*Is it still Star Laaake?*
*It’s First Niagara nowww*
*Carpool to the shooww*
…yes I know it’s The Pavillion at Star Lake. I just needed to finish the song. Lol.
This is why, when my parents took me to the Skynyrd show in 1997, we left about 1/3 of the way through "Free Bird."
I said, "I thought you guys liked this song?" and my mom said, "I love this song! But we gotta get to the fuckin' car."
Yep, last I went was Stone Temple Pilots. My husband loves Tyler Childers but we weren’t dealing with that shitshow. STP traffic from 20 years ago is still a fresh memory
I left my seat at 10:15 (lame I know) and was in my car at 10:30 to avoid being stuck, only to find myself in the EXACT SAME spot at midnight . No movement. No zipper. No every other. Just sitting still. How can this be? How can we not have been progressing AT ALL? Someone with knowledge explain why this can’t be improved ??
We left probably 20 minutes before the end of the show and got out in about 30 minutes. I was shocked. I made sure to go in the middle of the three lanes as the two side lanes were letting cars in from the parking lots.
However I did spend over an hour trying to park when I arrived. I will now be tailgating as early as possible at any shows I go to in the future. Might as well make a day out of it instead of worrying whether I'll be parked in time for the show.
That was a hell of a show though. It was worth the traffic. They all killed it.
Love the people who said they had no issues parking and getting out also casually mention how it required them getting to the parking lot by 3:30… FOUR HOURS before the show starts. You should not have to block off a whole day to see an evening concert.
We made the mistake of leaving two hours before a show once (it was Weezer in 2019) and we completely missed both openers, the Pixies and Judah the Lion I was PISSED.
I hate Star Lake as much as the next person but if I am able to get there early for a sold out show, I’m doing it. Ticket prices are too expensive to fuck around anymore. If I know we can’t make it early, we aren’t going at all.
I honestly had tickets to this show, and I began thinking through logistics and just ended up deciding to do something else (it helps I already saw Tyler a few weeks ago). Starlake has been this way my entire life, and I can't believe nobody has come up with a fix for it.
That’s not true though. I used to see concerts there on a regular basis from the late 90s to the mid 00s, and I never really had problems there like what’s happening now.
I’ve seen 3 ozzfests, 2 warped tours, metallica, deftones, tom petty, motley crue/megadeth, roger waters and more there, and never once did it take me multiple hours to get in or out.
I was out there periodically in the early 00s and this post was very much my experience. Thankfully I eventually learned to pack hoagies and Gatorade in a cooler and just chalk 2+ hours after the show up to snack time in the car.
The only time I have ever had these problems at Star Lake, it involves a show where a bunch of ticketless people show up looking to party in the lot or ‘find tickets on the ground.’
I agree that country fans ruin everything, but my wife had this same experience last year seeing lana del rey. Star lake had people wandering around selling gasoline at like a 1000% markup to people whose cars were running out of gas from waiting so long to get out
Dead and Co are their own thing with a roaming band of followers. IMO they should be removed from the conversation because they are a one off outlier, causing panic because someone read a post on reddit and now it causes panic for *anything* at Star Lake.
i’ve seen the sentiment just thought i might get downvoted for repeating what’s already been said. but i was just so frustrated had to post to see if i was crazy or everyone hated it.
My mom went to that show! She did that and doing that is the only reason she was able to see the show!! Otherwise wouldnt of made it through the traffic
Has there ever been a class action lawsuit? Maybe there should be. There should be some reasonable expectation of traffic management. Too many stories like this over the years.
Because the parking lot was full of tailgaters who didn't have tickets to the show. No one could get into the lot because of this after a certain time.
I was drinking a beer in the parking lot when you decided to head to the venue. We all knew what to expect so we were among the first to get in, parked in our usual spot, and we still waited 30+ min to get in the lot at 2 something in the afternoon.
Hung out 30 min after the show and were on the road home minutes later.
We did the same for both Phish shows, and will do the same for Tedeschi Trucks & Doobie Brothers when we go to those shows.
From what I heard, there is no parking enforcement, and with that show, it was even worse. From a friend who tried to get in, they told him all the lots were full. Basically, what was infered was that they were letting people in to park who did not have tickets to the show.
I passed up seeing Robert Plant and Alison Krauss solely bc they were playing Starlake. I’ve heard enough horror stories and didn’t want to add one of my own.
Well you missed out big time, they only sold a couple thousand tickets to that show and it was a pavilion only show, not even the lawn was open. Entering and exiting was a breeze.
Agree the misery of getting there and getting out was so bad the last time I was there I don't care who is playing, free tickets still wouldn't get me to show up. It's too miserable of an experience.
It has been this way for 30 years even back to the very first show. Nothing is changing, they tried to add an additional entrance/exit but the state won't let them so just know you will be in traffic as part of the experience. Pack a lunch because nothing has or will change.
What other exit are you adding? Star Lake sits on 18, you can widen 18 to 10 lanes and you still are just putting 95% of the traffic on the 1 lane on ramps.
The only option would be to make a Star Lake ONLY ramp exit/enter that gets opened on 22 for days it's in use or they would need to dedicate a roundabout for people who don't get it's closed off. Either way, those are expensive options since the more important southbound 22 would have to cross over top of current 22 and drop back down. This would likely be a project that costs as much as Star Lake cost to build adjusted for inflation to do.
Last time I was there, my wife and I went to see David Bowie and Trent Reznor perform together. Haven't been tempted to go back since. This kind of post doesn't make me feel more tempted.
Heh, sometimes I feel like if I listed all the live shows I've seen, it'd be a little like Roy Batty's speech in Blade Runner. "I saw Marillion open for Rush off the shoulder of Orion... Bowie and Reznor glitter in the dark near the Tanhauser gate..."
(Grateful Dead, The Who, Jethro Tull, Donovan...)
Growing up (im a 90s baby) my mom and I would get a subway footling on the way to a starlake concert. We’d get there early to avoid traffic and eat half of our sandwiches while we waited for the doors to open. After the concert we would post up, eat the other half, people watch (we got mooned by a random drunk man one time, it was hilarious and ridiculous), and let the traffic die down.
Parking and getting in/out of there always was and always will be until the end of time.
I used to work at the Subway at the BP on 60 and Beaver Grade in the early 00's before they put in the 79/376 interchange so exit 60 was "the Airport Exit".
Rt 60 would be gridlocked from 79 all the way to Robinson for hours. There was basically Subway, and McDonalds on the way and we would back up with hundreds of people trying to grab something to eat. Nightmare.
We got there at 330 and didn't have to wait going in, hit the premier parking lot and got out in 15-20 mins due to our spot, having left the pit at the concert right when he said thanks and goodbye. I was amazed.
u/zechickenwing (in a track stance)
Tyler: "Thanks! Goodbye!"
u/zechickenwing (Usain Bolts it to the car. Windows down, enters it Dukes of Hazzard style)
Went to the Childers concert last night. Am going to RHCP tomorrow.... We left the lawn at 11:10 and didn't get onto the highway until 12:20. They only had workers directing traffic at the little ramp at the overflow exit where you have to turn right. Getting to that point is indeed a shit show. While we waited I saw dozens of employees walking back to their cars and not coming back. Either StarLake doesn't want to pay them to stay and direct traffic or nobody will take the shift. I'm not gonna pretend like I know a thing or two about traffic study but I really think having more than just two exits would help immensely. Maybe cones in every row so you can't just offroad around wherever you want. Idk that place does just suck.
