Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC)

For Father's Day last year, my wife took us to Saratoga Performing Arts Center to see Dave Matthews and Tim Reyonds. The SPAC is a wonderful place, and Dave and Tim put on a great show.

The Saratoga Performing Art Center is a sprawling park-like venue, it really is incredible. We had lawn seats for the concert, which really didn't allow us a clear view of the performers. However, Dave always puts on a great show which isn't always centered on the stage. Our seating area was supported by multiple monitors and great sound.

The place reminded me of Art Park here in Western New York. I do have to say the staff and services were much better than Art Park. The selection of food, drinks and alcohol was incredible. Much of it was supplied at pop up tents and food trucks which was a novel experience for the kids.

The amenities such as bathrooms and wheelchair friendly paths were great. While they did have port-a-potties here and there, real flush toilet facilities were ample and clean.

The structure of the seated area is unusual and I could not quite capture the full grandeur of it. It is split level with ground level seating and a balcony. Somehow this arrangement does not block the view from the lawn area. The grounds themselves are spectacular, you could spend a lot of time simply looking around.

The sound is pumped up out of the bowl in such a way that allows listeners to stand quiet a distance back from the lawn area and still hear clearly. It was very impressive.

Although my children are teenagers, one thing that stood out was a family friendly listening area. It was set far back from the lawn area and partially fenced in. The area had a low wall which was good for sitting and all of the paths were paved for easy wheelchair and stroller access. It was a fair. Despite being so far back, the music was clearly audible with little distortion and low leveled for tiny ears.

Parking was a pleasure, both coming and going. Of course, it was parking on a lawn due to the size of the event, but it was far less chaotic than most venues of this size. Leaving was so, so very easy.


The SPAC really really lit up at night, the weather was gorgeous and the lighting was perfect to highlight the blues of the sky. The picture on the left was taken in the middle of the lawn area. As you can see, despite being packed my kids were able to crash. It was so much fun taking them to this place for their first Dave Matthews experience.

I can't wait to take in another concert or event here.

Tim on Stage via the large screen monitors