I've been to see artists such as Bowling for Soup and Sum 41 at Southampton Guildhall within the last few months. It's not a bad venue at all. This review is based on going to see live music acts.

It books several well known acts, mainly comedians and musicians and is well equipped for either. The seating/standing area is huge, a very open area. Capacity varies depending on the event, but there is permanent seating on the balcony which overlooks the arena but they are quite far back and wouldn't want to even try them out for a show. Either side of the arena both sides have a bar which sells alcoholic and soft drinks as well as snacks, but they are very pricey (Double Southern Comfort and lemonade was £6.20!!!), so I wouldn't recommend buying anything unless you're treating yourself or someone else. During live music though it does get quite warm especially if you're deep in the crowd and they do hand out free cups of water so you can be poor and still hydrate yourself! For toilets and a cloakroom you'd ahve to leave the arena and go downstairs, I didn't see any disabled toilets while I was there but I'm sure they'd have some located sensibly.

Determining prices of events going on depend on the act that's playing. A concert typically costs around the £20 mark which is very reasonable, with the comedians varying dramatically, depending on their popularity.

I've recommended going to the Guildhall to friends and they've enjoyed its atmosphere as wel as the act they've gone to see. I've never been to see a comedian there though I do anticipate gonig to some future shows to see what they've like. It's not perfect but it's the biggest Southampton has for that range of entertainment.