What do you expect from a concert venue? They should be safe environments full of friendly, helpful staff that want to oversee that your experience goes as smoothly as possible. Their priority should be your enjoyment and safety at their venue. Even if you don’t like the event you’re attending, you should still be able to walk out of there and appreciate their friendliness. The staff should try to help you be as stress-free as possible when visiting their facility. This may include helping you find places to eat and park. Another important thing is seating, what happens when you go through the process of buying a ticket and the view still isn’t great? The location of the venue also helps people determine whether or not they want to go there. Having hotels nearby could help immensely.
   

The BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, ensures you have a safe, fun experience anytime you visit there. There are security guards all over the place, they stand between the stage and seat to serve as a second barrier, they’re by the front entrances, and they walk around the venue to ensure the people enjoying their time there aren’t getting rowdy. Before entering the facility you have to go through a metal detector and they go through any purse or bag you have, this always makes me feel better because I know that it would be very difficult to get weapons in. I just went to see Katy Perry at the BOK on November 29th, and since we were so close to the stage I saw firsthand how well the security handled a rowdy man trying to get closer to the singer.
     

When you go to this popular venue in downtown Tulsa, you’ll be met with friendly staff who are always willing to help you find your seat and make sure you feel welcome. The environment of this place is astonishing and if you go there enough it starts to feel like a second home. The staff is very understanding and handle the large crowds well. One specific encounter I remember is when I was queuing for a concert at 10 in the morning when the concert started at 7. The staff didn’t mind at all and actually talked to us about the band we were seeing. On another occasion, when I had barricade (front row) for an Ariana Grande concert, the woman working near me made sure I got a wristband to stand at the fence so I could be as close as possible and she even moved at times so I could get better videos and interact with my favorite singer.
     

Any seat you purchase there is a good one. Whether you’re on the floor, front row, in the nosebleeds or sitting on the side, you’ll have a great view no matter what. The sound quality is also very good, it’s always clear and you can hear it well. Each seat is worth the money you pay, even though they don’t get to set the prices. I’ve been in each of the seats I’ve mentioned and I’ve never walked out of the venue disappointed with my experience.
     

One thing I especially love about this venue is the location. Being located in downtown Tulsa, you can get a hotel that’s a 6-minute walk from your event. Across the street you can find ‘Pinkitzel’, a cute candy and cupcake store, that has a free bathroom which is another plus. You might also like to go next door to ‘All About Cha’, the tea and coffee store. Both of these places give you somewhere comfortable to sit and somewhere to charge your phone if needed. I love going to these stores anytime I visit because they’re so unique and the people working are so friendly.
     

One downside to the BOK Center is their food court prices. If you’re like me, you don’t want to pay an outrageous amount of money for a bottle of water or a snack. A lot of people, myself included, sit in line and order pizza because it’s cheaper. I think if they lowered their prices, they could sell a lot more at the little food stands. I’d like to see more options, too. When I go there all I really see is Dippin’ Dots, chicken strips, and of course, BBQ.
     

Another negative thing about this venue, or any venue, is the scalpers buying tickets. If you’ve ever tried to buy tickets to a popular concert, you know that it can be impossible to get the seats you want sometimes. Scalpers get on the ticket website through pre-sale and buy the best seats in the house and resell them for an outrageous price, making it hard for real fans to see their favorite performer live or up close. Preventing these scalpers from buying all the tickets would cause people to want to buy more tickets for their events and ultimately making the BOK/shops downtown more money in the end.
     

Parking for your event could also make you a little frustrated, it’s nearly impossible to find parking spaces and when you do, it costs $20 or isn’t open to the public. There is one parking lot across the road and it’s always packed, no matter what. So you can imagine that getting out of there with the bad Oklahoma drivers is a nightmare. When I was there November 29th, I found $7 parking close to the event so I think they’ve added more since May when I was previously there. This tells me that they listen to the suggestions or complaints others have given to them about parking.
     

Overall, I would recommend this venue to any other one I’ve been to. I’ve attended 12 concerts here since 2013 so I know that they have great performances there, friendly staff, and good security. Even though it does have some downsides, it’s still the best venue I’ve been to and very enjoyable. I’ve gone to many different kinds of concerts here and I’ve never had a bad experience. If you enjoy concerts as much as I do, I can guarantee that you’ll have a good time and start planning your next concert there immediately. If you haven’t been there yet, I hope that sometime in the future you choose to “Rock the BOK”.