Saw Fun and Tegan and Sara on August 23rd. The show was outdoors at the amphitheater. Overall a decent spot but the sound was way too low and system seemed cheap compared to normal outdoor venues. Also alcohol policy is moronic in only allowing alcohol on the top floor. Overall this place has about a 20% chance of staying in business. read more

Place stinks like salty, beer, and sewage, mostly b/c of the Great Salt Lake. I think I will throw my shoes away b/c of the smell. Not an enjoyable venue. Location is apx 7 miles west of the airport so its pretty remote. read more

Worst venue I have ever been to. I will never go back to a concert here. Horrible layout, no planning, and misallocation of staff . There is one bar, which is upstairs. There are three entrances upstairs, but two of them are VIP entrances. Every ten minutes or so, someone would walk up to one of the VIP bouncers. The one bar entrance (which happened to be located right in the middle of the main floor, had hundreds of people packed around it for the entire 5 hours from open to close. One person checked ID's, so a few people could slowly trickle upstairs. This meant that 95% of the concert goers couldn't even get upstairs to get a drink during the entire night and spent most of the night in line or trying to get around the line to see the show (exactly what you pay to see a concert for, right?). This seems like a poor financial move, not to mention frustrating. This also means that the main floor is even more of a cluserfuck than usual since there was a giant, unorganized "line" cutting across the center of the show the entire night. Maybe if they had not grossly oversold the show, this horrible plan would have worked a little better. Advice for concertgoers: Don't go to a show here unless the band isn't well known at all. Still, see if you can figure out how many people they plan to cram into this disaster of a venue. Bands: With all of the other options in SLC, don't make your fans wonder if you were a waste of money. read more

Been going to concerts here my whole life, and over the years this venue has gotten worse and worse. Where do I start? last night was probably the worst experience I have had at the saltair so far. Before I could even get off of the freeway, yes before, there was a line of cars headed to the venue. The line stretched more then a half mile before the exit ramp on highway 201, all the way to the venue parking lot. This line was also moving at less than waking speed (when it was moving.) I know this because my girlfriend ended up getting out and just walking the rest of the way, while I parked the car, and she got in to the show a half hour before I did. At this particular show the doors were scheduled to open at 8 and the show was to start at 9. So we left home at 7:30 (figuring it would take about 20 minutes to get there, and leaving a ten minute buffer for traffic on the way) expecting to be parking by 8, and still have an hour to wait in line, and get situated. We hit the line of cars on the highway at 7:50, and slowly crawled toward the exit ramp for nearly an hour, until I offered to park the car while the gf went ahead to avoid missing the opening of the show. 10 minutes later, she called from inside the saltair to see where I was, (nearly off the exit ramp.) 20 minutes passed and I finally pulled into a parking spot, after watching a traffic director argue with, and ultimately write a ticket to the driver of the car in front of me, and discovering that for this show parking costs $5, cash only, with literally no option of free parking anywhere nearby, (which was news to me.) A result the parking attendant asked me to forfeit my id as collateral while I used the ATM inside (the one and only ATM) that charges a $3 withdrawal fee, and has a line of people probably going through the same scenario that I was. Of course like any ATM the minimum withdrawal amount was $20, so there goes another chunk out of my checking account. Now, the attendant that I gave my id to said that I could, more or less, buy it back from willcall at the end of the show. So halfway through the show, I (anticipating the large line of people at the end, who would have to do the same) decided to head to willcall to pay the five dollars, and pick up my id. To my not-so-much surprise, the willcall window was closed, and as I was informed upon inquiry, had been since the show started. I was told by security that a man in a white dress shirt named Ernie was in possession of the ids, and to keep an eye out for him. having never met Ernie before in my life, (other than on sesame street, which at this point I was ready to ask the helpful security guard how to get to said location) I decided that my chances of finding him amongst the thousands of people in the venue, were slim, and went back to watching the concert. A few songs later I found a different security guard, and inquired about my id. he went into a back room and said to wait just one sec, the guy with the ids was coming. finally! The first helpful person of the evening! Sure enough I met up with Mr. Ernie, payed the five dollar parking fee and redeemed my driver license. The rest of the show was fairly smooth going, and pretty much all the complaints that I could make have already been made by other people in their reviews, loud and drunken people on the balconies spilling beverages/dropping phones, throwing garbage, etc. Traffic leaving was a nightmare, like it always had been. In conclusion, if you plan on going to a concert at the saltair: 1. give yourself ridiculous amounts of time to get there park and to do pretty much anything while you are there. 2. Expect to spend much more money than you had originally planned. read more

