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Don't forget their bottle top policy! That seems the most bizarre thing and I've never come across it at any other venue.
Posted: 23:20 Sep 13 2002
Rock Gigs at the London Arena
Ok peeps, after going to my 3rd gig at the London Arena last weekend, I cannot contain my anger anymore. The venue is terrible! I went to see Korn last Saturday and yet again the venue's organisation and staff attitudes were as poor as ever.
I have a long list of gripes and complaints about the London Arena, and I want to vent them and also to find out some other opinions of the venue, either good or bad, as I want to write a letter to Kerrang! magazine to hopefully get some awareness of London Arena's poorness.
Ok, I've got my ranting head on now, so here goes.
Firstly, I cannot stand the fact that they never seem to have seating areas available. Yes we want to rock, but after queuing for so long and waiting for support babnds to come on, it's a long time to stand up. I have a lot of joint pain and I'm usually in agony by the time the headline band comes on, so that takes away a lot of my enjoyment of the band. At Korn, they had an "adult quiet area" which had about 50 chairs. There were a lot of people tring to stand there to get a better view but had to be moved along due to "arena policy". If they had a seated area at the back there would be plenty of people that would fill said area.
Another bonus of having a seated area would be to actually see what is happening on the stage. With approximately 15,000 people standing on a flat floor, when you are at the back of the arena, as I was, you have to be over 6 foot tall to get a glimpse of what is going on.
The sound in the arena is awful, even Korn couldn't blast the roof off. The whole place has no atmosphere compared to other arena gigs I've been to, e.g Wembley Arena.
My last main gripe is the staff, especially crowd control and security. The door opening time is always delayed, and you just get herded around like sheep. There seems like the staff have no idea what is going on and the never allocate seperate entrances, so every one has to pile in the front, until they get herded to another door after the staff realise that having everyone going through the same door doesn't work.
Ok, my ranting powers are draining. Time for you guys to take over, perhaps with any positive comments that will make me feel better!
6 Replies and 863 Views in Total.
Posted: 23:20 Sep 13 2002 
I've never actually been to the London Arena, but this comment puts me off straight away 
Its good to vent, and probably thousands of people think the same way but can't be bothered to voice their opinions. How many of you went, can't you all put together separate griping letters?
And bottle top policy?
I have enough problems at smaller gigs, the Boatrace in Cambridge never has *one* chair so I end up in the loo having a sit down to rest.
by Slayerslut
Firstly, I cannot stand the fact that they never seem to have seating areas available. Yes we want to rock, but after queuing for so long and waiting for support babnds to come on, it's a long time to stand up. I have a lot of joint pain and I'm usually in agony by the time the headline band comes on, so that takes away a lot of my enjoyment of the band.
Its good to vent, and probably thousands of people think the same way but can't be bothered to voice their opinions. How many of you went, can't you all put together separate griping letters?
And bottle top policy?
Posted: 01:12 Sep 14 2002 
The Rock in Bristol charges the equivalent of about 4 quid for a pint of coke. That's the sort of thing that really bugs me about some gig venues.
Posted: 03:11 Sep 14 2002
I went there a few months ago to see the Tweenies Live (it was for Georgia's birthday) 
We had seating laid out then and I found no actual problem really except we had to leave pushchairs at a cloakroom as we weren't allowed to take them in.
I didn't find it that bad sound wise either. I suppose it depends on the type of event that is being run there really - who else has been there and thoughts?
We had seating laid out then and I found no actual problem really except we had to leave pushchairs at a cloakroom as we weren't allowed to take them in.
I didn't find it that bad sound wise either. I suppose it depends on the type of event that is being run there really - who else has been there and thoughts?
Posted: 07:23 Sep 14 2002 i dunno if its the same, but i presume they're talking about having the bottle tops taken off any bottles when you go into the arena...it happened at the move festival in manchester
by Pegasus
And bottle top policy?
a tad silly
Posted: 19:35 Sep 14 2002
Yep the arena sucks!
the atmosphere is that of a aircraft hanger, the only place the sound is anygood is at the front and you may be able to hear well but youll be unlikely to breathe! because there is no barrier system at the front to prevent a crowd surge. anywhere else the sound is either drowned out by tinny echo (nr front and sides),muffled and sounds like your listening to three stereos at once (the back)
The staff are in the best case confused and in the worst case morons.They havent a clue how to organise a crowd, or talk to us like were decent human beings.
