Steve & the band were outstanding. Nokia doesn't have their act together.

It was such an amazing show! Club Nokia had some issues with ticketing. . . which made the whole show start late, but the show itself was wonderful! Steve Martin is a great banjo player and the Steep Canyon Rangers are an amazing bluegrass band!

Steve was so clearly in love with the music he shared with the excellent band that accompanied the performance. The interview beforehand with Dave Barry was smartly funny and obviously between good friends. Like sitting around in the rec room after Saturday night pizza and beers. Really enjoyed it.

Wow! Outstanding show and Goldstar made it so affordable! Steve was delightful and his banjo playing is excellent. And the players with him were top-notch! Hat's off to the Steep Canyon Band. Without the e-mail updates from Goldstar we would have missed this awesome performance. Thanks! john & Cynthia

Steve Martin, despite all his self-deprecating humor, is actually an excellent musician. I'm not a huge fan of blue-grass...but I really enjoyed his music! The venue is intimate, so I don't think there was a bad seat in the house.

The event could have been run better though...the line to get tickets took way too long - only 2 people worked the line (for 50 + people). And, yes, the event started 30 minutes late.

This was a great event! The pre-event reception was fun and we even got to meet Steve Martin and get his autograph. This event far exceeded my expectations.

Although the Club Nokia held over 2000 seats, the atmosphere felt like a more intimate club, seated in the VIP balcony, with a great view and superior acoustics. It was perfect for listening to a jam session with Steve, the Steep Canyon Rangers, and John McEuen, from the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, (who joined Steve on stage for one song, and the group for the encore of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown"). Steve was as witty as ever, trading quips and jokes with Dave Barry. Dave joined the band for the encore.
Comfortable on stage, banjo in hand, Steve is an incredible musician, and it was wonderful listening to him, playing many of his own compositions.
It was a very engaging and fun evening for all of us.

It was a lot of fun. Steve Martin is a great banjo player and the back up band was great. I thought the interview with Dave Barry seemed rather thrown together at the last minute and disappointing.

Great show once it started. The Will Call line for Goldstar was longer than LAX Security. Did you advise the Library and Club Nokia of your success in selling Goldstar tickets and the number of people expected at Will Call to this event?

If so, then either the Library, or most probably Club Nokia, was woefully at fault for subjecting all those people to at least a 30 minute wait in line, with no facilities for wheelchairs, people on crutches, and/or canes.

And, of course, that delayed the beginning of what was a terrific show.

However, we personally, will not patronize the Club Nokia again.

Absolutely fantastic!

Beyond the lack of organization with the ticket distribution at the venue, the show was amazing. Steve Martin was as funny as he was an incredible banjo player. The musicians he played with were beyond extraordinary and we really enjoyed the commentary which opened the show.

Great to see Dave Barry and John McEwen! The back up band(Steve Canyon Bluegrass Band?) was really a treat! So glad to have seen Steve Martin perform-i knew he was good, i just had no idea how awesome he is! Once again he inspires me to pick up and pick my own banjo! If you're reading this, thanks for that, Mr. Martin!

a lot of fun. steve's a heckuva player!

Club Nokia is a good venue to see a show in. Decent sound, clear lines of sight to the stage (and many monitors where view is obstructed,) and easy access to the bar.

Steve Martin & Dave Barry were funny and engaging during the "conversation" part of the show. Steve & the Steep Canyon Rangers were fantastic during the musical part of the show. Great performances all around.

Getting in to the show was the worst experience in recent memory; a colossal, disorganized mess. Doors were supposed to open at 7pm (show at 8pm.) When I arrived at 7:40, there were dozens of people outside the VIP entrance, and hundreds queued up outside the main entrance. Security routed everyone (with tickets, will-call, or Goldstar) to the same line, where we waited for about 30 minutes. They then directed me to the will-call line, where I waited for another 10 minutes, only to be told that there was a separate line for Goldstar. By the time I had waited in that line for another 10 minutes, staff began walking up and down the line with ticket envelopes, calling names. Hope everyone got their tickets, because I could've claimed to be anyone. The show began late, and I finally got into the club just as the house lights went down. Too bad for the 100 or so people still in line behind me.

A staff member told me the delay was because LA Public Library put all of their tickets at will-call. True or not, this is not the first show that Club Nokia or Goldstar have handled. This could have been far better organized by the professionals, regardless of how the library distributed their tickets.

The performance was very good. The sound quality was disappointing: the treble range (particularly on the fiddle and mandolin) got a little shrill. I was at the Prince concert and he complained about the quality of the sound system. The house staff blamed it on Prince's equipment, but there have been numerous reports of sound issues from Club Nokia.

