Why I’m Not Into Intuit Dome: A Concertgoer’s Disappointment

At the time of this post, the new Intuit Dome, home of the Los Angeles Clippers, is selling concertgoers a dream deferred. 

Intuit Dome opened its doors to concertgoers on August 15, 2024, for an experience with Bruno Mars. While I did not attend, I read and heard all about the 40-plus minute delay for concertgoers to enter the venue due to the ridiculous facial recognition process required for entry. Ok, wait! FACIAL RECOGNITION!?!?!?!

Before the Bruno Mars experience, my ticket for the R&B Forever Tour was purchased. Imagine my surprise when I learned of the demand for facial recognition. Immediately, I was shook. Why would a CONCERT (and basketball) VENUE need FACIAL RECOGNITION?!?!?! 

But First, Let’s Talk Tickets aka RANT No.1

Think about this for a minute. The process for concertgoers to buy and obtain tickets is simple, yet step-intensive. Once they learn about the concert, the process begins: 

1. Research to find out the date, location, and cost.
2. Discuss with friends/loved ones to gauge interest.
3. Log in to Ticketmaster. Again, LOG IN to Ticketmaster.
4. Find your desired seat(s) in your desired price range.
5. Select. 
6. Purchase within 3 – 9 minutes, depending on the demand.
7. Receive a receipt and email confirmation.

In our new world order of technology, this is the online process, including the horrid resell sites aka legalized scalping. 

To have an account, you must enter your personal information. To purchase tickets, you have to enter more personal information. WHY ON EARTH would your face be necessary to confirm what you’ve ALREADY confirmed two or three times before receiving your ticket?!?!?!? 

Thankfully, facial recognition, while the preferred option, is not the only option. Yet, to enter Intuit Dome, after going through the above steps, you MUST, I repeat, MUST add the Intuit Dome app to your cell phone, assuming you HAVE a cell phone. Why???? 

It is your ticket for entry whether using facial recognition or scanning the phone against one of the NFC posts. 

Once you add the app to your phone, it is “strongly suggested” that you use the SAME credentials as your Ticketmaster account to link the two. Once linked, your ticket transfers from Ticketmaster to Intuit Dome’s app. 

It only transfers if you’re the one who purchased tickets! If your friend or loved one bought the ticket for you (and you paid them back or it was a gift), they have to ASSIGN or TRANSFER your ticket from their account to yours. YEP! You read it right! 

What’s the difference between ASSIGN and TRANSFER? 

• “Assigned tickets remain in your account, but you may revoke access from the recipients of your tickets at any time before they are scanned for entry.”
• Transferred tickets, after “they’re accepted by the recipient, the tickets are removed from your account and no longer accessible to you.” 

SIDEBAR – After being coerced into the Intuit Dome app, I was bullied into adding my payment information for future purchases because, “Intuit Dome is a cashless arena.” That’s all well and good, I guess, but ummmm, WHO SAID I was buying anything to eat or drink??? I never buy from the concession stands. 

Entering Intuit Dome aka Rant No. 2

Due to my aversion to resellers, I attended the October 4th, R&B Forever Tour featuring Silk, Tevin Campbell, BBD, and headliner TGT. Excited to see them all, especially Tank (the 2nd “T” in TGT), and the new arena, I was quickly disappointed. 

The parking structure is across the street from the venue, so we had to walk across a bridge, down some steps (or escalator), through an expansive courtyard space to get in line. While in line, doors were supposed to open at 7 p.m. 

At 7:34 p.m., staff opened the doors to let outside patrons inside. Why did we have to wait 34 minutes in the abnormally hot and humid SoCal weather???? 

• Staff member A – “The NFC system wasn’t working.”
• Staff member B – “The artists were still doing soundchecks.”
• Staff member C – “The artists arrived late, so they started soundcheck late.”

Yep, no one knew or wanted to share the reason for the uncomfortable delay. The confusion was intense. My attitude was beyond intense, and my hot flashes were in overdrive! Come to find out Tyrese and Tank, the two Ts in TGT, were not late. How do I know? Tyrese documents almost every moment of his life on Instagram and posted a video of Tank driving them to Intuit Dome with Kia Forum and daylight in the background.

