Utilita Arena Newcastle — Attraction in Newcastle upon Tyne

Won’t be back! Went to see Peter Kay last night, 23.08.25, at the Utility Arena with my wife. £150+ tickets! The place is dated, prices are outrageous £9.50 for a pint of Moretti and you don’t even get a smile for that! On entering People were generally treated like cattle. Although a Large % of the security staff were black guys and if it wasn’t for them this rating would be a 1⭐️ The black guys I experienced were super super polite conspicuously polite compared to the majority of the other staff on duty, few exceptions but not many. Were the black guys brought in for the evening from an outside organisation with far higher standers of customer service & manners? Despite it being a cooler evening the temperature in the arena was unbearable, everyone around me was complaining about it, even my wife who is very slim & loves the sun couldn’t cope with the heat, i’m talking upper 20s if not 30s C. It was so hot 🥵 we decided to leave at the intermission and miss the second half of the Peter Kay show 🥲 As we were leaving we initially & mistakenly left via the smokers door. I personally hate smoking & vaping but each to their own. What I witnessed next was inexcusable in my view. A white guy member of staff was literally screaming at the smokers and vapers to “get behind the yellow line”! His tone & manner was horrendous, intimidating, ignorant & completely unacceptable. He was treating the smokers & vapers worse than I have seen any farmer treat his livestock. His behaviour was resemblant of a scene from a WW11 holocaust movie. Shocking considering despite being smokers & vapers the guys out there were paying customers. Finally many of us rely and use Apps for convenience entertainment communication order taxis & run our life’s. Absolutely no Wifi & if I didn’t know better the Arena feels like it operates Wifi, 5G,4G, 3G blocking equipment. It was like being in a Faraday cage! All in all apart from the exemplary behaviour of the majority of the black security staff and a small % of other staff, the Brilliant 1st half performance of Peter Kay the rest of the night was very poor and very expensive. As a devout & proud North Easterner last night I was ashamed to think that the Utilita Arena is supposed to be the North Easts Flagship Entertainment venue. If this is the best we can do no wonder we don’t get more visitors & more investors. Could have been a one off & Im hoping it was but the management need to give last night some serious...

Some of the yellow fiz security guards at the event that stand outside need a hell of a lot of equality training when it comes to learning disabilities and Autism, the short slightly plumpish lady with hair tied back and glasses and brown hair was unnecessarily pressurising, repeating herself multiple times with a raised voice, and rude to me told me I had an attitude for telling her not to pressurise me to leave the venue!!! Me and my staff were in the middle of trying to make arrangements so she could stay longer to support me if I am buying a ticket we were literally making a plan then I was buying the ticket at the box office !! She told me if I continued to to an attuide she would have me leaving the venue, never would ever expect to be treat they way as an autistic individual, always got to be that one that ruins it because quite honestly I’ve been coming here for years and there are some amazing attendants, security staff and workers here, they are usually super accommodating but this lady needs to some work, nice of her to apologise tho right after upsetting me and having me shake !!! It’s a bit too late. Hope the next visit to this arena is more positive & diverse/and welcoming to people with a hidden disability who look like the average person like me, ^ below me at Sean Paul & Ashanti concert was great never the less !!! Also blonde lady and old guy in the blue I think he was with show sec, they were incredibly compassionate people, once they knew the circumstances they was with us all the way supporting us and being our voice and ear becus my support worker her English isn’t the greatest I speak up for her and she helps me so much, the staff helped the both of us, sooo not all people are crap, hope the arena staff read this and take my positives as constructive critism, yes I have a hidden disability and love concerts/dancing and fun and making friends along the...

I recently attended the WWE live event at the Utilita arena in Newcastle with my 14 year old son. Whilst waiting in the merchandise queue my son started to feel overwhelmed and was feeling faint. We went outside to get some fresh air and try find a seat. Without having to speak to anyone staff approached us to ask if my son was okay. We were taken to the first aid room and paramedics were absolutely first class. I explained my son is autistic and was feeling a bit overwhelmed with the noise and very busy concourse area. The paramedics took time to reassure my son which settled him. I showed staff our tickets which were in block B floor level close to the ring. A female event manager/supervisor (name unknown) gave us the option of trying to sit in original seats or go to a quieter area in one of the free suites. My son wanted to try sit in the original seats we had booked so we were taken to these seats. Unfortunately the noise and atmosphere was too much for my son and we asked if we could take up the option of sitting in one of the free suites. Both paramedics and staff that organised this in my opinion went above and beyond to cater for my son’s challenges and make the night a very enjoyable experience. Staff checked in on us at frequent intervals making sure everything was still okay. I can’t thank them enough and whilst some people may say they were only doing their job I feel that they need to be singled out for special praise as their actions not only allowed my son to enjoy the experience but made the trip down from Scotland worthwhile. I wouldn’t hesitate to return to the venue again as we were made to feel so welcome and Utilita staff and paramedics customer service were first class. ...