Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell

Great venue for hockey. Parking in the garage is $ 10 but try to get out before the rush of fans hit the streets and their cars. Every seat in the arena is a great view. Decent options for food plus beer/​wine too.

Deux first timer for both UML Hockey and the Tsongas Center visit. Easy access off the Lowell Connector. Parking is inexpensive ($ 10) and very close. Comfortable seating, food choices are numerous and accessible and there doesn’t seem to be a bad seat in the house. Fans are very energetic and there where many fan-​friendly/​family friendly events before the game and between periods. I’m an infrequent hockey fan but this was a great way to spend a cold winter night. Highly recommended!!!

Was very pleased to come to a Donald Trump event here. Its very clean! Has a variety of concession stands prices are pricey, but its like anywhere else. Staff are friendly, and helpful. Its pretty easy to navigate to find in Lowell! The place it self reminded me of Providence civic center! Would definatly come here for a show!

The Tsongas Center is a great venue. The venue has held to hockey team in its tenure in Lowell. The current hockey team in this amazing arena is the UMass Lowell Riverhawks. I have been to numerous UML games at this arena and every experience was great. They have great concessions, a near perfect view from the bleachers, and most importantly some great action packed hockey.

This is a really great small arena. You are able to see the show or sporting events even from the concourse in most sections. The building is fairly new in the restrooms look average for most arenas.
The staff at the Sal’s pizza concession area very friendly fast and professional.
I was happy to see parking for just $ 10 adjacent to the arena, at least for the event I was that they only took cash or check which I thought was strange for a parking garage. We were at a sold-​out event so like any parking garage does take time to get out when everyone else gets out.
I do you suggest supporting local business in the area while you are in town. Lowell beer Works is one of many restaurants not too far from the arena Among others.
I wish they would have more events here as they mostly only seem to have hockey games which I won’t be going to

Last night, December 7^th 2014, I arrived in the vicinity (within two blocks) of the Tsongas Arena at 6:40 to see Slipknot and Korn. Traffic into the parking garage was so insane that I didn’t get to park until 7:20. I paid 10 dollars for parking. At 7:30, a full half hour after the show started, there was a security line wrapped half way around the building that didn’t move at all for a solid 45 minutes. This was in temperatures way below freezing. I did not get into the arena until around 8:20– halfway into Korns set — completely missing the opener. I had to run warm water on my face in the bathroom from freezing in that damn non –moving line. After my 4 friends and I paying 75 dollars a ticket (fees) and 10 to park, this whole operation came off as a joke. I’ve been to countless concert venues (Tsongas included) and never wound up missing half a show when I showed up 20 minutes early. I will be very hesitant to attend any more performances at the Tsongas Arena after my terrible experience last night.

I really like the inside of the place. It’s big and concerts are usually amazing.
But.
There is always a massive line outside. I missed half of the band that I was paying $ 35 to see because the line moves so slow. Get there atleast 45 minutes early.
Leaving is no better. You have to pay $ 10 to park in the garage and leaving here takes about the same amount of time as the event you came here to watch.

If I could give this arena less stars I would. Went to a show that started 7pm, arrived at 6:45. Waited in a very long, slow moving line for over an hour in 18 degrees. Finally get to the door just to get completely searched by security. They rubbed down everyone from head to toe, even tearing off my winter hat with out even asking. They made people throw away cigarettes, lighters, gum/​candy packages and any clothing or bags that had even the smallest bit if metal detail. By the time we got in the show (along with soooo many others, probably ½ of the attendees) the show was already happening. Because of theirs slow ass paranoid searches, we missed a good portion of a show we weren’t even late to!
And then leaving the show… Waited in a slow moving line to leave the parking garage FOREVER!
I would rather miss seeing who ever is playing here then ever come here again.

Went here tonight to see slipknot, korn and king 810 and I have never been to a more terrible venue in my life! We got there right when the concert was scheduled to start and had to wait in a line (in below freezing weather) that wrapped around the entire building. We waited probably 45 minutes to get in – and missed king 810 and half of korn’s set because of it. The staff was communicating terribly, and I felt like we all deserved a refund for the portion of the concert their awful customer service caused us to miss. The show was sold out so it was like the venue knew they had our money already so they could screw us over and not worry about it! (Everyone was shocked they would just leave us waiting out there in the cold like that to miss so much of one of the headliners sets when we were all on time!)
Security is also so uptight — I had a small 8“x10″ basically empty canvas purse (just had my wallet and keys in it) and they said it was too big to bring in the venue!!! (After waiting 45 minutes to get in I was not about to bring it back to my car or throw my purse away so I sneakily stuffed it in my pocket).
To top it off, the parking garage that they make you pay ten bucks to park in is a total joke. It took us over an hour just to get out of the garage after the concert– and we had to pay for it?!
The only redeeming part of the night were the wonderful bands (and slipknots clown kicking over their trash cans! Take that tsongas arena!)
No matter what though, I will NEVER come back to this venue. Hopefully I can somehow find a way to communicate to the bands that they should never book this place again if they don’t want their fans to be treated like shit! Otherwise I will drive to another state to see any bands I want to see anything to never return to the hell hole that is tsongas arena!

