Everything you actually need to know before a metal show at The Regent Theater in downtown LA: the sloped floor that giveth and taketh away, where to stand, where to park so your car is still there after, the food situation, and why this old room is worth the trip even when downtown isn’t.
I’ve been going to shows at The Regent for the better part of the ten-plus years it’s been open as a music venue, and I’ve got a complicated relationship with the place. It’s a cool little theater in downtown Los Angeles, and downtown LA comes with its own pros and cons. The building has real history: it opened back in 1914 as The National, got renamed The Regent a few years later, and it’s the last remaining historic movie theater on Main Street. It ran as a grindhouse and then an adult theater before it closed in 2000, sat dark for years, and finally got restored into a music venue in 2014. It’s not my favorite room in the LA area. It’s also definitely not the worst. This is the guide I wish I’d had the first time I walked in, all the practical stuff nobody’s going to tell you at the door.
Finding it and getting in
The good news is it’s easy to spot from the street. The harder news is there’s no real box office to speak of, so in modern times you’re buying your tickets well in advance and just walking up. Don’t count on grabbing them night-of.
Two things to lock in before you go. First, there is no re-entry once you’re inside, so handle your business before you commit. Second, and I’ll say it plainly: downtown LA is not necessarily the safest area in Los Angeles. It’s fine, plenty of people do it every night, but keep your head up and park smart (more on that below).
When you walk in, there’s a ramp that goes up into the main show doors. There’s a restroom on the left for the men and one on the right for the women, and I’ll be honest, neither one is very nice. There’s also a small separate bar to the right as you walk in that sometimes has smaller bands playing at it, so don’t be surprised if there’s a little something happening there before you even hit the main room.
The sloped floor: a blessing and a curse
Here’s the thing that defines The Regent more than anything else. It’s built on the original raked theater floor, so the whole show floor slopes down toward the stage. It is genuinely a blessing and a curse.
The blessing: there’s really no bad sight line in the house. The slope means you can see the band from almost anywhere, which is not something I can say about a lot of flat GA rooms.
The curse: standing on a sloped floor for three-plus hours while you wait through opening bands will take a toll on your lower back. My back typically hurts every single show I go to at The Regent. That’s not a dealbreaker, but wear good shoes and know it’s coming. The pits are their own thing too, because they go up the slope and back down. It makes for a different kind of chaos than you get on flat ground.
The room and where to stand
Come through the main double doors and you’ll hit two bars, one on your left and one on your right. Straight ahead is the center staircase that takes you down onto the show floor. The bottleneck is that center staircase. A lot of people walk in, come down the stairs, and just stop right there, so the middle clogs up fast.
The move most people don’t know: go all the way to the left, behind the left bar, and there’s a staircase up top that leads to some bleacher seating that’s usually up there. If you get there early you can grab it. Some shows sell that as specialty seating, but most of the time it’s first come, first served. There’s also a ramp down to the floor over on that side that’s usually way less crowded than fighting through the center. That’s how you get in clean.
There’s a second-story mezzanine for viewing if you’d rather watch from above. The stage is set high enough that, thanks to the slope, you get a good view of the band from pretty much anywhere. The stage itself is not very big, and there’s a unique arch that goes over it that’s a cool touch. Worth knowing: because the stage is on the smaller side, a band that normally rolls with a large production may scale it back down to fit the room. I’ve seen it go both ways.
On the room itself, set your expectations right. It has a bit of a gothic ceiling, but it isn’t super impressive from a pure-beauty standpoint next to something like the Wiltern. It’s mostly a big open floor room, and that’s fine. You’re here for the show. It’s listed around 1,100 standing, and at that number it’s absolutely packed shoulder to shoulder.
Pick your spot by what you came for:
- Down front and the pit. The slope keeps your sight line even when it’s packed, so you’re never blind down there.
- Mid-floor. Solid all around, and the slope does the work for you.
- The bleachers up top (behind the left bar). First come, first served most nights. Get there early and save your back.
- The mezzanine. Second-story viewing if you’d rather take it in from above.
Parking (park smart, this one matters)
Parking here can be tricky, and this is the one section to actually read. Do not park on the street. There’s a high likelihood your car gets broken into, and it’s not worth it. There’s an exposed surface lot across the street that’s usually cash only, and another exposed lot one block away.
Where I park is the parking structure one block away and across the street. It usually has open spots, though you may have to climb higher up into the structure to find one, and it’s usually relatively affordable. That’s the play: a structure over an open lot, one block’s walk over a broken window.
Doors, set times, and when to show up
Door and set times here depend entirely on the show, so check your ticket. Fair warning that things can run late. The most recent show I went to actually started a half hour late, so don’t sweat it if the room’s still filling in past the listed time.
You can start lining up at 10am the day of the event, but there’s no overnight camping, and honestly, because the sloped floor gives you a sight line from just about anywhere, you don’t have to kill yourself for the rail here the way you would in a flat room. Just remember the back-pain math on how early you want to be standing.
The rules: age, bags, cashless
- All ages, depending on the show. The Regent runs plenty of all-ages nights, but it varies, so check the specific event before you bring anyone under 18.
- Cashless venue. It’s card or mobile pay only, everywhere inside. Don’t show up with cash expecting to buy a shirt or a drink.
- Small bags only. Small handbags and totes are fine, full-size backpacks are not. There’s a bag check for $7 if you need it, but travel light and you’ll get in faster.
- No re-entry. Worth repeating. Once you’re in, you’re in.
One more for the metal crowd, straight off their prohibited list: no bullet belts, no chains, no sharp accessories. Leave the spikes at home or you’ll be having a conversation at the door.
Before the show: the Prufrock situation
There’s food at the venue itself, a spot called Prufrock Pizza. It’s a little strange that you have to actually enter the main venue to get to the pizza restaurant, which sits to the left. And beware: for a lot of bigger shows that sell close to that 1,100 capacity, they’ll put the merch booth inside the pizza restaurant, which makes the whole place really crowded. It’s hit or miss when they do this. When they’re not running merch in there, it’s usually out on the show floor itself, set at an angle because of the slope.
As for the food, the pizza at Prufrock is okay at best, definitely not the best. The thing that actually surprised me is how good their chicken wings are, made fresh to order. But if you’re truly after a real meal, find food elsewhere before you get to the venue, because besides Prufrock there’s nothing else on offer inside. The upside is you’re in downtown LA, which is a food mecca. KazuNori for hand rolls and Suehiro for Japanese are both close, among plenty of others. Eat well before, then roll in.
WKM at The Regent
We cover shows in this room. Reviews from nights at The Regent:
- Corrosion of Conformity at The Regent Theater: “I Don’t Know Why I Waited This Long.” (8/10)
The bottom line
The Regent is a room I keep coming back to without ever quite loving it, and I think that’s the honest read. The sloped floor is the whole story: it gives you a sight line from anywhere in the house and it punishes your back for the privilege. The building’s got real history as the last old movie house on Main Street, even if it’s a big open room more than a showpiece. Park in the structure one block over, not on the street. Eat before you come, or at least know the wings are the move. And when you walk in, skip the center-staircase logjam and cut left behind the bar. Do that, and downtown’s oldest theater is a genuinely good place to catch a band.