You, Me, and MSG!
Written: Sep 09 '00 (Updated Oct 15 '00)
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Pros: History, Most Famous Arena in the World!
Cons: A bit dated
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| craigmoosh's Full Review: Madison Square Garden |
So there I was, trying to think what I could do for you, the home viewer. I had written several reviews of arenas around the country, but something seemed to be missing. Then the light bulb went on in my head (unfortunately, it burned out right away)… I had yet to review "The World's Most Famous Arena." So my mission was simple: fly to New York and see an event at the arena. Just by pure coincidence, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band were closing out their tour by playing 10 shows at Madison Square Garden from mid-June to July 1st. Well, geez, I had already seen Bruce 32 times since last year, why would I want to go to any more shows? However, I figured I'd sacrifice for the sake of my readers and attend the last 6 shows. (Are you buying any of this??)
Madison Square Garden is located on 7th Avenue between 31st and 33rd Street in the great city of New York, New York. What many people may not know about Madison Square Garden is that the current building is actually the 4th New York City building to be known by that name. The first Madison Square Garden was built in 1874; the second, 1889; the third 1925; and the current building, 1968. However, the rest of this epinion will only refer to the latest incarnation of Madison Square Garden (aka "The Gahden," aka "MSG.")
History: Construction on Madison Square Garden began in 1964 and took four years to complete. At the time, the building was considered a major architectural achievement. The building's grand opening took place on February 11th, 1968, with a Salute to the USO, featuring Bob Hope and Bing Crosby. Since its opening, the arena has been home to the New York Knicks of the NBA, the New York Rangers of the NHL, and the St. John's Red Storm collegiate basketball team. Since 1997, The New York Liberty women's basketball has also called MSG home. Virtually every major musician of the past 30 years has played Madison Square Garden, including Elvis Presley, the Rolling Stones, the Grateful Dead, Led Zeppelin, Frank Sinatra, Luciano Pavarotti, Craigmoosh, Billy Joel, Barbra Streisand, Michael Jackson, and, of course, Bruce Springsteen. The Garden has also hosted a wide range of events over the years, including the famous 1971 Ali-Frazier fight, the Grammys, the Westminster Dog Show, Jimmy Carter's two Democratic National Conventions, and the Ringling Brothers Circus (okay, the last two are almost the same thing). The arena, which hosts 4 million visitors each year, was renovated in 1991 at a cost of $200 million.
Getting there: Madison Square Garden is a very convenient arena to get to… as long as you're not driving. As is the case with going anywhere in Manhattan, driving is not recommended! If you do drive, expect to pay $30 or more for parking. What makes the arena so easy to get to is that Penn Station is directly underneath the arena. You can actually go from the subway or train to the arena without ever going outside. If you're adventurous, take a New York City cab (imagine bumper cars… at high speeds… through heavy traffic… with some maniac who speaks no English at the wheel).
Outside the arena: The atmosphere outside the building was unique of New York, with thousands of people from all walks of life streaming by. One thing that struck me right away was the large number of police officers around the building. There were more officers within shooting distance of the building as on my city's entire police force. This may have been partially due to the controversy over Bruce's recently penned song about the Diallo shooting. Ironically, the only problems caused as a result were by a few police officers themselves, who obviously didn't understand the song (at the first show, an officer flashed his badge to get to the stage, then stood in front of the stage, giving Bruce the finger until he was thrown out by security).
Inside the arena: The first thing I thought was kind of odd was that my friend and I had to go up several floors on the escalator to get to our floor seats. That's because the arena is actually on the fifth floor of the building (there is also a theater on the third floor). The concourse features an abundance of concession stands, including some specialty items. As you'd expect, food is pricey, but really not out of line with a lot of other arenas around the country. There were vendors selling champagne on the floor before the show started (which I had never seen before) as well as "wattuh." The men's restrooms were adequate, but the building could use more women's facilities.
Seating: MSG's seating capacities range from 18,200 for hockey to 20,000+ for concerts. The seating configuration is a bit strange. Whereas the average arena has 50-80 large sections, the Garden has over 200 small sections. Some of the lower loge sections have only 4 seats per row. The non-floor section numbers are double-digits, 100's , 200's, 300's, and 400's, but only the 400's are actually on another level. The other sections are all stacked on the lower level. I had floor seats for all but the last show, where I was panicked to have tickets in the last row of section 330, which is on the side of the stage. I was happily surprised to discover that they actually weren't as bad as I had imagined (of course, that didn't stop me from sneaking down to the floor, and ending up 15 feet in front of Bruce in the stage-rush). Before one of the shows, we took a trip up to the 400 level to check out the nosebleeds, and they were significantly worse than the 300 level seats. The sound was very good on the floor, and good but slightly muddy in the 300 level.
Overall, I was impressed with Madison Square Garden. While it may not have all the amenities of newer arenas, it is still a first-class facility. As I walked out of MSG for the last time after Bruce's 3-1/2 hour final concert, I was thinking how fitting it was that the tour ended in the most famous arena in the world.
And don't forget... I did it all for you!
Recommended:
Yes
Parking Availability: What A Nightmare
Seat Location: First 20 Rows
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Epinions.com ID:
craigmoosh
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Member: Craig
Location: Mequon, Wisconsin
Reviews written: 25
Trusted by: 200 members
About Me:
100,000 readers can't be wrong!! Well, okay, they *could* be...
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