While visiting my daughter, she put us onto a free-to-enter Friday event called Vintage Art & Vinyl here and ended up being one of those unexpectedly funky finds in Cambridge, MA. The entire upstairs space was packed wall-to-wall with unique vendors, each with their own creative flair. Some vendors had cool, personalized buttons and stickers, others had trays of handmade jewelry, others had plenty of vintage clothing (steep for vintage- but still fun to browse) and of course, crates of classic vinyl. What really stood out was the energy- every vendor was welcoming and clearly into what they were selling. It didn't feel like a typical market- this was more like a laid-back, artsy community hangout. Definitely worth checking out if they re-do it, you're in the area and into unique finds and good energy. read more

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Came here for Ozomatli concert and was so happy to purchase tickets there (no up charge or extra fees). Plenty of seats and tables in the back but if you want to see them up close, all standing section up front. The room is on the second level of the Somerville theater. A lot of beer options at the bar, also non alcoholic drinks available for purchase. Complimentary fruit infused water should you need it. What an awesome venue! read more

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Oh I'll be avoiding this place. Drinks were outrageous, it was either $9 or $10 for a Modelo. Come on. There was nothing remotely decently priced for a live music venue. Sound was mid/muffled. Sightlines mediocre. Left about 2/3rd through a set of a band I'd wanted to see since the 90s and just couldn't take it, it was a downer. read more

They were checking ID for the show I went to before checking tickets and the line moved fast. Good space for a concert, but with the step down area, it can be hard to move around read more

Bathrooms were great! Getting in and scanning my ticket were really easy. Only giving 4 stars because the chairs set up easily scooch back because they are lightweight banquet chairs. I saw a comedy show and it was a great setting, not too big and everyone got a good seat. However, the person in front of me scooched back twice. Which left me very little leg room. The rows were set up pretty tight. I'm only mentioning this in the off chance you go to see a show here, just please remember that there are people behind you. Be a good guest and don't scooch back. read more

Love this place because it's tiny and you can get right next to the stage. Saw Blonde Redhead here, of all places! And it was amazing. Opener was good too. Sound can be a bit of a wash out, but the experience is stellar. Maybe bring earplugs if you're sensitive. Two bars also which is nice, and plenty of lounging area so you can mix it up. Go and enjoy a great show! read more

Terrible venue. They have some teenager working security telling people where they can and can't stand at a sold out general admission concert. So I guess me standing up against a wall is a huge deal? I'm so sorry that I didn't want to stand anywhere near the bar since the sound of ppl talking completely overwhelms the music. Anyway, if you're going to a sold out show there be prepared to be packed in like a sardine and be prepared to not hear the music b/c the bar will completely overtake the sound. read more

Absolutely love it here! Incredible space and the best staff! Delicious cocktails and it's great that it's right off of the T. read more

Crystal Ballroom - The stage - Venues & Event Spaces Near Me - Somerville, Massachusetts

Nice looking venue, acoustics are fine. Staff are incredibly rude and unhelpful. Some slob yelled at us about where to stand during a sold out general admission show. Drinks are very expensive. read more

I've now been to a bunch of shows here, and frankly, feel like I've given the venue more than enough chances. Definitely one of my last choices for attending shows these days. In the end, venues get away with being crappy because the acts people want to see are there, and all the Once/Oberon acts seem to have moved here, but I'm giving up on seeing a lot of performers and shows I love because of how bad the experience is as a fan. The good: Great location, of course. Gorgeous room (seriously!). Fantastic acoustics (but see below). All of those are great features for a music space, and I don't want to minimize the importance of them. That's the reason this isn't a one-star review. The bad: Hoo-boy. Let's make a list: 1. Ticketmaster fees. They use Ticketmaster instead of any of the cheaper options, so your $20 ticket ends up costing you nearly $35. Oh, and when I went to the box office to try to avoid the fees, I was told they could only sell me general admission tickets, not any reserved seats for shows. Awesome! 2. That thing about the good acoustics? That's great for a concert. But for a variety or other kind of show? It means that sounds from the bar in the back almost overwhelm stuff on the stage. Oh, and because the folks running the sound during the pre-show and intermission blast music at full volume, and sort of conversation or interaction is impossible. That last should be fixable, but after six months, clearly isn't something that they're going to do. 3. Whoever designed the lighting was likely drunk. The lights will swing out and blind the audience consistently if performers move around. It's the polar opposite of the late, lamented Oberon. 4. The venue is deep, not wide. Again, fine for concerts, but if you're going to a show with assigned seats, anything not in the pit is essentially worthless. The pit section is like the old Oberon again, but the seats further back make seeing anything nearly impossible. Honestly, they should only have seats in the pit and make everything else SRO. 5. The bar. Dear god, how much of a rip-off is the bar! Look, all concert venues rip you off, but no places charges for water and seltzer like Crystal Ballroom. The bartenders do what they can (bartender at last show we went to: "I only charged you for one water because they raised the price and I'm protesting." -- yes, this was less than six months after they opened), and deserve high tips, of course. That's actually not the end of the list, but there's a point at which you just have to walk away from a review because the more you think about something, the more you remember all the small things that are terrible. read more

weedeater was a great set. somehow 3 gansetts came to 50 bucks. lady at the bar said the tip was "already taken care of" even though i had no recollection of closing out my tab overall great place but y'all got some crooked bartenders read more

I had to make a Yelp account for the first time in my life because of this. My birthday is January 17, 2001, and I'm 21 years old. I went to the Machine Girl show l last night. It was all ages, but drinks were 21+ of course. I moved from CA in January, and renewed my CA license with my Boston address when it expired. Look it up. You can do this. It's legal. I did it, and the DMV let me. It scans on scanners, I've used it plenty of times, this is the Only place that has ever denied me service cause they thought I had a fake ID. The guy at the door even called his coworker and manager over, and they were both wrong. Validating this guy's wrong opinion. He had the nerve to tell me he'd been in the business 10+ years, and he'd never seen this. So i must be lying, right? Wrong. Maybe it's time for a career change. Mad embarrassing, especially in front of everyone else in line. They didn't even have a scanner. They still let me in but they definitely lost my business until I hear back from them about this. edit I forgot to mention while this was happening they dumped all my girlfriends stuff out of her bag to search it seemed unnecessary because i didn't get searched at all. very lame. read more