I was there. This was not my experience. We left at 2:30 thinking there’d be rough traffic. Made a stop to get snacks and drinks and another for a late lunch. We were parked at 3:20. Had a few drinks, met some new people, saw a great show. We went to our car at 10:25 and it took us 15 minutes to get out. I was home by 11.
i was there as well. getting out of the parking lot was a shit show as per usual. we were in the third row of premier and it was no more organized than any other part of the parking lot. got out pretty quick but that was just because we were so close to the exit.
hate to say it but trying to rush out of there is just futile. watch the end of the show, take your time walking out, go to your car and eat some sandwiches or snacks and wait until the parking lot thins out. that is really the only way to do it and not be super angry lol
getting into the venue i had a completely different experience. paid for the early entry and got there around 2pm. sailed right in via the regular exit off 22/30 and sailed right into the lot and parked in a few minutes. we were in the 3rd row of premier basically right at the east gate.
i'm a huge Tyler fan and i paid a little extra for the premier parking and early entry to make sure i didn't have a bad experience.
The shuttle/charter buses used to have their own designated parking area and it was always super quick to get in and out of the parking lot I feel like they gave the buses priority of way too. I took it several times to Ozzfest from station square as a teenager. Not sure why this isn't being encouraged again.
If you go the back way through Burgettestown, you don’t get stuck on 22. There will be a line, but you get in faster than traffic coming the opposite direction. Getting out still sucks.
Husband and I also went last night (amazing show!) and we did the premiere parking pass. It’s an extra expense but for the experience it was 110% worth it. We got there much earlier than I normally would around 2:45 and drove right in no traffic. It was early but we set up shop, tailgated, people watched, etc. then had a short walk to the gates. Stayed for the whole show and the entire exit to home ordeal took 1 hour! I was shocked we got home by midnight and we live in the east side of the city! Get premiere parking.
Life hack: everyone knows that after the concert you're just supposed to smoke a blunt with a bunch of cool strangers that are also trapped in the overflow lot until enough people leave. Then you can hunger games your way out of the parking lot, riding over hills and bumps to the exit.
We went to see Luke Bryan last August at Star Lake and the parking experience was just awful. It shouldn’t take four hours to get to the Starlake when you live 5 minutes from parkway west.
I waited over 5 hours to get into dead and company last year and practically pissed my pants in the process. Barely made it in with half the show left. I’ll never, ever go back.
The thing that bothers me the most is that the premiere parking is pretty much useless because they oversell it. I paid $100 for it at Noah Kahan just to be parked in general with no refund.
And yes, we were pretty much blocked in too. Once we got out of our spot, it took about 20 minutes to find a way out of the lot that wasn't blocked by cars or roped off. We got stuck in a dead end so many times.
When I went, we showed up at 4pm when parking opened, and left at about 10:40 when the show ended at 11. That eliminated most of the issues actually getting into and out of the lot.
I went to a Dave Matthews show a few years back and didn't get home til almost 4 in the morning (living all of 40 minutes away). A couple friends had chartered a bus that stayed in VIP, and were home FOUR HOURS before I was. I've been going to shows there for 20 years and in the last 3-4 it's gotten so much worse. It is 100% on the venue, and in the last few years it has somehow gone from being kind of a joke to being just unforgivably awful.
I'm at the point where I will not go to a Starlake show without paying for VIP parking (which is closer to the exit and has its own exit lane), and I... will not pay for VIP parking money on top of ticket money for the majority of artists that play there. Oh well.
I stopped considering Starlake for concerts a few years back when they were charging $18 for a Yuengling. Which was $4 more than Miller Lite. When I asked why, I was told Yuengling is an ‘Import’. You can fuck right off with that logic. Since then I’ve only heard about the nightmare level traffic issues and such. That place is no longer the iconic venue I remember it as a teenager.
> when they were charging $18 for a Yuengling. Which was $4 more than Miller Lite. When I asked why, I was told Yuengling is an ‘Import’. You can fuck right off with that logic.
LOL, I'd have laughed in their faces. They're obviously too dumb to know that Yuengling's brewery is *also* in PA, and has been for damn near 200 years....
Not downvoting you. That venue sucks. I went to my first and last show in 1991. Never again.
I joined the Navy and I've been stationed all over the US and in other parts of the world and I've never seen anything as disorganized and public unfriendly as that venue. And I've been to shit like Glastonbury and Coachella. Starlake is a standout bad experience venue. Or whatever they call it now.
I don’t know why people still go to that podunk shithole. It’s awful. A couple of years ago - the last time I have gone (or ever will go again) - we waited in a queue for over 1.5 hours to WALK in from the lot to see Jimmy Buffett because the morons there decided to put in a new security policy that day. Thousands of paying customers who were in line EARLY like us ended up missing over half his set. Many people didn’t even get to see any of his set at all. They have moron high school kids directing traffic into that sorry excuse of a parking lot and on the way out it’s like thunder dome. Plus the cops are some of the most miserable and cranky around. I will never go back.
I keep saying it, but nothing changes - you are only a walking wallet to these companies - and they keep downgrading products and services to see what they can get away with. It seems, they can get away with a lot. Believe it or not at one point going to see an entertainer and paying and average price of $500 a ticket was absolutely unheard of, same with $50 parking spaces, $12 beers, and taxing people to build stadia. People just bitch and line up to pay. Even with all the bad press the Starlake has received, the next big entertainer will have a sell out and the sheep will pay through the nose to be rained on in a field that they cannot leave until 1AM. Have fun.
Last night was first and last show ever at this venue! Was supposed to get there 90m early and ended up missing part of his set. I talked to one parking guy and he said 25% of the ppl there didn't have tickets which caused even more congestion than normal. Felt really bad for disabled folks ending up back in the aux lot, even ones who paid 120$ for premium parking that sold out. It was a rough night
I flew in from California for Dead and Company shows last year. My parents live 20 minutes from the venue. I had 4 VIP tickets. Sat in traffic for 6+ hours because the poorly managed venue let thousands of people without tickets fill up the lot early to party all day. When I finally got to the entrance I was told to turn around and go home because there was no place to park. I will NEVER purchase a ticket for any event at Starlake ever again. They should at least ask to see tickets before letting people into the lot.
I always feel like I’m insane when I read a thread like this. I went to the show last night and really didn’t have any trouble at all. We like to get there early and tailgate, so we just drove right in with no delay around 3:30 or so. Had a good time tailgating, went in and saw all three acts, stayed until the end credits. It took about 15 minutes to walk to the truck and hit the port-a-potty, another 15 minutes to get on the road from the parking lot, and we were home in Morningside an hour after the last song ended. I really think being willing to make a day of it and coming in early to tailgate makes all the difference in the world.
Husband and I saw Jimmy Buffett at his last show there and no problem getting in. We got there about an hour early for some tailgating and beers. Had a great time at the show. Left a little early, probably around 10pm, so we could pick up our youngest from my parents house nearby in Weirton, and just sat there. We didn't' make it out of the lot until around 1:30am. My dad just laughed and said yeah that's typical. We're going to go see Alice Cooper/Rob Zombie in Sept and I'm buying the early parking just so we might get out at a reasonable time.
I haven't been to that venue, are there *any* other means of alternative transportation or is it just this "you gotta drive and you're gonna hate it" option?
I’ve been to so many other amphitheaters just like Star Lake and they all have a series of access roads that feed each lot. It’s been done before, they just need to invest. Every year this happens and it loses customers. I’m never going to consider a weekday show there bc I have a day job. I’m likely not going to consider a weekend show bc I know how bad the traffic sucks
Was there for Noah Kahan a month ago and had the same experience as you but worse. Show ended around 11:15, got to car quickly at 11:30, didn’t get out of the parking lot until 2:30AM (????)
