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What has the EPIC Event Center<\/a> brought to the Green Bay entertainment scene in its first five years?<\/p>\n One last blast of heavy riffs for the road from the mighty Ace\u00a0Frehley. That big\u00a0ol\u2019 Buddy Guy smile that can light up a room all by itself. Stacks of pizzas handed out by members of\u00a0Shinedown\u00a0to fans camped out before the doors opened.<\/p>\n \u201cFishin\u2019 in the Dark\u201d with The\u00a0Nitty\u00a0Gritty Dirt Band and \u201cWaterfalls\u201d with TLC. \u201cJessie\u2019s Girl\u201d with Rick Springfield and \u201cSister Christian\u201d with Night Ranger.<\/p>\n The smell of\u00a0Jackyl\u2019s\u00a0chainsaw solo. Carrot Top\u2019s trunks full of props.\u00a0Mudvayne\u2019s\u00a0face paint.<\/p>\n When owner and CEO Mark\u00a0Skogen\u00a0opened the 25,000-square-foot venue<\/a> in part of the former Gordmans department store in\u00a0Ashwaubenon in April 2021, the mission was to offer something for everybody \u2013 metal, country, classic rock, rap, blues, pop, comedy and magic. It has done all of that and then some, including yacht rock, one-of-a-kind curated movie nights with live music, touring Bingo Loco parties people can\u2019t get enough of and a taco and margarita festival in the parking lot. In June, it will welcome its first four-legged stars to the stage, a rescue dog stunt show called “Puppy Pals Live,”<\/a> as seen on Season 15 of “America’s Got Talent.”<\/p>\n But you need only to look up at the nearly 300 guitars hanging on the towering lobby walls<\/a>, each signed by an act who has played the room, to know that rock has ruled as EPIC Event Center celebrates its fifth anniversary.<\/p>\n \u201cInstinctively, I think we\u2019ve become most known as a rock venue,\u201d said general manager and entertainment manager Ryan\u00a0Vander\u00a0Sanden. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t say by design. I just think that\u2019s what the market probably was most in need of.\u201d<\/p>\n Rock shows consistently draw the biggest crowds, but take, for example, a recent two-week stretch when the building hosted \u201cDinosaur Dimensions: Expedition!\u201d for kids, Christian artist\u00a0Colton\u00a0Dixon, It\u2019s a 2000s Party and costumed thrash metal band\u00a0GWAR. That’s a mix that’ll make your head spin.<\/p>\n Green Bay and the surrounding area aren\u2019t without other great performance spaces,\u00a0Vander\u00a0Sanden\u00a0said, but many of them, like the historic Meyer\u00a0Theatre<\/a>\u00a0and the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay’s The\u00a0Weidner<\/a>\u00a0are seated buildings \u2013 not exactly Insane Clown Posse-friendly \u2013 and the\u00a0Resch\u00a0Center<\/a> is built for arena acts. EPIC, with a capacity of 2,100, hosts many of its concerts as general-admission standing shows, like a midsize rock club.<\/p>\n The versatility of the space also allows it to do row and table seating to fit the act and the audience. Seats for Celtic punk band Dropkick Murphys? Um, no. But for a legacy rock act like The Marshall Tucker Band that has been around since the early 1970s, chairs were welcomed by those fans.<\/p>\n \u201cI just don\u2019t think there really was a true concert venue that could have 2,000 people in it and host just about any kind of genre,\u201d Vander Sanden said. \u201cThat\u2019s the hole I think it filled, just the size of it and the accessibility to do multiple different kinds of shows in a space that\u2019s set up to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n EPIC also offers a price point it likes to think is doable for music lovers increasingly being forced to pick and choose which concerts they can afford, as industry prices have dramatically surged. General-admission floor tickets run roughly $35-$55 for many of the national acts who play there, and the building works to keep beverage prices and ticket fees reasonable, Vander Sanden said. Parking is free.<\/p>\n \u201cWe can list what everybody loves about us, and affordability is right up there in the top five,\u201d said Marla\u00a0Maney,\u00a0EPIC\u2019s\u00a0marketing director.<\/p>\n The venue\u2019s bar and restrooms also often get raves from patrons.\u00a0Skogen\u00a0didn’t want patrons to miss any of the music waiting in long lines for the bathroom or to grab a drink. The sprawling 72-foot back bar is made out of touring road cases, and the\u00a0touchless\u00a0restrooms boast 25 stalls on the women\u2019s side and 14 urinals and 11 stalls on the men\u2019s.<\/p>\n For the acts who play EPIC, the backstage amenities make it stand out from other buildings. The green rooms look like a hotel suite with couches, flat-screen TVs, complimentary stocked refrigerators, a gift basket of snacks and autographed memorabilia on the walls. Performers also have access to washers and dryers for doing laundry \u2013 a luxury on the road \u2013 a basketball court where Billy Bob Thornton once attempted backward free throws, and a workout room.<\/p>\nA 72-foot bar, backstage basketball court help set it apart<\/h2>\n