NextArts

I am a procrastinator by nature. I tried so hard when planning my wedding to do everything months and months in advance… but my true nature eventually took over and I found myself thinking, «It’s okay, I’ll do the rest of my wedding stuff tomorrow!»
That said, I decided 3 weeks before my wedding (during the peak of SF wedding season!) that I wanted café lights strung around the terrace of my outdoor wedding reception. I started calling around to numerous lighting companies and got either 1) rude responses asking why I was so late in deciding on lights or 2) crazy unreasonable quotes for the small amount of lights I was requesting.
Thankfully, I found Tony at NextArts, and he was able to accommodate my request for café lights on the night of my wedding. During the entire process, he was friendly, straightforward, and got things done quickly. On the night of my wedding, I was floored at how beautiful the lights looked at our reception venue, and everything was set up exactly as Tony and I had discussed. The best part? The total price didn’t cost me an arm and a leg, and my security deposit was returned less than 5 days after the wedding.
I can’t thank Tony enough for helping make a poor procrastinating bride’s last minute dreams of café lighting come true! I would highly recommend him to anyone in the Bay Area who has a need for lighting services!

Francis, is extremely rude. Yells at potential clients. Makes them repeat themselves. Poor listening skills. Unprofessional. Very very rude!!! The comment below shows exactly the type of person he is. Furthermore, detailing a clients name, wedding date, venue location simply lacks professionalism. Accusing of someone lying about their name?! Who even has time for that? Quite ridiculous.

Great service and a huge life saver! They were very clutch on helping me with a same day stage rental. They made it happen even though they were busy, they made time to make sure my event didn’t get cancelled. I have found from my experience that if you’re nice to them, you’ll get what you need. That Tony guy who I think runs the place is pretty nice if you get to know him. I would highly recommend them and you feel good supporting their organization since they’re a non-​profit that raises funds for programming and are there for their community when they need them. 5-​STARS.

We were so happy to have found NextArts to do our lighting and draping for our May 2014 wedding. Tony worked with us to fit our expectations within our budget. He provided several cost estimates with different combinations of items so we had multiple options to consider. In the end, he and his team draped 3 walls of our tent, hung market lights over our dance floor and inside our tent for a fraction of the cost of most of the other vendors we had reached out to — and it looked great :)

I am a technical director and a lighting designer inn the Bay Area and found NextArts a few years back as I was planning an event… I called and contacted Next Arts and Tony was extremely helpful in looking at my a quote from and another company and slicing the price for my rental… They have prices that are unbeatable!
That first experience that I had with NextArts started a relationship that I have had with this organization that has lasted for over six years… I keep calling up Tony whenever I have any technical questions… his knowledge on power and generators is undeniably the best…
I also have had them come in an install pipes, drapes, outdoor stages, uplighting for parties, etc… and their commitment to a clean and smooth aesthetic is superb… They have been clutch for me in terms of pricing, overall technical knowledge, and making my events and production the best that they be…
Next time you are looking to do an event go with NextArts…

I give NextArts 5 stars and highly recommend them for event Production needs! NextArts was recommended to me by a friend when I was volunteering for Presidio Dance Theater’s large holiday event. Tony was my contact and went far above and beyond to provide us with all that we needed to create a wonderful holiday event and performance. Next’sArts is very helpful and supportive of San Francisco’s performing arts community. Next Arts’ crew was easy to work with and exceeded expectation with flawless customer service and attention to details. They were extremely helpful and professional and showed they care about the customer. I highly recommend this company for special event needs from small scale to large scale event production. I will certainly use them in the future!

I called NextArts for a last minute Halloween rental last week, and they were quick to accommodate me with reasonable pricing. I dealt with Tony who runs a tight ship — but having worked in sound engineering, I completely understand where he is coming from and the desire to protect the equipment. The equipment performed fantastically — we had over 600 kids for Halloween and every one of them enjoyed the sound system we rented from NextArts.
Checking the equipment back in was easy as well — we had a couple of minor issues that Tony apologized for, and I would absolutely rent from them again. Bottom line: this is a professional outfit. Take care of their equipment, return it in good order, and you are good to go for your event. I couldn’t ask for more and wouldn’t hesitate to use NextArts in the future.

