This an article from the Chron: http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/sports/2141443 Crowds wowed by Toyota Center But some floored by parking fees By MARY VUONG Copyright 2003 Houston Chronicle Special section: Maps, photos, virtual tour. Oh, what a feeling. Toyota Center threw open its doors Monday evening for its inaugural event, a Fleetwood Mac concert. Fans complimented the facility but balked at the parking prices. "Come get your tall beer right here!" bellowed a man in a red cap and shirt. "Ice cold beer! Right here!" Before Fleetwood Mac was to perform, competing beer vendors, stationed steps from the entrance, provided an opening act. Their voices bellowed as the first drove of fans rushed in past police officers and officials in suits. They began arriving an hour early at 6:30 p.m. -- some excited about the performance, others unsure of the parking situation. Ushers in gray vests and black pants scanned tickets with an electronic gizmo as patrons entered. Gleaming Toyotas, polished floors and mounted TVs tuned to CNN greeted fans, almost 12,000 of them on this opening night. When set up for concerts, the arena holds 19,200. It's "a lot more advanced than I thought it would be," said Doug McMullen, a 42-year-old operations engineer at NASA, who was pleased with the food, drinks and seating. Still, he said, "I think, in all honesty, they could have renovated Compaq Center and gotten the same thing." And without the astronomical parking fees, he added, calling them "ridiculous." He and co-worker Cheryl Jones, a 36-year-old systems engineer, forked over $20 to park across the street. The Toyota Center's garage costs $15. There were some first-day kinks to be worked out. Ticket holders wandered directionless, and one concession stand ran out of tortillas and taco shells. Not wanting to take the food to their $125 seats, stay-at-home moms Rebecca McDowell, 36, and her sister, Patti Wendlandt, 38, searched for seats near the vendors. Not finding any, they plopped down on the floor. McDowell said the arena is beautiful but she didn't like the self-promotion. "I think it's kind of gross that they have cars around. It's one thing to have the name on there, but to have the cars," she said. Still, they and others gushed over the amenities. Especially Twila Ross, 57, and Patricia Greer, 52, who shared a thick wedge of seven-layer carrot cake at a dessert bar inside the club area. "It's a step up from the Compaq Center, and you can (still) get a hot dog," said Ross. And you can wash it down with a cafe latte. **************************************************** I'd like to hear feedback from anyone else who went to the concert. Thoughts on the band, sound system, parking, Toyota Center itself if they improved some things since the openhouse, etc. Pretty soon they will start comparing Toyota Center to SBC Center in SA and America Airlines Center in Dallas. Just wondering how each will stack up to each other.
Duh...of course you're going to pay 20 bucks to park right across the street. ...and no, they couldn't have renovated the Compaq Center. I'm sure the Trans Syberian Orchestra fans in December will be a lot more intelligent than those dolts...
Yeah, in downtown you will have to pay a bunch for parking. I think the shock was the fact that we are all a little spoiled by the free parking for the Compaq Center. I agree that it was dumb to say the Compaq Center could be renovated to the standards of the new arena.
any comments on the concert? Fleetwood mac is opening the new Quest Center thursday here in Omaha and I ended up with tickets in one of the suites.
I gotta agree that having cars at the place is very cheesy. I don't think they sell office supplies at the Staples Center. Nor airline tickets at United Center, AAC, any other airline named arena. Do they sell phone services at SBC Center? I think not. VERY tacky. Next thing ya know, they will open up a service shop inside Toyota Center and have oil changes, tune-ups, etc. there.
Actually, I wouldn't mind that. I do drive a Toyota. I don't want to start anything or say anything, but is it because you guys don't drive Toyotas or something? Can you not identify yourselves with a Toyota?
Compaq Center parking was not free. The price of parking was incorporated into the price of the ticket, thus a vanload of 6 people paid more for parking than one person driving a car. A while back it used to be 65 cents per ticket, I don't know what it was last season. The ticket itself showed the price of parking that was included.
As an aside, I saw Fleetwood Mac at Reunion in the early 80's. I wasn't that pumped to go, as I considered them "soft," but it was a greta show and one of my top concert experiences. Lindsey and Mick rocked. McVie (sp?) got sick in the middle of the set so the stopped for a few minutes. Then Nicks came out and did an astounding a cappella version of Landslide. Lindsey came out and tthe two of them did a few songs, then everyone was back and rocked on to the finish. I went out and bought my first Mac album the day after.
I like Toyotas myself. The main thing is they are not american cars, because we all know american cars SUCK. The fact that they have cars at this place for self-promotion is what's getting at me. Other arenas have nice themes or cool features like Conseco Fieldhouse with their throwback barn theme, or AAC in Dallas with the basketball mosaic tiles on the floor, etc. that give the places soul and character. We have freakin cars at our place. Maybe it's the sleazy car salesman image that tries to tack on as much add-ons that bothers me. Car salesman image along with the Corporate Sports big money image that the NBA already brings equals a noxious stomach. I repeat, a car dealership theme is not a good idea for a major sports arena. I know they can't change the name of the arena now, but at least tone down the car dealership theme. I'm afraid that the statue they will build won't be Hakeem but that Toyota CEO Toshiaki "Tag" Taguchi.
No the shock is the Rockets did not even take the time to come up with a parking solution or even a parking pass. Ex: Texans and Astros Being a season ticket holder if they think I am gonna pay 10-20 bucks per game to park they are nuts. Ask the Rockets about the parking and they will tell you this: "We are gonna let it ride this year and see what happens"