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Random thought on a random night:
Anyone else miss the Palace?

Who knows when live, attended sports or concerts might actually return, but when I find myself reminiscing back to live events I have attended in the past, I often think back to trips I made to the Palace. I just really enjoyed that building. Had a lot of fun there.

I know some people prefer a city venue, others a suburban venue. But that’s not what I’m even getting at here. In terms of the arena itself, I personally prefer the sight lines and the comfort of the seats at the Palace over LCA. I thought the Palace was a better constructed and more comfortable building and atmosphere. I’ve heard various horror stories through the years from people on trying to exit the Palace parking lot, but I guess I was lucky, I never had a truly terrible experience.

Just curious, is it just me? Anyone else miss the Palace of Auburn Hills? Were you more likely to attend games or concerts at PoAH or now at LCA?

The Palace was a pain in the butt to get to from the West side of the metro area. Other than that, I did like the place. The company had a suite there so I could get free tickets if I wanted to ensure the commute.

It was a mess getting out of there, especially when you were forced the wrong way by the traffic management... That would result in yet another half hour delay getting home. IIRC, at one point they routed us down a dirt road for a mile or so to get over to Brown Road and it was bumper to bumper the whole way.

I liked the Place went to 2 Detroit Pistons games Nuggets in March of 96 & 76ERS in Jan of 2000.

You think getting out of The Palace was a mess, ever try getting out of the Silverdome?

Getting out of The Palace wasn't bad at all if you knew (a) where to park in the parking lot (northeast portion was best; southwest portion was worst) and (b) were familiar with the secondary roads in the area.

Multiple times, I exited via Harmon Rd., and once I reached Giddings Rd to make a left turn to head to Walton, it was smooth sailing.

I'm proud to say I attended the game where we booed the Canadian National Anthem. The Raptors fans in the stands were being obnoxious during warm-ups. That's why we booed. Sadly, Joe Dumars threw his team's own fans under the bus following that incident.

MWmetalhead wrote: ↑

Sat May 30, 2020 7:54 am

Getting out of The Palace wasn't bad at all if you knew (a) where to park in the parking lot (northeast portion was best; southwest portion was worst) and (b) were familiar with the secondary roads in the area.

Multiple times, I exited via Harmon Rd., and once I reached Giddings Rd to make a left turn to head to Walton, it was smooth sailing.

Yes! Parking lot location was a H*** factor in getting out of there quickly. Being deep out in the West Lot was the worst.

After you took Giddings to Walton, which way did you go to get to the freeway? Opdyke??

Yes, usually Opdyke to University to hit I-75 southbound. Once, I remember being redirected down Pontiac Rd to connect with University.

After a Bon Jovi concert in 2005, my family and used Harmon to Joslyn to I-75 southbound.

My other two Palace visits were to see Queen + Adam Lambert, in 2014 and 2017. In 2017, I was living in Ypsilanti at the time, so it was difficult to get there and back (I used I-75 to Square Lake to Telegraph to I-696 to I-275 to US-12 to I-94).

LCA is much easier to get to from the western and southwestern suburbs than the Palace.

Speaking of places being hard to get to, DTE (Pine Knob) is easier to get to from Lansing, Flint, or Saginaw than from Ann Arbor or any of the suburbs west of Telegraph.

The Silverdome wasn't horrible IF you parked in the correct place and exited away from M59 or I75.

I attended the Superbowl XVI and they actually ran a SEMTA train from Detroit, then you would have to walk up 250 foot hill from the right-of-way. It was also -10 outside.

Good times

The Palace didn't seem that bad to me, but again, I was going where others weren't.