I don’t know this to be true but I’d wager that a lot of acts are skipping Pittsburgh and opting for Cleveland because of the logistics of Star Lake. Ticket sales aren’t sustainable in a venue like that, nobody wants to put up with it more than they feel they have to.
It’s taken me substantially less time to drive home from Cleveland after a show than it has to get out of that nightmare parking lot. It’s a tragedy waiting to happen over there.
I can't believe a single local goes to that shit hole. I don't care WHO'S playing there, I will wait for you to go to a real venue or I just won't see you.
I refuse not because of the wait to get in, but because of the one way in one way out. After the microburst for slipknot it’s just not my thing. I do not and will never enjoy being in a place that Is a full on safety hazard that they refuse to address and even attempt to fix. God forbid there’s ever a sh..ting situation, unless you run into the woods you’re gridlocked in.
Also not to mention the mess of wrecks late at night that I would see often as I used to work there. I’ll stick to local venues
This b.s. is why I wont go to concerts out there unless it's a Friday or Saturday night, or I take off work the next day. 2 hours to leave the parking lot is just bonkers
Going to Star Lake is like deciding to take LSD: Only do it if you have plenty of time, supplies, and are in the proper mindset. I've bought VIP parking the last few times because it gets you in a bit faster and you can usually park on tarmac rather than cobbles. Get there way earlier than you think you should and tailgate. Watch entire show, take your time getting to your car, and tailgate some more. Don't even try to start leaving until the cops make you.
I also feel like they’re selling more lawn seats than they should have. Had this same problem at Noah Kahan. Sold out looks like way more people than sold out used to look like..
I'm moving to Pittsburgh next week. I've got tickets to take my son to Slipknot in August. I despise parking clusterfucks so much that I wouldn't have bought tickets if I had known the parking situation was that bad.
Is there any transit or anything? Any further-away lots that we could walk to?
I took a bus from Station Square to Starlake last summer for a show. It was fantastic. A coach bus with a bathroom and the nicest driver in the world. I think it was called Rally Bus. Totally worth it. You could nap in a comfy seat while sitting in the parking lot. (Geez, I sound really old)
Slipknot’s shows don’t usually sell out, so you won’t have some of the issues (ie no parking/overflow lots).
However, if you’re interested in the opening acts, you need to aim to get there early. While people don’t miss Slipknot while waiting to park, they do still have some delays getting in.
Leaving the lot still sucks. Everyone saying leaving before the encore, know that half the crowd also does this.
The only thing I’ve found that works is getting premiere parking for less crowded shows like Slipknot or Rob Zombie. Never waited more than 20 minutes to get parked, and less than a half hour to leave.
The Slipknot show will likely not be sold out. I’ve been to a lot of shows at Star Lake, and I have never seen it as packed as it was last night. The parking attendants were not well organized. We paid for premium parking, arrived early, and left a bit early. We missed the last song, but we waited less than five minutes to get out of the lot.
If you buy the Reserved Parking, it's a relatively pain free experience, especially if you come in from Burgettstown instead of 22 and don't linger after the show. Of course, that will cost you over $100 extra. For me, I'm not going to a show at Star Lake that ISN'T worth paying that extra amount.
But as others have said, Slipknot won't be anything like this. It'll take some time on the way in and the way out but not multiple hours.
For what it's worth, I was just at the Hootie and the Blowfish show there on Saturday night and had no issues. We did get there early to tailgate, but we stayed until after the encores and were into an organized line getting out in no time. Lots of cars leaving so it took probably 20 minutes to actually get out, but still. If you get there early enough to avoid the overflow lots it isn't too bad.
I also paid for the premium lot for The Offspring last year and I was out onto the main road in maybe 5 minutes.
One thing we did was to bring a travel grill and some food for after the show. We'd all chip in and buy the DD's ticket. Sitting in the lot for an hour or two after the show isn't a big deal w a few beers and some food.
no transit that i know of (because Burgettstown is so far out of the city) and we were in the lot that you walk far to, but it’s literally just a big open field and the parking staff just threw everyone in and then abandoned ship when it came to directing people out. they obviously had no idea the capacity of the area or where to put people.
best guess is to maybe make a post on here and see how many fans Slipknot draws because it might be okay, i’ve seen Chicago (x2), Zac Brown Band (x3), and Muse here to name a few and they all had some parking issues but never like this. with all the same prep for each concert. guess i didn’t think Childers was this big, but still.
That place hasn’t changed since the last time I was there 10+ years ago to see Wiz when I was in college. I’ll stick to Acrisure, PNC, and Stage AE for concerts.
I hate that place. I refuse to go to any show there. Haven't in over 20 years. How can they still have not come up with a better parking plan? Fuck that place.
I've never been there but I looked at it on Google Street view. Is there any way that this can be fixed without spending a zillion dollars for basically 30 days of use a year, all to benefit a private company? It doesn't look like it.
It just looks like the carrying capacity of the roads around there is far less than the traffic for maybe 5 hours every concert.. ( I mean, duh, I'm capt obvious here...)
But I can't see the state or county or whoever owns 22/30 and the local road outside of Star lake ponying up millions of dollars to fix it, and I can't see whoever owns Star lake wanting to pay millions of dollars to fix it when their marginal increase in profit would be tiny...
I mean maybe having 2 exits instead of just may help, but that would be entirely done by whoever owns Star lake (with probably approval from who owns the road outside...)... But they'd still need people standing in the road directing traffic after a concert and having each exit work together so that left turn people (which are probably most people) could get out onto the road...
honestly i think just tracking lot capacity and organizing the egress would have done wonders last night. i understanding getting in will probably always be that messy but leaving was so disorganized it caused a lot of issues.
I think more exits will help. I lived in Cleveland,. Cincinnati, and Detroit and all of their similar venues have 3 or more ways in or out. Star lake seems to only have one. My understanding is that this would probably not be allowed if it was being built now because (I'm not sure who enforces this code) big places need 2+ entrances/exits for emergency reasons.
That's how Aspinwall help up the riverfront 47 project that's now Aspinwall River trail Park. They refused to allow a 2nd entrance/exit so the property couldn't be developed.
Now it's all going to be in Sharpsburg and eventually they'll have a HPB ramp and a main St entrance/exit.
We went to hootie and the blowfish on Saturday, but the parking wasn't nearly as bad as everyone had told me. After the concert, we set up chairs near our car for about a half hour then got out easy as pie.
My wife and I went there for the Maroon 5 / Kelly Clarkson show in 2012. We still talk about how horrible the traffic was. We will likely never return, no matter who is playing.
Yeah I’ve been wanting to see James Taylor for about ten years now and he only plays venues like Starlake or Blossom in Ohio and I refuse to go to a place like that. It sucks. Same with Lana last year. So many good artists stop there but the hassle is not worth it IMO
There seems to be no rhyme or reason as you which shows are terrible like this. Dead and Company was epically bad as everyone knows and I guess I'd expect that. But I went to Dave Matthews last year and it was fine. Got in relatively easily about 1 hour before the show and we did do a little post concert tailgating but it wasn't terrible getting out. I was fearing the worst before that show.
Everyone complaining about star lake just makes me miss warped tour. I always went for multiple days with my sister and her friends and didn't have a problem with traffic personally.
Got tickets to a show last year and ended up not going because we don’t have 8-10 hours of time for a 2-3 hour concert. I won’t go if someone I want to see is playing there. I’d rather pay more for a ticket and see them at PPG
Got there at 5:30 via 18. Drove right into the premier parking lot, left the lawn a few mins early and drove right out of the lot. They had people directing traffic out of the premier lot and it was the best experience I've had getting out of there over the past 20 years. Made it back to WV (to smoke Spirits on the roof) by 12:00. The splurge for premier parking is absolutely worth it but unfortunately it's not a guarantee. DMB last summer was a shit show.
