Article By: Clay Adamczyk

I admit that I wouldn’t know if the Wilbur Theater is a nice place to see comedy. They do have Bob Saget (of all people) this week, but the Wilbur is without a doubt the worst venue in Boston to see loud music. My disdain toward the theater began with a TV on the Radio concert last fall, and the experience was far from pleasurable. First off, the security is extremely pushy. They rush you in, leading you through two or three ticket checkpoints, and at the end they take your physical ticket, making if difficult if you save them as keepsakes. No big deal yet right? Next, patrons learn that there are three levels of general admission, so even if you think you will be on the floor up against the stage, you may be corralled into a small pen behind the floor, or worse, standing in the back! Different colored wristbands mark these sections and you will be ejected if caught hopping sections. You accept defeat with the pigpen of general admission and try to enjoy the show while the under-filled floor taunts you. Even all this wouldn’t be so bad if the sound quality were a little better. I don’t know if the PA system was built with only comedy in mind, but even with TVOR’s horn section, the sound was never quite full.

After that one time, I vowed to never return to the Wilbur Theater. I thought it would take nothing less than a Fugazi reunion or Ian Curtis returning from the dead and only performing at the Wilbur to bring me back to that piss-hole again. Then Sonic Youth had to play there two nights back-to-back. I was trapped. I sucked it up and bought tickets for both nights. Needless to say, Sonic Youth was amazing both nights. A bad venue can’t really take away from a bands sheer awesomeness, but the Wilbur tries. I get there the first night and am lead through the same round after round of ticket checkpoints, only there are a few more now that they started serving alcohol. No thank you $6.00 Bud Lite, but at least this time my general admission ticket put me on the floor. I took my place at the front of the stage and was blown away at how full the music sounded compared to my previous experience. This time, however, it was only because I was hearing sound directly from the bands amps. It turns out the theater’s PA speakers are located a few yards from the end of the stage, making the vocals almost inaudible to anyone trying to get close to their favorite band. It’s frustrating to say the least, but what happened next is intolerable.

When Sonic Youth broke into “Death Valley ’69,” a song that SY dug deep to bust out, the audience simultaneously erupted in to a dance frenzy. There was a lot of jumping around, but it was nowhere near a mosh-pit. Still, it was enough for one fascist dance-nazi of a bouncer to crush everyone’s good mood. Not only did he come in grabbing people telling them to “calm down!” but also remained in the center of the crowd to make sure the dancing didn’t start again. How could this be? I was absolutely flabbergasted. It was “Death Valley ’69!” It was Sonic Youth! Who couldn’t dance? How could they stop us? The Wilbur Theater knew who they were booking for two nights, what did they expect us to do, stand still? With a band that is unforgettable, the way the Wilbur handles live music performances is unforgivable. Hopefully bands will wise up to the Wilbur’s awful atmosphere and book themselves somewhere better.