| Wembley Arena | |
|---|---|
| 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 |
| Website | wembleyarena.co.uk |
| Tenants | |
| LiveNation | |
Wembley Arena (originally Empire Pool) is an indoor arena, at Wembley, in the London Borough of Brent. The building is opposite Wembley Stadium.
Contents |
It was built for the 1934 Empire Games, by Arthur Elvin and originally housed a swimming pool, as reflected by its former name, "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.
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, an exhibition hall which regularly stages concerts.
Since its opening in 1934, Wembley Arena has become the third largest indoor concert venue and London's second largest indoor arena, having hosted concerts by the world's most famous artists, spanning many different genres of 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), Cliff Richard & The Shadows, Joe Brown & the Bruvvers, The Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart, 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 Cliff Richard was joined on stage by Roy Orbison, to present him his. He also received a letter of congratulations from Elvis Presley. It was 1963 when Richard won best male solo artist worldwide outstripping Elvis, Richard having sold more records that year than any other musical act worldwide. These were filmed and recorded and later broadcast on television.
Sir Cliff Richard has sold the most shows out at the venue. Headlining 63 shows at the venue with his first headliner being in 1984 and his latest being 2009. He has since chosen the O2 Arena to stage his shows, probably because of the higher capacity.
Cliff Richard holds the record for the most headline shows by one artist, having played his 61st concert in October 2009. Tina Turner is the female artist with the most shows, with 26 and with 7 at Wembley Stadium.
A notable attendance record was set in the early 1970s by 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) during their Out of the Blue Tour. The first of these shows was recorded, televised and later released as a CD/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.
Meat Loaf performed two consecutive shows during his 20/20 Tour, on March 1 and 2, 1987, which were recorded and later released as a live album entitled Live at Wembley.
The Cure performed and recorded their show in July 1989, which was later released as a live album entitled Entreat.
George Michael performed four consecutive shows during his Cover to Cover Tour on 19–20 and 22–23 March 1991. During the final show, on the 23rd – Elton John made a surprise guest appearance and together they sang, as a duet, "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me". This was recorded and released later that year, becoming a massive hit, with even greater success than the song's original release in 1974.
In April 1994, Barbra Streisand began her Barbra – The Concert Tour, with four performances at the arena. They marked her first performances in the UK after 28 years and were the only shows outside of the US. 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.
The Spice Girls performed nine sold-out shows, during their Spiceworld Tour, on 14–15, 18–19, 21–22, 25–26 and 28 April 1998.
Christina Aguilera performed during her Stripped World Tour on 2, 3 and 5 November 2003. The shows were filmed and later released as a DVD entitled Stripped Live in the U.K..
Beyoncé performed on two consecutive nights, during her Dangerously in Love Tour on 10 and 11 November 2003. Her show on the 10th was filmed and later released as a DVD entitled Beyoncé: Live at Wembley.
Pink performed two shows during her I'm Not Dead Tour on 4 October and 4 December 2006. They were filmed and later released as a DVD entitled Pink: Live from Wembley Arena.
Pearl Jam hold the attendance record for one show, with 12,470 fans at their 2007 gig.[1]
Dream Theater performed their Progressive Nation headlining concerts in 2007 and 2009 in the arena. They're playing their 2011 "A Dramatic Tour of Events" show with Mike Mangini for the first time live in 2012.
Bob Dylan has performed at the arena 12 times over his career selling more that 150,000 tickets.[2]
Taylor Swift brought her Fearless Tour to the UK and her first major UK date was at the arena, with Justin Bieber as her opening act. She sold out the arena. Swift was later greeted with a 10-minute ovation from the crowd, after singing "Tim McGraw".
McFly have performed at the arena seven times over their career, selling more than 70,000 tickets there.
The Masters snooker tournament annually takes place in the Wembley Arena during the month of January since 2006.
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.[3]
The Wembley Lions and Wembley Monarchs were two ice hockey teams that used the venue regularly 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. Whyte and Mackay Premier League Darts also hosted the playoff finals in 2010 at Wembley Arena when Phil Taylor won the title beating James Wade and making history by being the first dart player to hit a 9 Darter in a final, and being the first dart player to hit 2 9 Darters in a darts match live on tv! The 888.com 2011 Premier League Darts Finals also took place at Wembley where Adrian Lewis beat Phil Taylor 8-3 in their semi-final but ultimately lost against Gary Anderson 10-4 in the Final itself on the same night.
The Horse of the Year Show was held there from 1959–2002.
For the 2012 Summer Olympics, the venue plans to host the badminton and rhythmic gymnastics events.[4]
Three major British Wrestling shows were held at the venue between 1979 and 1981. The first of these on 13 June 1979 was headlined by a match between Big Daddy and Mighty John Quinn. The second, on 11 June 1980, was headlined by a tag team match pitting Daddy and Wayne Bridges against Quinn and Yasu Fuji. The last show, on 18 June 1981, was headlined by a match between Daddy and his longtime archenemy Giant Haystacks[5]
World Championship Wrestling held the main London show of their Spring 1993 UK tour at the venue on 11 March 1993. The headline match saw the WCW World Heavyweight Championship change hands as Sting captured the title from Big Van Vader. The 11,500 attendance figure was WCW's highest ever up to that point.[6] WCW returned to the venue in 1994 with a show headlined by a match between Hulk Hogan and Ric Flair.[7]
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling held the final night of their UK Maximum iMPACT! Tour, on 24 January 2009, inside the Wembley Arena. On this night, the company set an all-time TNA attendance record of 8,100 fans.[8]
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.[9]
On 9 November 2006, 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, 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, after 27 sell-out shows in the space of 10 years. They have sold 250,000 tickets. 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.[10]