MGM Music Hall (née Fenway Theater) | 12 Lansdowne St | Fenway

I think it looks great. They're only removing only 6 rows from the CF/RF portion of the bleachers (not the little triangular peak under the scoreboard):

u7Ahf5L.jpg


I've been up there before, the seats are miles away. I like Fenway overall but it's not a particularly comfortable place to see a game, especially with any sort of frequency, and the deal with keeping it is very much with the expectation/understanding that the Sox will need to continue to do to it whatever they think is necessary to keep the team competitive with other elite market teams.

jklo said:
I imagine they don't want anything that they don't have full control over that has views into Fenway Park.
Click to expand...

In the aftermath of the Vegas concert shooting I suspect anything too close to the park with good views of the grandstand is probably a non-starter.
 
Sprngh2o said:
Why do they play that? I get “Dirty Water” by the Standells but not the Neil Diamond song.
Click to expand...

The story I've heard is that it was somewhat organic. The DJ played it one night and the crowd really got in to it, so she played it again the next night, and after about a week, it became the standard for middle of the eight and has been that way ever since. No intentionality whatsoever.

[edit]
I see this differs somewhat from the story in Statler's link, but even there, the corporate suit who makes the decision bases it on the idea that the crowd response was the determining factor.
 
stick n move said:
It depends they do it in much bigger nhl/nba arenas like the Garden all the time.
Click to expand...

Yes but of course those arenas were never designed for concerts. Theyre used for concerts in the same way Fenway is used for hockey games.

If youre designing from scratch, why go with such a bad design?
 
Perhaps the flat floor is for the purpose of more elaborate staging, say something like the Cirque du Soleil? I really have no idea, but I suspect who ever designed it has a valid reason for the internal layout. Or it could simply be a bad render.
 
FWIW: It's easier to rake a flat floor than flatten a raked floor. The crew necessary to carry out this kind of work is union, so that'll help to grease the wheels at City Hall.

/cynicism
 
HalcyonEra said:
Henry & Co have certainly maximized the park for sure, but the elimination of the grit has its consequences, and that is pricing it out of reach for more and more common people, the hardcore fans who have been there all their lives, other than as a special event for them. Understanding that the market has changed, there is no reason the pavilion can't be above the existing cheap seats. There is also no reason not to make an it open concourse / concessions area, like many other parks have, except they know that a closed area will be highly profitable like the right field bar is, and bring a lot more revenue than the bleacher seats will. They will have no problem selling out that area even though it will be the furthest from the field because the demand is there and will continue to be there for the foreseeable future.
Click to expand...

This is all true, of course, but its also just a microcosm of what has happened to the urban experience as a whole (and not just in Boston - worldwide.)

It's a highly-priced, corporate-sponsored lifestyle amenity for the professional class. And yes, that's a description of both Fenway and the city as a whole.

I liked it better when it was a giant dive bar. But there aren't really any dive bars anymore, anywhere...
 
bakgwailo said:
That is a pretty big overstatement.
Click to expand...

not really. sligo, sillhouette, the tam and beacon hill pub (although i haven't been since new ownership), cantab, sullivan's -- what am i missing?

if you've lived here for more than 10 years, you know that the bulk -- and i'm talking well over 50% -- of the area's dive bars are all gone now.
 
This has now devolved into the worst thread on AB.
 
CSTH said:
I liked it better when it was a giant dive bar...
Click to expand...

Ugh, I remember well when the city was a giant dive bar! South End was a wreak, Quincy Market stunk to high heaven, the waterfront was unapproachable, the harbor was a polluted mess, the Pru was a dirty, noisy railyard! Plenty of flop houses to live in, conveniently next to the dive bars! As for me, I'll take the present day city of Boston, hands down, one of the most active, energetic, full of life, most beautiful cities anywhere! The transformation of the city from the 60's, 70's, and 80's, to me, is just amazing and unfuckin believable!
 
atlantaden said:
Ugh, I remember well when the city was a giant dive bar! South End was a wreak, Quincy Market stunk to high heaven, the waterfront was unapproachable, the harbor was a polluted mess, the Pru was a dirty, noisy railyard! Plenty of flop houses to live in, conveniently next to the dive bars! As for me, I'll take the present day city of Boston, hands down, one of the most active, energetic, full of life, most beautiful cities anywhere! The transformation of the city from the 60's, 70's, and 80's, to me, is just amazing and unfuckin believable!
Click to expand...

+1

And remember how the "Combat Zone" was so classy!

Everyone wanted to live in Boston Proper. Wait, no they didn't, they were moving away in droves!
 
chrisbrat said:
not really. sligo, sillhouette, the tam and beacon hill pub (although i haven't been since new ownership), cantab, sullivan's -- what am i missing?

if you've lived here for more than 10 years, you know that the bulk -- and i'm talking well over 50% -- of the area's dive bars are all gone now.
Click to expand...

I have been here for... much longer than 10 years (since birth, I suppose). Yes, a lot have closed, but there are still quiet a few dives left, especially in the neighborhoods - Boston is bigger than just downtown.


odurandina said:
ADIOS AMERICA! *(cue the whiners).



We are Athens (or New Bedford) resistance is futile!



*exempted; protesting endless absurd squatness.



/
Click to expand...

I... honestly have no idea what this means or what you are trying to say.
 
Back to the thread. I'm not saying that JH isn't a rich @$$hole or doesn't have money. But after fifteen years, you take Fenway for what it is. If it came down to Brookline billionaires vs. John Henry, I'd take JH because at least he's providing a service. He's not kvetching over noise or anything else during public comment like these NIMBYs are doing.

I'm not trying to make another blanket statement. But it is true. I'm a reporter. I've been to these meetings. They really are rich, old, white, insufferable. They come out in droves to oppose things. It doesn't matter what the renders show or what's in the PDF, they come out because they're retired and can kill a project.

In terms of the Fenway Theater, I like the flat design. Perhaps there could be more of an egress connecting the Theater to the Bleachers, and while the Boys and Girls Club might lose their "bench," they might upgrade to a suite? Let's have an open mind.

Oh, and before anyone asks. I'm not the biggest fan of capitalism either. Seeing that aB likes to devolve into the political muck.
 
As upset as I am about losing 300 seats, after reviewing the PNF again I found some positives for the changes:

1. The bleachers will now have easy to reach concessions at the top
2. The "function space" balcony will almost certainly be standing room only space during a game, absorbing some of the 300 bleacher seats as SRO tickets.
3. The top of the bleachers will now be connected to the grandstands, making it easier to move around the stadium.
 
Mongo said:
As upset as I am about losing 300 seats, after reviewing the PNF again I found some positives for the changes:

1. The bleachers will now have easy to reach concessions at the top
2. The "function space" balcony will almost certainly be standing room only space during a game, absorbing some of the 300 bleacher seats as SRO tickets.
3. The top of the bleachers will now be connected to the grandstands, making it easier to move around the stadium.
Click to expand...
**Slow clap for common sense**

Before people know it, these new look bleachers will become a Fenway fixture that people won't even realize it.
 
Since when are SRO's a good thing? Standing for an entire baseball game are you kidding? Its miserable.
 
Suffolk 83 said:
Since when are SRO's a good thing? Standing for an entire baseball game are you kidding? Its miserable.
Click to expand...

I usually buy a seat, but I've never not enjoyed standing room. For a lot of people it's a decent option for a less expensive evening or a way to get tickets to an otherwise sold out event. My wife doesn't care for it, so it's not something I do most of the time, but when I catch a game by myself, it's my usual choice. Some of the SRO sections are really quite festive, like the Sam Adams deck and the State Street pavilion.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top