I was surprised to find this event ( fundraiser for the Library Foundation) available for half price! Wow. I guess people don't like to stand at a show, or maybe LA is not a "banjo" type to town, but it was Steve Martin! and the show was soooo worth it! Club Nokia is a small venue (not to be confused with the much-larger Nokia Theater) with floor seats and behind that, a large SRO area. I could see perfectly. Dave Barry was hilarious interviewing Steve about the banjo, then Steve played about a dozen songs with the amazing Steep Canyon Rangers bluegrass band (included a guitar, mandolin, banjo, base and fiddle) and they tore it up with their picking and harmonies. Parking at Club Nokia is safe and convenient and not too pricey ($10). A GREAT EVENING!!!!! THANKS!

Sorry, I thought it was VERY boring. Steve's attempts at casual bantering and light sarcasm fell far flat.. like he was relying on star appeal and we'd all be thrilled to be in the same room with him rather than bothering to actually relate or communicate, and it not only wasn't entertaining, it was mildly offputting... and the delay in start wasn't due to ticketing issues, they were resolved before eight. And Steve seemed more interested in being cute and amusing himself than in actually opening up during the "dialogue." The banjo playing was fun, maybe it loosened up later to make it worthwhile, but overall I left after two songs because I was tired by the time they FINALLY got started and it just wasn't all that entertaining to make it worth my while to stay.

Show was super !! Steve Martin is an amazing person. Wish the show was longer.

Ticket process was terrible. You guys need to work on getting the tickets to the patrons. Besides the hastle, we were a party of 4, and we received 3 tickets in one place, and the 4th ticket in another.

I liked the venue. Steve and Dave were funny.... and boy did Steve play banjo! Thoroughly enjoyable. The band was great too!

The chaos of the event showed up in Steve, I think. He seemed "thrown" and unsure of the situation, which was actually interesting to witness. And he did a fine show in spite of it... however, my Goldstar seat SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCKED. I was in the second to last row up by the ceiling, even though when I bought it said "Lower Balcony." I imagine it wasn't Goldstar's fault, but it was the worst seat I've had for any concert or event in a couple decades.

Halfway through, I went downstairs to see if Standing Room was better -- and it definitely was. I spent the rest of the show down there. So you people who just bought Standing tickets got the better deal by a long shot.

Having been to Club Nokia twice now, my tip for myself is: if there's reserved floor seating, that's the best choice. If it's GA open floor, buy the cheapest Standing Room or else pay for the VIP seats (first 4 rows of balcony). I'll never sit in Upper Balcony there again, and probably not Lower Balcony. This time I wish I'd paid the Ticketmaster extortion fees and gotten a seat in the center front seating section 15 feet from Steve, which I could have, but thought, "Eh, I bet this will show up on Goldstar." Unfortunately, Goldstar was a lesser experience for this particular event.

This was an enjoyable evening of mostly traditional blue-grass music with Steve Martin on the banjo. The concert was preceeded by a very funny interview of Steve Martin by Dave Barry, which included a history of the banjo. I didn't know that the banjo originated in ancient Egypt, which is the reason why the Jews fled that country. I also learned that the American Civil War was fought by the banjo music players against those who did not appreciate the instrument. The banjo players lost. There was a packed and enthusiastic audience that kept the energy in the room at a very high level.

The Nokia Theater is spacious & clean with easy access to the bar and no shortage of good spots to see the stage. Steve Martin was very witty and entertaining. Apart from his well-known sense of humor, Steve Martin is also an accomplished and well-skilled banjo player. The acoustics at Club Nokia were excellent and all of the staff members I encountered were extremely helpful and friendly.

Club Nokia is a beautiful theater! The people working there are extremely accomodating - my dad and I somehow ended up with tickets in two different rows, but the manager in our section cleared it up immediately and we ended up with better seats.

Steve and Dave were hilarious, and I was thoroughly impressed with Steve's banjo skills, though he should work on his tuning skills. :)

The general admittance (standing section) tickets are a really fantastic deal -- especially if you manage, as we did, to squirm our way to the front and lean against the railing. They're so much cheaper than the sitting tickets, but there's not much difference in the view. You were still really close to the stage.

Really fun event. Steve Martin and Dave Barry were funny, and the band they played with was really fantastic -- I never knew I liked bluegrass music until now!!

I wish there had been a little more funny -- it was mostly banjo playing. But it was thoroughly enjoyable nonetheless.

Word to the wise: the line-up on the first night was absolutely insane. There was some kind of ticketing fiasco on the first night, and the crowd was starting to get pretty pissed toward the end. Hopefully they will fix whatever the problem was for subsequent nights, but be warned!

It was a wonderful evening. People were laughing and dancing and learned a great deal about the Banjo.

Steve Martin was amazing! It was a great show! I was not quite sure what to expect, but it was fantastic. Steve Martin is a really great banjo player! And the Band he played with (The Steep Canyon Rangers) were great as well! The Fiddle player was playing so fast on the last song he broke a hair on the bow! I would definitely recommend this show to anyone!

