SSE Arena Wembley

It’s big, but not vast. The seating is a little on the cramped side but not the worst place I’ve been to. The bars were efficient it’s all OK really. The big downside about the place is that if you’re towards the back of the arena the guys on stage look the size of ants. In a modern venue this big there are huge great screens displaying close up shots of the people on stage. Not here, if it wasn’t for the beards you couldn’t tell Miley Cyrus from ZZ Top they’re so far away.

I used to date a Rita and I also dated a Rina. She lived a little ways SSE of Oxford, my hometown.
I’ve been to see many artists play here, both when it was a really new and awesome venue, and more recently as it has deteriorated.
So this used to be one of the best arenas in England, but since then it has deteriorated, and there are so many new places for artists to play indoors that it doesn’t really compare favourably. It would need a severe makeover and I think that it probably will end up being closed down if it doesn’t get fixed up soon.
But for the memories alone I give it 3.

A very good venue in London. I wouldn’t want to be seated but that’s just my personal opinion on concerts. Very good sound quality whether you are close to the front or right at the back which is good because in some arena’s the sound does get a bit lost.
Only negative with this venue is the fact it is fairly hard to get a drink as the bar staff are quite slow but I think in most venues it does take some time to get served.

I got stuck in Mr. Peabody’s Way back Machine!
Retro nosebleed seating. Old heads from USA know what I mean. Glad I wasn’t seated up there. Bleachers from your high school gym.
Reto toilets. Not many. In working order but don’t expect all the taps to work or dispensers to be topped up with soap.
Retro food. Overpriced, low quality, limited selection. Fosters anyone? Didn’t think so.
Retro environment. Reminds you of school, yep, the Grange Hill version not the Breakfast Club.
On the plus side, the lighting & sound system is great. XFactor Live Show looked & sounded fab!
Also close to the tube so no issues getting in or out.

Doesn’t look particularly impressive, does not have a huge capacity but it has a sole … You can focus solely on the show or artist you are there to see. You won’t be distracted by the size and outlook (like Wembley stadium).
I also prefer the Wembley arena to the O2. It is smaller but I do believe it has more space for standing tickets … I never had a issue getting a standing ticket where as at the O2 they sell out really quickly.
Maybe the only negative point is that they do not have too many toilets and there is usually a que to the men’s room as well … this is anyway the part of the charm of a live concert /​gig.

Visited recently to see Jeff Dunham perform. The venue itself is next to Wembley stadium and looks somewhat characterless by comparison but no matter. It’s easy to get here by London Underground and entry and exit from the venue seem well organised.
Food and drink prices, although at somewhat of a premium are more keenly priced that at The O2.
As it so happens, the Jeff Dunham show is a very visual performance, so selling tickets to punters in blocks that are actually behind the screen is somewhat disgraceful in my opinion. No mention on the ticket or at time of booking, that it was a restricted view. Pretty poor effort in my opinion. Not sure who is responsible but somebody should prevent this happening again.

You wouldn’t think this venue could match up to its neighbour Wembley Stadium. It doesn’t look nearly as impressive and the events put on there aren’t nearly as popular as footballcup finals in its sibling rival.
But, I was treated to something truly magical in this building as a late birthday present. It’s not for everyone, but I would see it over football anyday (mainly because I hate football!) Cirque du Soleil is one of the most exciting, beautiful and astonishing spectacles you can ever see. Alegria, one of their oldest shows and set to end, was everything I hoped for and more. As a big Cirque fan, it wasn’t my favourite production by them but that’s like saying Kilimanjaro isn’t the tallest mountain in the world — at the end of the day, it’s still pretty damn high.
As birthday presents go, that will take some beating. Wembley arena on this occasion was definitely a diamond in the rough (reminds me of Aladdin, side point great film!!)