We entered the arena via facial recognition and NFC scanning only to be stopped by more staff blocking the locked doors to the seating areas. WHAT?!?! WHY?!?!?

Every billboard, social media post, graphic, and detail on the Intuit Dome app said: 

1. Doors open at 7 p.m. 
2. Concert starts at 8 p.m.

After waiting in the lobby for another length of time, at 8 p.m., staff finally unlocked and opened the doors to the seating areas.

Intuit Dome Seating aka Rant No. 3

As we scoured the signage for Club 6, there was a distance we had to walk. Ok fine. Good exercise right? Right! We followed a sign that read, “LEXUS …” something or other. We approached a doorway with two staff members, one on each side. So, I inquired with the staff member closest to me (I’ll call her Tiny), while addressing both young women in a friendly, inquisitive manner. 

The youngest of the two, Tiny, was darling, yet ill-knowledged. So, Tiny asked her co-worker on the opposite side of the door. Yep, the door, which means she heard my initial inquiry with Tiny. THIS BROAD, YEP, I said BROAD! Feel how you wanna feel! THIS BROAD … whew … rolled her eyes first, then turned her head to GESTURE the answer to Tiny instead of verbalizing her answer. WHAT?!?!??!?! 

First of all, I’ve been in customer service for over 30 years. YES, OVER 30 years and I have never! I would never, even if warranted. That’s what management is for, yet in this case, whew, I digress. 

At my wit’s end, I said, “Oh, ok, you don’t want to work today.” So, I repositioned my stand, turned my body away from the BROAD, and kept my conversation with Tiny, the ill-knowledged nice one. Tiny tried. Tiny truly tried! 

We finally got an answer from someone ELSE, not Tiny nor THE BROAD, and walked through the corridor to the down escalator. We were greeted by an extremely friendly staff member who told us which way to go for Club 6. We walked to the door for the hallway entrance to all of the Clubs and boom, another staff member encountered. UGH! 

After hearing us ask about Club 6 and him telling us to go to her, the staff member says, “Let me see your ticket.” HUH?????

Yep, we had to SHOW OUR PHONES again. So, I showed Ms. Ma’am my phone and because … are you ready for this … SHE 

DID

NOT 

HAVE 

HER 

GLASSES 

ON, she told me I was in Club 30. 

I said, “Ma’am, it says Club 6, Row 12, Seat 12. Where do you SEE a 30?” She told me I was mistaken, and took my phone. YEP! She took my phone, so she could “see better.” Again, I was shook! She looked me in my eyes and said, “Ohhhh that “D” looked like a “0.” 

Let me say that again. She told me the B in “CLUB 06” was a D that looked like a ZERO!!!!!!! 

Like, seriously, I thought, “Is Ashton Kutcher OUT of retirement and bringing the show back TONIGHT?!?!?!?”

I took my phone and walked in the OPPOSITE DIRECTION she was pointing. I had on my glasses! 

We walked down a decent-looking corridor for Patron Tequila Club, the name of Club Sections 4, 6, 28, and 30. Sections 4 and 6 are on one side and sections 28 and 30 are on the opposite side of the arena. We arrived at another stop with more staff members. They asked us which Club we were looking for and I said, “Club 6.”

One of the three, “Club 6 is straight this way to your right. How are you this evening?” My friend snapped, “NOT GOOD!” and kept walking. The woman said, “Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.” Since she was nice, I stayed back and told her about the LACK of customer service from THE BROAD upstairs as we attempted to enter the seating area. She apologized for THE BROAD and directed me to Club 6.

At the door of Club 6, you guessed it, another staff member saying, “Tickets please.” SERIOUSLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Then she asked about the cashless payment. I told her, “No! I’m not buying anything.” She said, “Ok fine. Make sure you don’t grab anything, because you’ll have to pay for it.” 

WHAT IN THE WHAT?!?!?!?!? I walked off in silence because, at this point, EVERYBODY CAN GET IT! Get what, some of you may ask? MY ATTITUDE paired with HARSH, PROFANE WORDS in unique pairings on the TIP of my tongue!

