So... I saw Avi Kaplan in NYC

Hi long time no see! Quick update since a lot happened in the last year. I now have a new service dog since the first one retired, went on a podcast, decided to create my own and I'm now in the works of having an appointment with a psychiatrist. All of these are for another time today I want to talk about the most recent event. I drove all the way to New York City to see my favourite singer Avi Kaplan.

At first, I wasn't sure if I wanted to talk about my opinion on if the show was autistic friendly or not because as a fan I was scared to be a little biased. Looking back at it, I thought that separating the venue and the show would be easier since I have very different opinions on both of these topics. Also, I want to give my tips on how to enjoy a music show depending on what you feel comfortable with.

Big disclaimer!! As I stated, I love Avi and the venue where I was and in no way these critics are meant to be hateful. Trust me I know that there is only so much you can do to adapt yourself to everyone's disability but I do think that everyone can improve themselves. Also, please note that if the show happened when I was a kid, my opinion would be much different than it is now.

Alright, now we can start on the venue. It is important to note that I did bring my service dog with me to make sure that the night would pass as smoothly as possible. I already knew that Americans were better educated on this topic than Canadians and found that the state of New York is a lot more pet friendly than many provinces in Canada and the fact that there are so much more responsible owners.

That being said, I did contact Le Poisson Rouge, which was the venue, a couple months before the show to tell them that I would be coming with a service dog. The manager and I exchanged a couple messages regarding of what they could do to make sure that we would both be comfortable. Not knowing what the place looked like, I putted all my trust in him and the other employees to find a place and way that would make me safe the whole night.

During our messages, the manager kindly asked what were the do's and don't's about my dog which I truly appreciated. Once I stated them, he did not insist on knowing the reason why they couldn't do certain things that was new for me. I'm used to people always asking personal questions about me and the dog and won't let go when I say they can't do something.

Then the day of the show came. When we arrived, the manager was already expecting us and once he saw us arrive, he explained how it would go. An employee checked our vaccination status. I learned that all shows that were sold before March 7th would require a vaccine proof. Once it was done, we were escorted inside and the manager told me that I could be on the floor with the others for VIP and then go sit in the reserved area. He made sure that I have plenty of space for the dog. He also told me that before we arrived, every employee plus Avi and his crew were made aware that there would be a dog and what not to do with it.

During the show, the barman came a couple times to the area to take orders and bring drinks (there were a couple people in the seated area) to everyone so that we wouldn't have to always navigate through the crowd to get a drink. His service was quite fast considering there were a lot of people and it truly impressed me. The venue wasn't full but there was a pretty good amount. Of course he wasn't alone from what I remember, they were three.

Now comes the end of the night. The manager comes and asks if we would like to take the elevator since there were a lot of people coming out of the venue. We declined the offer but he still escorted us outside and made sure it was done safely and this is where it ended and we said our goodbyes and thanks.

To finish, compiling everything from the exchange of messages between the manager and I to him bringing us outside safely, I can fully say that the venue is autistic friendly. Bonus point on being service dog friendly too. If I could rate it all I would give it a 10/10. I can't think of something that was wrong everyone was so nice and did everything in their power to make me and my dog comfortable which was very appreciated. Truly amazing people there and it was such a nice experience to live. 100% zero regrets on going there.

I'll see you in the next part where I will talk about the show itself.

Take care and stay safe!