My spouse and I
attended the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers 40th Anniversary Tour
concert at the Wells Fargo Center on a Saturday evening in late July 2017. We
purchased our tickets online, and we were pleased with the location of our
floor seats. Note that the chairs on the floor seem narrower than the seats in
the elevated stands, they do not have armrests, and the distance between the
rows seems less. Also, there are no restroom facilities or concessions on the
floor, so you must climb back up to the main level for those amenities; to exit
after the event, the floor crowd had to wait for the stands to clear until we
could gain access to the stairway. Still, we loved being in the center of the
action, and we would purchase seats on the floor again.
The Wells Fargo
Center is the home arena for the Philadelphia Flyers NHL team, the Philadelphia
76ers NBA team, and the Philadelphia Soul AFL team, but it also holds special
events such as concerts, wrestling, monster trucks, NCAA basketball games. The
Wells Fargo Center is part of the South Philadelphia Sports Complex, which also
includes
Lincoln Financial Field, Citizens Bank Park, and XFINITY Live. The Wells Fargo
Center opened in 1996 on the site of the former Spectrum (which was previously
the site of the former John F. Kennedy Stadium). Comcast Spectacor owns both
the arena and the Flyers, and its offices, studios, and production facilities
for its NBC Sports affiliate Comcast SportsNet are located onsite. Over the
years, the arena has held different names, including Wachovia Center, First
Union Center, and CoreStates Center, all named after financial services
companies that support the venue. The arena seats approximately 20,000 guests
for NBA and NFL games, including 126 luxury suites and 1,880 club box seats.
Three orange-and-black banners (Flyers colors) hang from the rafters in an
homage to sellout concerts by Bruce Springsteen (56 concerts), Billy Joel (48),
and Pearl Jam (10). The arena offers various restaurants, clubs, and lounges
for its guests, some of which are private. Concessions generally open two hours
prior to event time. Food and drink venues include the Cadillac Grille (private),
DraftKings Fantasy Sports Lounge, CURE Insurance Club, PJ Whelihan’s Pub, Old
City Brewhouse, Chickie & Pete’s, Lorenzo Pizza, The Sophisticated Pig,
Broad Street Carvery, Chick-fil-A, Boardwalk Fries, Gozen Yogurt, Dunkin’
Donuts, Nick’s, Campo’s, Shake Shack, Dippin’ Dots, Jack & Jill Ice Cream,
and Rita’s Water Ice. Smoking is permitted outdoors on a dedicated sidewalk
area. We received an email from the arena prior to our event inviting us to
dine in the private Cadillac Grille before the event; however, because we
stayed nearby at the Courtyard by Marriott Navy Yard, we instead dined at Bar
Amis (previously Lo Speido) before we walked to the Wells Fargo Center. Walking
to the arena seemed faster than driving because of the large volume of cars in
the parking lots and on the surrounding streets and freeways. Plus, parking is
pricey at $25 per car and $50 per oversize vehicle. See our separate
reviews for Citizens Bank Park, Courtyard, Navy Yard, XFINITY Live, NBC Sports
Arena, 1100 Social, and Bar Amis.
We had a great evening at the Wells Fargo Center, and we will return to
attend another event.
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