Nile Theater

I’ve seen a lot of shows here. It kind of reminds me of the small venue in my hometown which is a good thing. Tickets are pretty cheap and security isn’t ridiculous as they are at other venues. The bathrooms aren’t in good shape at all though. Snacks and sodas are really cheap which is great. I don’t really care for the whole buying a wristband to go outside thing, its a bit stupid.

I sweated my balls off at this joint for two days during The King Of The Monsters fest. Nice staff, good sound and THE BEER WAS COLD!!!

The sound was AWFUL in this club.
It’s not a huge club, the walls are all hard surfaces, but they mic the kick and snare drums so pretty much all you hear is the beat. The band tries to keep up, and gets so loud, you can barely tell what’s being played. The PA is hanging over the front of the stage, so if you try to get up close, you can’t hear anything but the guitar and drums. Maybe it’s not the house sound guy, but somebody needs to get it sorted out.
Bands — if you’re playing here, turn it down. You’ll sound better if people can hear what you sound like, rather than just sounding loud.
Staff was friendly and professional and handled the one ‘getting out of hand’ issue just as it was escalating.

I just pulled up Unilocal to see if any reviews mention the sound being better than it was in the past… No such luck. My favorite band is playing there in November, but I’ve seen them at The Nile (once), and I’ve seen them at Crescent Ballroom (twice), I’ve even seen them at The Clubhouse (RIP in peace)… The only place they sound bad is The Nile. So now the Nile wants $ 20 to see them, and I want some kind of guarantee that The Nile won’t suck. They JUST played C Ballroom, so I’m probably going to skip this upcoming show. And, that still sucks a lot. You can’t put a price on actually being able to hear the music, I think that’s what most of us are there for.
I was going to give 2 stars (out of the kindness of my heart), then I realized that we’re talking about a music venue that is bad enough to convince me to miss my favorite band. 1 star.

Venue is ok, space is ok, been here a few times. Not my favorite place to see shows, but one of my favorite bands almost always plays here. They have a TINY sign that says «No Stage Diving» and yet, they let people do just that, stage dive. I have no issues with stage diving, but I do have issues once you start kicking the people standing in the front who are just trying to enjoy the show, and not be used as a step stool to jump on the stage. I like that there are no barriers and you can be close to the band, but wish they could do something to stop the aholes from literally using someones shoulders to jump. But I guess that’s just one of the things that happen at hardcore shows. Ha. The sound is just absolutely TERRIBLE. Of the 5 bands I saw this past weekend, I was only able to hear/​understand 1. It was disappointing because the bands sounded like the would sound good, but couldn’t tell due to the terrible sound. But, the sound is not that awful compared to the bathroom… oh my god. Is it really THAT hard to get someone to clean up a little bit? And who uses a shower curtain as a door? I walked in and walked right out and held it in the rest of the night because it was better than using their restroom.
Here’s to hoping the next time my favorite Brits come back to AZ, they choose a much better venue!

Went to this venue last week to see The Ghost Inside and the Acacia Strain. Incredibly heavy show with a lot of great songs played by all bands. It’s a small enough venue that you inevitably bump into old friends who you haven’t seen in awhile. Makes for a fun time.

I was going to pay for a ticket at the door, forgetting they only take cash, so I had to go across the street and pull out money but I didn’t have the efficient amount to pull out and I panicked because my friends were already inside of course so I told the security guy that I tried taking money out and I couldn’t and I old him my friends were inside and he stopped me and said it’s ok just go inside ask for a wrist band and don’t worry about it and he let me in for free! Thank you so much cool security guy!

Despite its distance I still come here for many shows.
It’s still a venue with absolutely no alcohol, but they do have a small snack shack. You have to pay once to come in and out (and I was grateful for this when there was a beer festival across the street). Many people bitch about this concept but don’t realize there are venues in town that don’t let you do that, suck it up. it’s $ 2 not a blowjob.
It’s huge and One of my favorite things about Underground is that there is no barrier and you can jam right next to your favorite artists. Would like a set times option for the online website.

