Great time!! Thanks again live nation

Good intimate venue to see a show. Staff is pretty friendly as well. Good acoustics.

Hell Yeah was excellent. I like the bathroom area. Sound is great here for live music.

A great concert venue that gets some pretty well known groups.

Great band, great energy and great staff and security. Balcony had a nice view, but there is weird seating- barstools

Nice venue, but plan to pay extra for any conveniences- seating, balcony view, etc. Drinks were pricey and parking was difficult.

Was not too fond of the bartenders and drinks, but was a pretty awesome place to catch a show.

Tiny airplane drinks for $8. Broken bathroom stalls. Lights that shine directly into your eyes and burn out your retinas.

This place is a perfect place to see your favorite bands in a very close environment. The staff is astounding. Definitely, coming back!

Nathan Anderson premiering his cd was a great show!

Beautiful decor, great sound system. Lost a star for very high drink prices

Good acoustics, the bands sounded good. Friendly staff and good security staff. Really enjoyed myself.

I work the shows...my experience is different...fun place..!!

It is a good venue. They gave us free tickets to an upcoming show. Bathrooms are super cool. Drinks are over priced like every other place. Security is absolutely over the top. It was like a 5 step process to get in. Hot tip: if you want special treatment and the best view arrive on crutches! Security will walk you through the venue and make everyone in a 10 foot radius move out of the way and announce your presence! You will also get to sit right up by the stage on the other side of the gate. You can even prop your crutches up against the gate and let them lean out into the crowd!

Not the best. Terrible bathroom situation. No re-entry, ridiculously oppressive security.

Cool venue. Good sound. The staff was nice and friendly. This may be weird, but the bathrooms are amazing! The only downside is that drink prices are outrageously overpriced.

Hands down one of the best venues in the Twin Cities

New found glory omg reliving my high school days

The venue itself was quite beautiful and very clean, but I was somewhat disappointed with the customer service. I purchased a VIP package to see a band that was performing, and the package included access to the soundcheck as well as a meet&greet, and I was told to arrive promptly at 3:00 in order to attend the events. However, we were not allowed into the venue until almost 4:00, and only had a short meet&greet (about thirty minutes) and heard them play one song (the actual soundcheck could be heard somewhat from outside of the venue while I was still waiting to enter).

Saw Silverstein and Hawthorne Heights here!! Amazing venue and security was super friendly.

This is absolutely my favorite venue in the Twin Cities. The venue staff are always so nice and helpful & the ambience is beyond beautiful.

Come here for a concert or for one of the most memorable wedding experiences!

I saw the SuicideGirls Blackheart Burlesque show last night--it was my first time at this venue. The staff was excellent, the atmosphere was excellent, and the crowd was pretty good. I cannot comment much on sound as the show was mostly a visual experience, but the sound didn't seem obviously poor.
Two problems with this venue/act that lessened enjoyment out of many: the stage objectively is too low. I'm 6'1" standing 20 feet from the stage and had a difficult time seeing a good portion of the performance. Part of that was the nature of the show; the performers spent some time writhing around on the ground.
The second problem, exacerbated by the first, was the presence of mobile phones all over my sight line. The SuicideGirls insanely encouraged us to take pictures, with the opportunity to win a membership if we presented the best picture. Obviously with mobile device photographers, the only decent photographs would be taken in the first couple rows, but this didn't prevent much of the audience to hold their phones up all night long. And it irked everyone. I saw two fights almost break out because of this. It created a lot of audience tension (easy to do in Minneapolis, land of the uptight and passive aggressive), which also lessened my positive experience.

I've been there only once for the recent Eric B & Rakim show. it's a nice venue. the place is kept real clean at least until they reach full capacity. their bathrooms look very nice. I feel that black toilets are a good choice as I think white ones over time become irreparably dingy. the bartender upstairs that night had a long line pretty much the whole event but he remained on point. parking is very difficult though but I'm not sure how much space the establishment itself has.

Cool structures, the bathroom setup is... weird to say the least. COOL but weird lol.. drinks could definitely use less sweet and sour mix, but pretty cool kind of vampiresque feel.

I attended the Logic concert at this theater. It was my first time here, and I hope there will be more. First off, I am used to paying $8/drink at other venues around the city. I was shocked when the drinks were roughly half that cost. The bar was huge, and there were plenty of bartenders to handle the crowd. The theater is well designed, and the bathrooms are like none I've seen before.

There was plenty of room everywhere, and the acoustics were good. I've been to other concerts where the bass is overwhelming, and you can't here the artist. That wasn't the case here.

The only negative feedback I have is the parking. We had to park in the closest ramp, which is 2 blocks away. It happened to be raining that day, and there was no valet available. There is parking on the street, but it is very limited. Other than that, I highly recommend Varsity Theater.

Clean venue, ample space to dance, and dedicated staff to spite the spun out wooks

Headliner Tiffany was a disappointment. She came out and blabbed. Then sung one song. Then blabbed and blabbed....stalling. Then sung one more song and then she was done.