Bristol Beacon — Attraction in Bristol

We were treated absolutely appallingly. My husband booked tickets to The Horne section for my Christmas present. Ive waited 6 months to go and was very excited, as parents this was our 1st 'date night in a long time'. Unfortunately my mother who was supposed to be watching the kids for the night was taken ill. We managed to send our older kids to friends houses but no one could take our 11 month old. To avoid cancelling my husband rang and asked if it was ok to bring the baby, promising that if she cried/made too much noise etc one of us would take her out. We were assured this was fine so we carried on with our planned trip, traveling 90 mins, paying for a meal, drinks at the bar, parking etc. We turned up bought drinks at the bar and were shown to our seat, we had even been moved next to the door in the accessible seats so we could slip out without any disruption of needed. Our baby has been to the theatre 3 times in her life and slept through every performance so we werent too worried. We were surprised then that as we got settled the manger came over and told us that we couldn't stay if we had the baby with us. My husband explained he had been told it was ok over the phone, only to be told the theatre had been told by the Horne sections management company that morning that they wouldn't allow children in the audience (although the story changed a couple of times, including being told that it was for our babys safety). We were basically escorted from the theatre like criminals, so not only did we not get to see the show we had waited 6 months for we are out the cost of travel, food, parking and the pet sitter we paid to look after our dogs, as well as being self employed and taking a day off work so all in all we are down about £200 and treated like crap. We definitely...

Visited on Wednesday 21 June 2017 as part of Paramore's tour (with Bleached supporting). The venue itself is easy to find and well sign-posted around Bristol city centre. Hands up, we didn't buy drinks inside the venue so can't comment on the price of drinks. There are a number of other drinking establishments in the close vicinity and inside the venue, so worth paying a visit to one of those prior to doors-opening if the chance arises. There were no issues taking drinks into the gig provided they weren't in bottles - door staff were busy pouring many drinks into open (plastic) glasses.

The venue had provided lots of free tap water at the bars on each level, due to the temperature inside-and-outside. It was very welcome, especially as it became extremely hot inside the venue due to no/poor air conditioning. The lack of air-flow is probably the only real 'negative' of this review - but it was an extremely hot and humid day, anyway (touching 30C), so may have been beyond the venue's control.

Staff and security were excellent, friendly and receptive at all times.

I found parking for the venue not so well sign posted - however we were aware of a multi storey car park opposite the venue and made our way there. We arrived as the venue doors were opening and, as could be expected, the car park was already busy (it's one of the main shopping car parks, too). Useful tip: pay on arrival if arriving after 18:00, to avoid the queues to pay on exit and help with a hasty getaway (and avoiding the traffic!).

Worthy of a five-star review and somewhere worth visiting if...

I visited last night for the Rick Wakeman concert which in itself was superb and everything I expected. HOWEVER, it will be the last time I visit as the seating was the most uncomfortable I have experienced anywhere. We were in the lower tier and as we were shown to our seats, the person directing us said, “ You’re going to struggle as there’s not much leg room”. That was an understatement. I had to sit with my legs hooked up onto the fence in front of me and all way across into the next seat space. I managed to twist my back which is still painful today. How anyone can design seating like this in an age when people are getting taller is beyond me. Even my partner who is only 5’ tall found it very uncomfortable. Not only was the seating not fit for purpose, the row consisted of a dozen or so seats with only one way in meaning that if the person at the end wanted to get out, everyone else has to get out of the row to allow them past. I dread to think what would happen in an emergency. ( I fully expect the comment from the venue to say that it all meets the H &S requirements !!) So if you are more than 5’ tall, do not book seats in the side tiers. Although they warn you about restricted views, it would be better if they warned you about zero leg room. I was fortunate that I found a spare seat in another section that I moved to but if it had been a total sell out, then I would have to have left the concert. And despite all the hype prior to opening, out view was that the acoustics were not as good as before. £130 million pounds well spent? I...