I loved Steve Martin, Dave Barry and Steep Ridge (?) band. It was entertaining and the music was great. It seemed real and unrehearsed, which made it more fun. The logistics were horrible. Club Nokia and the LA Library Foundation didn't shine at all. It took 45 minutes to check in (only two people to check in VIPs). By the time we entered the reception the food was gone and they had converted the open bar to a cash bar. Sucks when you paid more than $200 for your ticket. Show was 45 minutes late getting started then they still had 10 minutes of introductions. There was not chance to meet and greet performers they were whisked off to another more important VIP party. Thank god the performance was great.

This was a great show that included both a one-on-one interview with Steve Martin and a very entertaining concert.

Steve Martin and his band were FANTASTIC! Took my sister and we had a great time.

The event was absolutely fantastic! Steve Martin and Dave Barry are two of my all-time favorite comedians, and the music was surprisingly toe-tapping, banjo-rockin' good. So good I walked away with 2 CDs when I've never appreciated Bluegrass in my life.

So why the 3 stars? Whether it's Club Nokia or the LA Public Library that is responsible for the organization of this event, it was one of the worst event ticketing scenes I've ever seen.

I got there 10 minutes to 8pm, and there were hundreds of people lined up outside the theatre, with a couple of ushers telling us that everyone (whether you had a ticket in hand, no ticket, will call tickets, or whatever, you had to stand in line. It turns out after standing in the cold for 30 minutes (yes - the event started about 30 minutes late) we found out that there were only 2 people sitting at a little desk giving out tickets. It got so hectic at some point, ushers were just walking around asking people what kind of tickets they bought and randomly giving people tickets to seats so they could sit down.

Show was awesome! Venue was poorly organized, waited in lines quite a bit for no apparent reason. Show started late.

Even better than I expected. Venue was great, and they handed out copies of Steve Martin's memoir to Goldstar ticket holders - meaning I got to read over half of it waiting for the show to start (it's a quick and engaging read). I had just gotten to the part where he talks about his history playing the banjo when the lights dimmed and the show started. Very cool.

A wonderful event. My husband is a big Bluegrass fan and I'm a big Martin fan so we both had a blast. The venue was great and the music was lively.

Steve Martin was incredible, I had no idea banjo's had such a beautiful sound to them. The guest band he played with were amazing.

It was so special to be able to see Steve Martin so close in person and he was funny and witty and extremely talented.

For the people watchers out there, it was great celebrity viewing as well.

I'll go again if he has another show!

Apart from the show starting half an hour late due to "ticketing issues" that I'm still not sure if it was Club Nokia's or the Library Foundation's fault, the show itself was outstanding. Funny, loose (really just like a jam session with friends) and very intimate feeling even in a 2300 seat theater. The music was the best part, Martin really proves he is a banjo virtuoso and a very good composer as well. Dave Barry is always good for a laugh or two and even joined Steve, the Steep Canyon Rangers and John McEuen for the encore of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown". Great!

It was a wonderful evening in so many ways. Having never been to Club Nokia - I was delighted at the room's size -- which, unlike a concert arena, provided a kind of "intimacy" with the performers. Steve Martin was charming, quick witted, and so musically skilled both in performing on the banjo, AND in having written some very cool bluegrass music.
His rapport with Dave Barry, and with the rest of the band was warm and funny. I left the concert very upbeat, and lighthearted. Was impressed how the Club's staff was at the doors at the end of the concert thanking us for being there.....what a great night!

I really enjoyed this. I got the standing room tickets and thought that we would be too far away, but the Nokia Club was intimate enough that I could still see facial expressions. The bartender also made what was quite possibly the best whiskey sour I've ever had in my life, so that was awesome. I should have worn better shoes to stand in, but the music was great and it was neat to see Steve Martin and Dave Barry and hear a new band, so I eventually forgot my discomfort.

Who knew that Steve Martin was such a good banjo player? I certainly didn't. I've never really listened to bluegrass before but really enjoyed the concert A LOT!! Steve Martin's comedic genius during the interview and throughout the concert only added to this great event.

However I gave it 3 stars, well, 3 green stars, as the organization of the event seemed very poor and hectic at best. Club Nokia did not shine here at all.

This was a pretty amazing evening. The music was wonderful... well, I think so, at any rate. I don't claim to be a huge bluegrass expert or anything, but I was definitely completely enthralled by Martin, the Steep Canyon Rangers, and the impressively bearded McEuen. Martin is as engaging and quick-witted as ever, and it was fascinating to see him work in the context of a musical concert. His interplay with Barry was wonderful -- just two consummate professionals trading lines. The whole thing was completely entertaining, and I feel privileged to have seen it.