Without a doubt, this is my favorite venue to see a concert. It is on the small side (which is great), the architecture is incredible and if you take SEPTA, it is really easy to get to. I've seen Kings of Leon, The Strokes and Willie Nelson there and never left disappointed. Another plus about the Tower is that after some shows on the Ludlow Street entrance, you can occasionally meet members of the bands that played. I'm assuming that it depends on the act, but it's totally worth hanging out for a half hour or so. I like this much better than the Electric Factory and it still possesses much if its charm from its early days close to a century ago. read more

Absolutely the worst music venue of its kind in Philadelphia and Franklin Hall is fairly awful. Kept hundreds of people in the freezing rain for over an hour trying to implement a totally predictable security protocol. The venue is out of control, poorly managed, sloppy at every turn. I went to my first show here in 1992, I want to like this place, and dammit it's only gotten steadily worse. Also, good luck parking. read more

This is one of my all time favorite concert venues. I love that the building retains much of it's charm from the decade in which it was originally bulit (1920s). It's a great place to catch a band that you would normally have to see in a large venue because the Tower Theatre only seats about 3,000 and it seemed like nearly all the seats on the bottom level had great views of the stage. There's a resonably priced consession stand that sells snacks, soft drinks and alcohol for the entirety of the show, which can be a plus if you are looking to have a couple of drinks during the show. When I was there the audience was really well behaved and the ushers were all really nice too. read more

Friggen awesome. I went and saw Soundgarden and got drunk and had some heavy set lady dance on the chair next to me and almost fall on me while she cried Chris Cornell's name. Beautiful. The smell of... the smelly smells... made it feel so homey and welcoming. In some ways things were a little too familiar and packed in... tight spaces, long ways to walk across people.... but this is really the only thing that knocked off one star... that and that a bottle of water was six bux.... I didn't even get the cap... they took it off... and kept it... FOREVER. But really this place rocked. The acoustics were perfect. Lighting. Venue size. Stage size and positioning and shape. Perfect. I ran into a friend I hadn't seen in years. Very homey feel. Very professional and cool/relaxed all at the same time. I wish I could experience this concert in this venue a hundred more times! Was it perfect? No. The concert was, the venue could be a bit better. As I always say... I wish Yelp did reviews out of 10 or at least that I could give a 4.5. Getting drunk while watching a show all whilst people smoke throughout... It was very charming and fun. And the people (outside of entrance security) were very polite and attentive (even with the entrance security; I guess getting firmly felt up is a good way to start a night?) read more

I went to the Tower Theatre when I was about 19 for the first time, now I have friends who live right down the street. It wasnt too bad, just a rock n roll concert, parking wasnt too bad actually, we were able to aprk on-street about a block and a half away. read more

I have been a fan of the Tower Theater for many years. It has always been one of my favorite venues to see a show. The sound is always great and that is why I really enjoy it here. The theater is on the old side. The fold up chairs to sit in as you get closer to the stage are as comfortable as folding chairs can be. There are 3 bars on the main level with an ok selection of beers but no Miller products. Food choices are minimal at best, hot dog, soft pretzel, pop corn maybe some chips & candy bars. Even with the drawbacks I love this venue for a concerts & will continue to go. read more

The Tower Theater in Upper Darby, PA recommends using the parking garage behind their theater . Our car was vandalized in that parking garage . About 50 cars had windows smashed. The 911 dispatcher was rude and sarcastic, we finally left with no police report. This happens often apparently there. I cannot get through to the tower theater and there is no contact # on my parking stub. It was for tower theater parking only, 10 dollars, and they left after collecting money with no security. It had to have been very loud, breaking into that many cars. Does anyone know how to make them accountable? Who to contact? I've been told we have a good reason to challenge the parking disclaimer. The area around the theater appears unsafe in general. read more

