Grand Ballroom

Grand Ballroom is located on 311 West 34th Street, Manhattan, between Eighth and Ninth Avenue.  It forms, along with downstairs Hammerstein Ballroom, Manhattan Center Studios.  When Ancient Accepted Scottish...

Grand Ballroom

Kiesza

Grand Ballroom is located on 311 West 34th Street, Manhattan, between Eighth and Ninth Avenue.  It forms, along with downstairs Hammerstein Ballroom, Manhattan Center Studios.  When Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite of Free Masonry purchased Oscar Hammerstein’s Manhattan Opera House in 1922, they added the Grand Ballroom on the seventh floor.  The building changed hands and uses many times since then, before falling into disrepair in the seventies, only to be reopened in 1986.

Located on the north end of Chelsea, Grand Ballroom is somewhere between the true ‘theater’ of Hammerstein and the more regular venues to the south of it, closer to Union Square, such as Gramercy Theatre, Highline Ballroom, Irving Plaza, and Webster Hall.  One goes up an elevator from the lobby of Hammerstein, down a hallway, coming out at Grand Ballroom’s back house-left.  The stage floor is a large, carpeted area without chairs.  There is a balcony above, with the bar located past a doorway at the center of the back of the place, with bathrooms past that.

Grand Ballroom only hosts one or two ‘rock shows’ a year, usually held through Bowery Presents (which also hosts events at Hammerstein and Webster, as well as running venues Terminal 5, Bowery Ballroom, Music Hall of Williamsburg, and Mercury Lounge), and those are still of the more ‘artsy’ bent.  The somewhat lack of amenities and certainly less-often used nature keeps ticket prices from rising like Hammerstein, but not drink prices, which are really too high for the place.  Still, it’s quite roomy for a concert venue, and there’s no real reason not to see a band you want to there.

 

Capacity: 1,200

 

Address:

311 West 34th Street (Between Eighth and Ninth Avenue)

By Subway:

A, C & E trains to 34th St. – walk 1/2 blocks west on North side of 34th street
1, 2 & 3 trains to 34th St. – walk 1 & 1/2 blocks west on North side of 34th street
B, D, F, M, N, Q & R trains to 34th St. – walk 2 & 1/2 blocks west on North side of 34th street

 

QRO Coverage:

-‘Little Kids Rock’ (with Jake Clemons, David Letterman, Kristin Maldonado, Steve Miller, Graham Nash, Paul Shaffer, and David Wish), October 20th, 2015 – live review, photos

-The Neighbourhood, with Kiesza and Rudimental, December 6th, 2014 (Pandora Discovery Den Holiday) – The Neighbourhood photos, Kiesza photos, Rudimental photos

-Pretty Lights, with Chromeo (DJ set) and Tegan & Sara, December 7th, 2013 (Pandora Discovery Den Holiday) – live review, Pretty Lights photos, Chromeo photos, Tegan & Sara photos

-‘Little Kids Rock’ (with Tom Morello, Bruce Springsteen, Steven Van Zandt, and Max Weinberg), October 16th, 2012 – live review, photos

-Camera Obscura, with The Love Language, June 7th, 2010 – Camera Obscura photos, The Love Language photos

Rudimental

Grand Ballroom

Click here for the venue’s website

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Venue Reviews

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