Stampede Corral
Category: Arts & Entertainment Stadiums & Arenas Stadiums & Arenas [Edit]
Saddledome Rise SECalgary, AB
(403) 777-0000
One review for Stampede Corral
1 review in English
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Review from Chelsea K.
Calgary, AB
9/27/2010
The Stampede Corral is kind of like a mini-saddledome, where sports events and concerts are hosted. And it really sucks.
Finding your seats is an absolute nightmare. Maybe I'm just clueless, but I've never been able to find my seats in under 20 minutes. The ushers are entirely unhelpful. One employee gave us the wrong directions to our seats, when we came back and asked her again, she sort of shrugged and suggested walking "that way" until we found them.
The entire seating area seems to be strategically designed for the least amount of comfort possible. The "seats" are red folding wooden benches, in comparison they make transit benches seem as luxurious as La-Z-boys. The last time I was here my seat was broken and slanted downwards slightly, so I had to fight to keep myself from sliding right off. To add to the fun, the benches don't have solid backs, so there's nothing to keep your foot from going through directly into the spine of the person ahead of you. I think I kicked the person in front of me about 15 times without even trying.
To add to the fun, the Corral seems to search out the most obnoxious and abusive employees out there. The entire arena is staffed by a herd of lethargic midde-aged drones who have one goal and one goal only: to ruin any possible enjoyment you may dare to display on their territory. At one concert, a friend and I were standing up a few feet away from our seats to dance. Rather than tell us we could be obstructing a fire exit, the security guard aggressively asked us if we'd "ever seen a burn victim?" and shined a flashlight directly into our eyes.
They serve alcohol, thank God, but only a limited selection of overpriced beer. The food offered is nacho chips and hot dogs, and that's it. I don't exactly expect to be served an organic quinoa salad with a grey goose martini in a sports venue, so I guess I can't complain in this regard.
The one good thing about this venue is that you have a pretty good view from wherever you're sitting. But the policy of "no comfort, no hard liquor, no fun", I still can't give this venue more than one star. This may be *okay* for sports games, but for rock concerts, Calgary really needs something better.
