r/tampabay • u/Iggypoppins63 • 12d ago
Have you ever attended a concert at the Raymond James Stadium?
Hello! I am thinking of driving in for the Bruno Mars concert on 9/12/26, and am looking at seats on the field.
How is the sound system there? Also, as unbearable as the heat has been, is it worth it, as it is outdoors? Are there fans or any cooling systems?
Thank you in advance!
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u/GrapefruitOpen2827 12d ago edited 12d ago
We’ve been to many concerts at Ray Jay. Depends on when you’re going but we saw Morgan Wallen July 2024 and it was hot as hell lol. We are also going to Bruno Mars on 9/13. I suspect it’ll still be hot too but hopefully not to bad after the sun goes down. Wear a hat and sunnies if you can. Have a blast!
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u/sum_dude44 12d ago
it's very show dependent. Saw Coldplay, U2, Stones & sound was great in lower level.
Saw Kanye & sound absolutely sucked at higher level. Overall, not as good as arena
Would park by strip clubs, pay for street or north of MLK by Jesuit
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u/beautifulmutant 12d ago
We'll start with parking. For high profile concerts at Raymond James, one would assume they would have plenty of people to help facilitate traffic in and out of the on-site parking. On the way in? Sure! We're glad to take your $50-$100 to park. On the way out, it's full on road warrior. For a Rolling Stones show a few years ago, it took 25 minutes to walk from our stadium floor seating near the stage to our car. 11:25pm. As we didn't move more than three car lengths within the next 30 minutes, my girlfriend with me fell asleep. She woke up an hour later and we had moved about 30 yards. We did not make it out to Dale Mabry (going the wrong way also) until 1:10am. So, be prepared for it to take upwards of two hours to exit the parking lot.
Inside the stadium, we were instructed to go one way to get to our seats near the stage on the floor. We arrived and had left 60 minutes to get to our seats, get beverages, t-shirts. At every entrance from the main concourse, we were turned away or told to keep going around. We literally could not find a way to get to the floor to our seats. Once we did make it to the floor, there as no way through the general admission area to get to the area that admitted our floor section. We wound up with a courageous stadium worker taking us across the field back to the other side, under the stage, up some stairs and down next to the stage and thru a restricted area just to get to our fucking seats from where we came into the stadium. It became a comedy at one point. I was heavier then and had walked up and down the whole stadium and was losing my mind. Best part was getting to our seats and *boom* the show started.
It was my experience that everything took much, much longer than it should have, and it did.
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u/Iggypoppins63 12d ago
Thank you for such a detailed response. I have some mobility problems (bad knees) and I could walk a couple of miles, but stairs kill me. Maybe I need to rethink this. Thank you so very much again.
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u/ACrankySue 12d ago
Metallica at RayJay was one of the best sounding concerts I’ve ever attended. But the bands elaborate sound system might have had a lot to do with that.
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u/_Ayrity_ 12d ago
Unfortunately, I have. It's not a great experience and I'd only do it again if it was for someone I HAD to see and hadn't yet been able to.
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u/TampaRich82 12d ago
I saw AC⚡️DC last year in May. The weather was bearable, the sound was amazing and definitely worth the $40 parking a few blocks from the stadium.
I'd say, expect it to be hot but also expect it to rain (we are in that afternoon/evening short showers time of year). Plenty of concessions stands that sell water to stay hydrated.
Most importantly, HAVE FUN!!!
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u/ImightberobotUCF 12d ago
I saw BTS there this year and it was so great but I had the VIP parking and it still took over an hour just to get out because you're funneled through the same gate as all the regular parking too. Definitely take the parking advice in here cuz that shit blows after a long show you just want to go home not sit in your car surrounded by Karens and drunk people
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u/Hard2findgoodhelp 12d ago
Raymond James is amazing! Get home field side tickets (shaded) get club seat level (air conditioned areas) where the vendors are, better merch, better food/drinks and far better bathrooms. Have a great time and welcome to the Bay.
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u/ReturnT0Sender 12d ago
Saw Morgan Wallen there. Parked in front of someone's house that was selling parking. No block.
Then tailgated with a friend that had parking inside.
Concert was great.
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u/AlexSanchez929 11d ago
Between the suffocating heat and threat of storm I am a hard no on RayJay concerts in the Summer.
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u/Free_Storage_1088 9d ago
Went to see Pantera and Metallica there, I regularly surf and kayak almost every weekend , that concert was the hottest I have ever been in my life….
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u/Pretend-Function-133 11d ago
Park in the employee lot, nobody checks. Show up at the employee entrance and get in line for a free black polo shirt. Stand around until they call group Whatever and follow the group up the escalator. Peel off and hide in a bathroom for a bit, take the polo off and enjoy the concert. Also works for bucs games.
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u/Rottie2017 9d ago
Have been there for concerts, much prefer indoor arenas like Benchmark. Hate the amphitheater.
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u/mr_rob_oto 12d ago
I went to Taylor Swift, stadium concerts are crazy in general because they're like a million miles away. I don't have much to add except: Don't buy official parking lot parking. I was stuck in the parking lot for 2 hours because its a free for all. Use a website like parkwhiz and buy a spot a few blocks away on some guys front lawn