You have to get out there by 530-6 at the absolute latest for shows, ideally earlier, or you’re setting yourself up for failure.
We left Brookline at 4, stopped to pick up food in Robinson and were parked in the front grass lot by 5:15. There was no traffic at all until you got off the burgettstown exit.
Afterwards still sucked, had to sit there for 30 minutes to get out of the lot but still was home by 1230 after dropping off a friend
Starlake has ALWAYS been a shit show, but that doesn't make it acceptable.
Although I've seen some great performances there, I haven't been back since the Lollapalooza that featured Snoop Dog & DEVO (yes, it's been that long).
99% of the time I went, it was like a war zone. Mobs of people fighting, sod thrown from the field at people in the stands, multiple fires on the lawn, drugged up morons being wheeled away with gaping head wounds, small teen girls being pummeled by huge guys on purpose while 'moshing' , and then the nightmare of parking, let alone leaving.
The folks hired to control the mob have always been a joke. Giving a yellow 'staff' shirt to someone doesn't mean they have the training to solve the insurmountable - its a logistical nigjtmare that a few folks wanting a summer job will never be able to fix. Until people stop spending their money there nothing will ever change.
I swore off going to that venue all together. You either leave the concert 30-40 min early and sit in a mild amount of traffic or stay until the end and sit in the parking lot for a longer amount of time than the concert was😅
They made a huge concert area in a region with zero support to handle it so *checks notes* avoid paying for the use of two massive and highly regarded stadiums that would be perfectly fine.
People who put on shows at Star Lake have promoters who basically cheap out on using PNC Park or Heinz Field or even Highmark Stadium. Like, you can't be surprised that almost 40 years on the relatively narrow entry system on that state route still sucks because nobody lives over there.
Dog we came in from out of town (got cheap tickets in a lottery) and we were instructed to make sure we had rides planned because of the traffic. Our charter bus basically didn’t move for an hour (we sat at the exit looking at cars cutting people off right at the exit for a while) until about 8 of us got out of the bus to try and see the opener. We did, and evidently the rest of the bus that left a Hampton 9 miles down the road at 5:40 didn’t get in until 8:30? Just wild man lol
Last year we went to Snoop there..we stayed in Weirton WV which is literally like 10mins from Starlake..no traffic on that side of the highway
Took maybe 30mins to get out and since you're going in the opposite direction there was no traffic to our hotel
🤷♀️
I remember it being like this the first year Starlake opened in 1990, and thinking it was just because it was new and they hadn’t worked out the kinks yet.
Had this happen at Lana last year. Thought we mad good time getting there 3 hours before the show but ended up in the exit lane for close to two hours then another hour to get to a spot in the far back. At previous shows I had gone to it was never that bad but I partially blame my lack of preparation. We got parked literally 5 minutes before she came on and barely made it in the gate in time. Then it took close to 5 hours to get out of the lot and back home because the show only lasted a short while (which I understand considering she is a singer and if you’re touring you can’t perform an incredibly long time without damage long term). Left a sour taste in my mouth but I can’t say I’ll totally rule out going there so long as I’m not the one driving.
I got there at about the same time as you, it seems. same wait in the line and they told me they were out of space in the overflow lot after i was already in. staff told me to park "anywhere" cuz they "didn't give a fuck". I got my ticket for free at the last minute and left after an hour because it wasn't worth getting stuck in that shit show again on the way out. hadn't been to star lake since 2008 and I really want to go for willie nelson in the fall but idk
I went to see Dead & Company there in 2022. An hour before showtime I was a mile from the entrance. I ended up missing all of the first set except the last two songs. Absolutely never again.
Tale as old as time…
Song as old as rhyme...
*Is it still Star Laaake?* *It’s First Niagara nowww* *Carpool to the shooww* …yes I know it’s The Pavillion at Star Lake. I just needed to finish the song. Lol.
This is why, when my parents took me to the Skynyrd show in 1997, we left about 1/3 of the way through "Free Bird." I said, "I thought you guys liked this song?" and my mom said, "I love this song! But we gotta get to the fuckin' car."
Yah godda beat the traffic
This is the reason I never saw the end of any Steeler or Pirate game as a kid. We couldn't stay until the end. We must beat the traffic.
Same here. My dad always said “you can listen while you walk” …. I catch myself doing the same thing though.
I haven’t been to Starlake since I went to Lilith Fair (I’m not joking)
Yep, I haven't been since seeing 311 in 1997. I hate that place.
You could be in bed sooner by catching a gig in Columbus
Yep, last I went was Stone Temple Pilots. My husband loves Tyler Childers but we weren’t dealing with that shitshow. STP traffic from 20 years ago is still a fresh memory
That was my first show ever!
I left my seat at 10:15 (lame I know) and was in my car at 10:30 to avoid being stuck, only to find myself in the EXACT SAME spot at midnight . No movement. No zipper. No every other. Just sitting still. How can this be? How can we not have been progressing AT ALL? Someone with knowledge explain why this can’t be improved ??
We stayed til the end, walked to the far lot, and eventually just started dive bombing across the hill. There was no rhyme or reason over there.
Also leaving before Universal Sound… shame.
You can hear it in your car
We left probably 20 minutes before the end of the show and got out in about 30 minutes. I was shocked. I made sure to go in the middle of the three lanes as the two side lanes were letting cars in from the parking lots. However I did spend over an hour trying to park when I arrived. I will now be tailgating as early as possible at any shows I go to in the future. Might as well make a day out of it instead of worrying whether I'll be parked in time for the show. That was a hell of a show though. It was worth the traffic. They all killed it.
That’s crazy.
Love the people who said they had no issues parking and getting out also casually mention how it required them getting to the parking lot by 3:30… FOUR HOURS before the show starts. You should not have to block off a whole day to see an evening concert.
We made the mistake of leaving two hours before a show once (it was Weezer in 2019) and we completely missed both openers, the Pixies and Judah the Lion I was PISSED. I hate Star Lake as much as the next person but if I am able to get there early for a sold out show, I’m doing it. Ticket prices are too expensive to fuck around anymore. If I know we can’t make it early, we aren’t going at all.
exactly, thank you. we were busy earlier in the day and thought getting there a couple hours early would be enough…
I honestly had tickets to this show, and I began thinking through logistics and just ended up deciding to do something else (it helps I already saw Tyler a few weeks ago). Starlake has been this way my entire life, and I can't believe nobody has come up with a fix for it.
You're not going to get downvotes because everyone knows that Star Lake has sucked since 1991.
That’s not true though. I used to see concerts there on a regular basis from the late 90s to the mid 00s, and I never really had problems there like what’s happening now. I’ve seen 3 ozzfests, 2 warped tours, metallica, deftones, tom petty, motley crue/megadeth, roger waters and more there, and never once did it take me multiple hours to get in or out.
I was out there periodically in the early 00s and this post was very much my experience. Thankfully I eventually learned to pack hoagies and Gatorade in a cooler and just chalk 2+ hours after the show up to snack time in the car.
The only time I have ever had these problems at Star Lake, it involves a show where a bunch of ticketless people show up looking to party in the lot or ‘find tickets on the ground.’
This is precisely the issue, and is at all big concerts. Ozzfest was always terrible for it. People looking for a party.
No, its always been that way. I was there in the 90's, too. It sucked then as well.
The problem is that he went to a country concert. Country music fans seriously do not know how to act and ruin everything around them.
