Don't know if this already covered b4,but what are peoples thoughts on O2 as a venue?

My opinion is that it is great (having been to most of the regular London venues over the last 20 years):

Lots of staff (who are very curtious)
Clean Loos!
Plenty of places to get a variety of food & drink (not that bad either)
My experience has been that there are not many queues to get in, or get food & drink
You can take drink in with you
Its a great view for a 20,000 seater venue
prince visited

My only gripe being that the sound quality not that good on the upper tier

Anyone disagree?

Gotta agree with u there, i've been 2 Cardiff arena, wembley, earls court, Birmingham nec & nia but the o2 is amazing and it looks stunning when u leave and the ariel's are all lit up!!!

timeofthesign said:

I think the 02 is a great venue, definitely. Those who live in and around London are lucky to have such a place on their doorsteps.

It's the best of the big arenas (compared to say Wembley, Earls Court etc) but Koko and Brixton Academy are better.

Who saw Prince at Koko? That would have been amazing!

I must say I quite liked Indigo2 as well (drunks and no-show from Prince aside...)

amandeepr said:

I'd have to disagree. I think that the 02 is a much nicer venue than Brixton Academy. Safer area too!

DoMeBaby69 said:

The O2 is defintely the best of the Arena size venues. Can't see anyone playing Wembley Swimming Pool (sorry Arena) anymore.

But Brixton is my fave. Because of the sloping standing area and "gothic" interior.

amandeepr said:

I saw Prince at the Koko, did I mention I danced on stage too it was a great venue, intimate but I love the O2, beats Wembley!!

I think Wembley really shows its age now. Reckon they will need to revamp if anyones gonna play there again!

It's certainly the best arena - there's not really much competition.

I'm holing firm to the fact a lot of the staff are jobsworth bastards though.

It's definitely not the best place to hear live muic though. There's numerous better smaller venues around

timeofthesign said:

lol it HAS been ravamped! About 2 years ago, at a cost of £35million... apparently ...though you probably wouldn't have guessed!

I have to agree that the O2 is by far the best arena sized venue i've been to, food is good and both food and drinks are well priced.

But i also agree with others about Brixton - fantastic venue and the sloping floor makes it even better - why other venues don't do something similar i don't have a scooby. KoKo (Camden Palace) is also great, and the Forum and Astoria (RIP) also.

One of the best places i've seen Prince was at the Café de Paris in '98. Great venue and fantastic night.

oh... and i do feel lucky to have the O2 and Indigo on my doorstep - being about a 15 minutes drive away is good stuff indeed!

FunkyAphrodite said:

I agree that the layout in Brixton is good but it's showing its age, it's in a bit of a rough area and is difficult to park around there. Whereas the 02 for me is a 20/25 minute drive away, there is ample parking and good on-site facilities. And having the Indigo2 right there for aftershows is excellent too although I think that could do with a sloping floor to accommodate midgets such as myself.

amandeepr said:

i saw him at koko - utterly fantastic sound was brilliant,
way better than the 4th levl at the 02
but you do get to see everything thats happening from lvl 4
which is also very good

DoMeBaby69 said:

I love old venues as they tend to have more character and a 'lived in' feel - so the original Marquee and the old Astoria and Brixton i all love - but then i'm just an old bloke who lives in the past sometimes!

Brixton looks rougher than it is - been going there for years for gigs and otherwise and never had any problems at all. Though it is a bit of a bugger to get to i agree.

And also, im not a midget but i still perfer a venue where all can see makes it better - so im with you there!

I think the Indigo is one of the best club-sized venues in London. I was really pleasantly surprised on Sunday. Sound was immaculate, view excellent (considering the kind of venue it is).

The talk of queuing for two hours and getting into a scrum on the dancefloor really worried me, but as I discovered, it wasn't a problem at all (I think I was the last person in!)

I don't think I've been to an aftershow before where you can see almost everything, even right at the back. (I've been to a couple where you couldn't see anything at all, unless you were in the first five rows!) Of course, it helps being 6ft, but still, much better than elsewhere.

The rest of the O2 is good too. Shiny and new. And let's see you get anything decent to eat or drink in or around Wembley Arena. But unfortunately, the sound in the O2 Arena is miserable. How did they mess that up so bad?

I can vouch for the clean loos.... very roomy too

For me in Essex, The O2 is the easiest arena to get to by train or by car,

westv said:

Me too and me too!

Okay, the Indigo has a lot to be sad for but the Arena? Come on! I'd much rather be spit on by the personnel, use utterly dirty bathrooms, don’t eat and drink until after the concert (and don’t get distracted) and stand in line for a couple of hours as long as the "no matter where you happen to be sitting, the acoustics are boomingly, seat-shakingly, tin-can bad. Worse than Wembley’s." (The Sunday Times)" problem is solved: http://entertainment.time...223620.ece
Burn the MF O2 Arena!
[Edited 9/13/07 13:10pm]

popelife said:

It's a dome so the sound will be shit no matter what you do. Personally, I hate the bloody place.

Mong said:

Yeah the sound may be bad but it is an amazing sight to see 20,000 people dancing to Controversy

FunkyAphrodite said:[quote]
But i also agree with others about Brixton - fantastic venue and the sloping floor makes it even better - why other venues don't do something similar i don't have a scooby. KoKo (Camden Palace) is also great, and the Forum and Astoria (RIP) also.

quote]

yep I agree I love Brixton academy and KOKO nice and cosy in front of stage