A musical dome (The O2 (formerly the Millennium Dome))

Member Name: wendz86

Product:	The O2 (formerly the Millennium Dome)
Date:	30/01/09 (235 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Big, lots to do

Disadvantages: Seats can be scary, expensive

I never went to visit the O2 when it was the Millenium Dome but have visited it many times to go and see concerts since it became The O2. I have been to see Justin Timberlake, Take That, Backstreet Boys, Spice Girls, Pussycat Dolls and Lee Evans. I live in London now so is a very useful location for me although it is at the other end of London.

Tickets for events are easy to get for the O2. You can buy tickets from the website, they are also sold on the phone. Many other ticket retailers such as TicketMaster sell tickets for this arena as well. If you are an O2 customer sometimes they give you a priority code so that you can buy tickets. I have used this before and do not think the tickets were any better but could be worth doing. The tickets tend to get sent out a few weeks before the event, although sometimes I have had them only a week before. Prices of tickets vary according to the event and also where you are sat. I have had tickets from between about 25 - 75 pounds.

The O2 is easy to get to on the tube, it is located at North Greenwich which is in the South east of London. It is on the Jubilee line. You can also travel there by car, bus and there is even a boat that can transport you to the centre. I have never tried any of these methods though. Once you get to the tube station you come up the escalators and then the O2 is right outside so you do not have to walk far. They have a wide walkway round the outside with lots of pictures of fans at various concerts, which is quite interesting to see. When you walk round you come to the main entrance, which has loads of doors allowing a lot of people to enter and leave at the same time.

Inside the O2 there are loads of bars and restaurants and also a cinema and a night club. The restaurants include Pizza Express, Gaucho, Tapa Tapa, Wasabi, Frankie and Bennys, Nandos and Zizzis. As you can see there is a wide choice of food. I would say though that when I have been the queues for these restaurants have been very big so big so I would suggest that if you want to eat at one of these you come with plenty of time before the concert. There is also more fast food style food served once you are inside the arena part such as chips, nachos and hotdogs. All of the food is fairly pricey so I would suggest if you are trying to save money to eat before you get there. There are also bars including slug and lettuce where you can grab a drink before the concert. I have never been to the nightclub but they do quite a lot of big events there. They also often have after parties for some of the concerts. In the Winter they have had an ice skating rink and also a mini ski slope. There is quite a lot to do at the O2, so you could go even if you weren't attending a concert. It is all fairly pricey though.

To get into the arena part there are two entrances. One is right in front of you when you enter the O2. The other one is all the way around the other side of the O2, this involves walking all the way around past all the restaurants etc. Your ticket tells you which entrance you should be entering from. Last time we went there was a massive queue at our entrance so they said we could go round to the other entrance, which we did, and you can still get to your seats. Once at the doors they check your tickets. They also check inside your bags. One warning they do not allow you to take bottle lids into the arena, so they will take the lid off your bottle. So drink any drinks before you go in. You can buy drinks inside the arena, including alcoholic beverages. There are toilets scattered around the arena. When we went to see the Pussycat Dolls they changed some of the men's into ladies, as there were so many girls there.

There are three levels of seating. There are the seats on ground level at the bottom. I have sat In these when seeing the Spice Girls and I would say unless you are near the front these are not great seats as I could not see anything because everyone is on the same level. The next level of seats is graduated so you can see a lot better. I find these the best seats to be sat in as you can see well even if you are towards the back. Some acts such as Take That have a second stage in the middle and these seats are great for having a good view of this. There are corporate boxes above this level where companies can take people to concerts. Then there is another level, which is literally up in the heavens. I have sat here once and was scared to stand up until the people in front stood up. They are very steep seats and very high up which makes it harder to see the show. I can imagine people who are scared of heights would not like these seats at all. These seats are cheaper but I would not recommend them. The arena also usually has large screens so if you are further back you can see what is going on.

When leaving the arena it gets very busy and if you are leaving from the back entrance you have to walk around with thousands of people which can make it quite slow. There are also always big queues to get into the tube station. They only open one door so that the station is not rammed with people. It does mean you end up getting pushed through the door by the crowd though. Once inside the tube station it is not too bad but I would suggest walking to the end of the platform as these carriages are usually emptier. The last tube runs around 10 past 12, so you have plenty of time to make it out.

Overall I would say the O2 is a great new music venue and a lot more useful that the Millennium Dome was. It is said to be the most popular music venue and I can see why.

Summary: A good music venue