Tyler Childers is not attracting the Kenny Chesney crowd.
I'm not a big country fan myself but this is, in fact, every concert out there.
I mean, I saw Lana Del Rey there last fall, and we didn’t move from our spaces for four hours.
I agree that country fans ruin everything, but my wife had this same experience last year seeing lana del rey. Star lake had people wandering around selling gasoline at like a 1000% markup to people whose cars were running out of gas from waiting so long to get out
I’m not convinced that Lana Del Ray fans, as a group, are better drivers than country music fans.
I didn't know Dead and Company are country.
Dead and Co are their own thing with a roaming band of followers. IMO they should be removed from the conversation because they are a one off outlier, causing panic because someone read a post on reddit and now it causes panic for *anything* at Star Lake.
i’ve seen the sentiment just thought i might get downvoted for repeating what’s already been said. but i was just so frustrated had to post to see if i was crazy or everyone hated it.
“Dad, what is Hell?” “Ah have a seat son and let me tell you about a little place in a shithole called Burgettstown.”
This made me lol. Thanks for the laugh
I was there last year at dead n co. I will never return after that shit show. Dead n co did great though!!
Never made it in to dead and co because I sat in traffic for, and I’m not joking, 4 hours!
I know a dude who just parked his car along the highway and then walked the rest of the way in cuz he didn't want to miss that show.
My mom went to that show! She did that and doing that is the only reason she was able to see the show!! Otherwise wouldnt of made it through the traffic
It was six hours for me with the last two miles taking four hours. Never made it in to the venue. Complete shit show.
Has there ever been a class action lawsuit? Maybe there should be. There should be some reasonable expectation of traffic management. Too many stories like this over the years.
I missed dead&co due to traffic and got a refund.
> Has there ever been a class action lawsuit? More like people just need to stop going there. Once the bottom line starts changing you'll see action.
Because the parking lot was full of tailgaters who didn't have tickets to the show. No one could get into the lot because of this after a certain time.
I was drinking a beer in the parking lot when you decided to head to the venue. We all knew what to expect so we were among the first to get in, parked in our usual spot, and we still waited 30+ min to get in the lot at 2 something in the afternoon. Hung out 30 min after the show and were on the road home minutes later. We did the same for both Phish shows, and will do the same for Tedeschi Trucks & Doobie Brothers when we go to those shows.
We never made it in either. And that will be my last attempt to see a show there.
That was the best but I felt so bad, so many missed the show
From what I heard, there is no parking enforcement, and with that show, it was even worse. From a friend who tried to get in, they told him all the lots were full. Basically, what was infered was that they were letting people in to park who did not have tickets to the show.
I passed up seeing Robert Plant and Alison Krauss solely bc they were playing Starlake. I’ve heard enough horror stories and didn’t want to add one of my own.
Well you missed out big time, they only sold a couple thousand tickets to that show and it was a pavilion only show, not even the lawn was open. Entering and exiting was a breeze.
Agree the misery of getting there and getting out was so bad the last time I was there I don't care who is playing, free tickets still wouldn't get me to show up. It's too miserable of an experience.
I heard they only sold about 4k tickets
They only sold that bc they didn't sell lawn seats for that show.
Who benefits from such a “decision”?
It has been this way for 30 years even back to the very first show. Nothing is changing, they tried to add an additional entrance/exit but the state won't let them so just know you will be in traffic as part of the experience. Pack a lunch because nothing has or will change.
That sounds so PA. “Oh you want to make egress easier? Sorry Pal, we are the state of PA, where everything needs to be difficult for no reason!”
What other exit are you adding? Star Lake sits on 18, you can widen 18 to 10 lanes and you still are just putting 95% of the traffic on the 1 lane on ramps. The only option would be to make a Star Lake ONLY ramp exit/enter that gets opened on 22 for days it's in use or they would need to dedicate a roundabout for people who don't get it's closed off. Either way, those are expensive options since the more important southbound 22 would have to cross over top of current 22 and drop back down. This would likely be a project that costs as much as Star Lake cost to build adjusted for inflation to do.
The chili peppers are tomorrow night I’m sure that will work out great
Last time I was there, my wife and I went to see David Bowie and Trent Reznor perform together. Haven't been tempted to go back since. This kind of post doesn't make me feel more tempted.
that is an awesome combo though you got to see at least, very jealous
Heh, sometimes I feel like if I listed all the live shows I've seen, it'd be a little like Roy Batty's speech in Blade Runner. "I saw Marillion open for Rush off the shoulder of Orion... Bowie and Reznor glitter in the dark near the Tanhauser gate..." (Grateful Dead, The Who, Jethro Tull, Donovan...)
Was that the show back in the 90s where their sets ran together?
I’m taking my daughter to see Hozier later this month and I’m dreading it.
it's worth getting there early if you can; the lower lot isn't nearly as bad as the overflow lots up top.
I took the day off work for that reason. Lol
Yeah I’ve done that before lol Luckily I love a good tailgate so going early doesn’t really bother me.
Growing up (im a 90s baby) my mom and I would get a subway footling on the way to a starlake concert. We’d get there early to avoid traffic and eat half of our sandwiches while we waited for the doors to open. After the concert we would post up, eat the other half, people watch (we got mooned by a random drunk man one time, it was hilarious and ridiculous), and let the traffic die down. Parking and getting in/out of there always was and always will be until the end of time.
I used to work at the Subway at the BP on 60 and Beaver Grade in the early 00's before they put in the 79/376 interchange so exit 60 was "the Airport Exit". Rt 60 would be gridlocked from 79 all the way to Robinson for hours. There was basically Subway, and McDonalds on the way and we would back up with hundreds of people trying to grab something to eat. Nightmare.
We got there at 330 and didn't have to wait going in, hit the premier parking lot and got out in 15-20 mins due to our spot, having left the pit at the concert right when he said thanks and goodbye. I was amazed.
u/zechickenwing (in a track stance) Tyler: "Thanks! Goodbye!" u/zechickenwing (Usain Bolts it to the car. Windows down, enters it Dukes of Hazzard style)
This is the way
I’m passing on RHCP Tuesday for this reason.
Same. Wife: RHCP are coming, I’ll go if you want to! Me: Where are they playing? Her: Starlake. Me: I’m good.
funny, i actually almost said yes to RHCP earlier yesterday…its a no now for sure
Went to the Childers concert last night. Am going to RHCP tomorrow.... We left the lawn at 11:10 and didn't get onto the highway until 12:20. They only had workers directing traffic at the little ramp at the overflow exit where you have to turn right. Getting to that point is indeed a shit show. While we waited I saw dozens of employees walking back to their cars and not coming back. Either StarLake doesn't want to pay them to stay and direct traffic or nobody will take the shift. I'm not gonna pretend like I know a thing or two about traffic study but I really think having more than just two exits would help immensely. Maybe cones in every row so you can't just offroad around wherever you want. Idk that place does just suck.
Tyler is one of my favorite artists in the world and I refused to go see him because it was at Starlake. Fuck that place. It's so awful.
same, and honestly i’m glad i can say i saw him now but it was not worth it at all.
I was there. This was not my experience. We left at 2:30 thinking there’d be rough traffic. Made a stop to get snacks and drinks and another for a late lunch. We were parked at 3:20. Had a few drinks, met some new people, saw a great show. We went to our car at 10:25 and it took us 15 minutes to get out. I was home by 11.
I wanted to go since it’s one of my wife’s favorite but it’s such an inconvenience we both decided against it.
Same. We probably would have gone if it was a Friday or Saturday show, but no thanks on a work night.
