current 93 & nww, october 13 2018.
ground level isn't friendly to the vertically challenged, recommend a balcony seat if you want to see the entire stage. antiquated architecture and an amazing sound system made the night that much better.
My favorite restaurant in uk, I am regular customer in Shikumen. Delicious food, excellent service, nice atmosphere, anyway all is perfect I really like to go!
It was a great place, as the stage was very close and you could get a great view of it.
Playing here with Roo Panes today seems like a nice place to play
Great venue, great band (Manic Street Preachers) but the Guinness was appalling.
As a singer I've played here a few times and been in the audience so it's a great music venue
Great venue, been on many occasions. Also good that you have no numbered seating. Well worth going to.
Good venue for live music. Need toilets on both sides of the stage.. Bigger choice of craft beer needed, not just 2..
I attended Mika s concert there! I really liked the theatre, it doesn t matter where you seat, you will enjoy the show and have a great view!
Lake Street Dive last night. The venue is tatty, shabby, down at heel, resembling the Pollocks paperboard theatre kits that people assembled at home, "penny plain or tuppence coloured." I doubt this place cost tuppence. Seating is eventually like sitting on a rough plank.
The ...it's difficult to call them "ushers, guides, showers-to-seats", whatever - these awful single-digit IQ goons were clad in huge custard yellow thick plastic jackets with Security on the back and were all clearly from the Idi Amin School of Customer Service, or else potential recruits to Boko Haram or the Lord's Resistance Army. Thuggish (including the women), unsmiling, abrupt, pushy, hectoring bullies who had an obvious competition going as to who could answer a query in the fewest number of syllables. An utter disgrace to the London theatre world. Whatever they're paid it's WAY too much.
This was once a BBC venue to be hugely, immensely proud of. How are the mighty fallen into a lout-controlled slum.
The gig was carp too, but they can't be blamed for that.
(From Claire Campbell 3 years ago:
" I would never visit this venue again. I went to see the Levellers on 24th November and was refused entry at 7pm as I was apparently drunk, despite being perfectly coherent, polite and reasonable. After a further two attempts they finally let me in at 9pm. Unfortunately I spoke to at least another 5 people outside who were all having the same problem and who were also not drunk. The door staff were intimidating, rude and seemed to be randomly picking out people for some kind of power trip.
Unless I get an apology, I will never visit this venue again. The staff were the nastiest I have ever come across."
Claire - nothing's changed!
A beautiful old building. So good that it's still being used for entertainment
If you're small, don't get standing as the stage is very low. Excellent sound though.
Great old fashioned venue. Went to see Rend Collective and stood and had a reasonable amount of room.
I really enjoy a visit here. It's a beautiful venue and Police Dog Hogan, who we saw tonight, were on top form!
Fantastic venue. It was a really hot day and the staff were fantastic. Making sure all the girls were OK, handing out cups of water etc.. Everything was very organised and queues were kept to a minimum because of this. Small, intimate venue so the concert we went to was very inclusive and great for the little people. Thank you.
Perfect venue, old school to the max and serves cider now! Plus, the are always clean! Who knew!
Brilliant venue. Old BBC theatre. More intimate than most venues with classic decor.
Good music venue, great view from anywhere and fantastic sound.
Staff were cool
Toilets were baaaad but it's expected at places like this, the thing that let the place down mostly was the choice of beers which were awful, this though is down to O2 and the contracts they sign up to with suppliers.
Great venue and good sound.. really enjoy gigs there. Very high at the top circle so the view is quite distorted but still sounds great there should you find yourself up there. shame O2 have bought it (and other great venues) as the bars are expensive and full of poor quality beer and lager.. but as a music venue it's great. O2 have made this a 4 star not a 5 star rating for me
Great music venue, but a bit on the dated side. Really good acoustics and view from level three for Heaven 17, however the seating has seen better days.
Went to see the Struts, 26 Feb. It place was great and staff very helpful. Easy to find for out of towers like me. Quite a few places to eat and drink around the venue and not far from the underground.
Nice intimate venue but the seats are snall and unconfortable
I sat quite high on Lev 3. Didn't like it but the performance was great.
Not too big a venue and in good condition with decent aircon (never to be underestimated once a venue gets full). Stalls are all standing and there's 2 bars on both sides and loos to the right of one of them. Three more floors of tiered seating up on alll sides but a decent view from most seats. Has cloakroom too. Friendly staff.
Hated the stairs dread what would happen in an emergency.
Nice venue, small enough to still be personal which is great. We booked late and were only able to get tier3. Seats are hard and uncomfortable, floor is sticky. Is it too much to ask for something a little better than carpet over wooden benches and a clean floor.
Had brilliant experience during the gig, venue is nice, lots of space. During the gig is getting really hot there. Stage is not too big, what was quite a surprise, but also gap between stage and barriers is not huge.
Unfortunately after the gig staff is literally pushing you to leave even if you are waiting to buy stuff on the merchandise.
Good venue, pretty well laid out for the standing in the stalls. Though the musicians voice wasn't quite loud enough and was overpowered by the audience singing.
Stage is so low, so when you are in standing section you can't see the guitars the musicians are playing. Bizarre venue.