I went to this location on Dec. 26th,09 to see Kevin Hart and Friends. The show was great and I really enjoyed myself. However......This location was dirty and it smelled like an old basement. I went into the restrooms and the floor had garbage and dust everywhere. When I got to my seat which I paid 100 per ticket, the seats were bad for my back and butt. I was in pain by the time I left the show. I saw one of my friends there and she told me she just bought her tickes at the door for 40 bucks and she sat atleast 10 rows in front of me. How can they say a show is sold out, and people were buying tickets at the door? You mean to tell me that the Theatre doesnt have enough money for mainteince? I would go back, but next time I will bring some cleaning supplies. read more

The venue is okay, but the parking garage behind the venue that you're directed to by the signs out on the streets (Tower Theater Parking) is a scam. My friend's car was broken in to during Friday night's concert. I counted six other piles of window glass in different parking spots throughout the garage. The officer that responded to our call told us that they're pretty sure that the guys who take your money for the parking fee are letting their friends come in and break in to the cars. They usually patrol the area pretty heavily during concerts, but they'd been called away that night. So make other parking plans before you leave to see a show there! read more

Seen a few shows here over the years. VERY nice venue! Beer prices are a little high, tho.

Cool old theater. Went here to see Franz Ferdinand. Did not see the gross bathrooms that others talked about- the women's room was ok when I used it. We parked at a meter on the street and walked to the theater, so didn't have to pay for parking in the garage. The area definitely is ghetto but when the show lets out there are a lot of people around so doesn't seem too dangerous at that time. Paid $7 for a glass of wine and $8 for a 16oz. beer... Way less than at some theaters. Sound was good. The train is a block away so looks like a good option for getting there too. Would go back to see a show here again. read more

This is a great venue! It was a little confusing to find on the way, but it's hard to miss once near it. Everyone was really helpful with parking and helpful once we got in. The staff was very friendly and made it a lot easier once we were there. The theater was gorgeous and timeless. It was just very small and crowded in the bar and by the bathrooms. There was no problem with the neighborhood we were in or walking back either. Overall, great experience!! read more

Awesome Green Day concert hosted at the Tower on September 29. Great venue, staff, drink selection, and atmosphere. Kudos to management! BTW, please strive to answer calls to the box office, or via prompt response to voice mails. Calls frequently ran over to a cryptic voice mail with no "warm and fuzzy" feeling about ever getting a call back. read more

Last night I went to see Alt-J, and they were awesome but the experience outside of the actual show was terrible. Walking into the building, the security staff were moving all of us through like cattle and shouting at us to move to where they wanted us. The woman who was patting down the ladies was extremely rude and I swear when I finally got in the building I know I wasn't the only one who felt completely violated. I've never had to deal with such an aggressive process just to get into a concert. Later, I needed to leave the building to get something important out of my car and two of the men were yelling at me as I was leaving and started questioning me as to where I was going. I shouldn't have had to explain myself but after I did they let me go. The whole thing was total BS and I'm never going there again. read more

Very good experience, theater was clean and staff was helpful. I cant comment on the audio quality as I went to a wrestling show.

always like this venue ...1st time was to see Slayer. Awesome

I absolutely looove the staff at this venue. My friend and I had seats in the back row for Fiona Apple, and were standing in the doorway because it was easier to see the stage. Instead of yelling at us to move, which the bouncers/staff at every other Philly venue would have, they moved us into 2 open seats in the 10th row. How amazing is that? read more

Love the Tower, a great place for the muisc affiiciando to see there favorite bands or singer/songwriters perform. Have seen everyone from Vedder to Ray Lamontagne and the acoustics and atmosphere is always great. Its not in the best neighborhood but can't do much about that. read more

I saw Umphrey's McGee here back in August, I had heard amazing reviews about the Tower up until this point. And to be perfectly honest I was a bit let down. Venue seemed a bit out of date, some things could have been fixed up to look a bit nicer. I enjoyed the short bar lines which is always a great thing. The overall concert experience was fantastic, one thing that had me upset was the fact that there was a waiting line to get back down into the general admission area. Why in the world should i wait in a line for multiple songs to go back with my friends. It was one of those 1 person leaves, 1 person can go in type situation. Besides that the venue is tops for indoor venues in Philly, much better than the E factory. read more