I rented a pair of Makies and a sub (PA for DJ’s) for a party over the weekend. I have worked with Next Arts in the past and have always been very happy with the people their and the great price. When I looked them back up on Unilocal to get the number and give a call I saw all the bad reviews and I was like what. I never had those problems, but I still got a little scared, like what if something had changed and ill get screwed. Called around and everywhere was quoting me a really high price. So I went ahead and called next arts. I spoke with both Tony and Max. They were both very helpful. Traffic was real bad from the Paul McCarthy concert, going over the bridge and all that, so we were running really late. They stuck around for us to pick up the gear and were super nice and cool about it. It worked great, the PA did, returned it and had no problems. They were really nice when I got back with it. I didn’t get any of these issues I’m reading about getting charged all this extra stuff or whatever. So, it worked out great for me. Ill be back next time.

I worked with Adam to get PA equipment for my wedding. Their prices are better than the competition and it was extremely easy and convenient to pickup and dropoff. Deposit was returned promptly. I would absolutely do business with them again!

Horrible and rude. Would never do business with NextArts again.
We used them for a conference event last year. We thought we were pretty lucky at first since they definitely have some of the lowest prices around, but I guess you get what you pay for. Tony was not only unreasonable and unhelpful but EXTREMELY patronizing. When asking to confirm his techs would be showing up at the designated time, he replied with «Yes. Please stop emailing me w/​sophomoric questions. sorry!» …I kid you not. Just because you offer low prices doesn’t mean you can throw customer service and common decency out the door.
The techs at the event were extremely helpful and friendly though and issues that Tony made a big deal of (whether speakers would be using a Mac or PC to present) were dealt with nonchalantly by the tech staff so I feel almost (ALMOST) bad for giving NextArts a negative review. However, if there’s one rotten apple in the group, it spoils everything.

Next Arts was perfect for our outdoor event! We used them for a donation based yoga class and they knew exactly what we would need for music, generator, mic etc. Not only was the equipment quality, they were super knowledgable and helpful! Thank you so much!

Used these guys for an outdoor space to play music and microphone. Didn’t have power outside, so they got me a generator. Also showed me how to set everything
an easy to understand way. I would definitely use them again for any other events. Super friendly individuals and well priced. Thanks!

I have been working with NextArts for over 10 years for all my audio visual needs as well as the random gaslamp and chairs, and will trust no other place. It is so important to have high quality equipment that works, and works well, when you really need it to (tradeshows, screening events, to name a few) and the price for the quality they have there, I feel is a great deal. Plus, once you establish a relationship with NextArts, and Tony, it feels like working with family. He will give me good packages and has even gone out of his way to help me out, in setting up and free little things. I really do recommend them for any event where you want quality, price, professionalism, and good local friendliness all put together in one package deal. Here’s to the next 10 years!

I simply had to write this review because I had such a wonderful experience by using Nextarts for an important event that we had for our non-​profit organization in the San Francisco Bay View Hunters Point district. From the very beginning Adam Lopez Was so very professional, knowledgeable, efficient and attentive to all of our needs in such a short timeframe.
I am so glad I found them by searching the Internet and decided to give them a try, as they are also a nonprofit And it’s wonderful to give back and help other businesses with a chance at being successful.
Our nom-​profit «NexGeneGirls» will definitely be using Nextarts again in the future for all of our equipment rental needs for our events.
Kudos to Adam and Austin who came out to set up and take down the equipment for us with no problem it was smooth as can be!
Much thanks Elaina and Marlena Jackson

NextArts has been my go-​to for about 4 years now for any additional audio equipment needs I may have for a gig. Tony has always been very accommodating in terms of allowing an earlier/​later drop-​off and offering overall great customer service — even lending out additional cables to me in a pinch. For gear that I have rented (powered speakers, stands, wireless mic kits, mixing boards) and the quality of it, their prices are extremely competitive.
I appreciate the fact they are constantly upgrading and improving on the inventory that they have. It’s important that I not only get the best value for my dollar, but also rock-​solid gear that will not crap out during an event.

I worked side by side with Tony Imperial of NextArts for over 4 hours, on a charity concert. His technical work and that of the entire NextArts crew was amazing. The audio was great, the video was unbelievable. The custom gobos were super. Everything they did, drape to red carpet and stage was above and beyond anything we could have ever imagined.