From the outside this venue looks like it’s had it days… it’s surroundings are not much better. It works though. Sitting right next to Wembley Stadium, it is set up to herd large crowds to and from the station to the entrance with ease, there are so many helpful staff to head people to the correct doors and once inside it’s pretty easy to move around.
We went to see the Flight of the Conchords, they were trialling different ticketing system then usual to ensure actual fans got tickets for face value rather than scalpers… it was sort of like an e-​ticket thing at the airport where you needed everyone in your party with you, the original credit card you used to buy the tickets and a print out of your confirmation… all good unless you card has expired or a friend was really late. But like I said the staff was super helpful and managed to get everyone in.
Back to the venue… it’s really much bigger inside than first appearances lead you to believe. In fact it’s huge! The setup is a bit odd as other before me have mentioned, the middle and rear seats are the only ones with direct face on view, the side terraces look directly down into what would be the mosh-​pit at a big concert, so you have to twist around a bit. Given the size though, the FOTC managed to fill the place with hilarity and reach out to the every one of the immense crowd.
I can imagine if you were at a full on concert it would be a little scary up in the gods, as the terraces are steep and there is not much room between rows. And judging from the dirty, sticky floor beneath the seats, people have had a whole lot of fun at previous events.
All in all, good venue, organised, bigger than you think, a little bit dirty, easy to get to and from (if not a little far if you live South) and if the show is good you will have a great time.

Not a bad venue at all. If you’re coming here for a comedy gig as I was, hopefully you’ll have banished any hopes for an intimate gig by the time you get off the tube. That’s not what this place is about. It’s huge, impersonal and a slightly strange set up where, if you’re on the side like we were, you’re turned awkwardly in your seat to face the stage. Enjoyed the show though, thanks Gervais!
Arriving in daylight for the first time, the place is a monster to look at. The runt child of architecture of days gone by, it wouldn’t be out of place on a commercial estate. Oh wait… it is surrounded by a commercial estate!
We enjoyed the weather by standing outside next to the fountain before we had to go in, taking advantage of the beer and food stand. Prices high, queues lengthy and quality poor. If the weather isn’t great then head inside — they’ve got a lot more bars inside and more range available.
Sure it’s a ballache to get all the way up to Wembley and back again, but what can you do eh? At least you get a close up view of the oh so impressive stadium. It was refreshing to not have to queue for the best part of an hour to get on a train home too — all too often the norm when up this way for the football.

One review mentioned that the arena was originally built for the Olympics. It shows, as it definitely seems like some sort of old sporting venue adapted for music shows. The place is a big rectangle with seats in the sides in a raised area all facing the center of the rectangle and the stage erected on one of the narrow ends. There are various food and beer stands lining the hallway just outside the seating and standing areas.
Having standing tickets, we were able to eventually meander our way front and center, but the entire standing area was like the Jubilee line in rush hour during the dead of summer…
After the show ended around 11pm we decided to grab a pint before leaving the area to let the first few waves of crowded tubes/​platforms subside. We probably walked around the neighborhood covering at least half the circumference of the venue with nary a pub nor bar in site ( Unilocal was no help either). We decided to head for the nearest tube station in futility and stumbled across a Wetherspoons just before the stop. «Ah what the hell, a quick pint anyways to diffuse the irritation.»

This venue is weird. Went to see the Arctic Monkeys a few weeks ago … we were sat down near the stage so had a great view of not only the band but also the absolute carnage that was happening in the standing area. People getting stomped on, carried out, etc. You would have thought they would have some sort of control.
Anyhow. band were ace… i just prefer a more intimate gig I guess

