What’s metro Atlanta’s best outdoor concert venue?
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In fact, we have two winners. Your Picks shows the outcome of how you voted. For another take, Our Picks offers some guidance from our staff experts.
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Comments
By Colleen
August 20, 2008 9:10 AM | Link to this
Chastain Park
By Colleen
August 20, 2008 9:12 AM | Link to this
Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
By Robert
August 20, 2008 9:20 AM | Link to this
Chastain is alright but for my money I will pick the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
By Robert
August 20, 2008 9:22 AM | Link to this
Chastain is alright but for my money I will pick the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
By Lisa
August 20, 2008 9:23 AM | Link to this
Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
By Layne
August 20, 2008 9:28 AM | Link to this
Verizon Wireless Amphitheater!
By Carrie
August 20, 2008 9:43 AM | Link to this
Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
By layne
August 20, 2008 9:46 AM | Link to this
VWA- verion wireless amphitheater
By Kelly
August 20, 2008 9:51 AM | Link to this
The Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Alpharetta is clean and has some great concerts.
By ATL80
August 20, 2008 9:55 AM | Link to this
You can’t beat Piedmont Park. The Dave Matthews/Allman Brothers concert there last year was amazing. I wish they would have more concerts there (or any festivals for that matter).
By Dana
August 20, 2008 10:06 AM | Link to this
VZW Ampitheatre
By Dana
August 20, 2008 10:06 AM | Link to this
VZW Amphitheatre
By Dana
August 20, 2008 10:06 AM | Link to this
VZW Amphitheatre
By gtg298b
August 20, 2008 10:33 AM | Link to this
Verizon Wireless Amphitheater is really nice and a state of the art facility, but I have to go with Chastain Park. Chastain just has a great feel to it that beats out the VZW Amphitheater.
By Kate
August 20, 2008 11:05 AM | Link to this
verizon wireless amphiteater
By Dixiedarling
August 20, 2008 11:25 AM | Link to this
Verizon Amphitheater is awesome. I seen some excellent shows there.
By Yogi
August 20, 2008 11:36 AM | Link to this
Mable House Barnes Amphitheatre is a really cool venue!
By Concert Junkie
August 20, 2008 12:19 PM | Link to this
The FRED is the best without a doubt
By Josh
August 20, 2008 12:47 PM | Link to this
Masquerade Music Park
By Wayne
August 20, 2008 12:52 PM | Link to this
One of the best kept secret outdoor concert venues is the Atlanta Botanical Garden. I went there for the first time a few weeks ago to see Jerry Jeff Walker. Great location and the the size of the venue is perfect.
By Gary
August 20, 2008 12:55 PM | Link to this
Okay I haven’t been to many outdoor events in Atlanta but I have to say that when you people nominate the Verizon Ampitheater you must have been too wasted to remember much. How can you say it’s the best?? We went to the RUSH concert there a few weeks ago. It was a packed house, almost 12,000 people. When the show was over, they only had maybe 8 Buses hauling people out of there to the parking lots!! How is this a great thing? we stood in line for an eternity waiting for a bus to get back to the parking lot. 8 buses to 12,000 people it not very practical or “great”! Sorry but I really disagree with that choice. Maybe down the road if they improve the transportation or maybe allow people to PARK within close walking distance! Great show, comfortable Arena, HORRIBLE transportation\shuttle system.
By Heather B
August 20, 2008 1:00 PM | Link to this
I attended the night of Beethoven at Verizon Wireless in Alpharetta. The food was pricy and the ASO sounds better indoors, but having the twilight behind the stage and distant thunderstorms and lightning was amazing! It fit Beethvoen’s stormy music perfectly and even synched up sometimes.
By Jmac
August 20, 2008 1:08 PM | Link to this
The Fred in Peachtree City is the best by far.
By JS
August 20, 2008 1:18 PM | Link to this
Encore/VZW. Gary, maybe if you didn’t go to a sold out show the traffic wouldn’t be bad. Why don’t you take marta if it’s so bad? As for me, I can walk to Encore so I could really give a crap about traffic.
By Jay
August 20, 2008 1:19 PM | Link to this
obviously OTPers are stuffing the ballot box…
There is no question that the Fox Theatre or the Tabernacle is the best venue for larger concerts and the Variety Playhouse is the best for smaller shows.
If Verizon wins people who actually go to concerts will laugh and everyone else will be mislead.
By Jan S
August 20, 2008 1:22 PM | Link to this
Have been to several venues in metro Atlanta and favorite was Chastain until Mable House was built. Love it for being an outdoor venue but smaller as well as all seating and stage are with the exception of lawn seats are covered. You don’t have to worry about being rained out like the others I’ve been to.
