The Buble concert was fabulous Friday night. The Kansas Coliseum? Not so much.
First, at the side of the venue I entered, there was one — ONE — person scanning tickets to let people in. It was ridiculous. I recently attended the Springsteen concert at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, and somehow 18,000 people seemed to get in faster than the 6,000 for the concert here.
Then, for some reason, my ticket wouldn’t scan. So I’m standing at the turnstile feeling like a reject from a line outside the most popular club in Vegas, and one of the Coliseum employees kicked me back outside to wait in shame in the fierce wind while he went to investigate.
And, hey, I’ve been (rather unbelievably) climbing the bleachers at Cessna Stadium lately, but the small steps near my nosebleed seats at the Colesium scared me so much due to the lack of handrails that I didn’t move the whole concert for fear of falling in the dark.
Now, obviously, the Coliseum is old and outdated, and we’re going to have the more modern Intrust Bank Arena soon. But my point is that my complaints are the sort that don’t really take money, at least not much, to fix.
When they open our sparkly new arena, I hope they remember it’s often the little things that mean the most for a concertgoer. A little friendliness, an ease of getting around — or just getting in – could add up to an experience that someone would want to repeat.