Cardiff International Arena

There are good and bad sides to this concert venue. I'll start with the bad first! It reminds me of a school hall, you could literally walk into an assembly at times, it has the 1980s gym feel about it. So like a school hall the sound's alright but I don't think it's great. That's about it for the bad for me. You can forgive the venue it's old fashionedness because they seem to be getting better and better acts. It's right in the centre of Cardiff which is excellent if you want a couple of drinks before you go to the concert. It's walking distance to both train stations and there's an NCP car park right at it's entrance (in Jan 2009 cost ...  Read the complete review

I really dislike this venue, and try and stay away from it as much as possible. I literally groan with displeasure when I find out that my favourite acts are playing there, knowing that I'll probably stump up the cash to see them in this atmosphere vacuum. The venue holds around 7500 people, so for Cardiff is the only place for bands who are too big for the University but aren't big enough for the Millenium Stadium. Some of the artists I've seen there include the Strokes, Kasabian, Muse, Kings of Leon, Oasis, Blur, Manics, Foo Fighters, the Mighty Boosh. Let's hit the pros first - well, what pros we have. The location is great - right in the centre ...  Read the complete review

I attended the Cardiff International Arena for the first time on Saturday 28th February 2009 to see The Killers. While their performance was as good as I had expected, I was disappointed with the accoustic quality of this so called arena. I had been expecting an arena sized venue and was shoked and dismayed to find that it was only about the size of an average basketball court, and that the floor had lines of loose blocks laid into it, presumably where partition walls could be erected to divide it into even smaller areas, which rocked so badly that I almost lost my balance several times during the evening. As is only to be expected in most music venues, all food and ...  Read the complete review

My main problem with the CIA is the politeness of the staff. Although I can appreciate they are probably used to dealing with thugs and drunks, that is no excuse for talking in a generally patronising manner to everyone they speak to. Prior to going into the anena, we were made to get completely off the steps, pushing the thousands of people behind us back and yet the minute everyone get off the bottom step they allowed us in. I mean come on, we were not a bunch of Primary School Children and refusing to all anyone entry because they are at the base of the steps, simply to rub in your power is absurd. Inside was pretty good, though perhaps they ...  Read the complete review

Cardiff International arena is one of the smaller arenas in the UK with a capacity of 7,500. The arena holds both seated and standing concerts. I have sat from front row to the very back row of the balcony and also attended standing concerts. I think the view in all flat seated stands is very clear. The view from the balcony is somewhat limited but still alot better in comparsion to most venues where you feel like you are watching from the sky. There are two large sceens projected up so people can enjoy the experience no matter where they are sitting. The sound quality varies. Pop concers the sould tends to be fairly clear and not too loud but as expected when ...  Read the complete review