Home› The Porch

Pit differences

MOTSyMOTSy Posts: 10
in The Porch
Just looking at the pit situation for indoor venues it seems that the US arenas (most, I haven't checked them all) have a designated pit, whereas for Manchester and Barcelona the whole floor is classed as a 'pit'. Who decides this? Is it an individual venue decision?
I live in Ireland but was looking at Manchester thinking that the arena would have a pit, but when it's the whole floor in Manchester (I can't find a floor capacity but it is proposed the total capacity will be 23,500) vs approx. 5000 in the gold circle in Dublin, I would probably be no better off. I know the Manchester vs Dublin thing is apples and oranges for venue comparison, but I'm just looking at it from a pure capacity perspective and these are the only realistic options I have as I am unable to spend $$$$ to get to the US to experience an intimate arena pit.


2006 Dublin
2007 London
2008 EV Berkeley 1 & 2
2010 Dublin / Belfast
2017 EV London 1 & 2
2019 EV Dublin
2022 Zurich / London 2

Comments

  • marra2312marra2312 Posts: 53
    It's just more common in the US to have the temporary seats on the floor of a venue. There's no exact science to it. The same venue will have all seats sometimes, all GA other times, or a mixture. It depends on the venue, the band and probably the phase of the moon (well, maybe not that last one).

    In terms of how intimate they feel, that's really determined by how much you are willing to queue to get up close! Even a cavernous stadium feels pretty intimate when you are on the barrier! And, conversely, even a small venue can feel pretty distant if you are at the back. At least from my experience.
  • JD87070JD87070 Posts: 245
    Venues/promoters (ie Live Nation/Ticketmaster) want to have seats on the floor so they can charge a premium for them, most bands want a pit in front of them to try their best to ensure that it’s their fans and not just rich people right up front. So in the US at least, if a band has enough clout to fight with TM about it, they will usually end up compromising and having a pit up front and seats behind. I have been to shows in the US where the entire floor is pit, Foo Fighters the last couple times i’ve seen them in arenas were full floor pit, but those are few and far between in the US anymore.
  • bill801bill801 Posts: 9
    I'm in the pit at MSG. First time. Can anyone give me advice?  What's the procedure?

Sign In or Register to comment.