LG Arena (The NEC)

Member Name: bod1

Product:	The NEC
Date:	01/11/09 (74 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good venue

Disadvantages: A little pricey

I recently went to the LG Arena, Birmingham NEC only last week (28/10/09) to see the fabulous Green Day. I had not been for about 4 years and I can't believe how its changed!

The price of the car parking for a kick off! Be aware that on top of the price of your ticket for the gig if you go by car you will have to pay for the pleasure of parking it. I payed £8.00!
Although it was very well organised with marshalls directing you where to go. On leaving the car park the traffic flowed through quite easily, which is pretty good when there are thousands of people all trying to get out at the same time.

We had seated tickets so we were told to go straight through the main entrance which was great as there wasn't any queing there, but for the poor souls who had standing tickets they were left waiting in the cold in a very long line!

The inside of the arena has really gone up market from the dowdy sorry state it used to be. It looks clean and modern with different areas to sit. You get the feeling of space even with all those people in it , you don't feel crammed in at all. Amenities are well signposted and there were helpful staff to point you in the right direction. There were plenty of loos to choose from around the outside of the actual arena and they were well laid out and clean with paper towels in abundance!(makes a change)

If you're hungry you would definitely find something to suit your mood. It has everything from chicken wraps to pie and mash, although I didn't try any of the delicacies on offer I'm sure you would need to take out a second mortgage judging by the price of the drinks!
£1.70 for a coke and the same for water!

There were two huge merchandise stands so you got served really quick and easily without all the pushing and shoving which usually goes off!

The actual arena seems to have stayed more or less as I remembered it. There were lots of staff to show you to your seat and they had other staff going around selling drinks, saving you the trip to the bar once you were sat down.

The lighting and effects during the concert were fabulous and the only gripes I have is that there were no screens either side of the stage. Luckily we had a great view but for the people right at the back I'm sure it would 've been like watching ants perform. There was a central screen at the back of the stage but with all the rigging and lighting the view was a bit obscured and when it did show the band the pictures were really pixelly.( Maybe we were too close to it so the view from the back would have looked ok)

Overall a great venue if a little pricey!

Summary: cenral location,well laid out but £8 for car parking!!