As a venue it was very expensive for drinks but the staff were friendly
Small venue where you can see your favourite artist really close. Nice bar.
This venue has hosted many iconic artists like Bowie, Roxy Music, Prince, The Who, as well as giving current bands/ singers a small friendly start up venue. It's similar to the Brixton Academy in terms of mostly standing room to view other than balcony and VIP seating upstairs. It boasts three bar areas so grab your drink, and bag a premium vantage point. I saw Procol Harum Novum Album promotion. Tight set, loads of banter with the audience, great sound production, not too crowded but you need to be lightly clad and not mind others presence, odours and all, up close and personal. Very quaint, vaudeville/ variety decor at odds with the performances. Would be fun to see more experimental gigs and interactive things happening in this space.
The best live music venue in London. Seen some amazing bands here and each time I come it gets slightly more special!
Great old venue wonderful sound in the room , very loud and very clear , great sight lines , really friendly and helpful staff. Plenty of bars so no problem getting a drink and good prices , lots of Loos and easy transport links to pretty much anywhere in London.
A wonderfully intimate atmosphere to watch your favourite artist!
If there is a music act or artist I like playing at the Shepherd's Bush Empire then I will always book a ticket because it is my favourite place in all of London to watch a gig.
It fits quite a lot of people in the venue but somehow retains this intimate atmosphere. The ground floor is standing then the floors above are seated, more like a theatre.
You feel so close to stage and the artists always interact with the crowd, it's great.
I just love it here and highly recommend going to see a gig there.
Great historic venue with loads of charm and character.
Saw Sinead O'Connor tonight. WOW! Absolutely stunning. Perfect venue!
What a historic place, saw Brandon Flowers, bit cramped but expected for such an old place.
Nice decoration, good layout, comfortable but doorway is a bit chaotic and accoustics are not great.
Venue itself is great, good size, plenty of seats, toilets, bars. Downside was the strobe lighting facing the audience. Totally ruined my experience. Check in advance if you have issues.
Decent venue. Sound was poor at times but got beers quick. Easy to get in and out from smoking area and friendly staff all over
Atmosphere and its Tommy tiernan, what's not to enjoy?
I'd advise you to be careful selecting your ticket. Better of in the centre of the theatre. If like me you were daft enough to pick a seat end of isle,you spend you time getting up to allow people time to get there drinks and the the same people time to go to the toilet caused by the drinks the had earlier.
Beautiful theatre style venue. It feels cozy - I can't imagine there's a bad seat!
Some bench seats need to be replaced as they look disgusting.
Great gig with good view of the stage. Seats though are far to small which is fine if you're a small child. I was wedged between two large men.
This is one of London's best venues. The former BBC theatre and before that a variety hall in multi levels. On arrival showing our ticket to the very friendly and helpful Showsec staff got us into the right q. We entered quickly with bag searches taking place. Once in the stalls area has a bar at the back and one at the side plus a merchandise area next to the toilets staircase. There was also a cloakroom.
The views in this venue are all great as you would expect in a former theatre. The atmosphere is brilliant because everyone is so close to the action on stage. With a 1500 capacity it feels a big gig but also feels intimate.
The night we went we saw Starset. A band from USA who put on a stunning show with great visuals and the whole venue was rocking. Doors at 7 first band at 7.30 to 8 and then Starset from 8.30 to 10pm. A great evening in a fantastic venue.
Ps the square outside has loads of small restaurants and takeaways including KFC, Macdonald's etc and it is really close to Shepherds Bush underground on the Central Line. The area is much improved in recent years and the venue has been refurbished to a high standard as well.
Great venue for a gig. Beautiful place. Beer rather expensive but what you might expect with a captive audience!
This is a smaller venue, but it's a great place to see bands.
If you are not a fan of 'The Pit' there is a raised area towards the back which has excellent views of the stage.
Sometimes the sound in these venues is poor, but the Empire sounds great. Seen a few acts here over the years, some name, some not, and I have enjoyed all of them.
Parking is non existent so you are at the mercy of public transport.
I saw Wardruna on 22/11/18, acoustics were great, the cloakroom needed more than 1 attendant for a sold out gig, 30 minute queue! Great acoustics and beautiful venue. Just wish they had raised the stage. I was in the stalls and I'm nearly 6ft but I could only see the bands heads from the middle of the room. Welcoming staff efficient and got the entrance queue down quickly. Easy to find and only 10 minute walk from the train station.
Definitely the worst O2 in London. No question for me. Really agro security, slow coat check and just poorly laid out. Would have to be a really good band to get me back
Left it late to check for ticketsand couldn't find hem. Ahhhhhhh!!!! Bought the tickets on seetickets who sent them an email at the last minute. We arrived at the venue and they had the tickets sorted for us. Awesome guys thanks so much!!!!!!!
The two mikes show is here on Sunday. A great venue for a great show expected. Alot of great stars played here.
Nice intimate venue, but as usual, only lager or Guinness, with piss-taking prices
Great place for performing arts and culture. More good comedy show
Cool venue, but not that great for concerts. difficult to see anything from anywhere but the seated places and the VIP areas.
Very hot as well during gigs.
As many other venues, looks very cool inside, but when you're there for a concert all you want is a cool place and a nice view... Won't get that here.