Great venue, great staff, great shows. If your whining about the heat leave Arizona or don’t attend shows in the summer, you probably let your daughter show up half naked anyway so she’s not complaining about the heat. Wristbands for reentry? Sorry losing $ 2 broke your bank.

I love the Nile! The staff here are always friendly and actually care for the attendees. Any show that i go to I’m always hoping that it’s at the Nile! Great venue, great people, always make great unforgettable memories!

I think my love of The Nile is from my youth spent here catching shows. They have good prices for tickets and I love downtown Mesa.

When you go to The Nile Theater, you are going to a place that has more intimacy than other places. The place has so much history and a great sense of what DIY is all about.
Being an Engineer at one of the top corporate audio visual companies in the world I can honestly tell you that it isn’t that bad of a system. It may be outdated, however, the engineers there know what they are doing. What common show going people don’t realize is that most bands bring their own engineers with them. When a house engineer is mixing, ⁹⁄₁₀ it’ll sound great, but they can’t help if the tour engineer didn’t shoot/​ring the room before hand. Most tour engineers especially for the genres that play there can’t even tell you the first thing to do in order to set up an RTA mic and shoot a room. That’s on them, not the venue. I’ve had a chance to see the system and it’s ten times better than Joe’s Grotto who uses JBL Eons as mains ha which is hilarious. Be grateful.
Also, the staff are extremely nice and truly do care about the show-​goers. However, if you disrespect them they will put you in your place WHICH IS A GIVEN! Don’t stand in the alley where cars, your buses, and vans need to come in and out. That’s common sense. All in all, the staff are all tight.
If you have the chance, go to a show here and just respect the fact that they are doing this all by themselves. From what I hear it is basically one woman who is keeping this place alive not a whole team of people like other venues. Be grateful that amazing and legendary bands play there regularly. I am.
This place changed my life when I first saw a show there and I will be coming back more.

I attended the Summer Slaughter show and had a great time. It was a bit warm inside, and certainly no-​frills; however, the opportunity to leave and return to the venue at will was awesome. I am in my mid-40’s and a long show like this is very hard on the legs. It was great to take a break for a bit during a band that I didn’t mind missing to get something cold to drink and rest, as well as get some real food!
In general I thought security did an awesome job and the crowd was handled with respect. I have been to far better venues, but I have also been to far worse — I will attend more shows here in the future!

Ticket prices aren’t too steep, but maybe that’s because they realize how awful and douchey their venue is. For a theater the size and feel of Home Depot, they have a badly-​directioned, tinny and small sound setup. The attitude of the bouncers depends on the alignment of far-​off star systems it seems. Sometimes they openly deride and bully kids and other times they’re nice, helpful and don’t treat you like a prison inmate like at the Marquee. Also, I guess the high school goth girls they have running the box office/​tickets are too cute to clean ANYTHING there or they’re too cheap to hire some sort of janitorial service, because holy christ I’ve never seen more disgusting bathrooms and floors and lobby. I know it’s a RAWK venue but they also pride themselves on continuing the tradition of the theater space on their website.
But really, as nearly every other review has stated: $ 2 just to go out and smoke or take your merch to the car or do whatever the hell you’d like to do? That’s just ridiculous. It serves absolutely no other purpose than to make money. The Nile IS a predominately teenager-​dominated venue and the kids deserve better. They’re locked in enough at school by bully enforcement authority figures. They don’t need the possible best nights of their young lives ruled by that too.
Still, the Nile isn’t all bad. They book great acts, many small and up and coming and that’s admirable. They just need to respect their CUSTOMERS and the kids whose lives are maybe being changed there every night.

We did a show there the other night with Hopsin. The sound wasn’t so great in that place, but i talked with the guy throwing the show and he did state they are cheaper then most venues for the capacity. He also stated he had to rent his own speakers etc due to their lack of a good sound system. All in all the place was ran pretty well.
No alcohol was served, which is fine with me as i don’t drink. Not sure if they ever serve alcohol or not.
I did like the cool underground stage, made for a great green room area and would be perfect for an underground hip hop show or even video shoot.