Waited about 30 minutes in the line on the freeway to exit and park. We lucked out and got there just as they were directing people to the frontage road. So glad I wasn't in the mess of a parking lot. At least there was no line to get into the venue as the opening band had already started. The sunset, at this point, was amazing! The lines for the bathrooms were never horrible but once you got in it was iffy as to whether you'd have toilet paper or your door would stay closed. The beer selection is awful and the drinks are WEAK. You know the bartender is bad when you ask what's good and he says "crown and coke". We were finally directed to a better bartender who hooked us up with the blue drink. Definitely stick with the blue drink! However, I was the DD and after I'd had my one weak and one slightly stronger drink limit, I wanted some water. Just a cup of water, that's all. I had to pay for a bottle of water! Ridiculous! When you're serving alcohol and people need to drive home safely afterword, water should be complimentary. Then I wasn't allowed to take the water I paid for out of the bar area. The bar area balcony overlooking the stage and grass is nice but you cannot see anything unless you are right at the railing. So we went down below and found it to be horribly crowded.. And now I needed more water. I'd, learned my lesson with the bar area and not being able to take my water out. So I went to the concession stand which was cash only. Who has cash these days? I might have known the concessions was cash only but their website seriously lacks any usable information and their customer service seriously lacks in the answering questions department. Facebook was equally un-helpful in the information department except to know that you weren't alone in your frustration. The music sounded good but it couldn't make up for everything else that was horrible. read more

I read all the negative reviews here, and steeled myself for a terrible experience at Mackelmore on June 3. Just so you know I am an over 50 mom who brought 6 teenagers to the show. Honestly, I don't have much negative to report. Parking was $5, and well publicized prior to the show, it did take about 20 minutes in line to get parked. It did appear that the line off the interstate was getting longer and longer, we arrive about 15 minutes after the doors opened. The bar is pretty lame and doesn't even have a lime to garnish a drink, but there was no line and the bartender was apologetic. The sunset was beautiful. There was some food to purchase at a snack bar (did not purchase anything) most of it appeared to be fried. It got pretty hot in the middle of the floor, but you could get outside for air if you needed to breath. I had warned my charges before of the heat and dehydration issued and all were well hydrated. Security was affable and helped when they could. The acoustics could have been better, but to see an artist of this magnitude in this kind of a venue is a rare treat. The floor is really hard and after standing, jumping and dancing for 4 hours on the concrete and/ brick pavers my lower back was pretty tired. The only place to find a seat (aside from VIP boxes, which were a mixed bag) were a couple of banquettes upstairs, or two benches and the grassy area, both outside. It took us about 45 minutes to return to our hotel downtown including the the wait to leave the parking lot. We probably waited 20 minutes to get out onto the freeway. Granted I think we got lucky and were parked in a pretty good spot. The concert was amazing. I would definitely attend an event here again. read more

We attended the Lumineers show at Saltair the other night and were grossly dissatisfied. It started with the 45 minute wait to get into the parking lot, plus a $5 parking fee to park in a dirt lot where no other (free) parking or public transport is available. The actual venue itself was fine, but the management of the concert was not. It was a windy night in Magna, which was forecasted 15 hours prior to the show. Management went ahead and set up the show outside despite the advisory. There were two opening acts, and the second was cut off three songs into their set because of "dangerous wind." The crowd was assured that The Lumineers would play and would set up on the 21+ balcony, so we should all stick around for "about 20 minutes" and "have a drink" while we waited. An hour later, The Lumineers did, indeed, take the stage. They played four songs, and then management took the mic and called the show because the wind was too "dangerous." This was a dubious assertion, as the wind was no worse during the fourth song than it was during the first. Likely, the band was allowed to play four songs so that Saltair would not need to refund tickets (required if the headliner did not go on). At $40 a ticket, plus gas, plus a $5 parking fee and encouragement to spend money on drinks, this entire show was a debacle. Saltair engages, at best, in disingenuous business practices. I, for one, will never go back. To make matters worse, there was a stampede to the parking lot and because there was no organization (despite paying a $5 parking fee that supposedly went to pay for people to keep the lot organized), we sat in the lot for an hour waiting to leave. I'd avoid Saltair unless you are a real glutton for punishment. read more