Lincoln is my favorite music venue. I recently saw Trial by Fire, a Journey tribute band, and On…read morethe Border, an Eagles tribute band (my second time seeing them) and last night The Ultimate Doors tribute show (my second time seeing them) I love that Raleigh has a reasonably-priced place to go to hear great live music!

I came to see a tribute band and I was certainly among the younger people in attendance. By no…read moremeans is this is a plush, swanky venue. It's a little gritty, but hey, that's ok. The acoustics were solid, lights worked fine. The venue offers a reasonable variety of beverages for fair prices. And I'll just say you can park for free if you know where to go and get there early enough

Minus: Relatively small selection of beer, relatively small selection of records (and not in great…read moreABC order), relatively small stage for in-house performances. Plus: Wonderful friendly staff, always something different playing on the turntable, fair values for buying or selling. Plus: Right downtown for easy parking. Minus: Up a narrow flight of stairs. Plus: Room to sit once you're up there. Etc. etc. In the end, I enjoyed my time there but the limitations make it a solid 4 instead of 5.

I had a good time visiting the Pour House this past weekend, where they were featuring several…read moreIndie artists. I ordered the Cherry Berry Cheerwine Punch, it was very tasty. Service was quick. The crowd was encouraging and had good energy. I had a great experience.

If you're smaller in stature and can't stand for hours, you're gonna have some pretty unpleasant…read moretimes claiming your stageside spot (which also depends on the setup - sometimes they make two stages), unless you pay for the upstairs seating. The artists don't start until about 2-2.5 hours after doors open, so keep that in mind. Found the opener performance for Santigold so boring/annoying after the first 15 minutes that I had to go out front and sit on a fold up chair with the bouncers to get away from it. Note also that you can't get back in e.g. with a stamp and new search; if you leave, you're out for good. Parking: pay for this, especially if you want to arrive later, but bring a smaller car. The guy parked everyone in so tightly and close to the fence we barely got out even with a small sporty vehicle. Purse: something around your neck with just ID and $/card. Don't bring even a clear purse as they'll stop you and go through your wallet anyway, and it's no fun to have on you when you're dancin' to the music. Artists: we've seen some pretty great concerts here, and it's always a more intimate experience. Feist was by far the best. Bring ear plugs to prevent hearing loss. Sound is superior.

If you like to dress the part for metal shows, stay far away from this place…read more If you are a metal fan who likes to express yourself through your outfits, the Ritz is not the venue for you. We came here for Hanabie and Nekrogoblikon and were treated like we were trying to breach a high security government facility. The security team here is something else. They targeted my girlfriend's outfit three separate times before finally letting us in. First it was the cuffs, then it was a studded bra that wasn't sharp at all, and finally a third guy decided her boots were a threat to national security. My girlfriend is autistic and she spent weeks meticulously putting this outfit together. For her, this is how she expresses herself and feels comfortable in a crowd. Watching these guards pick her apart piece by piece until she was in tears and having a breakdown was pathetic. They took the one thing she was most excited about and turned it into a reason to bully her. The logic was top tier. The guard told us she should just go to the Walmart across the street and buy a change of clothes. I really appreciated the fashion advice from a guy who looks like he spends his weekends LARPing as a riot cop. I was allowed in with a two pound metal wallet chain that was two feet long, but her 1/4 inch decorative studs were the real danger. My buddy has been in the metal scene for 15 years and has worn the same jacket to every show, but he was turned away too. I literally smacked his jacket spikes with my own hand a dozen times to show them it wouldn't even scratch a toddler, but they just stared at me with completely blank expressions. I guess their specialized training didn't cover physics. They only updated their website to mention sharp or spiked clothing after we made a scene about their nonsensical enforcement. The venue is nice once you get inside, but the security team's power trip ensured that my friends and I are never coming back.

