Verizon Wireless Arena – Manchester

Review based on many concerts here. generous with 2 star. acoustics here are simply god awful. VERY few bands can get right. Sounds like a jacked up iPhone blasting Pandora through a Bluetooth speaker left out in the rain. Simply awful. Sporting events. Disney on ice. Wrestling. All ok. Live music is an absolute joke. The arena has to be aware. Numerous other reviews mention it. Nothing is ever done about it. New addition of metal detectors adds safety. But also adds extra time trying to get in. It was nice tonight 2÷25÷16 to actually see a full house. Long time since I’ve seem anyone fill this venue. If you want to see a band. Hope they play the casino ballroom inhampton or us cellular pavilion at meadowbrook.

Good — Easy to park on a side street, easy to get in the door with Ticketmaster phone app, security was fine, lots of helpers to get you to your seat, event started on time. Good stuff
Not so good — I’m so uncomfortable with the amount of merchandise crap these venues always have available at ridiculous prices. I really feel for the parents with little kids that don’t know how to say no.
Also, I wish these types of venues would diversify their food/​beverage offerings. Doesn’t have to be much, but how about something that’s not just junk.

I go frequently to Monarchs games here. This place is underutilized. It could host more teams for New England second/​third tier sports.
Look, this is Manchester, NH. While our city is on the upswing (IMO), this is NOT the TD Center in Boston or anything. So if you’re expecting a Madison Square Garden level arena– get your head out of the clouds.
It’s a second-​tier hockey and concert venue. So give it a little break here. The place is easy to navigate, has reasonable parking in the city and ticket prices for a hockey game are fair. While the food and drink vendors are an expensive rip-​off, it’s a arena, so that’s typical in America.
All in all. This place (and the Fisher Cats stadium) are a huge asset to the city of Manchester. My crew has spent some good weekend nights going out to eat and then watching some local hockey. It’s a great (and relatively cheap) way to spend an evening. It also helps that the Monarchs are a kick-​ass team that usually wins.

Came up for the Alice Cooper & Motley Crue concert on 10 – 17. I was very impressed with how easy it was to find. I purchased great seats, had no trouble navigating the venue and I feel that security and police and venue staff did a great job moving everyone along and getting everyone where they needed to go. Will consider coming back for an event. I prefer this venue over the craziness of the TD Garden.

I to was at the Kevin Hart show and agree with everything said by a previous poster. Unlike her however, my son was escorted out by a mean old man at 6:35 because he took his phone out to shut off. I was sickened by the treatment we got there by the staff. This was a family night out after a horrible week and was ruined by your staff. I completely understand and respect that they did not want cameras or phones on DURING the show but to kick people out at 6:35 when the show didn’t get started is BS. I will NEVER attend anything at your establishment again, you STOLE $ 600 of my hard earned money. I wanted to throw up! Shame on your holier than thou staff.

This review is based strictly on the Kevin Hart show I attended last night. I am not sure if the terrible experience was due to the arena staff or Kevin Hart’s staff but it was completely unacceptable. Prior to the show, I received an email that cameras and phones would not be allowed during the show and if caught, you will be removed from the facility without a refund. Now, I completely understand this policy because as a comedian, you are doing the same act across all shows and do not want it to get leaked. I get it and respect that. However, we arrived at the arena at 6:45 (show was scheduled for 7:00, no one went on stage until about 8:00) and multiple people were already being escorted out because they had their phones out. The couple next to us were using their phone to find their seats because they had the mobile app and when they sat down, someone mentioned that they should put their phone away because they were kicking people out. The couple thanked them and stored their phone in their purse. Five minutes later, the «event staff» ran over to them and asked to them leave and they didn’t even have their phone out. They didn’t care what the couple said and made them leave and were extremely rude to patrons. I just don’t understand how they can ask people to leave, who paid a lot of money to attend a show, when the show wasn’t even happening. The signs specifically said no cell phone use DURING the show.
To top it off, the sound system was pretty terrible. There were a few comedians that went on before Kevin and you could barely understand them. It was too loud and echoed through the arena. Other times, it was muffled and you could barely hear them talking. Then, when the show was over, the flow of people trying to leave got completely stopped for a good 10 minutes. No one could get out and people started pushing– I can’t imagine if there was an emergency or a fire. As my first experience with this arena, I am not sure I will be going back.