By Get Outta Here
August 20, 2008 1:31 PM | Link to this
Jay, your head must be stuffed. The blog topic is best OUTDOOR venue. How could your opinion ever count under these circumstances?
By Dee
August 20, 2008 1:44 PM | Link to this
Chastain Park
By Greg
August 20, 2008 1:52 PM | Link to this
Mable House Barnes is by far the best. It may be small, but it is new, clean and quaint. If you are really a fan of the act, you will be right on top of them. It is covered and the parking lot is next to the entrance… 200 yards is the farthest walk you will make from the parking lot. Might be 25 minutes from downtown Atlanta. We live in Cumming, but I would make that drive any day to see a concert there.
By Lew
August 20, 2008 1:59 PM | Link to this
Masquerade Music Park
By Scott
August 20, 2008 1:59 PM | Link to this
Best Concert venues? Philips Arena,The Fox,Pine Knob(in MI)
By mayretter local
August 20, 2008 2:20 PM | Link to this
uhhh, folks, this is about the best OUTDOOR venue, not the best venue.
Chastain is great if you aren’t amid the endless talkers down front. The two Allman Brothers shows there in Oct are going to be amazing, esp since there is no tables, and the season ticket babblers will be behind the real fans in the pit.
Botanical Garden is great too, as is Piedmont Park for the Dogwood and Jazz fest.
There will probably not be another ABB/DMB event like the one last year. We brought the cooler to that and sat in the shade beneath the dogwoods just on the other side of the lake and listened to the ABB for free.
By Ramjet
August 20, 2008 2:23 PM | Link to this
Traffic flow, acoustics, and smell, Verizon!!
By Dave
August 20, 2008 2:25 PM | Link to this
Variety Playhouse… duh
By xena
August 20, 2008 2:30 PM | Link to this
1 no doubt, ChastainBy jeff
August 20, 2008 2:32 PM | Link to this
Anywhere Widespread plays.
By gail
August 20, 2008 2:34 PM | Link to this
Chastain Park is great & beautiful, especially for the recent Trace Adkins concert. However, if you have rude people drinking too much alcohol who stand up in front of you dancing all night, who ignore an usher’s request to sit down, ignore your own polite request to sit down, & then look at you like you’re the idiot for asking them to sit down, & then, you ask the usher yourself to ask them again to sit down & the usher tells you to move instead making the rude people who are actually violating the park’s rules to move, then it’s time to leave & probably never return.
By Jim
August 20, 2008 2:38 PM | Link to this
Lakewood/HiFi Buys (or whatever it’s called this year).
By V
August 20, 2008 2:47 PM | Link to this
Without a doubt, Chastain! It may be smaller and uncovered, but the feeling and atmosphere is great! I have never had more fun at a concert.
By Jan S
August 20, 2008 3:17 PM | Link to this
I have been to several venues in Metro Atlanta and always preferred Chastain until the Mable House Ampitheatre was built. I much prefer it as the stage as well as all the seating area is covered which makes it great in the event of rain. It is also a smaller venue which makes it a more intimate setting for a show.
By millisa
August 20, 2008 3:18 PM | Link to this
chastain park is THE HOT SPOT
By Sirlun
August 20, 2008 4:04 PM | Link to this
Mable House is up and coming; it is a great small venue, 3 years old, covered seating (no bad seats even in grass) . Chastain is still #1. You haven’t seen a concert (Steve Wonder, Maze) until you’ve seen it at Chastain. Haven’t been to the other venues. Alert… if things continue as they are Wolf Creek Amphitheater should open next year off Camp Creek Parkway and I foresee that venue will be also be a tremendous success.
By frank
August 20, 2008 4:11 PM | Link to this
verizon.. much safer part of town
By sarah
August 20, 2008 4:16 PM | Link to this
Masquerade music park is awesome. The perfect place to see Gov’t Mule. Nice setting and great pricing!
By Gary
August 20, 2008 4:22 PM | Link to this
To JS
Obviously you really didn’t read what I said about the Verizon Ampitheatre. MY complaint about the place has nothing to do with “TRAFFIC”. It was about the fact that you have to park away from the venue. Then they shuttle you in from the parking areas by bus to the venue. The problem is that they do not have enough buses contracted out to move the enormous amount of people that attend a show there. Again this has nothing to do with TRAFFIC.
By keepin it real
August 20, 2008 4:27 PM | Link to this
Chastain!! I love the greenery around it and the acoustics have been great every time I have been there for a show!
By Robert
August 20, 2008 4:27 PM | Link to this
Chastain sucks now. I hope all those loud people choke on their whole foods chicken. If you voted for it as #1, learn to shut your mouth when a band is playing or stay home in your debt filled Mc mansion.
