Going to see concerts is always a huge thing for me because I do like many music artists but when I was given a ticket to see Lady Gaga at Twickenham I had to go.

~~~ What Is Twickenham Stadium? ~~~

Well if you're a fan of the rugby in this country most people will say it is used for the England rugby team and cup finals for the teams in the leagues.

This is an 82,000 capacity stadium played on grass in London and has over 150 executive suites. I heard it was built over 100 years ago and is a huge stadium which dominates the area it is situated in.
The stadium is used for concerts and this is why I visited on September 8th 2012 to see Lady Gaga perform.

~~~ Getting There and Parking ~~~

Getting to Twickenham was really easy because the Sat Nav found it without me having to put in the post code. You will find though if you're using perhaps an older Sat Nav if you place a stadium in Twickenham it might get confused and take you to the Twickenham Stoop which is another rugby ground.

The roads getting to Twickenham are good and the one downside perhaps would be any incident on the motorways or the traffic congestion which can build up around the stadium before the event. Some of the roads I was told can be closed off so if you know shortcuts they might be ineffective.

There is a car park situated on the site of the stadium but it is fully booked very quickly which is annoying to say the least. I unfortunately found out 2 days before I would be going to see the concert so I had to really look hard at finding adequate parking.

If you visit some websites where people promote their homes for parking spaces you can find plenty near the area. The one downside is the price you can pay which can be upwards of £20.

Sometimes schools open up for people to park and they will always charge a set price but you need to locate these online as well. I found on the day that near the stadium some areas of business were opened up for you to drive into and they had prices for parking as well. It is just a chore to find somewhere.

The tube and train options in terms of getting to the stadium are good but prices and also how far you need to walk might put people off. You have at least a mile to walk if you get the tube or visit one of the train stations nearby such as Richmond. This is why this stadium can be complicated to park and get too especially if you have someone who is disabled in some way.

~~~ The Stadium and Eating ~~~

The stadium is huge instantly from the outside is looks enormous but it also looks old fashioned in my view. I had to walk around the stadium to find the entrance I needed to visit for the concert and as you walk around you do see areas which perhaps show how old the stadium truly is.

The parking was easy to see outside the stadium and the fun part was some homes where opening up hotdog stands for people to buy so whether these were the owners of the homes or people paying to use their land is anyone's guess.

Inside the stadium your greeted with a search as is common practice now and I again had to unscrew the cap from my bottle and enter with a drink which could spill at any time which is just so annoying but I see why they do this for security measures.

Inside the stadium the place was very clean and tidy and you had plenty of places to visit the toilet so this is good especially if you have an interval and everyone is rushing to use the facilities.

I found it weird inside the stadium that they had places to eat and drink but little in terms of places to sit down and eat. Compared to perhaps Wembley stadium which I have been to a few times which has seating this venue seemed to offer very little.

The seating was plastic but very uncomfortable after a short while because you need to have more leg room. I found myself trying to put my leg over the person next to me often because it was so compact in the area we were sat which was frustrating.

~~~ Atmosphere and Staff ~~~

The atmosphere was loud but not to the point where you couldn't hear yourself think. I had sat down and when the concert did begin you could hear noise from the fans singing away but it was not as loud as I expected it to be.

I think the stadium perhaps is not the best for creating sound during the concert and perhaps if the seating all around was used the volume and atmosphere would have been better. The stadium was half empty due to the stage being so big and taking up half the stadium and seating.

I found the staff very pleasant and with me being a bit dumb when it comes to finding my own seats they escorted me directly to them without any fuss. You can find at some venues the staffs gets very agitated with you for asking for help so I found them very pleasant.

I perhaps would have liked to have more around at the end of the concert because it seemed some people needed help on where to go and the staff seemed to disappear almost like they wanted to avoid the amount of people demanding help from them.

~~~ My Visit ~~~

When I found out the gates opened at 4.30pm for this event I left my home at 2pm and because of the constant road works and delayed speed changes it meant I had to take my time getting there so I arrived at 4.30pm.

I did book my space for someone's home and it was such a good moment to find I had booked a space right outside the stadium so it would take me just a mere 5 mins to walk up to the entrance area.
As I approached the stadium you saw more fans approaching and to be honest I couldn't believe they had police horses because I didn't feel it was needed I did see about 8 horses or so. There was nothing about them which I found intimidating but you never knew at a venue like this.

The stadium looked huge and it was not as if you had to climb up any steps to reach the entrances at all because it was on a level surface but it perhaps looked bigger on the outside then it does the inside. The seating was obviously going to be a problem the longer you sit.

They had a few bands on to start with and one of those was the Darkness who were terrible and perhaps made me deaf with their poor sound and singing performances. Then came the moment Lady Gaga was about to enter which was sadly 15 minutes later than advertised.

As she entered it dawned on me I cannot actually see her. The stage was huge and we could hear her very well but I was on the opposite side of the stadium and the television monitors they have got situated around the store to help sort of look at the performer were not great.

We did find that during her performance she kept on speaking a lot perhaps too much about herself and although it was interesting to hear her speak about things she could have perhaps sang more songs in the meantime.

As the concert finished it was so easy to get out and leave. They opened up doors to let us out and we found the home we parked our car at and we then sat there and waited a few minutes and we were allowed to leave.

I have found that if you visit this venue for rugby stadium that before and after the event you can have problems leaving the stadium due to police shutting roads off so this is a warning to people. On the day I visit this did not happen and it was a pleasant journey home with no stoppages which was excellent.

~~~ Final Thoughts ~~~

I found the venue in terms of atmosphere for the concert average it was not as loud as I would have hoped it would have been. I think the problem was the stage filled up the entire stadium and that perhaps drowned out the volume of noise.

If you paid £70 which is what I did for my seat with a friend we had issues even seeing her on stage so if you were further up then we were it was like ants moving around on stage but you could hear plenty of noise.

Parking is a major problem but so is getting there by tube or train stations. Although there are a few tube stations nearby and a few train stations you need to look carefully online before setting out mainly for the price you need to pay.

If you want to eat there is plenty there and the staff were excellent overall in terms of attitude and helpful behaviour. I perhaps found the limited resources to sitting down a problem but if you're like me and enjoy eating your food quickly than your be alright.

Overall it was a pleasant experience just wish the ticket was half the price for what I did see.

~~~ Stadium Information ~~~

Address -

Whitton Road
Twickenham
London
England
TW2 7BA
http://www.rfu.com/TwickenhamStadium