Pretty sure no one reviewing this place has ever been to a venue before. Or maybe its just me.
Staff is pretty Rad, and always books good tours and packages, great for the local scene and a good place for bands to get their chops.
Sound upstairs and downstairs is usually excellent, and although it gets hot in the summer its always a good time.
Anyone complaining about the sound (looks like alot of you) is probably in one of the local bands who cant play their instruments or one of the touring primadonnas who aren’t sure how to do a proper sound check or work a mixing board.
Overall great place, and one of the last true DIY venues in the country.

Okay so here’s the deal. As someone who has been to tons of shows, ran shows, played shows in many different venues, and has a background in audio engineering: this venue in terms of sound is one of the worst places ever. Half the speakers are damaged, the FOH engineer makes bands sound horrible, and the overall acoustics for this venue are some of the worst I have heard across the United States. As an actual venue, it’s a neat little place.
Depending on the security guard, they can be nice or terrible. The head of security is a total douchebag to men most of the time.
Playing shows here is even worse than seeing them.
If the owners of The Nile would just invest a little money in some acoustic treatment, and just fix up a few things here and there, it would be an amazing venue to see bands.
I like the layout of the venue and the look. But I have yet to hear a band sound good here. Even national touring bands I’ve seen at other venues sound terrible here.
So The Nile should keep the vibe, and fix the sound. I personally would pay a little more for tickets if it meant a better sounding show. I try and avoid shows here as much as possible.

So full disclosure: I used to give away tickets and advertise shows on a radio show I did a while ago. However, I still believe I’m being as fair as possible.
This is hands down the best venue in the state in terms of intimacy. The upstairs room has played host to some of the best shows I’ve ever seen (Converge, BTBAM, etc). These shows are made better by the lack of a barrier between the stage and the crowd. This idea of being up close is an experience I cannot replicate.
The downstairs part (called the Underground) is even better. It gets sweltering hot down there. However, the shows that go on down there are only aided by that — they get fairly intense!
There is no alcohol. However, what they do sell (water, snacks, drinks, etc) is actually sold at a fair price in comparison to other venues. The venue owners and staff treat everyone like human beings and they really take care of the bands and people who go there. The prices for the shows booked here are also pretty cheap from either of the booking companies that book here (Mantooth or Kollective).
The reason why I am docking a star comes down to two reasons: the first is there isn’t an easy way for disabled folks to get to the Underground. The other reason comes down to the stage layout — some shows have had to cut out their production because there wasn’t the capability to do so, particularly if they had projection screens and the like. However, I believe that the intimacy that the venue provides is worth some of that production being cut out.
Overall, I do believe that this is the best venue in the state. I’ve been to almost all of them that metal shows play at, and every venue equal to it has shut down or has dropped off in quality (with the exception of the Yucca Tap Room). The shows are great, the people who book for the venue are genuine and kind to everyone, and all of the shows that I’ve seen there fail to disappoint — the staff goes out of their way to provide a good time.
If a band you like plays there, you can rest assured that you’ll have a good time and it won’t cost you an arm and a leg to have fun.

My favorite venue.
We don’t have any good venues on the west side so I’ll willingly drive thirty minutes out of my way to come here.
It’s an all around great venue with the big shows being upstairs (The Nile) and the smaller, more intimate shows downstairs (The Underground).
The staff are great and treat the musicians insanely well which is rare in this state.
From the perspective of an audience member and musician who has played and gone to shows at this venue for years I’d recommend going to a show out at this place or booking a show here.

Went here for a random metal show. Got sucked into the mosh pit and had to punch some guy in the face to get out.
Best place to experience a show. Mind you, youre in a basement with a bunch of other people so for people to complain about it being hot are stupid, what do they expect people to not sweat. they are stupid if they think going to rock show they are going to stay cool.
I was looking like a mess after we walked out but it was the best hour and thrilling to not be able to hear for 2 hours in car ride home.
I wouldnt mind seeing another show here