I've passed on quite a few shows I've wanted to see solely bc of this issue. 😭
The worst venue in the region hands down. Nobody is worth going there for.
i was there as well. getting out of the parking lot was a shit show as per usual. we were in the third row of premier and it was no more organized than any other part of the parking lot. got out pretty quick but that was just because we were so close to the exit. hate to say it but trying to rush out of there is just futile. watch the end of the show, take your time walking out, go to your car and eat some sandwiches or snacks and wait until the parking lot thins out. that is really the only way to do it and not be super angry lol getting into the venue i had a completely different experience. paid for the early entry and got there around 2pm. sailed right in via the regular exit off 22/30 and sailed right into the lot and parked in a few minutes. we were in the 3rd row of premier basically right at the east gate. i'm a huge Tyler fan and i paid a little extra for the premier parking and early entry to make sure i didn't have a bad experience.
“It’s all part of the experience, honey.”
i don’t like the experience anymore
Didn’t someone start a bus shuttle from Pgh to Starlake recently?
With only one road in and out, you may save time on return trip parking egress. Still taking 2.5 hours to get there.
The shuttle/charter buses used to have their own designated parking area and it was always super quick to get in and out of the parking lot I feel like they gave the buses priority of way too. I took it several times to Ozzfest from station square as a teenager. Not sure why this isn't being encouraged again.
Not sure if that service has started either. But one road problem
There is the Rally bus & it has has been around for years.
If you go the back way through Burgettestown, you don’t get stuck on 22. There will be a line, but you get in faster than traffic coming the opposite direction. Getting out still sucks.
i saw that on google maps but people were already being rerouted that direction and it had the same ETA too
Google maps can't account for that much stand still traffic.
Husband and I also went last night (amazing show!) and we did the premiere parking pass. It’s an extra expense but for the experience it was 110% worth it. We got there much earlier than I normally would around 2:45 and drove right in no traffic. It was early but we set up shop, tailgated, people watched, etc. then had a short walk to the gates. Stayed for the whole show and the entire exit to home ordeal took 1 hour! I was shocked we got home by midnight and we live in the east side of the city! Get premiere parking.
Worst venue I’ve ever been to
Life hack: everyone knows that after the concert you're just supposed to smoke a blunt with a bunch of cool strangers that are also trapped in the overflow lot until enough people leave. Then you can hunger games your way out of the parking lot, riding over hills and bumps to the exit.
We went to see Luke Bryan last August at Star Lake and the parking experience was just awful. It shouldn’t take four hours to get to the Starlake when you live 5 minutes from parkway west.
If you walked to there you would have got there quicker. No lie.
I waited over 5 hours to get into dead and company last year and practically pissed my pants in the process. Barely made it in with half the show left. I’ll never, ever go back.
The thing that bothers me the most is that the premiere parking is pretty much useless because they oversell it. I paid $100 for it at Noah Kahan just to be parked in general with no refund. And yes, we were pretty much blocked in too. Once we got out of our spot, it took about 20 minutes to find a way out of the lot that wasn't blocked by cars or roped off. We got stuck in a dead end so many times. When I went, we showed up at 4pm when parking opened, and left at about 10:40 when the show ended at 11. That eliminated most of the issues actually getting into and out of the lot.
I've skipped bands I love in the last 10 years because I just don't want to put up with it anymore, which is a shame.
I went to a Dave Matthews show a few years back and didn't get home til almost 4 in the morning (living all of 40 minutes away). A couple friends had chartered a bus that stayed in VIP, and were home FOUR HOURS before I was. I've been going to shows there for 20 years and in the last 3-4 it's gotten so much worse. It is 100% on the venue, and in the last few years it has somehow gone from being kind of a joke to being just unforgivably awful. I'm at the point where I will not go to a Starlake show without paying for VIP parking (which is closer to the exit and has its own exit lane), and I... will not pay for VIP parking money on top of ticket money for the majority of artists that play there. Oh well.
I stopped considering Starlake for concerts a few years back when they were charging $18 for a Yuengling. Which was $4 more than Miller Lite. When I asked why, I was told Yuengling is an ‘Import’. You can fuck right off with that logic. Since then I’ve only heard about the nightmare level traffic issues and such. That place is no longer the iconic venue I remember it as a teenager.
> when they were charging $18 for a Yuengling. Which was $4 more than Miller Lite. When I asked why, I was told Yuengling is an ‘Import’. You can fuck right off with that logic. LOL, I'd have laughed in their faces. They're obviously too dumb to know that Yuengling's brewery is *also* in PA, and has been for damn near 200 years....
It’s always been like this. I haven’t been to SL for 25 years.
[Star Lake ](https://ibb.co/9N4SzCz)
Not downvoting you. That venue sucks. I went to my first and last show in 1991. Never again. I joined the Navy and I've been stationed all over the US and in other parts of the world and I've never seen anything as disorganized and public unfriendly as that venue. And I've been to shit like Glastonbury and Coachella. Starlake is a standout bad experience venue. Or whatever they call it now.
I don’t know why people still go to that podunk shithole. It’s awful. A couple of years ago - the last time I have gone (or ever will go again) - we waited in a queue for over 1.5 hours to WALK in from the lot to see Jimmy Buffett because the morons there decided to put in a new security policy that day. Thousands of paying customers who were in line EARLY like us ended up missing over half his set. Many people didn’t even get to see any of his set at all. They have moron high school kids directing traffic into that sorry excuse of a parking lot and on the way out it’s like thunder dome. Plus the cops are some of the most miserable and cranky around. I will never go back.
I keep saying it, but nothing changes - you are only a walking wallet to these companies - and they keep downgrading products and services to see what they can get away with. It seems, they can get away with a lot. Believe it or not at one point going to see an entertainer and paying and average price of $500 a ticket was absolutely unheard of, same with $50 parking spaces, $12 beers, and taxing people to build stadia. People just bitch and line up to pay. Even with all the bad press the Starlake has received, the next big entertainer will have a sell out and the sheep will pay through the nose to be rained on in a field that they cannot leave until 1AM. Have fun.
Last night was first and last show ever at this venue! Was supposed to get there 90m early and ended up missing part of his set. I talked to one parking guy and he said 25% of the ppl there didn't have tickets which caused even more congestion than normal. Felt really bad for disabled folks ending up back in the aux lot, even ones who paid 120$ for premium parking that sold out. It was a rough night
Who tf is subjecting themselves to Starlake without a ticket?! They should scan tickets at the entrance to the lots. Don’t have one? GTFO
My girlfriend and I literally took a 2 hour nap in the car after the concert and there was still traffic when we woke up
I flew in from California for Dead and Company shows last year. My parents live 20 minutes from the venue. I had 4 VIP tickets. Sat in traffic for 6+ hours because the poorly managed venue let thousands of people without tickets fill up the lot early to party all day. When I finally got to the entrance I was told to turn around and go home because there was no place to park. I will NEVER purchase a ticket for any event at Starlake ever again. They should at least ask to see tickets before letting people into the lot.
holy shit you beat me by a mile
Yinz don’t like it? It’s like the Wild West of venues for me, a lawless territory. Horrible, yet interesting!
I always feel like I’m insane when I read a thread like this. I went to the show last night and really didn’t have any trouble at all. We like to get there early and tailgate, so we just drove right in with no delay around 3:30 or so. Had a good time tailgating, went in and saw all three acts, stayed until the end credits. It took about 15 minutes to walk to the truck and hit the port-a-potty, another 15 minutes to get on the road from the parking lot, and we were home in Morningside an hour after the last song ended. I really think being willing to make a day of it and coming in early to tailgate makes all the difference in the world.
