Entertainment comes to Belfast (Odyssey Arena)

Member Name: SaveMeTheMoney

Product:	Odyssey Arena
Date:	27/01/09 (62 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Big acts now come

Disadvantages: Expensive tickets

The Odyssey Arena is a fantastic arena, a great venue for sports, music and all kinds of various attractions!

The Arena itself can fit in 7000 people for big concerts and hockey matches. I was there when it opened back in 2001, when President Clinton came and opened the venue. It was an emotional day, that dawned a new era for Belfast and Northern ireland. Such a landmark building would not have been possible many years before.

I was a big fan of ice hockey back when the arena opened, hardly missing a match in the first two years. The atmosphere was truly second to none, in Northern Ireland anyway. Those nights were really memorable for the great friendly atmosphere.

The acoustics for concerts are surpirsingly quite good and I have seen a variety of acts, from Oasis, to Lionel Ritchie to Steps to Radiohead and all (well nearly all, but that had nothing to do with the acoustics!) sounded great.

I am proud of the Odyssey arena and it will soon host Beyonce, probably the biggest female solo singer in the world at the moment - Belfast has come a long way.

The Odyssey is very centrally located to the City Centre. Now that the Victoria Square shopping complex is open and the Titanic Quarter building is well under way, it will become even more in the 'centre' of things.

You really can spend your whole day at the Odyssey, as beside the arena in the pavillion are restaurants, bars, night clubs, a comedy club and even a cinema! You can even keep the kids entertained at W5, a kind of permanent science exhibition at the Odyssey.

Downside would be the price of the car park - but then my advice is leave the car and have a beer! Also the price to go to concerts is astronomical unfortunately and I would say is only rarely worth it.

Summary: Thaqnkfully a big draw for the world's biggest artists