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Coordinates: 51°30′10.79″N 0°0′11.28″E / 51.5029972°N 0.0031333°E / 51.5029972; 0.0031333
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Changed it to include the fact that Michael Jackson is dead.
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*The arena will also open the 2009 summer leg of [[Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna]]'s [[Sticky and Sweet Tour]] on the 4th and 5th of July.
*The arena will also open the 2009 summer leg of [[Madonna (entertainer)|Madonna]]'s [[Sticky and Sweet Tour]] on the 4th and 5th of July.


*[[Michael Jackson]] is scheduled to play [[This Is It (Michael Jackson concerts)|50 concerts]] from July 2009 to March 2010, making it the longest residency at the arena.<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7939104.stm</ref> All 50 dates sold out within a few hours of their release, for both the presale and general sale phases.
*[[Michael Jackson]] was scheduled to play [[This Is It (Michael Jackson concerts)|50 concerts]] from July 2009 to March 2010, making it the longest residency at the arena.<ref>http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7939104.stm</ref> All 50 dates sold out within a few hours of their release, for both the presale and general sale phases. However, since his death on June 25, 2009, it is unclear how the promoters will proceed.


*[[Nine Inch Nails]] are to play the venue which will be their last UK arena show for at least 10 years according to the band's front man [[Trent Reznor]]. They will play the show with [[Jane's Addiction]] as main support which makes the show part of the NIN/JA arena tour heading across the globe in [[2009]].
*[[Nine Inch Nails]] are to play the venue which will be their last UK arena show for at least 10 years according to the band's front man [[Trent Reznor]]. They will play the show with [[Jane's Addiction]] as main support which makes the show part of the NIN/JA arena tour heading across the globe in [[2009]].

Revision as of 22:41, 25 June 2009

This article discusses the arena within the larger entertainment venue known as The O2. For information about the rest of The O2, please refer to The O2 (London).

51°30′10.79″N 0°0′11.28″E / 51.5029972°N 0.0031333°E / 51.5029972; 0.0031333

The O2 arena
Map
LocationThe O2 arena
The O2
Drawdock Road
North Greenwich
London, SE10 0BB
England
Coordinates51°30′10.79″N 0°0′11.28″E / 51.5029972°N 0.0031333°E / 51.5029972; 0.0031333
OwnerEnglish Partnerships
OperatorAnsco Arena Limited (Anschutz Entertainment Group Europe)
Capacity23,000
SurfaceVersatile
Construction
BuiltBetween 2003 and 2007
OpenedSunday, 24 June, 2007
ArchitectPopulous (then HOK Sport)
Structural engineerBuro Happold
Services engineerM-E Engineers
General contractorSir Robert McAlpine

The O2 arena, typeset as The O2 arena for branding, is a multi-purpose indoor arena located at the centre of The O2, a large entertainment complex on the Greenwich peninsula in South East London, United Kingdom. It is the first American style arena in London.[1] With a capacity of up to 23,000 depending on the event, it is one of the largest indoor arenas in Europe.[2] Heavy metal band Metallica currently hold the attendance record at the arena. On the 28th April 2009, 19,017 fans attended the bands third show at the O2 in six months. [3]

Background to the arena

Construction of the arena started in 2003 and finished in 2007. Due to the impossibility of using cranes inside the dome structure the arena's roof was constructed on the ground within the dome and then lifted. The arena building's structure was then built around the roof. The arena building, which houses the arena and the arena concourse, is independent from all other buildings in The O2 and houses all the arena's facilities. The whole arena building takes up 40% of the total dome structure.

The seating arrangement throughout the whole arena can be modified, similar to the Manchester Evening News Arena.[4] The ground surface can also be changed between ice rink, basketball court, exhibition space, conference venue, private hire venue and concert venue.

The arena was built to reduce echoing which has previously been a problem in many London music venues.[5] The sound manager for U2, Joe O'Herlihy, worked with acoustic engineers to introduce measures such as sound absorbing material on the arena roof and the bottom of strategically placed seats to reduce echoing.

Despite The O2 arena being open for only 7 months of the year, the venue sold over 1.2 million tickets in 2007, making it the third most popular venue in the world for concerts and family shows narrowly behind the Manchester Evening News Arena (1.25 million) and Madison Square Garden in New York (1.23 million). In 2008 The O2 arena is expected to become the world's busiest venue taking the crown from Manchester's MEN Arena with sales of more than two million.[6]

