Wembley Arena
| Wembley Arena | |
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 Wembley Arena |
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| Former names | Empire Pool (1934–1978) Wembley |
| Location | Wembley, London, UK |
| Opened | 1934 |
| Renovated | 2005–2006 |
| Owner | Quintain Estates and Development plc |
| Capacity | 12,500 |
| Tenants | |
| LiveNation | |
Wembley Arena is an indoor arena at Wembley in the London Borough of Brent, England. The building is opposite Wembley Stadium. It was built for the 1934 Empire Games by Sir Arthur Elvin, and originally housed a swimming pool, as reflected by its former name, the Empire Pool. The pool itself was last used for the 1948 Summer Olympics. The building is used for music, comedy and family entertainment, and for sport. Music predominates, as the arena doesn't currently have a tenant sports team.
Wembley Arena was renovated along with Wembley Stadium as part of the regeneration of the Wembley area. The Arena refurbishment cost £35m and the new arena opened to the public on 2 April 2006 with a concert by Depeche Mode. With 12,500 seats it is London's second largest indoor arena after The O2 arena and third largest indoor concert venue after the O2 and Earls Court One, an exhibition hall which regularly stages concerts.
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Music
When the venue was known as Empire Pool, it hosted the annual New Musical Express Poll Winners' Concert during the early 1960s. Audiences of 10,000 viewed acts like The Beatles (who performed there three times); Wings; Sir Cliff Richard & The Shadows; Joe Brown & The Bruvvers; Pink Floyd; The Rolling Stones; David Bowie; The Who; Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich; and many others; hosted by Jimmy Savile and Pete Murray. The individual performances were then finished by a famous personality joining the respective performer on stage and presenting them their award. The Beatles were presented one of their awards by actor Roger Moore; and Joe Brown was joined on stage by Roy Orbison to present him his. These were filmed and recorded and later broadcast on television.
A notable attendance record was set in the early 1970s by the performer David Cassidy, in his first tour of Great Britain in 1973 when he sold out six performances in one weekend.
In 1978, the Electric Light Orchestra sold out eight straight concerts (a record at the time) as part of their Out of the Blue tour. The first of these shows was recorded and televised, and later released as a CD and DVD.
ABBA also played six sold out concerts in one week in 1979, and one song from these concerts - "The Way Old Friends Do" - is on their album Super Trouper.
In April of 1994 Barbra Streisand began her 'Barbra-The Concert' tour with four performances at the Arena. They marked her first performances in the U.K. for 28 years and were the only shows outside of The United States. The opening song on the first night, 'As If We Never Said Goodbye', was recorded and transmitted on BBC TV's 'Top of the Pops'.
Pearl Jam hold the attendance record for one show, with 12,470 fans at their 2007 gig.[1]
Pop band Busted sold out shows at the arena a record 11 times in one year, in 2004.
Hanson played to a sold out crowd on their Albertane Tour on 16 June, 1998.
Kylie Minogue brought her 1990 Enjoy Yourself tour to a sold out arena and in 1991 she repeated her success with 2 sold out dates for her Let's Get to It Tour. In 2002, for her KylieFever2002 Tour, she sold out 4 nights in a row at the venue and did seven sold out in 2006 and 2007 for her Showgirl: The Homecoming Tour.
Christina Aguilera performed at the arena during her Stripped World Tour on November 2–3 & 5th, 2003. These performances were filmed & later released as a DVD, titled Stripped Live in the U.K., which was released on October 12, 2004.
Beyoncé performed, on two consecutive nights, at the arena during her Dangerously in Love Tour on November 10–11, 2003. Her performance on the 10th was filmed & later released as a DVD, titled Beyoncé: Live at Wembley, on April 26, 2004.
P!nk performed at the arena during her I'm Not Dead Tour on October 4th & December 4th, 2006. These performances were filmed & later released as a DVD, titled Pink: Live from Wembley Arena.
Sir Cliff Richard holds the record for the most headline shows by one artist, having played his 61st concert in the Arena in October 2009. Tina Turner is the female artist with the most shows at Wembley, with 26 and with 7 at Wembley Stadium, and Status Quo play their 44th Wembley Arena show on December 11, 2010.
Taylor Swift brought her Fearless Tour to the UK, her first major UK date was at the Arena, with Justin Bieber as her opening act. Swift sold out the arena, telling her fans in the early stages of the concert. Swift was then later greeted with a 10 minute ovation from the crowd after singing "Tim McGraw"
Artists that have played the "new" venue include Metallica, Warrior Soul, Dio, Bonham, Metal Church, Robbie Williams, Take That, Justin Timberlake, Backstreet Boys, Googoosh, Beyoncé, Lemar, Britney Spears, Rihanna, Ciara, Arctic Monkeys, Blur, Jean Michel Jarre, Limp Bizkit, The Cure, Mary J. Blige, KISS, Aerosmith, Def Leppard, Styx, REO Speedwagon, Heaven & Hell, Alice Cooper, Queensrÿche, Nickelback, The Corrs, The Spice Girls, Kylie Minogue, Elbow, ABBA, Bon Jovi, Billy Joel, Avril Lavigne, Cher, Neil Diamond, Gloria Estefan, Ozzy Osbourne, Pearl Jam, Sir Cliff Richard, The Eagles, Roxette, Diana Ross, Céline Dion, Anastacia, Girls Aloud, Status Quo, Il Divo, Placebo, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, Phil Collins, Paul McCartney, Led Zeppelin, Queen, George Michael, David Bowie, Roger Waters, U2, Meat Loaf, Tarkan, Westlife, P!nk, Elkie Brooks, Page & Plant, Guns N' Roses , Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Megadeth, 30 Seconds to Mars, Queen + Paul Rodgers, Bad Company, AC/DC, McFly, Judas Priest, Dave Matthews Band, Santana, Busted, Hard-Fi, Bruce Springsteen, Pussycat Dolls, Craig David, Mariah Carey, My Chemical Romance, Rush, James Morrison, Dream Theater, Symphony X, The Offspring, Robert Plant, Gwen Stefani, Muse, Mötley Crüe, Gurdas Mann, Dire Straits, Madonna, Kelly Clarkson, Parachute, Jonas Brothers, Demi Lovato, McFly, Girls Can't Catch, Taylor Swift, B.B King, Oasis, Foo Fighters, Fleetwood Mac, Fall Out Boy, Green Day, Spinal Tap, Pendulum,Regine Velasquez, Ogie Alcasid, Rammstein, Paramore, Brand New, Elton John, UTC, The Jam & ZZ Top among others.
