HMV Forum Reviews

Great building with good ambiance. Sound is fine, but it depends on the people.

I was in the o2 forum kentish teathre for a metal concert, some lacuna coil, italian band, the theater is compact, but the view is beautiful also from above and even in the side seats, there are no seats or armchairs, but only steps, where, however, it is easy to get up to go to the bathroom or get a drink.
Price not very high, but obviously it varies depending on what show there is

Large venue with Ska Reggae Festival every Easter weekend all weekend

Was there for the Reel Big Fish/Less Than Jake concert. Totally overbooked/overcrowded and the cloakroom queue was a horror. Waiting 45 min to get a jacket back is not something you wanna do. And the securities were really unfriendly.

One of the best live venues in London. Just about the right size

Venue is a short walk from the tube station, not a big place and if I'm honest it sounded quieter than most gigs I go to. We went to see The Wildhearts and this review is not about them but the venue. The levels felt like they need tweaking a bit, I know this is anyways a difficult thing to get right, but the funds needed more ring as everything sounded like it was just a bit too heavy on the bass. Staff were ok, (nobody ever looks happy on the door). A good night tho..

Great venue, good beer selection, good transport links...top place!

Ace venue. Beer prices a bit steep, but it is North London...

Really nice venue, the staff were pretty nice and I enjoyed my time there.

Idles were incredible but the choice of beer was not

Great venue, fantastic sound and reasonable bar prices.

went to see Chic- first time at the venue. Great venue for gigs - massively packed but reminds me a lot of a smaller Brixton Academy. I'll stop being lazy and sticking East for gigs and would venture there again - one to watch for more popular gigs.

Went to see Alborosie - great gig and place for it. Beer choices very mainstream, security quite full on but hey ho it s how it is. Good crowd.

Amazing place. One of the best concert venues in London.

Nobody is coming here based on reviews, are they? People are coming here to see a gig.

Great night. Was the second last night for Funeral For a Friend. Was packed but still an overall good night

Really enjoyed the venue, would be pleased to go back for another gig, the o2 academy's don't disappoint

It was alright. Staff were decent but it was way too packed for the space in the venue. Decent service and fun night but too many people in there. 6/10

I liked it, all black, friendly staff. The video screen though could be bigger according to the dimensions of the stage. See you next time Black Celebration!

A really lovely venue for concerts. 2 minutes from the Kentish town tube station, and the tube station isn't particularly crowded. Very close to kings cross, so was able to catch a train after the concert.

There are two types of tickets: standing and unreserved sitting. Standing sold out very quickly, so I had to go with the seating ones. I tried to buy tickets 2 month before, so I really mean "quickly".

The first 5 rows of the unreserved sitting are sitting-only, you're not allowed to stand up. The seats are on benches, and the balcony is quite big. I was in the second block of balcony seats and both the sound and the view were amazing.

You will need to queue outside for a good spot. I came at the time doors opened and the queue was already massive. So come in advance. Come before the opening time. There is one queue for the entrance, which then splits into standing and sitting queues.

Not sure if there is a cloakroom, but with sitting tickets you can take your bag with you. Would definitely recommend the venue.

Awesome finally being able Jawbreaker, sound was great, show was perfect.

From the various O2arenas around London this one is my favourite, I saw my favourite band here so might be that that makes it so special.... But plenty of room for everyone 3bars I really enjoyed my evening at this venue

Unbearable sound! It was my first time coming to this venue for the awesome powerful voice of Alice Russel & Quantic live band, I had quite good expectations. It started with a DJ support act, something around electronic ambient, the sound wasn't famous, but I thought to myself: well, it will get proper when the main act starts. Went to the bar to get some drinks, staff were helpful, but drinks seemed a bit overpriced. Quantic and his band comes on the stage (just 2 hours after the time on my tickets as the show time) and guitar, piano, drums, bass, and brass (trumpet and Sax) start playing. I noticed straight away that the drums snare and brass sound were way too loud, and could hear an annoying clear echo everytime they were played. The sound doesn't improve and after a couple songs, Russel comes in together with 3 other back singers, and it doesn't get any better, actually the loudness and echoing just get worse as the time passes by, with no improvement at all, to a point I decided to leave for the sake of my ears This was the first time I left a concert due to the bad quality of sound. Not sure if it was the acoustic of the venue itself, the audio engineer, or both, just came with the certainty that I won't be coming back to this venue that soon.

