Arena Theatre

Avoid all concerts at the Arena Theatre! My husband and I paid $50/ticket to see Musiq Soulchild and Chrisette Michele. We purchased 6 tickets for family and friends, so we wasted $300. Musiq was there, Chrisette was a no show. Musiq Soulchild was great! His set was awesome, but we were there to see Chrisette. She is a new artist and we really enjoy her music. We were told by management (Hector or Victor Hinajosa) that Chrisette was there but left abruptly. We were told she was upset with management therefore she left. Also, one of Musiq's band members told us that the stage was not set up in time, causing further delays. I do not blame Chrisette because I was upset with the new management. It was horrific! We waited in long lines to enter. Everyone had to enter through one entry way because it was the only entry way with metal detectors. That was ridiculous. We were treated like criminals. What's up with the airport-style metal detectors anyway, purchase the hand-held detectors. Know your audience! We were not there to see a heavy metal gothic band. It was a neo-soul concert, a mature professional crowd. Use hand-held devices at every entry way and get us to our damn seats! There were more policemen there than ticket attendants. I have never experienced that at a neo-soul concert. The concert was scheduled to start at 8pm. We were not allowed to enter until 9:30pm. Musiq Soulchild started at 10:00pm. My husband and I are avid concert goers. We attend concerts nationwide. We have never experienced such unprofessionalism. I will not attend another show at the Arena Theatre. I will also share my experience with everyone I know.

We were also told by management to call Ticketmaster for refunds. That's BS!
We were hustled. We were disrespected. I was disgusted with the service. I felt like the audience was stereotyped. We were treated like criminals. We deserve some type of compensation from the new management/owners. The Arena Theatre use to be my favorite theater in town.

A little advice to the new owners:
Diversify your management staff so you can understand your customers/audience better. Diversity is beneficial because it allows you to provide a better service to your customers. I did not appreciate being treated like a criminal.