AO Arena — Attraction in Manchester

I went to see Alfie Boe & Michael Ball at the ao Arena Manchester on 4th April my first visit since the tragic bombing, first off we had email saying doors open at 6pm so we were in the queue at Victoria Station waiting for the stewards to let us proceed up the green stairs, my sisters phone had the tickets on and these were zapped by the first steward then we went through the extra security we had to undo our bags and the security guy moved few things around and then scanned our bodies then we joined the next queue, no stewards telling us which doors we needed to be in front of for the floor seating, finally one steward tells us we needed to be in another level downstairs so we followed him and yes another queue by this time my sister could not get the internet on to get up our tickets, other people in our queue were also having issues the stewards just kept telling us to reconnect to the internet change settings choose ao arena network but none of this worked and they DID NOT help us, we are not tech savvie and felt very frustrated we did not get any help, we were then told to go and see the Box Office to get them to print off our tickets, yes another queue at the Box Office where only 2 members of staff on the girl was very unhelpful and would not print our tickets she had my sisters phone clicked on stuff and said our tickets were there? We were then told to go back to the other now much larger queue at this time it was 7.15pm we were at this point beyond pissed off, my sisters legs were hurting and we were desperate to sit down and have a drink. Finally we got to the front of the queue to be told our qr codes are not being read on their machines told to go back to Box Office which now had a much larger queue to get printed copies! You can imagine our frustration when we refused to move a supervisor was called who talked to the box office on his headpiece and eventually we were allowed through, down another 2 flights of stairs then we got our drinks and proceeded to find our seats we were in block J Floor Level, the steward told us to go to the other side of the arena our seats were behind the G block? When we walked into the vast arena we discovered our seats at the back row of J which were in fact close to the door the steward didn't seem to know where anyone seats were. On a positive note the food and drink stalls people were very friendly, the whole area and toilets were clean, we felt totally safe with all the extra security around, when the show was finished we were all herded out by helpful friendly stewards no pressure to rush us and we were able to use escalators most of the way back to Victoria Station. The drinks in the arena were pricey but it is what is expected at these events. Apart from the hideous entrance and taking over an hour of queuing and other issues to get into the event we actually had a...

Visited the Manchester A.O Arena on Sat 29th Oct 22 with a friend to attend the 90's Pop Baby concert with various artists. I had previously been to the arena before many years back prior to when it was originally known as the Manchester M.E.N Arena so I am familiar with the venue.

We entered from the back entrance via Manchester Victoria station on Hunts Bank which I haven't entered before. Security is set up outside with a good steward/Police presence. We showed our tickets and we were both ready to present our bags. However I was surprised to find they didn't ask to check my bag but my friend was pulled to the side to have hers checked. This caught me a little off guard as at The O2 in London, EVERYBODY in line has their bag checked regardless and goes through detector screening. I would have thought from a safety aspect that everyone attending the venue has their bag checked, not just random searches?

Aside from this we quickly entered the arena and found our seats. We were seated in Block 102 which is right by the stage with very good views. The Manchester A O Arena is similar layout to The O2 Arena is London but more compact. I was Row E so I could see everyone very clearly.

The Bar/Refreshments stand - Lines were relatively long but people were served quite quickly so even though we had to wait, it wasn't too long. I didn't buy anything but my friend bought some wine and said she was impressed that the prices at the A.O Arena were cheaper than in London.

Toilets - Plenty of loos for the ladies and no long waits which is good. Clean as well.

Overall a very good visit and felt safe due to lots of stewards and also Police presence outside. I do think everyone with a bag should be checked though from a security perspective but aside from this great venue and will look forward to coming back...

I was there for the Davis Cup tennis between GB and Australia. The venue is totally unsuited to holding an all day event. Most of the food concessions were closed all day leading to very long queues and if you did get to the counter, very little left. I saw a woman faint at the counter.

I was in the arena from 12pm-9pm and only managed to get a bag of crisps at about 7pm. Even then I was told they had sold out and I had to beg/insist they check (miraculously they found me a bag). The only savoury food on sale were sandwiches (sold out by 1pm I’m told), hotdogs, nachos, popcorn and crisps. This is an inadequate offering for an all day event (although fine for a concert).

When I got into the arena at 12pm I immediately joined a queue to buy water. 40mins later, I had barely moved. I started asking passing staff if there were water fountains. Most said there were none. One told me you had to ask at the bar to get a bottle refilled. Finally, one said the fountains were in the loos. I grabbed a paper cup off the bar and was able to fill that. Later when I needed to refill in another ladies loo I found the fountain was broken.

Venue management should have taken action and told security to allow re-admission so that people could go and get food and drink. They should also have been allowed to bring it in with them.

Normally I have no issue with arenas banning food and drink from being brought in. But there has to be adequate provision in the arena throughout the entire event.

The venue was not sold out yesterday. Sunday is a 15,000 sellout. Something needs to be done, urgently.

Also the steps in the lower bowl are quite steep and there is no handrail. Many people were struggling. The typical demographic at tennis is over 50.

I don’t know why the LTA thought this venue was suitable. I will be writing...