By DK
August 20, 2008 4:42 PM | Link to this
Verizon Wireless
By RUSH fan
August 20, 2008 4:49 PM | Link to this
Gary, what are you talking about? I was at the Rush show and parked 10 minutes before it started. Being in the furthest lot, the walk was still less than 300 yards (fyi - that’s a short par 4). If you can’t walk that far, maybe you deserve to wait for a bus. I find it hard to imagine that any less than 8K of the 12K in attendance didn’t also walk to their cars. Sounds like someone is a little lazy and deservingly bitter about it.
By Bobby
August 20, 2008 5:50 PM | Link to this
One thing that bugged me about the VZW amphitheater (and it’s very close to my apartment) is the standing sight lines. I saw RUSH there and could not see the stage because the gradient was not steep enough. I could see the stage fine when everyone sat down, but who sits down at a rock concert? (I wouldn’t!) I’m not a very tall person and it seemed like the entire Atlanta Hawks had tickets for the 10 rows in front of me.
By Gary
August 20, 2008 6:10 PM | Link to this
RUSH Fan
Not lazy at all, the lot we had to park at was on Haynes Bridge Rd! LOT N??? Hence the shuttle. Now I don’t know if you can read a map and measure distances but it’s certainly alot farther than 300 Yards. Look a the VZW Website under the PARKING Option. Not to mention that the bus driver drove through about 5 different parking lots and small streets taking “shortcuts” so that making an attempt to walk that far back at night would have been impossible without a GPS to track the route back to the car. We would have never found it, especially not knowing the streets there or anything. So no it was not laziness, again they should have contracted out more buses for the amount of people that were there. Had we know how to get back to our car we would have gladly walked back, it would have been much faster.
By Maya G.
August 20, 2008 8:28 PM | Link to this
Mable House Barnes Amphitheater, without a doubt—and I live in Midtown! Parking is free and a non-issue, tickets are reasonable, the acts are fun and diverse, the sound is fantastic, and the facilities and grounds are fresh, new, and well-maintained. Even the lawn seats there are fantastic. Plus, it may sound odd, but the concert-goers at MHBA are more congenial than those at just about any other venue I’ve visited in the entire metro area. It’s definitely one of the Atlanta concert scene’s best-kept secrets.
By heather
August 21, 2008 9:09 AM | Link to this
Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Alpharetta
By heather
August 21, 2008 9:17 AM | Link to this
Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
By Dawn
August 21, 2008 9:55 AM | Link to this
Turner Field!!!
By Alice
August 21, 2008 3:04 PM | Link to this
Barnes Mable House Amphitheater - but don’t tell - those of us who live nearby want to keep it a secret!
By Kathy Clark
August 22, 2008 6:41 AM | Link to this
I can remember going to the great Chastain Park to see the Moody Blues with my husband. Listening to them under the dark, starry sky with twinkling lights dancing from the stage, trying to keep the beat of the music was so awesome. We brought our dinner and wine in a baskert like most people do, but the neatest thing was seeing my long time friend whom I had not seen in 15 years. Nothing but memories and a great time!
By Cindy
August 22, 2008 4:24 PM | Link to this
Without question - Chastain Park
By Kay
August 23, 2008 3:32 PM | Link to this
For parking - (on our visit anyway) Verizon Wireless - it would be great if it didn’t sit in a hole and had circulating air. For atmosphere, stage, etc. Chastain Park - but parking SUCKS!
By KPS
August 26, 2008 11:27 AM | Link to this
The Botanical Gardens is a hidden gem. A fun, yet intimate environment. The surreal juxtaposition of the gorgeous surroundings and the nearby midtown skysraper’s lights peaking above the trees provides unparalleled atmosphere. Performers have been excellent and prices are still reasonable.
By Pam
August 31, 2008 10:53 AM | Link to this
Chastain Park will always be the best outdoor concert venue!! There is a certain ambience that says THIS IS THE ATLANTA WE KNOW AND LOVE!! The artists seem to be confortable and casual too when they are preforming here. Where else can you usually BYOB!!??
By Pam
August 31, 2008 10:53 AM | Link to this
Chastain Park will always be the best outdoor concert venue!! There is a certain ambience that says THIS IS THE ATLANTA WE KNOW AND LOVE!! The artists seem to be confortable and casual too when they are preforming here. Where else can you usually BYOB!!??
By Pam
August 31, 2008 10:54 AM | Link to this
Chastain Park will always be the best outdoor concert venue!! There is a certain ambience that says THIS IS THE ATLANTA WE KNOW AND LOVE!! The artists seem to be confortable and casual too when they are preforming here. Where else can you usually BYOB!!??
By som
September 2, 2008 3:13 PM | Link to this
Verizon Wireless it’s hot and new!!!!