Working at a nonprofit, I have to be very conscientious about the money we spend. I’ve used NextArts twice for some simple audio equipment and they’ve always been great with coming in on time and setting up. Even better, Tony – who I’ve worked with twice – has at both times suggested LESS equipment than other A/​V equipments have quoted me… which saves me a ton of money on top of the fact that NextArts is way cheaper than other companies I’ve gotten quotes from.

Based on the owner’s comment, apparently I am a secret Unilocal employee trying to ruin small businesses in San Francisco! Nope, no luck, Tony.
I think I was fair in my review, I gave you three stars even though I felt like giving less based on the terrible customer interaction.
The fact that you are accusing me of being a Unilocal employee (which I am NOT, far from it) just shows me how unwilling you are even to apologize for not being upfront with your fees and being rude to me, both in our interaction and in this comment as well.
With that said, if you have a huge budget and don’t care about knowing the price you’ll have to pay up front (don’t ask me, apparantly nikki b., Eliza R., and Kevin G. had the same experience), then, sure, this company will suit your needs.
However, Unilocalers, I think looking at the owner’s comment gives you an idea of the type of unprofessional conduct you can expect when you deal with Tony in NextArts.
**note added 4÷11÷2013: So it looks like the owner deleted his initial comment; now it simply states, «Thank you for your review.» For those who are confused about my response (since it seems like I’m crazy, responding to a short owner’s response), initially Tony had accused me of being a Unilocal employee. I know! It doesn’t make sense. But I’m glad to see someone in the company had shame enough to delete that review and replace it with something more professional. I truly wish them all the best and hope the company learns from their past and continues to grow.

DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY, ESPECIALLY WITH TONY!!!
GO ELSEWHERE!
1.) RUDE during all communication and very insulting.
2.) HIGHLY AGGRESSIVE and pushy, calling my phone at 7:00pm on a SUNDAY!
3.) UNPROFESSIONAL and was not willing to work with me and for me.
All I needed was a price quote but would not email me quote! and said «without speaking to you on the phone, I’m not bidding on this job.» Who the hell do you think you are?! I’m the customer you CROOK! If you can’t put it in words, then don’t do business a**hole…

UPDATED:
In the 24 hours since I posted the below review, I have been contacted by Tony from NextArts. He said that he will be charging me an additional $ 400 for «broken equipment». He then left me a voicemail saying that he would cancel the charge if I took down my Unilocal review.
***************
Wish I’d read a few more of the negative reviews before I’d used these guys!
We had a wedding in June in Oakland, and rented a set of two speakers with stands, a four-​channel mixer, and a wired microphone for the music and MC at the reception. Tony at NextArts seemed okay on the phone; a little distracted at times, but relatively normal.
Tony asked me if, since I was getting a good deal on the equipment, would I think about renting a subwoofer as well, for an additional $ 75. I agreed, since I thought what the heck, I’m only planning on getting married once.
My friend picked up the equipment the evening before the wedding, since were all pretty busy and running around all weekend.
The morning of my wedding we quickly realized, trying set up the sound system, that there were no stands for the speakers. Also, there were XLR cables for the speakers and the mic, but nothing provided at all to hook the subwoofer into the system.
We ended up putting one of the speakers on top of a folding table, and the other on top of the apparently-​useless subwoofer. I was a bit miffed that they didn’t include the correct cables and the stands, but I was willing to let it slide, since I was just thankful that everything worked.
The day after the wedding, my dad took the equipment back to NextArts. When he tried to return it, Tony accosted him and demanded to know where the speaker stands and other cables were. My dad told him that we had never been given them, and were a bit unhappy about that fact. Tony proceeds to cuss my dad out, accuse my friend of stealing his speaker stands, and to tell my dad to get the _​_​_​out of his store.
Tony then sent us emails about the ‘missing’ equipment. We replied, saying that we had never received it, and we didn’t think we should have to pay for a subwoofer we weren’t able to use. Tony wrote again, saying that he’d found the speaker stands in his garage, but still thought we had his subwoofer cables. We told him we weren’t going to pay any ‘missing equipment fees’, but were willing to let him keep the $ 75 for the subwoofer if he left us alone. He then wrote back to tell us to «Stop threatening him», and we haven’t heard from him since.
Reading some of the other negative reviews, though, I think we actually got off pretty easy with this guy. At least compared to how badly it could have gone.