Last night I went to the Tower Theater with my parnter in the hopes of seeing and excellent Steely Dan concert, but what I got instead was all music and hardly any lyrics, thereby making a most anticipated concert a total bust due to the ineptitude actions of the person responsible for doing the sound mixing. What would have been a beautiful concert turned into my parnter and I walking out after the second song. I feel stongly that I will not visit the Tower Theater until they get their mixing act together. read more

great acoustics and general sound, and the seats are nice. the "sticky" floor situation seems to have been resolved, but there is still work being done on the bathrooms. the bar is cash only, and the official parking lot is a few blocks away, but still fairly inexpensive. overall a decent place and a good crowd... it's a credit card machine and a fixed leaky pipe away from 5 stars! read more

Tower Theater - view from row 5 - Performing Arts Near Me - Upper Darby, Pennsylvania

Cat Stevens was awesome. I can't say that about the staff. There was one usher who didn't seem to know the alphabet. He kept checking the letters on the rows. Maybe he thought they weren't in order...or he didn't know the order. But the WORST, the ABSOLUTE WORST, were the ushers who became the cell phone police. They kept walking up and down the aisles looking for cell phones...for the ENTIRE show. They kept blocking people's views. They were SO ANNOYING. They'd stop in the middle and converse and then continue on. Doesn't sound bad? At least one passed in front blocking my view of the stage every 30 seconds. We all paid a lot of $$ and waited many decades to see Cat Stevens. We didn't pay to get harassed endlessly by the ushers. It felt like a police state. Also, they had a ticket problem at the front door. Huge lines to get in, and apparently people were still coming in after 9pm for an 8pm show. Well, the theater layout is not inclined enough so every time people got up in the 10 rows in front of me, they blocked my view of the stage. Summary: great show by Cat, most annoying and harassing staff EVER at a concert venue. Stay away. read more

Went to see The 1975 a couple days ago and expected to get an awesome standing floor experience. Unfortunately we had no idea that there was a limited amount of space in the ground floor and that the over flow would have to go up on the balcony seats. I was extremely disappointed and had a hard time enjoying the concert. I was also annoyed that the entire room paid the same price but did not have a guaranteed floor seat. GET THERE EARLY. Or warn us Tower Theatre. read more

After my initial negative review, the market manager of the venue reached out to me via email and offered explanations for the problems I encountered. She was very apologetic and forthright, and answered all of the questions I had. She completely agreed that employees should have been better informed about the reseating process and that future email communications would BCC the recipients. She said their ticketing providers don't currently provide them they ability to reissue tickets with new seats electronically, but that she would try to work with them on that in the future (we all know how terrible LiveNation/Ticketmaster are, so this shouldn't surprise me too much; after all, the fee was "only" 1/3 the cost of the ticket). Most interesting to me, she said that they venue had never hosted an orchestra before, so the staff honestly never guessed that customers wouldn't think of being relocated from the upper to the lower level as an upgrade. At a rock concert everyone wants to be down and in front. She was not previously aware of the different acoustics of an orchestra. She said that information was being shared widely internally and would impact their decisions in the future. She stopped short of guaranteeing that reseating wouldn't happen in the future with orchestral performances, but I believed her sincerity in indicating that they would strongly consider it. All in all, I was pleased with the quick response and with the detailed feedback. I'm relatively confident that the issues that the venue can control will be resolved in the near future. If/when I make it back for another show I'll update this again. read more

This was my third time seeing a concert at this place (last time was Chelsea Handler, not a concert but she is hilarious!). Its kind of in a bad location but every time I go I notice police and uniformed people standing out front which eases my mind being a female. I was there this past Monday night to see Janet Jackson! WOW, what a concert. She played all her hits. It wasn't just the concert that made my night. My friend Stephanie and I had issues with our seats. The guy behind us in the row spilled his two beer on our seats (purely accidental and he apologized profusely) but the seats and area around were still wet. I told the usher in our area and she called someone who was nearby (I think his name was Brian and he said he was the manager). Within minutes our area was cleaned up but the seats were still wet. Brian apologized again for what happened and moved our seats closer to the stage!!! We were 4 rows from Janet!!! He and the staff at the Tower made my bad experience (although I would've lived through it) better without even asking for anything. I was totally shocked and happy all at the same time. I was never able to to actually thank him (we looked for him after the show near the outside area) but we hope to run into him again the next time we go there. I wish more places in general handled and solved problems the way they were handled on Monday. Thanks again. read more