This review is based on the NCAA hockey games we attended here on 3/27/2015.The announced attendance for the game was approx. 5000 fans. Why then did we have to drive around the arena twice to find parking despite the fact we were on time. The parking lot designated for the arena was already full. Also, why did the city of Manchester allow Market Basket across the street. What a clusterbleep! After finding a spot half a mile from the front door on the bridge down the street from Market Basket we then power walked to the game. When we got in, we had missed the first 12 minutes of the game. Some of the interior features are also very lacking. The smoking section is set up right outside the bathroom facilities which created another backup. The food items offered were pretty much the stadium style hot dog, popcorn, chicken finger garbage. When you have fans coming in from other states for a once a year event you could most certainly prepare better and offer them a better, more well organized event. We have attended dozens of arenas for sporting events and this place is right down at the bottom.

I love this place for convenient concerts and cheap/​good hockey games. But seriously, who is in charge of booking events at this place? That dude or gal needs to be fired. Just checked their calendar and there is not a single event in May, June or August… Nickleback in July, but that’s it.

Horrible place. Makes people stand out in the cold! No customer service. People are rude! Never go here.

Review is based on Manchester Monarch games.
I’ve been to a few Monarch games and they have all been good experiences. The area around the arena is easy to navigate and they have solid traffic control near the arena.
The arena itself is laid out similar to what you would expect if you have been to other venues. Ticket prices are relatively low for good seats. Pricing of food and beer is on par with professional level sporting events.
If you reserve tickets directly from the Monarchs be prepared for calls from staff trying to help you purchase more tickets. Once your name is on the list, they are persistent and will try. They have always been friendly but it can become a bit annoying at times.
Overall, we always have a good time. I wish the vending prices were a bit lower, there was a better parking readily available and I wasn’t being chased to buy more tickets after the events I attend.

Review of Trans-​Siberian Orchestra show and the Verizon Center
The Good: The show.
If you’re looking for a show with an anorexic ballerina pirouette to the «Waltz of the Flowers», this gig isn’t for you. This is a Christmas themed (I love the word Christmas because it ticks off the politically correct anal retentives that live among us) rock show complete with electric guitars, violins, baritones and light show. To put it into any one category wouldn’t do it justice. 80’s rock hair band meets Johann Sebastian Bach? This event is more for open minded adults just looking for a wild musical experience. I wouldn’t bring young children to this event (I saw many leave). It’s a fun night out, 4 stars to the performance.
The Bad: The Verizon Center itself.
Don’t sit on the floor level. You’re crowded in and it makes you feel as if you have a third class ticket on some half ass airline. Your view of the stage is further hindered by grandma with her 60’s hairdo or the Jolly Green Giant. Unfortunately, the seats are set up to maximize seating capacity with no thought given to the patron’s experience. The bathrooms were gross but the staff at the arena was super friendly/​attentive/​helpful. Two stars to the arena.
The Ugly: Accessing the Arena.
Forty-​five minutes from the highway exit to the parking lot. It’s a free for all: People not obeying the traffic lights & no cops directing traffic. If you have an elderly person with you note that the sidewalks are NOT maintained away from the arena. If it has snowed you will be trekking through it. If it’s icy you will be doing the funky chicken dance to and from your car. Learning experience, LEAVE EARLY & be prepared for inclement weather. Shame on the City of Manchester, no stars for you!

Saw KISS here, it was awesome!

the acoustics in this place are horrible for a concert. Do not go to a concert here, you are throwing your money away.

Not bad for Manchester. I came here for a graduation. Easy to navigate.

