The One
10th June 2007, 05:50 AM
Take a seat inside the new Dome
By Robert Mendick, Evening Standard 07.06.07
http://i.thisislondon.co.uk/i/pix/2007/06/03a_07_dome-arena_243x136.jpg Dome sweet Dome: the first picture inside the 02 arena which will seat 20,000 but the owners promise it will feel intimate
http://i.thisislondon.co.uk/i/pix/2007/06/03a_07_jagger_243x284.jpg Rush for seats: corporate boxes have sold out, lured by concerts featuring the likes of the Rolling Stones
This is the first look at the spectacular new concert arena inside the Millennium Dome.
With 20,000 seats and acoustics described as “four times better” than the Royal Albert Hall, the venue, renamed the O2 arena, should mark a turning point in the fortunes of the monumental white elephant.
The arena is part of a vast £350 million entertainment complex inside the dome, which also comprises a smaller music venue, a cinema complex, restaurants and bars, an exhibition centre and a beach which will transform into an
ice rink in winter.
The Evening Standard was given exclusive access ahead of the arena's opening night on 24 June, when Bon Jovi plays a sellout concert there, six and half years after the Dome was mothballed.
New owner AEG Europe said annual corporate boxes, costing up to £175,000 each, had already
sold out. AEG insists they represent good value.
For a typical 18-seat box, companies have paid £150,000 — or about £8,500 for each seat for the year. But with AEG promising some 150 shows a year — ranging from pop concerts to boxing — that works out at about £60 for each event. The boxes, fitted out with sofas, bars, kitchens and
flat-screen televisions, ring the middle two levels of the arena.
Already 1.2 million advance tickets have been sold for concerts by Barbra Streisand, Prince and the Rolling Stones. The Streisand concerts
alone are expected to generate in the region of £3 million for each performance. According to
AEG, this makes the main arena the highest-grossing in the world outside New York.
The company threw down the gauntlet to other music venues in London, including the Royal Albert Hall, Wembley Arena and Earl's
Court.
It claims “superior” backstage facilities will draw the best performers to the dome, and said the number of lavatories — 600 compared to about 200 at Wembley Arena — would add to its attractiveness for audiences.
The smaller concert venue, the IndigO2, is to hold concerts by Elvis Costello and Aimee Mann.
The 02 exhibition space will host a Tutankhamun blockbuster in November.
AEG Europe has even bought high-speed boats to ferry passengers to the complex.
David Campbell, president and CEO of AEG Europe, said: “This is light years different to anything else in London. Its acoustics are the best in London — about four times better than the Albert Hall and five times better than Earls Court.
"We have created something that gives a great atmosphere, great sound and feels intimate even though it will hold 20,000 people.”
Boxes at the new Wembley are available on three, five, seven and 10-year terms with prices from
£60,000 to £270,000 per year. At the Royal Albert Hall, a share of a box was put up for sale for £385,000 earlier this year on an 81-year lease.
The original Dome, costing around £789 million, proved to be an ongoing embarrassment for
Tony Blair as costs rocketed.
By Robert Mendick, Evening Standard 07.06.07
http://i.thisislondon.co.uk/i/pix/2007/06/03a_07_dome-arena_243x136.jpg Dome sweet Dome: the first picture inside the 02 arena which will seat 20,000 but the owners promise it will feel intimate
http://i.thisislondon.co.uk/i/pix/2007/06/03a_07_jagger_243x284.jpg Rush for seats: corporate boxes have sold out, lured by concerts featuring the likes of the Rolling Stones
This is the first look at the spectacular new concert arena inside the Millennium Dome.
With 20,000 seats and acoustics described as “four times better” than the Royal Albert Hall, the venue, renamed the O2 arena, should mark a turning point in the fortunes of the monumental white elephant.
The arena is part of a vast £350 million entertainment complex inside the dome, which also comprises a smaller music venue, a cinema complex, restaurants and bars, an exhibition centre and a beach which will transform into an
ice rink in winter.
The Evening Standard was given exclusive access ahead of the arena's opening night on 24 June, when Bon Jovi plays a sellout concert there, six and half years after the Dome was mothballed.
New owner AEG Europe said annual corporate boxes, costing up to £175,000 each, had already
sold out. AEG insists they represent good value.
For a typical 18-seat box, companies have paid £150,000 — or about £8,500 for each seat for the year. But with AEG promising some 150 shows a year — ranging from pop concerts to boxing — that works out at about £60 for each event. The boxes, fitted out with sofas, bars, kitchens and
flat-screen televisions, ring the middle two levels of the arena.
Already 1.2 million advance tickets have been sold for concerts by Barbra Streisand, Prince and the Rolling Stones. The Streisand concerts
alone are expected to generate in the region of £3 million for each performance. According to
AEG, this makes the main arena the highest-grossing in the world outside New York.
The company threw down the gauntlet to other music venues in London, including the Royal Albert Hall, Wembley Arena and Earl's
Court.
It claims “superior” backstage facilities will draw the best performers to the dome, and said the number of lavatories — 600 compared to about 200 at Wembley Arena — would add to its attractiveness for audiences.
The smaller concert venue, the IndigO2, is to hold concerts by Elvis Costello and Aimee Mann.
The 02 exhibition space will host a Tutankhamun blockbuster in November.
AEG Europe has even bought high-speed boats to ferry passengers to the complex.
David Campbell, president and CEO of AEG Europe, said: “This is light years different to anything else in London. Its acoustics are the best in London — about four times better than the Albert Hall and five times better than Earls Court.
"We have created something that gives a great atmosphere, great sound and feels intimate even though it will hold 20,000 people.”
Boxes at the new Wembley are available on three, five, seven and 10-year terms with prices from
£60,000 to £270,000 per year. At the Royal Albert Hall, a share of a box was put up for sale for £385,000 earlier this year on an 81-year lease.
The original Dome, costing around £789 million, proved to be an ongoing embarrassment for
Tony Blair as costs rocketed.