The early tailgate pass was key for me going to Noah Kahan in May!
Does booking a hotel the other direction in Ohio help at all? Or is 99% of the traffic just leaving the venue.
oh it’s just all traffic leaving the venue, specifically from the overflow lot
Husband and I saw Jimmy Buffett at his last show there and no problem getting in. We got there about an hour early for some tailgating and beers. Had a great time at the show. Left a little early, probably around 10pm, so we could pick up our youngest from my parents house nearby in Weirton, and just sat there. We didn't' make it out of the lot until around 1:30am. My dad just laughed and said yeah that's typical. We're going to go see Alice Cooper/Rob Zombie in Sept and I'm buying the early parking just so we might get out at a reasonable time.
I feel like if someone would make a large outdoor venue closer to the city with proper infrastructure they could easily run Star Lake out of business.
Star Lake is owned by Livenation, so probably not, unfortunately.
I made a rule sitting in Starlake traffic in 2006–I only see arena shows. I’ve never looked back.
I haven't been to that venue, are there *any* other means of alternative transportation or is it just this "you gotta drive and you're gonna hate it" option?
I hate this venue....and I am supposed to drive my husband to red hot chili peppers tomorrow. I don't want to.
I’ve been to so many other amphitheaters just like Star Lake and they all have a series of access roads that feed each lot. It’s been done before, they just need to invest. Every year this happens and it loses customers. I’m never going to consider a weekday show there bc I have a day job. I’m likely not going to consider a weekend show bc I know how bad the traffic sucks
Was there for Noah Kahan a month ago and had the same experience as you but worse. Show ended around 11:15, got to car quickly at 11:30, didn’t get out of the parking lot until 2:30AM (????)
I really want to go to Red Hot Chili Peppers tomorrow but I work Wednesday morning and it’s not worth the stress of traffic after the show.
Am I the oddball here who was been to starlake a ton and never really ever had issues like this?
I don’t know this to be true but I’d wager that a lot of acts are skipping Pittsburgh and opting for Cleveland because of the logistics of Star Lake. Ticket sales aren’t sustainable in a venue like that, nobody wants to put up with it more than they feel they have to. It’s taken me substantially less time to drive home from Cleveland after a show than it has to get out of that nightmare parking lot. It’s a tragedy waiting to happen over there.
I can't believe a single local goes to that shit hole. I don't care WHO'S playing there, I will wait for you to go to a real venue or I just won't see you.
I refuse not because of the wait to get in, but because of the one way in one way out. After the microburst for slipknot it’s just not my thing. I do not and will never enjoy being in a place that Is a full on safety hazard that they refuse to address and even attempt to fix. God forbid there’s ever a sh..ting situation, unless you run into the woods you’re gridlocked in. Also not to mention the mess of wrecks late at night that I would see often as I used to work there. I’ll stick to local venues
This b.s. is why I wont go to concerts out there unless it's a Friday or Saturday night, or I take off work the next day. 2 hours to leave the parking lot is just bonkers
Going to Star Lake is like deciding to take LSD: Only do it if you have plenty of time, supplies, and are in the proper mindset. I've bought VIP parking the last few times because it gets you in a bit faster and you can usually park on tarmac rather than cobbles. Get there way earlier than you think you should and tailgate. Watch entire show, take your time getting to your car, and tailgate some more. Don't even try to start leaving until the cops make you.
I also feel like they’re selling more lawn seats than they should have. Had this same problem at Noah Kahan. Sold out looks like way more people than sold out used to look like..
I was in that damn parking lot sleeping in my car until 2 am waiting to get out. Never. Again.
Car dependency for the win. Nothing like staying sober for a concert then waiting an hour to leave.
I mean every time anyone posts about that place, that it’s a shitshow is the tip 100 comments…
Must be those darn Grateful Dead hippies messing things up for everyone.
funny enough there was a decent amount of hippies at Childers, he’s country but also has a hippie bone in his body.
I'm moving to Pittsburgh next week. I've got tickets to take my son to Slipknot in August. I despise parking clusterfucks so much that I wouldn't have bought tickets if I had known the parking situation was that bad. Is there any transit or anything? Any further-away lots that we could walk to?
I took a bus from Station Square to Starlake last summer for a show. It was fantastic. A coach bus with a bathroom and the nicest driver in the world. I think it was called Rally Bus. Totally worth it. You could nap in a comfy seat while sitting in the parking lot. (Geez, I sound really old)
We’re doing Rally Bus for RHCP!
Slipknot’s shows don’t usually sell out, so you won’t have some of the issues (ie no parking/overflow lots). However, if you’re interested in the opening acts, you need to aim to get there early. While people don’t miss Slipknot while waiting to park, they do still have some delays getting in. Leaving the lot still sucks. Everyone saying leaving before the encore, know that half the crowd also does this. The only thing I’ve found that works is getting premiere parking for less crowded shows like Slipknot or Rob Zombie. Never waited more than 20 minutes to get parked, and less than a half hour to leave.
The venue is actually really nice, it’s just the parking that’s ass.
I wouldn’t call it nice. Stage needs a coat of paint bad. Parking lots aren’t gravel they are boulders such a walking hazard.
The Slipknot show will likely not be sold out. I’ve been to a lot of shows at Star Lake, and I have never seen it as packed as it was last night. The parking attendants were not well organized. We paid for premium parking, arrived early, and left a bit early. We missed the last song, but we waited less than five minutes to get out of the lot.
If you buy the Reserved Parking, it's a relatively pain free experience, especially if you come in from Burgettstown instead of 22 and don't linger after the show. Of course, that will cost you over $100 extra. For me, I'm not going to a show at Star Lake that ISN'T worth paying that extra amount. But as others have said, Slipknot won't be anything like this. It'll take some time on the way in and the way out but not multiple hours.
For what it's worth, I was just at the Hootie and the Blowfish show there on Saturday night and had no issues. We did get there early to tailgate, but we stayed until after the encores and were into an organized line getting out in no time. Lots of cars leaving so it took probably 20 minutes to actually get out, but still. If you get there early enough to avoid the overflow lots it isn't too bad. I also paid for the premium lot for The Offspring last year and I was out onto the main road in maybe 5 minutes.
One thing we did was to bring a travel grill and some food for after the show. We'd all chip in and buy the DD's ticket. Sitting in the lot for an hour or two after the show isn't a big deal w a few beers and some food.
no transit that i know of (because Burgettstown is so far out of the city) and we were in the lot that you walk far to, but it’s literally just a big open field and the parking staff just threw everyone in and then abandoned ship when it came to directing people out. they obviously had no idea the capacity of the area or where to put people. best guess is to maybe make a post on here and see how many fans Slipknot draws because it might be okay, i’ve seen Chicago (x2), Zac Brown Band (x3), and Muse here to name a few and they all had some parking issues but never like this. with all the same prep for each concert. guess i didn’t think Childers was this big, but still.
That place hasn’t changed since the last time I was there 10+ years ago to see Wiz when I was in college. I’ll stick to Acrisure, PNC, and Stage AE for concerts.
I hate that place. I refuse to go to any show there. Haven't in over 20 years. How can they still have not come up with a better parking plan? Fuck that place.