If like me your not tall, i'm 5'2" and i have to wear platformed boots to see anything and thats only when i'm straining and or jumping up and down!so many kids who were at that gig saw only the backs of other people and heard very badly muffled sound.there is no seating so for families , people who wan to see better and disabled people, the only choice is right at the back where the vision and sound is greatly impaired, and thats only for about 40 people
The air is awful, there is no or little conditioning, and if you go to a high level at the arena and look onto the main floor, there is a thick haze caused by the people. no wownder i came home with a flu the time before i went to the Docklands arena.
I was only at the upper level too, to look for the cloakroom to put a bag, but when i found out they were charging £3 an item!, YES £3 AN ITEM! i turned round and walked away .
The bottle top policy is the daftest thing ive ever heard and seen. they remove the tops because of 'safety' because fans might throw them. sorry to say but a bottle (wether empty or not) makes a better projectile than the top does, unfortunalty ive had first hand experience of that
the thing is i dont want to drink all my water in one go, especially at the prices they charge, so i bring my own bottle top so i can keep my water to hand all through the gig! i never get checked because they dont search you, only your bags if you have one!, now if youve seen they way(nu :rollseyes
metal fans dress, all baggy trousers with BIG pockets, you dont need a bag to carry alot!talk about funny idea of security. i get checked more at nightclubs!
ive been told of one story which makes me furious! a Korn fan dressed like jonathan in a cassock type coat and all gothed up was bottled as he was waiting to get in to the areana,by a yob who called him a fa###t ba####d! (sorry cant say it!)now what was worse still was that there was a arena security staff standing NEXT to him, who didnt do anything to stop the attack or help the fan, not even call him an ambulance because he could hardly stand up due to concussion. His friend had to drag him to a cab, and undoubltedy he missed his favourite band.. WHAT THE HELL ARE THE SECURITY THERE FOR?! when fans who wish to emulate their idols cant even queue safely and thus miss the conserts theyve payed a lot of money for and more so waited with baited breath to see.
i always am so happy when my fav bands announce their coming here, but my feelings soon turn to dismay when i find out their playing the Docklands Arena. GO back to the Wembley Arena Please!
the atmosphere is that of a aircraft hanger, the only place the sound is anygood is at the front and you may be able to hear well but youll be unlikely to breathe! because there is no barrier system at the front to prevent a crowd surge. anywhere else the sound is either drowned out by tinny echo (nr front and sides),muffled and sounds like your listening to three stereos at once (the back)
The staff are in the best case confused and in the worst case morons.They havent a clue how to organise a crowd, or talk to us like were decent human beings.
If like me your not tall, i'm 5'2" and i have to wear platformed boots to see anything and thats only when i'm straining and or jumping up and down!so many kids who were at that gig saw only the backs of other people and heard very badly muffled sound.there is no seating so for families , people who wan to see better and disabled people, the only choice is right at the back where the vision and sound is greatly impaired, and thats only for about 40 people
The air is awful, there is no or little conditioning, and if you go to a high level at the arena and look onto the main floor, there is a thick haze caused by the people. no wownder i came home with a flu the time before i went to the Docklands arena.
I was only at the upper level too, to look for the cloakroom to put a bag, but when i found out they were charging £3 an item!, YES £3 AN ITEM! i turned round and walked away .
The bottle top policy is the daftest thing ive ever heard and seen. they remove the tops because of 'safety' because fans might throw them. sorry to say but a bottle (wether empty or not) makes a better projectile than the top does, unfortunalty ive had first hand experience of that
the thing is i dont want to drink all my water in one go, especially at the prices they charge, so i bring my own bottle top so i can keep my water to hand all through the gig! i never get checked because they dont search you, only your bags if you have one!, now if youve seen they way(nu :rollseyesmetal fans dress, all baggy trousers with BIG pockets, you dont need a bag to carry alot!talk about funny idea of security. i get checked more at nightclubs!ive been told of one story which makes me furious! a Korn fan dressed like jonathan in a cassock type coat and all gothed up was bottled as he was waiting to get in to the areana,by a yob who called him a fa###t ba####d! (sorry cant say it!)now what was worse still was that there was a arena security staff standing NEXT to him, who didnt do anything to stop the attack or help the fan, not even call him an ambulance because he could hardly stand up due to concussion. His friend had to drag him to a cab, and undoubltedy he missed his favourite band.
. WHAT THE HELL ARE THE SECURITY THERE FOR?! when fans who wish to emulate their idols cant even queue safely and thus miss the conserts theyve payed a lot of money for and more so waited with baited breath to see.i always am so happy when my fav bands announce their coming here, but my feelings soon turn to dismay when i find out their playing the Docklands Arena. GO back to the Wembley Arena Please!
Posted: 20:22 Sep 14 2002