Three New Indoor Venues This Month. Any input on how the sight & sound will be?

[Terri Schehr]

12 minutes ago, Kamarag said:

The old dome in Atlanta had what I though were the best acoustics of any indoor facility in DCI. The new one was built to maximize crowd noise, a common design decision for new NFL stadiums. It's likely going to be all kinds of awful. It will, however, be cool and dry.

It was good but sitting in the last row of the lowest section was a bad idea.  The noise from the concourse was really bad because it was open.  

[PopcornEater1963]

16 minutes ago, Kamarag said:

The old dome in Atlanta had what I though were the best acoustics of any indoor facility in DCI. The new one was built to maximize crowd noise, a common design decision for new NFL stadiums. It's likely going to be all kinds of awful. It will, however, be cool and dry.

Unfortunately, may not be able to count on "dry". During BOA Super Regional there last October the roof was leaking like a sieve. I've got a video somewhere of one of the Front Ensemble staff holding an umbrella over one of the marimba players in the Front Ensemble as the deluge came through. 

[PopcornEater1963]

Story: http://www.cbs46.com/story/36722267/roof-leak-discovered-at-mercedes-benz-stadium

Video: http://www.cbs46.com/clip/13864621/roof-leak-discovered-at-mercedes-benz-stadium

Edited July 6, 2018 by PopcornEater1963

[TheAngryBavarian]

39 minutes ago, BlueStarsDad said:

I've been attending BOA events for the past 10 years at the Dome in St Louis.  I find the acoustics to be good ... I've sat everywhere from the first row to the press box on level 6 (in the rafters) ... definitely better sound compared with Lucas Oil.  Visually, I find the stands to be somewhat flat, so if you are higher up, you are a ways from the field.

Also, the place was dirty for the BOA Super Regional last year ... the seats were covered in dust since they had not be used in quite a while.  Not sure if that will be an issue next week.

I've gone to BOA St. Louis the past two years, and I would second that. Don't remember the seats being dusty last year, though. 

[Dpsouthern81]

50 minutes ago, Terri Schehr said:

It was good but sitting in the last row of the lowest section was a bad idea.  The noise from the concourse was really bad because it was open.  

I remember that from 2015. It was awful. 

[Precious Roy]

1 hour ago, Terri Schehr said:

It was good but sitting in the last row of the lowest section was a bad idea.  The noise from the concourse was really bad because it was open.  

Yes, this was my biggest issue with the Georgia Dome (aside from the year the roof leaked and flooded). You could sit in the blast zone, and hear the corps, but had to watch the jumbotron for the drill. You could sit farther back in the lower deck to see some drill, but had to deal with noise from the concourse. There was less crowd noise in the upper decks, but the sound from the corps did not carry up there very well. We eventually learned to get seats facing the right side of the field, which was farther away from the main entrance (and therefore suffered from less concourse noise).

I tried unsuccessfully to get tickets in the mezzanine section this year at Mercedes Benz, but wound up about 2/3 of the way back in the lower level. I hope the concourse noise issue is better.

[oldsoprano]

4 hours ago, Precious Roy said:

 

I tried unsuccessfully to get tickets in the mezzanine section this year at Mercedes Benz, but wound up about 2/3 of the way back in the lower level. I hope the concourse noise issue is better.

I'm happy to report that the noise bleedover from the concourse is not nearly as much of an issue, since the concourse at the new stadium isn't wide open to the seating area like at the old Ga. Dome.

I was at the BOA regional at Mercedes-Benz last fall, and that's about the only bright side I can think of soundwise. Like someone else has mentioned, the stadium was designed to naturally amplify crowd noise during football games. One thing I noticed at BOA is that the in-house sound system was pretty unintelligible. At least from where I was sitting down front, you couldn't understand any of the PA announcements.

And yes, the roof leaked.

I just wonder if DCI will be "one-and-done" with Mercedes-Benz Stadium like BOA. BOA isn't returning because of a couple of reasons, one being the the security hoops the Ga. World Congress Center Police made the bands jump through just to get inside were atrocious. But the main reason was the cost. From what I understand, BOA offered to pay the stadium 20 percent more than they had been paying to rent the Ga. Dome, and the stadium folks wouldn't provide a total cost to BOA before the event. Afterwards, they send BOA an invoice that was more than DOUBLE what they had paid previously for the Ga. Dome.

[Bluzes]

Is Grant Field still there or back at the High School two years ago. It would be a shame not to have a facility in Atlanta where the attendance can grow like it did in last few years at the GA Dome.

[BlueStarsDad]

18 minutes ago, Bluzes said:

Is Grant Field still there or back at the High School two years ago. It would be a shame not to have a facility in Atlanta where the attendance can grow like it did in last few years at the GA Dome.

Grant Field is still there ... but the logistics at that field are horrible.  I was a student the summer when world championships was held there in the 80's and it was a MESS.  There is no close in bus parking, no area for warm ups, etc.  And the field is now grass ... which is a another strike against it.

[Bluzes]

Was there in 83 for a Regional before heading to Miami and back in 84 for finals week. As a fan it was great had hotels in walking distance and enjoyed eating at the Student Union.