Overall, I found the sound just too bad for a professional performance like this and for a venue that seems to host so many renowned artists.

It was an amazing place and lovely atmosphere, also kept very clean.

First time standing at Kentish Town a few months back and was at the barrier and we were given advice about how to deal with pushing. They were good with crowd surfers too.

Door staff were rude and judgemental apart from one guy. Drinks are pricey and too many ticket options offered meaning that queueing is complicated and often fruitless.

2300 capacity venue with huge downstairs standing area. When it's full expect long waits at the bar and a lot of hubbub. Sound quality varies but have seen some outstanding gigs in this building over the years

Really great venue. All of queuing done outside, coupd get a little cold.

Great venue for gigs! Intimate, yet big enough to hold a lot of people! Definitely worth a visit to see you favourite artists.

A great music venue with a great atmosphere and beautiful decor.

Saw the Specials here. I use the word "saw" as loosely as possible as it was so rammed we couldn't even see the band. I would say the gig was a few hundred people over-subscribed; everyone was rammed in, even at the back was tight. We left halfway through. Other people seemed to be enjoying themselves though. Perhaps we're just getting too old :-)

Staff were great, got us our VIP bracelets even though we were late. Had to stand at the back though because of this. Had a great time! Nice, intimate venue.

I've been to the forum a couple of times. Once for a Trailer Park Boys live show and yesterday as part of an all day post-rock/metal festival. The venue is a great size - large enough for reasonably big names, but still small enough to feel intimate. It reminds me a lot of how the Apollo used to be in Tottenham Court Road. Drinks are priced as you would expect. Door staff were a total pain though - after the gig was over, we moved outside and the door staff started getting really pushy about moving us - way beyond the threshold of the complex. And they were pretty rude about it. This kind of ruined it for me, which was a shame as I'd had a good time up until then. Otherwise a good venue I would recommend.

Great venue for music shows. Great art deco design.

Went there for Kane Brown. The show was great - the venue is all right. It would have helped if they promoted the event saying "doors open at 7 pm, show starts at 9:15" so that you know if you get in line 2h before doors open, the wait will be 4 hours rather than 2.

First time here for The Specials gig. The concert/sound was excellent, but as is usual and these venues, drinks are hugely inflated hence few people buy them having just come out of the pub a few doors down - tip there. Toilets are also abysmal. Staff seem efficient and friendly despite the often confrontational role they have to play.

Nice venue but gets hot inside .could do with air conditioning

It's a nice medium sized concert hall. Not the best view, but great sound.
Beers are extortionate, but I'd expect that.

Lovely staff and facilities. it's a decent size with seating in the top and standing up in the bottom. Great sound and lighting for a fun concert

Excellent concert, the door staff were very unhelpful.
It was an extremely hot night, I mean intensely hot.
The door staff would not allow us to open the inner doors to let fresh air in..

Great venue, been going here for many years. Fantastic gig tonight, staff were friendly, both venue and security.

Event was way overbooked and left people there packed like sardines. I ll refuse to go there again even if my favourite artist was performing. The crowd control was also really bad when leaving the venue

Friendly staff, decent venue. Definitely needs some ventilation, place gets ridiculously hot

Went for AJ Tracey and had an incredible experience. Venue is great for grime and hip hop events

Good sound but could hear a lot of noise during quiet passages. Probably from the bar area. Also, upstairs was unbearably hot (summer time)

One of my favourite venues, gives freedom to people wanting different gig experiences seperating standing depending how caught up in the crowd you want to be

FREEZING COLD! I don't recommend this place at all. Tried to watch Daniel Sloss standup comedy and almost froze to death!