Plymouth Pavilions

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Plymouth Pavilions

Location	Plymouth, England
Opened	1991
Owner	Plymouth City Council
Tenants	Plymouth Raiders (BBL)
Capacity	Concerts: 4,000 Conferences: 2,500 Basketball: 1,480

The Pavilions is an entertainment and sports complex in Plymouth, England. As well as a indoor swimming pool, it also has an indoor ice rink, several restaurants and an events arena. The multi-functional arena is available for corporate hire and also plays host to shows and concerts, including Green Day and Judas Priest in 2005, Arctic Monkeys, Kaiser Chiefs, Elkie Brooks, Sugababes, Jack Johnson and Lostprophets in 2006 and My Chemical Romance, Trivium, Bloc Party, Enter Shikari and Kanye West in 2007, with Kanye West's show selling out in 4 hours. The standing capacity for concerts is around 4,000. In 2008 Kelly Clarkson performed, Avril Lavigne on June 01st performed an sold out concert. Jimmy Carr and Lee Evans will both be performing at the Pavillions this year

The Pavilions is built on the site of the former Millbay railway station. The granite pillars which can be seen outside the main entrance were once the gate posts to the station.

[edit] Basketball

The arena is home to the Kularoos Plymouth Raiders professional basketball team, who compete in the elite British Basketball League. The Raiders have one of the biggest fan bases in British basketball, and games are often played in front of sell-out crowds of up to 1,480 people.

Despite being one of the most unusual looking basketball arenas in the country, the venue features one large two-tiered stand and a smaller temporary stand situated on the events stage, the Pavilions has a fine reputation of being one of the best. Renowned for its off-court entertainment including laser light shows and pyrotechnics, the actual playing court is deemed by many fans to be unsuitable for top level competition, despite hosting several England national team matches in 1997.

The arena has been home to the Raiders since 1996, when the team moved in from the nearby Mayflower Centre looking for a bigger venue to play at.