Palace Theatre Albany

One of the best concert venues in town! It's a gorgeous older theater with colorful murals and intricate sculptures everywhere. The chandelier is amazing. The sound is always good, and there isn't a bad seat in the house.

Beautiful older well-kept venue in the heart of downtown Albany. We were there to see Australian Pink Floyd and had Loge seats in the balcony. Perfect seats with great views. Concession stands were reasonably priced compared to other venues. This building is a true gem with a million beautiful details.

The Palace Theatre is an amazing venue right in the heart of Downtown Albany. Despite its age, it has been restored and truly is a work of art. I found the venue to be very clean, the seats in the upper section were spacious, and the venue has streamlined the exits they have so getting out after a sold out show isn’t hard at all. Street parking is around the venue or if you prefer there are parking garages nearby.

I absolutely love this iconic venue. The architecture in it is Just amazing. The acoustics are awesome. Seats are pretty comfy. If you're up in the balcony, just know you have to take the stairs. There are no elevators. I've seen a lot of great concerts here over the years. Just last week I saw Melissa Etherridge again here.

My first time to Palace Theater, went to see John Cleese. Note: I’ll adjust this interview after future visits depending on additional observations. Of course, he was funny, though it was disappointing how little of his time he actually gave before/after the screening of Holy Grail. I’ll set that aside, though, and focus on reviewing the venue. 1: Parking availability. While not in the theater’s direct control, still an important factor. Thankfully, there are plenty of places to park with an easy walk to the theater, given how many other attractions are nearby. Just be aware that the prices to park vary dramatically - if you’re able to get a metered spot, it’s quite reasonable. Otherwise, I’ve encountered public and private parking when I’ve went to other things nearby that varies from $5 to $30, which is kind of crazy. 2 - Look/architecture Beautiful, classic, really a treasure. No notes. 3 - Seat comfort With the caveat that I’ve only been there once and sat in middle/aisle/orchestra - I’d say the seats were decently comfortable for people of average and tall height. Legroom isn’t too bad (I’ve seen soooo much worse, just look at many of the Broadway theaters in NYC). Width is reasonable for beings of average/just above average girth. 4 - Sound This is where I have a serious issue, and where I wonder if this is a common issue here or not. During the talking portions of the evening, it was difficult to make out what John Cleese was saying at points; the sound was muddled. He doesn’t have a particularly thick accent, and I’ve seen fairly recent interviews with him on streaming (eg he recently did one on BBC morning) and it was fine. The worst of it, though, was the actual screening of the movie. It was brutally loud, like “hey, let’s set the volume like we’re giving a death metal concert” loud. I felt like I was being assaulted with sound, and the recording in use clearly wasn’t meant to be blasted at those levels as it was scratchy/distorted at points. I had a throbbing headache after a few minutes which lasted for hours. So…overall, not the best experience. I’m giving 3 stars for now under the assumption that the sound issues were due to poor choices by staff touring with Mr. Cleese; I’ll update next time I go to something here.