Both me and my girlfriend traveled five hours to spend two evenings to see two live performances at the Baltimore Soundstage. The first evening we were met with a completely packed venue. The only space in which to stand was near the VIP section. The security multiple times got extremely pushy with us being near the entrance to the VIP section, to the point that it made both of us feel extremely uncomfortable. There was literally nowhere else to stand. My apologies for apparently being too near the VIP section were met with a very cold, typical police-style attitude. Where were we supposed to go? We both squeezed into a very uncomfortable position surrounded by other customers. Still we were harassed by security to back away. VIP customers are obviously more important than other paying customers at this venue.
The second night we ended up deciding to leave early after the first band played. Outside my girlfriend went within two feet from the exit and was denied entry. As we were currently leaving this was not an issue. However, the security decided to aggressively inform her that she was barred from entry. When she spoke to me (while I was still within the boundaries of the venue) about settling out our tab the security spoke over her stating that THEY would settle out. I immediately stated that I was going to settle out and that I understood their policies, that it was okay and that we were leaving anyway. This led to security getting extremely aggressive with me and calling me a "d*ckhead"... despite the fact that I was completely sober and talking in a very respectful, calm voice. He was escalating something that wasn't even a situation to begin with.
Now I understand quite clearly that security at various venues have to deal with a lot of shit from drunken, irate customers on a regular, this was not the case. The security with whom I spoke with was reluctant to reveal his name and ignored my simple questions. He then proceeded to argue with me that we were somehow breaking the rules. How? We were leaving the venue. No one requested re-entry. He also mentioned quite clearly that his attitude towards customers would have no bearing on his job whatsoever. This continued for a moment as I simply tried to calm the situation down by explaining that there was no issue, and that we were already in the process of leaving. Neither of us deserved the treatment that we received and will quite frankly never be returning to this venue in the future, nor will we be supplying any artists with future recommendations of booking at this venue. Twice we were put in situations that were beyond uncomfortable by over zealous employees that acted very aggressive and incredibly callously, resorting to name calling before anything has been established.
I hope that others do not experience this when visiting The Baltimore Soundstage. However be aware that the security will abuse their position of authority. This is absolutely unacceptable as we were paying customers who did not break any rules and were verbally abused. If you choose to pay this venue for events, expect to be treated poorly. This has not been a good experience for either of us. read more