Great mid size arena. They get some decent shows when they play secondary markets. Awesome arena to watch hockey and its never over crowded with all the seats where you can actually see all sides of the rink.
It’s easy it navigate around the arena and there’s plenty of parking outside of the arena. Parking is usually $ 20-​$ 25 bucks around there and there is a lot of street parking for $ 1 also.
The event staff is very friendly and there are lot of options to eat outside of the arena.
It’s always nice to see some quality hockey and not pay $ 100+ for a bleacher seat. The kids playing may not be stars now but they will be in a few years. You can say I saw him in the minors back when. Great atmosphere for kids.

Watching hockey is decent here because the arena is not too large. Hockey is better in smaller venues like this (under 10,000 seats). (We were in Manchester for the NCAA Northeast Regional.) The experience is made worse by the terrible sound system, the odd hallways that do not permit full access to the second level (cannot walk all the way around the arena) and the world’s worst video display. I could deal with all of that but the city of Manchester needs to hire a competent traffic engineer or the arena has to warn people how to best drive from the south. If you exit 293 at the Granite St exit (#5), you should plan to bring extra food and water because you will be stopped in traffic for several days. Leave a little early and use exit 4 (Queen City Avenue) instead. Take a left at Elm to get to the arena. As a professor of electrical engineering, bad engineering really frustrates me. Thus, in addition to bad traffic engineering, I also have to point out the bad electrical engineering at the arena, which may be saving the worst for last. If you can believe it, the Verizon Wireless Arena has bad Verizon Wireless service. For most of the games we saw, the response I got from my two phones (HTC) and that my daughter got from her phone (Apple) were marginal at best and sometimes stopped completely. I point out the variety of technology used to show that it was the arena, not the phones.
Manchester is the home to some outstanding technological talent. It is the home of FIRST Robotics and a bunch of other Dean Kamen enterprises, There was a good article in the Globe about the Tech Cluster there. (
). There are some super museums in Manchester (both art and science) and even some good restaurants. Someone from this great pool of talent needs to talk to the people who run the city and the arena if they want to make a better impression on visitors.

Excellent second tier market arena. Great location in downtown Manchester, NH. Catch a Manchester Monarchs hockey game (LA Kings AHL affiliate), UNH Hockey sometimes, a concert like the Who or Rush sometimes play there. Either way, great venue. Lots of good restaurants and bars near by for pre-​game /​post-​game fun!

Great Arena, easy to find all seats are decent, since it isn’t a large venue. Plenty of parking in the garage across the street (typically $ 20 for an event at the Arena) or in impromptu event lots around the venue. Arena Staff and security are very friendly and keep people in line, all the while smiling.

I actually liked coming here for a recent concert, because: 1.) the concert was NOT at the cavenous TD Garden, 2.) the concert was NOT at the challenging to get into/​and out of Gillette Stadium, 3.) it was so easy to get into a parking lot before the show, and then after the show, make a quick exit onto the highway. The acoustics were comparable to the other stadium venues I’ve been at, heck it’s not Symphony Hall.
The only downside is that during intermission, I couldn’t walk all the way around to stretch my legs as I could at some of the other stadiums. I would come back for another concert for the convenience factor alone.

I’ve been here several times for concerts, Monarchs hockey games, Wolves (disbanded) arena football games, and other special events. The Verizon Wireless Arena is a good place to watch sporting events and the circus since the arena is not large with about 11,000 seats and most seats have pretty good views of the action. The security staff does a good job at keeping the crowds in check. However, for concerts, I’ve been a bit disappointed (not with the lineups/​acts) since the acoustics are not very good. For instance, I attended a Britney Spears concert here in 2004 and the sounds were bouncing off the ceiling sounding like I was in a large tin can. If I can, I prefer attending concerts at TD Garden in Boston and at the Times Union Center in Albany, NY where the acoustics sound better to me. The Verizon is still a better place to see a concert (sound) than the Tsongas Arena in Lowell.
Overall, I’ll continue to see my favorite music acts & bands here, cheer on the home teams and enjoy the Monarchs games at this nice little venue.