I stopped by Boxcar with a few friends on a Monday and we had a great time! There was hardly…read moreanybody else in there, so we were able to play any of the games we wanted easily. On Mondays their drink special is $5 for any draft, what a steal! We all enjoyed a drink and a few games. I love the decor and vibes in Boxcar, the artwork is really punk and cool looking. My favorite game, The Lucky Duck, was broken (the claw wouldn't extend far enough to reach any ducks). I reported this to a staff member and she let me pick out any 2 ducks I wanted! The Pokemon pinball was fun too, I love the variety of pinball machines.

We came here for the first time last Sunday afternoon. It was a very cool spot and a great value!…read more The arcade is pretty big, with a wide variety of games. Tokens are reasonably priced and older style arcade games only take 1- the more interactive or multi player games (think air hockey, basketball, dance dance etc) take 4. They have free popcorn, daily drink specials, and drinks were very reasonably priced. Despite being fairly busy, service at the bar was friendly and fast- I was impressed! Not much else for food here from what I can tell, so don't plan on having your meal here. I brought two teenage boys and we hung out for almost 2 hours- I think I spent about 40 bucks including tokens and a couple of drinks for myself. I really liked the street art vibe, especially all of the murals and the Instagram wall. They've done a great job with ambiance! The outdoor patio adds a lot of additional chill space. When we were there they didn't have a band playing, but I think they do often. I almost want to give it 5 stars, but several of the games were not working properly and ate our tokens. That say you can grab someone to fix them, but nobody appeared available, and I wouldn't have wanted to bother them multiple times anyhow... Would be great if they were proactively checking and fixing them. More snacks would be great too! Other than that it was a really great experience, I would definitely go back.

I visited Coastal Credit Union Music Park to see Evanescence and man was I impressed. This was one…read moreof the more packed shows that I been to at this venue, but as usual, the staff handled the chaos with grace and lots of smiles. It's never hard to find an ambassador who can tell you exactly where something is and in some cases, they will even take you there themselves. Even in the parking lot, the workers somehow turn tons of traffic into organized chaos. It's great to have this venue so close to where I live and will be back again for another great show soon.

Great venue for summer concerts. Great have been coming here for years and have not been…read moredisappointed. Staff is friendly and helpful. They are always looking for ways to improve the experience.

A great place that brings young and old together. Early hip-hop kind of groove…read more Vegas is such a warm person, and the ladies behind the bar are lovely. I need to go there more often. Love your club!!

Went there on a Friday night Feb. 13, about an hour after they were supposed to open. The place was…read morelocked down. No one in sight, no sign, nothing.

The parking is a real challenge so either get downtown early or take uber/ lyft . There is no food…read moreoptions here but the music certainly makes up for it. The vibe is fantastic. We love it here. Everything ,the music and the people make for a really great time. The drinks, just ensure to talk out what it is you are expecting. But the live guitar, drums and piano make up for anything gone wrong. You may choose a waitress if you sit down at a large table and the drinks come to you, I can't calculate if it's faster than waiting at the one bar line but it seemed. Check it out. Rumor is that it may be closing...

We love this piano bar and had another great time. Great to go as a couple or group, and there…read moreyoung and old who go here. The musician are talented and fun, front desk staff friendly and servers attentive. We had a great experience and will return next time we visit the area again.

This is one of my favorite concert venues. No bad seats, great location although the parking…read moresituation does suck. The ambiance is fabulous, especially on a warm summer night. I try to see as many concerts as I can there due to the greatness. Wish their food options would expand a little.

Red hat has really great artists, mostly really uncomfortable seats (unless you are in the back…read morerows - those seats are nice), a teeny tiny lawn section, zero shade on hot or rainy days, very friendly staff, a mostly easy entrance experience, and a very limited bathroom situation. I'd like to give it a great review, as I go to a fair amount of concerts here and it's easy to get to, but honestly, in the summer for concerts I won't drink a single beer because I don't want to deal with the bathroom lines and it's sooooo hot. To their credit, they do have a lot of great food options though. Also, if you happen upon bad weather (calling for lightening specifically), they evacuate the whole venue and don't communicate well/often enough to figure out when to come back without missing the opener(s). Fun fact: you could watch the show from the parking deck across the street for $10 if you wanted to. I hope when they move they will work through the seating, the shade, and the bathroom issues.