O2 Academy Leeds — Attraction in Leeds

I'll start with the positives, the venue itself is fairly nice, there's areas that could maybe use a refresh but all in all we felt that the venue was nice. In spite of some other reviews we felt that the queue was well organised and the staff were friendly. Also plenty of toilets and they were reasonably clean and well kept. Sound quality is okay whilst not the best. All in all an okay place to see a gig.

Unfortunately, all of that doesn't matter when you've paid for a seat to see an artist and don't get a seat or to see them. We booked unreserved seated tickets in the balcony. We knew that seats were unreserved and that we might not get four seats together and so we arrived in what we thought was plenty of time. Apparently not. What they don't tell you is that they sell considerably more tickets than they have seats.

Let me be very clear, for those who have booked a seat because they are unable to stand for long periods or who are shorter and therefore would struggle to see, this is nothing short of discrimination. Sure, there's an access scheme but this is for a very limited number of tickets and for many people all they require is a seat and so booking unreserved seating should give them... You know, a seat!

It appears they now get around this by selling them as 'Balcony unreserved seating and standing' but this wasn't the case when booking and our booking confirmation confirmed only that it was 'unreserved seating'.

If you're selling more tickets than seats then this is a problem. If you're maybe selling 20 or 30 more then a few people will need to stand at the sides but will at least be able to see. When you're clearly selling more like 100-150 more You've got people trying to sit/stand on stairs, lots of people stuck behind others and unable to see a thing.

Either sell the same number of tickets as you have seats, sell 'balcony seated' and 'balcony standing' or do what any other venue with seats would do and let people book specific seats. It's not that difficult. If this means letting a few less people in then so be it, I think I speak for a majority when I say I'd rather spend £25 a ticket and get to see what I've paid for than spend £20 and get to hear but not see it. It's not acceptable, not fair and not safe. Frankly overselling...

I’m a head and neck cancer patient, I need to keep water with me at all times. I had to wait for permission to take my own in which is totally acceptable. Arrived to be asked to wait for a medic to confirm it was ok before entry, I had no problem with that, however I had actually drank my water before not a medic but another member of the security team waved me over for a second time with the detector and allowed me entry. My ticket was for the none reserve seats and balcony area. It was so crowded you didn’t stand a chance. I couldn’t see a thing as I’m 5ft tall. Moved around the area to try and see but just kept being asked to move by staff. I gave up it the end and decided to listen and watch the rest of the Audience enjoy it. Also went to use the loo , got told where to go and then on my return got told I needed to go through security again. I’ve spent nearly a whole year as a cancer patient and I really felt this was a joke as it was the same member of staff that had given me the toilet directions in the first place. Management person arrived also made me feel as if I was doing something wrong. Security is paramount I get that, but the whole experience was spoilt for me by people who clearly thought their attitude and approach was fine. Incidentally I went to see Zayn and he was amazing to hear and I felt very emotional for him being back on his home ground so to speak and I would imagine his family were watching him and that’s literally what I took anyway from that concert. I’m nearly sixty years old and for me family is all , so I would like to say . Well done Zayn’s mum for having a lovely lad with an amazing voice, you must be so...

Been here a few times over the years, but this was my first visit since Covid to see Jade. Although the concert itself was a 10/10, the staff completely ruined the experience for most people.

I watched the staff speak to everyone terribly in the queue, it was hard to watch and tolerate, like we were all animals. Fair enough, some people might have made things difficult by ignoring instructions, but most of us were just delayed in finding out the process, as not everyone is at the front of the queue and able to hear instructions being shouted by the faintest voice a mile away.

Nothing was made clear. They searched my partner (who, like me, didn’t have a bag) but didn’t even scan or search me. I was told to move along aggressively before I could even get near the door. Some people can’t walk as fast as others due to health issues or after standing outside for a long time.

The older man managing the outside queue was terrible with people. I felt bad for the general admission queue , there were people waiting for hours, like us, for a good spot (we were O2 Priority), and around 6:30 p.m. they split general admission into three queues, meaning a lot of people who’d waited all day at the front were suddenly stuck at the back.

Years ago, this was a great place to see live music. Now it feels hostile, stressed, and disorganised. The staff alone probably ruined a lot of people’s experiences. The funny thing is, plenty of people inside the venue were pushing in front, throwing drinks around behind me, and getting too drunk before Jade even came on , yet they never got spoken to by staff. Meanwhile, polite people were spoken...