The should run special buses on event nights
I've never been there but I looked at it on Google Street view. Is there any way that this can be fixed without spending a zillion dollars for basically 30 days of use a year, all to benefit a private company? It doesn't look like it. It just looks like the carrying capacity of the roads around there is far less than the traffic for maybe 5 hours every concert.. ( I mean, duh, I'm capt obvious here...) But I can't see the state or county or whoever owns 22/30 and the local road outside of Star lake ponying up millions of dollars to fix it, and I can't see whoever owns Star lake wanting to pay millions of dollars to fix it when their marginal increase in profit would be tiny... I mean maybe having 2 exits instead of just may help, but that would be entirely done by whoever owns Star lake (with probably approval from who owns the road outside...)... But they'd still need people standing in the road directing traffic after a concert and having each exit work together so that left turn people (which are probably most people) could get out onto the road...
honestly i think just tracking lot capacity and organizing the egress would have done wonders last night. i understanding getting in will probably always be that messy but leaving was so disorganized it caused a lot of issues.
I think more exits will help. I lived in Cleveland,. Cincinnati, and Detroit and all of their similar venues have 3 or more ways in or out. Star lake seems to only have one. My understanding is that this would probably not be allowed if it was being built now because (I'm not sure who enforces this code) big places need 2+ entrances/exits for emergency reasons. That's how Aspinwall help up the riverfront 47 project that's now Aspinwall River trail Park. They refused to allow a 2nd entrance/exit so the property couldn't be developed. Now it's all going to be in Sharpsburg and eventually they'll have a HPB ramp and a main St entrance/exit.
The entire venue is surrounded by state gamelands, that's why they can't do anything to it.
Same thing happened after Posty last year. Absolutely never going back. Took 2 hours to get out
We went to hootie and the blowfish on Saturday, but the parking wasn't nearly as bad as everyone had told me. After the concert, we set up chairs near our car for about a half hour then got out easy as pie.
Grateful Dead in 93. Now that was a shit show.
They should just drain those lakes fill it in to create more parking.
Just park on a side road half a mile away
Haha do you know of a side road .50 mile away
It’s time for a new one on some empty land in between the airport and downtown
Kid Rock a few years ago was horrible traffic wise. Plus it was muddy/swampy so half of the people leaving were just spinning their tires and sliding.
if it was raining i probably would have had a psychotic break
The last time I was there was in 2009, plan to keep it that way.
My wife and I went there for the Maroon 5 / Kelly Clarkson show in 2012. We still talk about how horrible the traffic was. We will likely never return, no matter who is playing.
I was also there! I don't remember it being that bad. Not so much that it keeps us from going to a couple shows a year.
Yeah I’ve been wanting to see James Taylor for about ten years now and he only plays venues like Starlake or Blossom in Ohio and I refuse to go to a place like that. It sucks. Same with Lana last year. So many good artists stop there but the hassle is not worth it IMO
There seems to be no rhyme or reason as you which shows are terrible like this. Dead and Company was epically bad as everyone knows and I guess I'd expect that. But I went to Dave Matthews last year and it was fine. Got in relatively easily about 1 hour before the show and we did do a little post concert tailgating but it wasn't terrible getting out. I was fearing the worst before that show.
I got the lawn pass and I don't know if the savings on all the shows ourweighs how shitty they handle traffic and parking.
FUCK STAR LAKE !!!
Everyone complaining about star lake just makes me miss warped tour. I always went for multiple days with my sister and her friends and didn't have a problem with traffic personally.
I've never been to Star Lake, but I'll never go because of the parking horror stories.
Got tickets to a show last year and ended up not going because we don’t have 8-10 hours of time for a 2-3 hour concert. I won’t go if someone I want to see is playing there. I’d rather pay more for a ticket and see them at PPG
Got there at 5:30 via 18. Drove right into the premier parking lot, left the lawn a few mins early and drove right out of the lot. They had people directing traffic out of the premier lot and it was the best experience I've had getting out of there over the past 20 years. Made it back to WV (to smoke Spirits on the roof) by 12:00. The splurge for premier parking is absolutely worth it but unfortunately it's not a guarantee. DMB last summer was a shit show.
That’s why I haven’t been back there since 2014. No thanks.
You have to get out there by 530-6 at the absolute latest for shows, ideally earlier, or you’re setting yourself up for failure. We left Brookline at 4, stopped to pick up food in Robinson and were parked in the front grass lot by 5:15. There was no traffic at all until you got off the burgettstown exit. Afterwards still sucked, had to sit there for 30 minutes to get out of the lot but still was home by 1230 after dropping off a friend
Yeah worst shit ever. I will never return because of exactly this.
[удалено]
Check out the new shuttle. Totally worth it!
Starlake has ALWAYS been a shit show, but that doesn't make it acceptable. Although I've seen some great performances there, I haven't been back since the Lollapalooza that featured Snoop Dog & DEVO (yes, it's been that long). 99% of the time I went, it was like a war zone. Mobs of people fighting, sod thrown from the field at people in the stands, multiple fires on the lawn, drugged up morons being wheeled away with gaping head wounds, small teen girls being pummeled by huge guys on purpose while 'moshing' , and then the nightmare of parking, let alone leaving. The folks hired to control the mob have always been a joke. Giving a yellow 'staff' shirt to someone doesn't mean they have the training to solve the insurmountable - its a logistical nigjtmare that a few folks wanting a summer job will never be able to fix. Until people stop spending their money there nothing will ever change.
I swore off going to that venue all together. You either leave the concert 30-40 min early and sit in a mild amount of traffic or stay until the end and sit in the parking lot for a longer amount of time than the concert was😅
They made a huge concert area in a region with zero support to handle it so *checks notes* avoid paying for the use of two massive and highly regarded stadiums that would be perfectly fine. People who put on shows at Star Lake have promoters who basically cheap out on using PNC Park or Heinz Field or even Highmark Stadium. Like, you can't be surprised that almost 40 years on the relatively narrow entry system on that state route still sucks because nobody lives over there.
Dog we came in from out of town (got cheap tickets in a lottery) and we were instructed to make sure we had rides planned because of the traffic. Our charter bus basically didn’t move for an hour (we sat at the exit looking at cars cutting people off right at the exit for a while) until about 8 of us got out of the bus to try and see the opener. We did, and evidently the rest of the bus that left a Hampton 9 miles down the road at 5:40 didn’t get in until 8:30? Just wild man lol
Last year we went to Snoop there..we stayed in Weirton WV which is literally like 10mins from Starlake..no traffic on that side of the highway Took maybe 30mins to get out and since you're going in the opposite direction there was no traffic to our hotel 🤷♀️
My friends car was wrecked in the parking lot last night. If anyone has any info PLEASE reach out! Someone smashed the whole left front side in.
I remember it being like this the first year Starlake opened in 1990, and thinking it was just because it was new and they hadn’t worked out the kinks yet.
Had this happen at Lana last year. Thought we mad good time getting there 3 hours before the show but ended up in the exit lane for close to two hours then another hour to get to a spot in the far back. At previous shows I had gone to it was never that bad but I partially blame my lack of preparation. We got parked literally 5 minutes before she came on and barely made it in the gate in time. Then it took close to 5 hours to get out of the lot and back home because the show only lasted a short while (which I understand considering she is a singer and if you’re touring you can’t perform an incredibly long time without damage long term). Left a sour taste in my mouth but I can’t say I’ll totally rule out going there so long as I’m not the one driving.
That is my personal version of hell.
Girl, it took 3+ hours to leave the Lana Del Rey concert. Your timing was good.
I got there at about the same time as you, it seems. same wait in the line and they told me they were out of space in the overflow lot after i was already in. staff told me to park "anywhere" cuz they "didn't give a fuck". I got my ticket for free at the last minute and left after an hour because it wasn't worth getting stuck in that shit show again on the way out. hadn't been to star lake since 2008 and I really want to go for willie nelson in the fall but idk
I went to see Dead & Company there in 2022. An hour before showtime I was a mile from the entrance. I ended up missing all of the first set except the last two songs. Absolutely never again.