The Venue Verdict Is In

The deluge of comments on my Radiohead fiasco post last month included a debate on whether Merriweather Post Pavilion was just as bad as Nissan Pavilion. Having never made it out there, I didn’t comment, but last night Mrs. J. West and I braved rush-hour traffic on the BW Parkway to see R.E.M..

After doing some calculations, I can say that MPP is exactly 9,531 times better than Nissan.

Traffic in and out was kept orderly and flowing. Parking was painless. On-site staff knew what they were doing. The layout and even the landscape were vastly superior. Granted, we didn’t have the apocalyptic weather conditions this time out, but what I saw on a temperate summer evening gave me confidence in their ability to handle disaster.

By the way, the show was great too. Modest Mouse played a great opener (we missed The National), R.E.M. had us eating out of their hand for their full two-hour set, and they played my favorite, “Driver 8.” All was well.