I’M NOT DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ready for more?!?!?!?

We entered Club 6 and oooo oooo weee, what a beautiful lounge area. It’s a dining area with lovely blue sofas, comfy white chairs for every body size, tables spaced just right, and buffet-style food options with service people behind the glass. This was worth its weight, yet not worth my wait. 

I’m still not in my seat.

We bypassed the lounge and were greeted by THE LAST staff member.

She was SO nice! She asked how we were doing and my friend snapped again, “NOT OK!” and walked off! I, again, stayed back and explained about THE BROAD upstairs. I ended my commentary by saying, “She needs a customer service seminar and workshop. I don’t wish unemployment on anyone, but ummm, she should have used one of her sick days THIS day!” She thanked me for informing her and said she would take care of it. 

OOPS! Did I just speak to someone’s possible shift manager or supervisor??? I HOPE SO! “Black Karen” me, if you choose.

We walked up three rows to our seats. I plopped down only to realize my hips did not fit in as well as expected. They were smushed like most venues, except SoFi Stadium. Even with smushed hips, the seat was plush, just not too comfy, which I’ve come to accept at most concert venues being a plus-sized woman. Again, except SoFi.

R&B Forever Tour – Inglewood

So! What was supposed to start at 8 p.m., didn’t happen until, around 8:25 p.m. With NO announcement, Silk comes out and blows us away with memories and wonderful voices, paired with a HORRIBLE sound system! 

What is happening?!?!?! Bruno Mars and Usher’s sound systems were not this bad, based on the videos I saw, sooo what’s going on with Silk?

I wish I could say the sound system got better throughout the night, but I can’t. At times we heard:

• Music, no vocals due to intermittent mic failure
• Vocals, no music & not by the artists’ requests
• A piercing sound out of nowhere

Many times, the music was so loud that people took to social media the next day about having to put cotton in their ears because of the ringing sensations.

Luckily, I knew the words and was having my own concert in my section, so I was good LOL. 

Tevin Campbell told us, “My set was supposed to be 30 minutes but they cut it to 15.” WHAT?!?!? The crowd booed and Tevin was touched. However, he was just as unhappy about his time being cut in half! 

Intuit Dome Rating

I am a serial concertgoer! SERIAL! I was 11 or 12 when I attended my first concert. It was Whitney Houston at Los Angeles’ Greek Theatre. I fell in love with concerts and live performances that night. Since age 19 or 20, I have annually attended multiple concerts from intimate venues to massive stadiums in various states. 

Sadly, the way the concert places are fusing forced technology and dollars over customer satisfaction, my concert days may be fizzling out. My first impression of Intuit Dome caused me not to desire a second. While it may be visually impressive and probably great for basketball games, being the home of the Los Angeles Clippers, it falls short of delivering an enjoyable experience for concertgoers as advertised.

Before the R&B Forever Tour and after dealing with the app situation, I told social media, “Intuit Dome, nope! Unless Mary J. is there, I won’t be going again!” I am a DIE-HARD FAN of Mary J. Blige, so it pains me to say that I will not attend Mary J.’s For My Fans Tour in Inglewood due to my dissatisfaction and bad experience with Intuit Dome. Mary J. would have to give me an all-access pass and a face-to-face interview for me to attend. It is a dream to conduct a no-holds-barred interview with the Queen of Hip Hop R&B!

Reflections

I hope Steve Ballmer and his Halo Sports & Entertainment company figure out a way to give the artists the same care and attention granted when Bruno Mars and Usher performed, sound-wise. 

As for staff, I know most of the staff members I encountered were third-party hires. I need them to get it together. We all want our money. Sadly, many people don’t believe in earning their money. Just because they hire you does not mean they can not and will not fire you. Most employment is At-Will work. So, as the great veteran rapper W. C. said, “You don’t work, you don’t eat!” 

I’m happy Intuit Dome was built to generate revenue for Inglewood, the City of Champions, and provide jobs for Inglewood residents. I’m delighted I saw and heard what I could of the artists I wanted to see. I’m happy my ears were NOT ringing like others. I’m elated this review was written based on first-hand experience vs. a fusion of second-hand knowledge.