Musical events

  • Anschutz opened The O2 arena on 23 June, 2007 with a free event for all of the building's employees billed as The O2 premiere featuring Peter Kay, Tom Jones, Kaiser Chiefs and Basement Jaxx, with the show hosted by Dermot O'Leary. This was before the official reopening to the public and preceded a programme of events set to launch the venue over summer. Snow Patrol then played a concert to an audience made up of sponsors, local residents, local business employees and winners of an online competition.
  • Bon Jovi played the first open-to-all concert at the arena on 24th June, 2007.
  • Keane played a sold out concert on 21st July 2007 which was filmed and released on DVD.
  • Sir Elton John played his first Red Piano Show concert outside of Las Vegas in September 2007 here, with another two shows in December 2008, one on 31 December to see in the New Year. This was broadcast live on ITV1.
  • The O2 arena became synonymous with major acts hosting significant residencies at the venue. This precedent was started by Prince's 21 nights at the venue and has since been followed by the Spice Girls performing 19 shows and Kylie Minogue scheduling 7 for July-August 2008. The Arena also played host to Led Zeppelin for a one-off concert on 10 December 2007. This was followed by Britney Spears who sold out all 8 nights in June 2009 and Michael Jackson selling out 50 Dates from July 2009 - February 2010 (see below)
  • Fall Out Boy continued their Believers Never Die: Part Deux World Tour in March 2009.
  • On 8 August, 2008 Tiësto became the first DJ to perform at The O2 arena in London as part of his In Search of Sunrise 7 summer tour, which sold out with a capacity of 20,000 people. The event lasted for 5 hours with a 200m2 LED wall, a 200,000 watts sound system, and 300,000 more watts of lighting.[citation needed]
  • Metallica played a special charity show at The O2 arena to celebrate the release of their ninth studio album entitled Death Magnetic.
  • Tina Turner performed at The O2 arena on the 3rd, 4th, 7th and 8th of March. The performance scheduled for 11 March 2009 was postponed until 3 May 2009 <[7]. This was the first time Tina has played the United Kingdom for nine years. Turner, who officially retired from live performance eight years ago, decided to tour again after performing at the Grammys with Beyoncé. "The response was overwhelming," she said. "Everywhere I went people were asking me when I was going back on tour again. So after a lot of thought and planning we announced an American tour. Now Europe beckons!" These dates are part of her Tina: Live in Concert Tour.
  • It was announced on 26 November 2008 that Pop's Biggest Icon Britney Spears will play at the arena on the 3 & 4 June 2009 as part of her hugely anticipated The Circus Starring: Britney Spears tour. But due to an enormous demand, an extra 6 shows were added; these are the 6th, 7th, 10th, 11th, 13th, and 14th of June 2009, which, as of January 2009, have all sold out.[8]
  • The O2 arena will also play host to AC/DC as they kick off the Black Ice World Tour United Kingdom leg with two dates at the arena. The shows sold out in under 10 minutes for each concert.
  • The Pet Shop Boys played the arena on the 19th of June after receiving their Outstanding Contribution to British Music Award at the BRIT Awards 2009.

Enrique iglesias performed here on friday 15th of may for his greatest hits tour as his last tour in england with support acts of Esmee denters and Alesha dixon, and enrique doing covers of prince's purple rain it was a truly amazing night!!!

  • Michael Jackson was scheduled to play 50 concerts from July 2009 to March 2010, making it the longest residency at the arena.[9] All 50 dates sold out within a few hours of their release, for both the presale and general sale phases. However, since his death on June 25, 2009, it is unclear how the promoters will proceed.
  • Nine Inch Nails are to play the venue which will be their last UK arena show for at least 10 years according to the band's front man Trent Reznor. They will play the show with Jane's Addiction as main support which makes the show part of the NIN/JA arena tour heading across the globe in 2009.
  • Green Day are set to play two shows at the arena in late October as part of their first UK tour in four years.
  • Pearl Jam will play the O2 Arena on August 18th 2009, a rare London show for the Seattle band.
  • Miley Cyrus Sold out the arena within 10 minutes for 2 dates of the european leg of her Breakout Tour featuring Metro Station Due to the success of ticket sales, Cyrus added 2 more dates which also sold out.
  • (Britney Spears) Opened the European leg of her Circus Tour performing 8 sold out dates.

Sports events

WWE at The O2 arena

The first sporting event to take place was the Commonwealth Boxing Lightweight Championships featuring Amir Khan on July 14, 2007. The arena has also hosted two National Hockey League contests, which started the 2007-08 NHL season, on 29 and September 30, both involving the Anschutz-owned Los Angeles Kings and their regional rivals from Southern California, the Anaheim Ducks.[10]

An NBA exhibition match between the Boston Celtics and the Minnesota Timberwolves took place at the arena on October 10, 2007. The game sold out more than three months beforehand. The arena is expected to also host the Miami Heat and New Jersey Nets (NBA) pre-season games for the 2008-09 season.[11]Just like the previous NBA exhibition game, Tickets for the game sold out three months beforehand.[12]

The arena hosted the first ever Turbo Tennis Tournament on 15 September 2007 which was won by Andy Murray. From 2009 until 2012 it has been selected as the venue for the ATP World Tour Finals,[13] and will be used for the 2009 World Gymnastics Championships.[14]

WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment), have also used The O2 arena to host its television shows Monday Night Raw, Friday Night Smackdown!, and ECW (Extreme Championship Wrestling). With the taping of Monday Night Raw and an episode of the now defunct Heat broadcast on 14 April 2008, with Smackdown! and ECW being taped the following night, 15 April. It has been announced that WWE are bringing the TV tapings back to The O2 arena in April 2009, following a WWE Friday Night SmackDown house show at the arena in the previous November. Raw is slated to be taped Monday 20 April 2009, with Smackdown! and ECW the night after, 21 April 2009. The Main Events were announced on theo2.co.uk and were Triple H vs Randy Orton for the Raw taping and Triple H vs Randy Orton for the Smackdown taping with the added stipulation of being in a steel cage. WWE are returning on Wednesday 11 April for a Raw house show which is being marketed as the 'DX Invasion Tour'

During the 2012 Summer Olympic Games it is scheduled to be the venue for the artistic gymnastics, for which it will have a spectator capacity of 16,500, and for basketball finals, for which it will have a capacity of 20,000.[15] Due to IOC sponsorship regulations, it will officially be known as North Greenwich Arena 1 during the games. The rest of the basketball competition will take place at one of the arenas in the Olympic Park[16], A 6,000 seat temporary venue called North Greenwich Arena 2 will be built nearby and will stage the badminton and rhythmic gymnastics events.[17]

Rumours of a sports team taking a tenancy have circulated from time to time. The London Towers basketball team was one possibility, but it folded as a professional team in 2006. There were also whisperings in 2002 of the London Knights ice hockey team relocating to The O2 following the closure of the Docklands Arena but the team went out of business in 2003. The combination of the arena's great revenue generating capacity as an entertainment arena and the commercial fragility of basketball and ice hockey in the United Kingdom makes it unlikely that there will be a sporting tenant in the foreseeable future.

The arena has hosted a number of mixed martial arts events under the Ultimate Fighting Championship promotion, including UFC 75, UFC 85, and UFC 95.

The arena was a sell-out when it hosted 6WF Born in Fire in November 2008

Other events

There are other events held inside the arena, which are not either musical or sports events. These include Disney On Ice and High School Musical On Ice. Other such events include Viva La Diva, Strictly Come Dancing live tour, Dancing on Ice tour, the New Years Event, and the Scouts Live '07 event.

In May 2008 Chris Rock became the first comedian to play the arena, breaking a Guinness World Record for the largest audience for a comedy show,[18] though this was never an official record and has since been broken by German comedian Mario Barth.[19] Lee Evans, Steve Coogan and The Mighty Boosh all appeared at the arena in 2008, followed by Canadian stand-up Russell Peters in February 2009. High profile stand-ups Russell Brand, Al Murray, Michael McIntyre and Eddie Izzard are all performing in 2009.[20]

In June 2008, the London auditions for the fifth series of The X Factor were filmed at the arena, as well as the Bootcamp segments been shot in the indigO2.

The arena also hosted The Simpson's Movie, High School Musical 2 and The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian Premieres, and also an advance screening of Die Hard 4.

The O2 arena held the scouting event Live 07 in 2007 to celebration of the centenary of the scouting movement.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The O2 (London).

References

  1. ^ http://www.theo2.co.uk/web/guest/aboutus
  2. ^ Take a seat inside the new Dome| Music | This is London
  3. ^ [1]
  4. ^ Audience Systems - Audience Systems wins contract at O2 Arena
  5. ^ BBC NEWS | Technology | Dome's hi-tech refit for The O2
  6. ^ thanks in part to the Spice Girls 17 night stint at the venue attracting over 250,000 concert attendees. The lemon Dome that was transformed into O2's concert crown - Telegraph
  7. ^ http://www.tinaturnerlive.com/ Tina Turner Live
  8. ^ "Britney Europe Leg Sold Out". Spears's Official Website. 2009-02-11. Retrieved 2009-02-11.
  9. ^ http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/7939104.stm
  10. ^ "NHL Takes Its' Act on the Road — To England". Retrieved 2007-03-02.
  11. ^ "www.nba.com/europelive2007/sold_out_london_070625.html". Retrieved 2007-07-04.
  12. ^ "NBA Preseason Game in London Sells Out". Retrieved 2008-07-29.
  13. ^ "www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2094-2415720,00.html". Retrieved 2007-07-04.
  14. ^ "main.london2012.com/en/news/archive/2005/may/2005-05-27-14-00.htm". Retrieved 2007-07-04.
  15. ^ "North Greenwich Arena 1". Retrieved 2008-10-19.
  16. ^ "Basketball Arena". Retrieved 2008-10-19.
  17. ^ "North Greenwich Arena 2". Retrieved 2008-10-19.
  18. ^ "Review of Chris Rock at the O2 Arena in The Independent".
  19. ^ "Largest Comedy Audience record broken".
  20. ^ "Forthcoming events at the O2 arena (Official Site)".
Preceded by Olympic Basketball tournament
Final Venue
2012 		Succeeded by
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