My husband and I travelled from upstate NY to see a concert at Tower Theatre. It was our first time in the Philadelphia area. Now having actually been to the theater, I am really wondering how so many people feel it was in such a bad neighborhood. Upper Darby is a working class suburb. The area is well patrolled, the theater is on a well lit main drag, and honestly, it's not that bad. The price of beer at the theater should scare you more than the neighborhood. It is just an urban area. Don't walk down any side streets you don't know, don't travel alone, don't flash your money around, use common sense, and you will be fine! We took the trolley to the concert, and felt safe enough near midnight afterward to take it back instead of a cab. I would suggest using public transit over driving as you do not have to worry about parking, do not get caught up in traffic, and don't have to worry about vandalism. Public transit in Philly is functional and safe. The theater itself was pretty. The bathrooms were fine. The acoustics seem like they'd be horrible for a play or comedy act, it is hard to understand a performer speaking, but were OK for rock music. The seats are cramped, but if you're seeing a rock concert, you don't spend that much time in them, anyways. What was annoying is that the rows are super narrow, and no good for dancing, and you aren't really allowed to dance in the aisles. We did see that one of the seats next to us was really broken, and the woman sitting in it complained to an attendant, who shined his flashlight down it, and said "yes, it's broken," and kept walking. Tickets for our seating area were over $50 after fees, and the concert was not sold out. The attendant should have referred the couple to the box office, and they should have been given a free upgrade. $50 for a seat you can't sit in is ridiculous. But, all in all, the venue is OK. If you want to see someone who's playing here, go. You'll have a good time. read more

Had a blast at this venue for a LeCrae concert! The atmosphere was great, and although the line for entrance was crazy long we got in pretty quick. Sound was awesome, it actually brought to my knowledge how bad my phones sound recording is. But I'm definitely going back read more

Just went to go see Sebastion Maniscalco. The area surrounding the theater is lacking restaurants and bars which is a shame. He sold out the theater (3,000 people) and the potential economic impact was severely restricted due to the lack of amenities in the area. Too much retail! As for the theater itself, it was surprisingly huge. However, the theater was severely understaff with long lines at the bars and ushers barely to handle the crowd. Place has potential but needs to make sure they have the sufficient staff to handle the crowds. read more

i saw Sigur Ros here a few years ago and i really enjoyed myself. the theatre is just beautiful. it's all very grand feeling and it made me feel have grown up and fancy. the entire staff was helpful when it came to sitting people, but not so much when it came to controling the crowd. the stage and sound were great. Sigur Ros had a bit of a light show and played behind a screen. the sound was very crisp and clear, which is really important for thier music. it's supposed to sound like youre underwater but not in a muddy stoner rock way. also, they played a good amount of their older louder faster songs which require very good acoustics. what i didnt like was that a lot of people talked during the music in the back and out in the lobby. the staff didnt do a good job of keeping the doors closed or shutting people up. read more

I went there for the first time to see Paramore and my seats were right behind the tall sound guy who was blocking the center of the stage for me and my friend. We went to the security to complain because our tickets were not cheap and we wanted to see the show, and they were nice enough to let us watch it from the VIP section. I wanted to write this because I was grateful that the staff was so generous because otherwise our experience wouldn't have been nearly as good. I recommend checking the location of you seats beforehand, although even then you may not know if something like will happen. read more

I attended a show at the Tower Theater on 8/12/10. The show was very good. The building is old not maintained. Dirty! Lucky if there was toilet paper in bathroom or that the toilets were not clogged. Very unsafe area. would never go back. No adequate safe parking. My car window was smashed and several items stolen from my car. I ended up with 2 hysterical kids related to this. roach outside on building! etc. Need I say more! NOT SAFE!!!! read more

