The acoustics in this venue are amazing. If this review was on acoustics and charm and the feel of this venue, I'd award all five stars but unfortunately, this review is about the experience as a whole. So, here we go.
I've been to two shows at Shepherd's Bush Empire, Rascal Flatts and Darius Rucker. For the former, I was not an O2 customer, therefore had to join the gigantic level 1, 2, and 3 queue which snaked around two city blocks. For the latter, I was an O2 customer and was able to join the super short O2 Priority queue.
Note: People start queuing up about 1.5 hours before the doors are scheduled to open. Since this venue does not offer assigned seats, it's important to get there early if you want good seats or if you want to be near the stage if your tickets are for the ground floor (standing only).
I really despise not having assigned seats for many reasons - the super early queuing, the mad rush when the doors open, and having to sit through the opening band. The worst part about this is that the doors open around 7pm for an 8:45 (main act) start time and when you add in getting there early to queue, you end up being at the venue from about 6:30pm-ish to 11pm-ish, which crosses over the dinner period and there is NO FOOD offered at the venue. DANGER ZONE!
Queuing:
There are three queues: Standing (ground floor), O2 Priority, and Level 1/2/3. The queues are not marked well, so as you are facing the entrance, they are in left-to-right order as stated above.
Being an O2 customer, I expected that when the doors opened, that they would open the doors for the O2 Priority queue only and once all O2 customers had entered, the doors to the standing and level 1/2/3 would open. NO, NO. NO. That's not how this works. All three doors open at the same time.
Additionally, the O2 queue moves more slowly because ticket-takers need to verify on phones that customers in the priority queue are O2 customers. Oh, and then if someone ahead of you isn't or the ticket-takers scanner isn't working, the queue will be held up as it was last night. All of us poor O2 customers stood in the priority queue at a standstill while hoards of people in the other two queues filled the venue because the ticket taker's scanner in our queue was not working properly.
Overall, we were about #'s 20-21 in the O2 Priority queue and there were approximately 100 people from the other two queues who were able to enter the venue before we were. GET IT TOGETHER O2. There is no benefit in a priority queue when that queue is not given priority. Pissed every single one of us off last night. People were fuming. I thought a fight was going to break out.
Seating:
Yes, the seats are old but they do have padding and there is ample leg room. We have always sat on level 1 which has seating and standing areas. The first time we sat in the second row but off to the side. The second time we sat in the 7th row and in the middle. My recommendation is to get as close to the stage as possible, even if you have to sit on the side. Close-to-the-stage, side seats are better seats than seats that are further back and in the middle because the lights in the aisles behind the seats of level 1 (there are about 10 rows of seats) do not turn off and it's a bit agitating to have the light on behind you.
If you have tickets on level 1 and you can't find a seat, there is plenty of standing room. Most people were able to lean against the short wall behind the last row of seats and set their drinks on this half-wall and have a perfect view of the stage.
Beer/wine/drinks:
Terrible. If you are going to order any drink containing alcohol, go for the wine or bottled beer. The tap beer (Carlsberg) tasted rank. I believe their tap lines are dirty. Also, my husband's Corona smelled skunk. My wine was OK but not worth the price. Don't try to smuggle in drinks. You will get caught and all this will do is hold up the security queue and piss off everyone behind you. Thanks in advance.
Food:
Your choices are crisps or crisps or if you are American, chips or chips. There is virtually no food served in this venue and I'm not sure you are allowed to bring any in.
Toilets:
Oh, dear God. Hold your pee if you can. I can only speak to the toilets on level 1 and there are only two physical toilets for women. The bathroom is super small and I think my hands would dry faster if I blew on them rather than used the hand "dryer." The toilets/bathrooms cannot handle the load of people seated in level 1.
Dress code:
Whatever you want. I've seen everything from dressy to sweatshirts to NFL jerseys to business casual. read more