Earls Court Exhibition Centre

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The Earls Court Exhibition Centre (also known as Earls Court Arena or often simply Earls Court) is located in West London, England on the boundary between the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and Hammersmith and Fulham.

It is served by two underground stations, Earl's Court and West Brompton, opposite its entrances on Warwick Road and the Old Brompton Road.

1 Construction
2 Earls Court Two
3 Music Concerts
4 Other Events
5 References
6 External link

[edit] Construction

Earls Court was largely a waste ground for many years. With the introduction of two stations, it became a mass network of rail on derelict grounds. The idea of introducing entertainment to the grounds was brought about by an entrepreneur called John Robinson Whitley who used the land as a show ground for many years. Whitley did not profit from his efforts, yet his desire had decided the future of Earls Court and its purpose in later years.

In 1935 the land was sold and the new owners decided to construct a show centre to rival any other in the world and to dominate the nearby Olympia exhibition hall. The plan was to create Europe's largest structure by volume. The project did not go exactly to plan; it ran over budget and was late in completion. Earls Court finally opened its door to the public for the chocolate and confectionery exhibition on the 1st of September 1937. It was designed by architect C. Howard Crane. The Motor Show and Commercial Vehicle show soon followed. In spite of all the problems in the latter part of construction, the project was completed at a cost of 1.5 million pounds. This building is now usually referred to as Earls Court One

[edit] Earls Court Two

In response to the drastic need to increase Earls Court's exhibition space, Earls Court Two was constructed at a cost of £100m. The striking new barrel-roofed hall which links with Earls Court One via folding shutters is large enough to hold four jumbo jets and the hall's 17,000 square metre floor is entirely column-free. The hall was opened by Diana, Princess of Wales on 17 October 1991 for the Motorfair. Earls Court 2 is situated on part of the former Lillie Bridge.

[edit] Music Concerts

Although the venue is frequently criticised for being echoey it is still one of the most popular arenas to play in the UK with a capacity of around 19,000, including standing, meaning it is often chosen over venues such as Wembley Arena by bands with a large fan base. Musicians who have played at the venue include:

Listed in chronological order with name of artist and date of concert

David Bowie performed on 12 May 1973 (show not sold out) and 29 June 1978.
Pink Floyd performed the Dark Side of the Moon suite on 18th-19 May 1973 to two sell out gigs. The band also played six nights 4th-9 August 1980 for its performances of The Wall. The exercise was repeated one year later as the band played five nights 13th-17 June 1981 for attempts at filming and recording the live Wall performances, which were later released on Is There Anybody Out There? The Wall Live 1980-81. In 1994 the band played on 14 October their first of a recordbreaking 14 nights at this venue and was filmed and recorded on P*U*L*S*E (album) & P*U*L*S*E (film).
Slade performed to 19,000 on 1 July 1973. The show was filmed but has never been released.
Led Zeppelin performed for five sold out nights in May 1975. Footage from the concert was filmed and was released twenty eight years later on the Led Zeppelin DVD. This series of concerts is widely considered by fans to be amongst the best of the band's career.^[1]
The Rolling Stones performed six nights of 21st-23 May and 24th-26 May 1976 as part of their "Tour of Europe '76"
Queen performed 6th-7 June 1977 and filmed footage has been widely bootlegged.
Genesis performed on 23rd-25 June 1977, six sold out shows in November 1992 (videoed for The Way We Walk DVD) and one show in 1998.
Supertramp performed three nights in May of 1983 on their Famous Last Words tour which was their final tour with member Roger Hodgson.
Oasis performed on 4 November 1995 and 25th-27 September 1997
R.E.M. performed on 22nd-23 June 1999 as part of their 'Up' tour
Spice Girls performed five nights in December 1999
Iron Maiden performed in June of 2000 as part of their "Brave New World" tour in support of their reunion album Brave New World and returned in December of 2003 as part of their "Death on the Road" tour which was in support of the album Dance of Death. And twice again on the 22nd and 23rd December 2006 as the final dates of their A Matter Of Life And Death world tour.
U2 performed 4 sold out shows during August 2001 on their Elevation Tour.
Madonna played 6 consecutive nights at the venue as part of her 2001 Drowned World Tour. She played 2 nights at the venue as part of her Re-Invention Tour in 2004. It is said in the media that Madonna doesn't like Earls Court because she thinks it's old and dated, and only likes the venue because of its size. Contrary to this in 2006 she will play 8 nights at Wembley Arena, a venue smaller than Earls Court.
Paul McCartney performed April 19 2003
Radiohead performed on 26-27 November 2003
Fleetwood Mac performed on 29th-30 November and 10 December 2003
Stereophonics performed 16th-17 December 2003
Metallica performed on 19th and 20 December 2003
Morrissey performed 18 December 2004
Muse performed to sell-out crowds on 19th and 20 December 2004 and later released some of the video footage on their Absolution Tour DVD in 2005.
Kylie Minogue played 7 sold out nights from 30 April to 2 May and 4th to 7 May 2005
Coldplay performed 14th-16 December 2005 to sell out crowds.
Foo Fighters performed 17th and 18 December 2005
Duran Duran played on 22nd and 23rd December 2005, as the final dates of the Astronaut world tour.
Give It a Name festival was held on 29th and 30 April 2006
Red Hot Chili Peppers performed July 14th - 18th 2006.
George Michael performed from the 25th to the 29 November 2006
Kasabian played on 19 December 2006, a gig that has already entered Earl's Court folklore.
Razorlight played on 8 April 2007 to a sell out crowd, as lead singer Johnny Borrell ran around the stage topless for the duration of the concert.

Earl's Court will also play host to Roger Waters on 11th and 12 May 2007 and the Give It a Name festival on the 27th, 28th and 29th of April 2007.

[edit] Other Events

Earls Court hosts many shows and exhibitions throughout the year, including the Ideal Home Show and the BRIT Awards. The MPH Show, one of Britain's largest motoring exhibitions and shows, hosted by Jeremy Clarkson and other famous presenters takes place here each winter, alongside an earlier showing at the NEC, Birmingham. Each summer from 1950 to 1999 Earls Court Exhibition Centre was home to the Royal Tournament, the First, Oldest and Biggest Military Tattoo in the World.

It housed two World Wrestling Entertainment Insurrextion shows in 2000 and 2001. These were initially shown on live pay-per-view exclusively to the United Kingdom on Sky Digital, then later released worldwide on DVD. Earls Court will host WWE's worldwide TV shows, RAW, SmackDown! and ECW on April 23 and April 24, 2007.

Earls Court will also host the Volleyball competitions in the 2012 Summer Olympics. The volleyball events were scheduled for the Multi-Sport Arenas in the Olympic Park.