Simple Minds & Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark will reunite at Wembley Arena on 7th of December 2010.
Biffy Clyro & The Futureheads are set to play Wembley arena on the 4th of December 2010 as part of their arena tour.
Bullet for my Valentine are set to play Wembley Arena on Sunday the 12th of December 2010.
Sport
Indoor sporting events such as boxing, MMA and ice hockey have long been popular at the Arena, notably the World Championship bout between then champion Alan Minter and challenger Marvin Hagler, which the latter won.
During the 1948 Summer Olympics, the venue hosted the boxing, diving, swimming, and water polo events.
The Wembley Lions and Wembley Monarchs were two ice hockey teams that used the venue reguarly during the 1940s, 50s and 60s, while the London Lions used the venue for a season in the 1970s. Wembley also hosted the British Hockey League play-off finals weekend at the end of each season up until the league's disbandment in 1996. The arena also playes host to NHL teams the Toronto Maple Leafs and the New York Rangers for a pair of challenge matches in 1993.
More recently netball, darts, basketball, five-aside football, cage fighting and The Masters of snooker have made regular appearances on the calendar. It hosted the final of the Whyte and Mackay Premier League Darts 2009 where James Wade triumphed against Mervyn King, who beat Phil Taylor in the semi-finals as he failed to successfully defend his 4 titles.
The Horse of the Year Show was held there from 1959-2002.
Other entertainments
The Arena also hosts comedy nights, with comedians such as Eddie Izzard, Russell Howard, Bill Bailey, David Baddiel and Michael McIntyre having appeared. Baddiel's appearance alongside Rob Newman in 1993 is widely regarded as being responsible for bringing alternative comedy into the mainstream. Lee Evans has played Wembley eight times while Ricky Gervais is booked to appear in 2010. Sean Lock was the first comedian to ever play the arena Flight of the Conchords have also sold out Wembley Arena.
In addition, Wembley Arena is also famous for its ice shows, including Holiday on Ice, Disney on Ice and the ice pantomimes which ran every Christmas at the Empire Pool from the Fifties to 1978.
World Wrestling Entertainment taped its flagship television shows Raw and SmackDown! at the venue on April 21, 2006 and April 22, 2006 respectively. The company returned in October 2007 with the 'Survivor Series Tour'. WWF Insurrextion 2002, which also emanated from this venue, was the last ever World Wrestling Federation pay-per-view; the company was re-branded World Wrestling Entertainment just two days later on May 6, 2002.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling held the final night of their UK Maximum iMPACT! Tour, on Saturday 24 January 2009, inside the Wembley Arena. On this night, the company set an all-time TNA attendance record of 8,100 fans.[2]
The bootcamp stage of The X Factor will be held at Wembley Arena in June 2010.
Square of Fame
With the reopening of Wembley Arena in 2006, a "Square of Fame" area has been created in front of the arena. Similar to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, notable Wembley Arena performers are invited to have bronze plaques imprinted with their names and handprints. The first star to have a plaque was Madonna on 1 August 2006.[3]
On 9 November 2006 Sir Cliff Richard added his handprints to the Square. Rick Parfitt and Francis Rossi of Status Quo unveiled a plaque with one of each of their handprints on 16 December 2006. On 9 January 2007 Kylie Minogue included her handprints on the final day of the London leg of her Showgirl Homecoming Tour.
Seven time World Snooker Champion Stephen Hendry added his handprints on 21 January 2007. International country superstar Dolly Parton unveiled her plaque on the final night of her UK tour on 25 March 2007.
Canadian music star Bryan Adams unveiled his plaque on 10 May 2007, just before his 25th appearance at the venue. Just three days later, the former Commodores frontman Lionel Richie was presented with his plaque on 13 May 2007, after another sold out performance at the Arena.
Members of the Irish boyband Westlife unveiled their plaque on 28 March 2008 in the Square of Fame after 27 sell out shows in the space of 10 years. They have sold 250,000 tickets in Wembley Arena. All four members Shane Filan, Nicky Byrne, Kian Egan and Mark Feehily were presented with a cast of their hands which can also be seen in the Square of Fame. Putting them as the arena's biggest selling pop band.[4]
References
- ↑ http://www.musicweek.com/story.asp?storyCode=29363§ioncode=1
- ↑ 411mania.com Wrestling - Various News TNA Tour Attendance, ROH Contracts, HDNet Details, More
- ↑ "Wembley Arena". LiveNation. http://www.livenation.co.uk/venues/venue_content.aspx?vrid=1065&wid=678. Retrieved 2007-04-04.
- ↑ http://www.whatsonwembley.com/Arena_Square.htm#WESTLIFE
External links
- Wembley Arena website Events Calendar for Wembley Arena
- Official Wembley Arena website Official Venue Website
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