What a horrible spot for a concert. Getting the theater was a nightmare as there is no on-site parking and a nearby lot was full early. We had to drive around until we found parking on the street several blocks away. Inside the seats were tight, the bathrooms were not clean and smelled horrible and the theater apparently has no air conditioning. We were here for the Josh Groban concert and even he commented throughout the show how hot it was inside. Finally, it took forever to leave because traffic was gridlocked with no police there to help at all. The signals by the theater are timed for the nearby main street so it takes forever just to leave. I can honestly say we'll never, ever go to an event at this theater again. read more

Not a bad place to see a show. Be warned, you cannot bring opened packs of smokes into the venue and security is very tight. The lady jiggled my bra which was fun but kinda unexpected. read more

We attended the HAIM concert last night (5/14/14). Did anyone else think the sound mix was HORRIBLE? I felt so badly for the band, they deserve better sound amplification. What the heck was wrong with the sound board engineer? read more

Saw Ringo Starr and his All Stars last night (October 30, 2015). It was a great show except for how one of my friends' was treated. She was in a wheel chair due to foot surgery and some other health issues. She and two other friends had seats down by the stage. They could not accommodate her in the wheelchair there and made her move. I understand that she was treated shabbily and rudely. They put her in their VIP section. Since there were people standing in front of her she could not see the stage. She paid a lot of money for these tickets to be down front. Luckily our other friend went down to the front of the stage to take pictures so she could see what she was hearing. Since your theater is not adhering to ADA regulations I will never attend another show in your theater and will pass the word to all of my friends. Shame on you and your staff for this unacceptable treatment of a paying patron. read more

i think i caught an STD from sitting in the seats. i have nothing against old venues - love fenway, love first avenue, etc etc. but this theater forces you to sit in grotty disgusting seats that look like they have dried on vomit and who-knows-what else. i don't even mind the neighborhood - it is what it is. i'd be more afraid of catching some disease sitting in the theater than getting mugged out in front of the theater. i think i'll hold out for concerts at the TLA from now on.... read more

So to update on my initial post. I had reached out in every way possible to Tower Theater to discuss the incident that happened in 2011 and they have not responded once!! I had called several times leaving voicemails each time, tweeted them, emailed them. I tried reaching them every way I could think of!! NOTHING. Further reason not to go here. They don't even care about their customers. Horrible customer service. I will pass up an artist I love to avoid this place. read more

Venue is small, which is what it has going for it. Seats are crammed together. Husband and I are average height but both of us had our knees smashed against seat in front of us and absolutely no arm room. Nice lady next to me was moderately overweight and she crowded me out of an arm rest. She was embarassed about it but it wasnt her fault - the seats are just too damn small. Luckiy the show wasnt sold out so we could move to an empty row at intermission. Staff is nice and bathrooms are big and clean (but old and in need of an update). Theatre obviously historic and ornate in design. Crappy neighborhood. By the time show is over stores are closed and kids and thugs take over. Probably only place in Philly where I didnt see poilce cars and you really should. Wont go again. read more

First time at this theater, even though there's been plenty of bands that I've wanted to see here. Parking was actually relatively easy. I was worried about that the most, but found a lot a few blocks away. the neighborhood is so so, I've definitely seen worse in Philly. As for the theater itself, It was nice and intimate. Sat up in the lodge and the seats were comfy and not far away. Definitely do not buy the food or beer there unless you absolutely have to. One complaint was that the staff was really rude and threatened to kick people out if they recorded any videos or anything. Even though 500 other people were doing it. They just seemed to have a better than you attitude. I took comfort in knowing that they're stuck working there having to clean up trash and piss after the show. I'd definitely consider coming here again if the right band was here. all and all a decent experience. read more

Believe it or not living around here all my life I recently went to the Tower Theater for the first time the other night for Austrialian Pink Floyd. I loved the old theater ambiance and to me there is not a bad seat in the place. The sound was good and the security guard we had was very helpful. I was disappointed by spending $5 for a cup of soda with mostly ice. The vendors were to me expensive. But the overall experience was pretty damn good. read more