After reading all the reviews on here I was terrified to go to the Five Finger Death Punch concert with my husband, son and my son’s friend on 9÷26÷14. I had nightmares of us all getting separated and never finding the kids again! I have to say, we had the best experience. We got there about 2 hours after the doors opened, 7:30pm ish. There was a line but it went SUPER fast. We got a brief pat down, was asked to return my sons wallet with chain to the car, which we did and proceeded to buy them shirts. Hardly a line and we got past that fairly quickly. It was open seating so we went up high and found seats quickly. There is honestly NO bad seats in this place! I was worried we’d be in the typical nose bleed section, but even as high up as we were, we saw everything easily. We didn’t eat there, but had beer and water. Prices were high of course, but knew they would be just like every other venue. Even waiting in line we could easily see the stage so we didn’t miss a minute. I would tell you about the bathrooms, but as I was pretty trashed by the time I got to use it, I have no recollection other than I was in and out pretty fast (per husband’s update). Oh, and once you leave the building you can’t get back in, but there are plenty of people at the door to notify you of this. Overall had a great experience and would go back for another concert in a heartbeat!

I recently visited the Tsongas Arena for a sporting event. I don’t have much to say about the seating itself or the food (it’s a stadium, what do you expect?) My real problem is with the restroom situation here.
My first issue with the restrooms arose when I was in desperate need of one after my hour-​long car ride from Providence to Lowell. I hopped in line for the only restrooms on the first floor, not knowing what awaited me (about a twenty minute wait). There is only one room for women and one room for men! I mean, literally, one toilet in each locking restroom. This is an arena, people, what kind of madness is this?
While the first floor is the most egregious restroom situation at the Tsongas Arena, the second floor is a bit odd as well. Instead of the classic layout with a ladies’ room and a men’s room side by side, Tsongas has placed two men’s rooms next to each other, and then two ladies’ rooms together. The kicker is that they are really far apart. This makes no sense at all.
The Tsongas arena itself is fine, but when it comes to the layout of their potties, I just don’t get it. I don’t get it at all.

Yes, they have parking onsite, but the event we came for had a parking charge of $ 10 — paid upon entry. That made for a smoother getaway afterwards, but still if you have the time and gumption, you could probably find cheaper parking off site.
The arena was well lit, roomy and such, but the security check left something to be desired — a crowd waiting to get through and up one set of stairs had but 2 guards handling the bag checks while the ticket scanners just beyond them waited for tickets to scan. I would suggest clearer communication so that those without bags would know to just head on over to some kind of bagless queue (like those at Fenway) to be scanned, as well as additional bag checkers since over half of the crowd had bags of some sort to be checked. Not sure if this is something handled by the arena security or by the event though.

Ahhhhhh

Attending Baystate Cheerleading competition at Tsongas Arena on UMass Lowell Campus. Sal’s Pizza charging $ 7.25 for a slice of pizza. I wonder if congress woman Niki Tsongas would approve such high prices for working class people? If it appears I am asking you are right.
I think for such a great event vendors are taking advantage of working class families.

Cancelled a concert and did not give us a full refund! They must have made a nice chunk of change from the money they ripped off from everyone! Deleted my negative comment on their Facebook page! Worst venue around!

Nice over looking place. I went for a show that was crap. The sound was awful. Seating was nice and able to peep in n out easily.
Parking is easy and plenty (Awesome). Will I go there? Depends on the show :)

The Tsongas *Center* (no longer the Tsongas Arena!) has come such a long way since UMass Lowell purchased it.
I remember coming here for a local hockey game as a young teen. It was an okay venue; it had seats, moderately overpriced food, and it was a decently sized arena to host local events.
Now it’s been host to Drake, A Day to Remember, Kiss 108’s Jingle Ball 2011, the 2012 Senate Debate (Scott Brown and Elizabeth Warren) and our very own Riverhawks advancing to unheard of lengths in Hockey East last year. UML really did a great job renovating this place and turning it into a venue that has provided a whole new level of entertainment to Lowell.
Come here for one of our hockey games or a concert; you will not be disappointed!

Great arena — I remember when it was built a number of years ago, and it’s great to see so many acts be able to come in.

Cheap beer, good seats, good security. I saw DKM on St. Patrick’s day. The venue was great for this, especially because the pit was separate but you weren’t so far away if you chose the stands. The sound quality was good and the seats weren’t too uncomfortable. I say good security because there weren’t any assholes and I assume there were drunk people so I guess they took care of them before they bothered me.
One downside was that I sat in traffic in the parking garage for 40+ minutes. Uh… It literally wouldn’t move for 10 minutes at a time. I’m not sure how that happens because I’ve been to the Garden for big games and lots of other concert venues.

Against Me and Dropkick Murphys on St. Patricks weekend, nuff said.
I am really super biased because I flat out love Against Me. If you don’t them, good. Keep it that way. Kidding, kidding. They are just an amazing band who have payed there dues are deserve the recognition and the major label they recently moved up to. If you don’t know them, give them a listen. They rock.
The Tsongas Center had everything you could want for this type of concert. A good pit area, plenty of seats to catch a breather, a lively crowd singing along with every song, $ 6 dollar beer, and suffiecient parking for the masses.
Be wary of those scalpers outside. We bought our tickets from them and yup they were fake as shit. It took a whole lot of talking to get security to let us in, but they did so YAY!!!
Moment of the night. Dropkick Murphy’s singing Shipping Up to Boston in Boston with some old friends and I singing along, or croaking along rather, with them. That was a moment that I will never forget.