Woof.
I’m just not a fan of a venue that can pack 10,000 people inside a gigantic garden shed and still remain stuffy. I’m also not a fan of said venue having the weirdest seating ever. You know something is wrong when my Row F seat is worse than the top row of the very back seats. Note to all Londoners: Never get a seat in section S14. You will be facing the section across from you and will have to peer over the shoulders of your compadres to the left to get even the slightest glimpse of a band on a stage that seems miles away.
Not to mention the shabby acoustics. A friend of mine was lucky enough to have a standing ticket and said the sound was perfect… standing right by the sound board. Harumph.
I think Phil R. and I could have also done without the screaming drunk girl behind us. Never has one person ruined a concert for me so magnificently. She was the type of girl who had heard of one song by the band she was there to see, so spent the whole night instead getting drunk, chatting to her friend, and screaming along with everyone else, except LOUDER.
But I’m not bitter, really.
Overall, a pretty negative experience for my first time at the Arena. But I’m going back in January and this time I have a standing ticket. So I’ll update if things are drastically better!

Just saw Greenday at Wembley Arena. I may be biased towards my review of the venue because of how much of a Greenday fan I am, but the venue worked well. Qs for everything, even drinks, were very short, and even the Q for the tiny cloak room after the event was bearable. The transport out of the place wasn’t a train wreck, even though the jubilee, bakerloo and metropolitan lines in the area were all closed! TFL really stacked the odds against them, but it all cleared out very quickly.
I would give Greenday 5 out of 5 for their show. It was absolutely stonking! If not the best concert I’ve ever been to… I said I was a fan… Little bits like getting the audience up on stage, involved, and even jamming songs on their equipment, a toilet paper gun, a rocket propelled t-​shirt gun that shot free t-​shirts right across the arena really got myself and the rest of the crowd in the mood.
Only reason I’m giving 4 stars is the sound was a bit too high in the treble department, and did have moments of distortion. Altho that’s almost part of Greenday’s style I suppose…
All in all, a near flawless night.

Nostalgia value 5 stars. Unfortunately, with the O2 Arena raising the standards so high, it’s only loyalty that keeps some bands returning to the arena and the view of the fans?
The location seems almost odd now, in the middle of a residential area. No atmosphere around the venue. Good tune station but no parking and horrendous queues if you drive. Shabby inside compared to the O2.
So I salute you for the memories but my heart belongs to the O2 these days.

A great place to see large-​scale concerts and events.

Wembley Arena isn’t a great venue. But where else are you meant to see Bruce Springsteen?. Actually, maybe the 02. But I haven’t been there yet. Wembley Arena is the frustrating place that isn’t as small or genius as Brixton Academy, but isn’t as big and life altering as a Stadium; so you end up seeing your musical heroes in this, let’s admit it, dive.
It’s really fashionable to trash on the arena. Nobody really likes it. But I gotta say, I saw Springsteen here in ’02 and Counting Crows here in ’03 — and those were among the top experiences of my life, musically. The best event of my life musically was getting kicked out of the school choir when I was seven for sounding not dissimilar to a penguin that had just been stabbed.
I dunno, maybe it’s not so bad. They attract some top music here and the sound isn’t quite as bad as everyone makes out. And if you’re standing down the front at a rock gig, it’s as good as anywhere. And the view sitting up in the seating area isn’t so bad. I think Wembley Arena has 3 out of 5 written all over it.

Wembley arena is probably one of the most famous places for musicians to play in England. It is one of the landmarks for artists that when they are able to sell out Wembley arena they have finally «made it». Artists such as Madonna, Gwen Stefani, Led Zeppelin, Cher, the Rolling Stones and countless other legends are the ones with the clout to play Wembley. Besides music this arena also hosts ice shows, snooker, boxing, and horse shows. This diverse venue opened in 1948, to host the Summer Olympics, and is celebrating its 75^th anniversary in 2009, so look forward to some special birthday events for Wembley. There is of course a cloak room for your convenience and plenty of alcohol and snacks to keep you satisfied during an event, of course they will take the top off of your bottle of water, they say for security reasons, but I think its to sell more water because if its open you are drinking it, and can’t exactly take it home with you in your purse. There is usually a hospital crowd making sitting or standing acceptable. I always have a great night out at Wembley.