Electric Brixton — Local services in London

This is a copy of an email I sent to the guy handling disability access at the Electric Ballroom, which has been ignored, hence the reason I'm posting it. It is not a reflection on the band or support bands, they were amazing.

Hi Cam, It's been a few months since I brought the tickets but I finally got to the gig last night. Here are my thoughts, and please bare in mind I go to alot of gigs and concerts.

Firstly, it was really unclear where to queue, so we took a guess. The doors opened we were told we were in fact in the early entry queue, and instructed to wait until 7pm to have our tickets scanned, then we would be shown to the ramp.

A nice lady gave us wristbands just before 7pm, and she had my companion on the list, so all going fairly well.

The ramp was big, but my wheelchair would have been fully capable of making it up ALONE. Before I had a chance to know what was going on, a man had pushed me up the ramp, this could damage the motor on a powerchair, and had I known, I could have asked my companion to turn the chair into manual.

The disabled toilet was pointed out as we were herded past it quickly (bare in mind I'd already had a three hour journey and had been waiting in the queue) straight into the wheelchair area.

The woman kept shouting at us to move closer, make space but clearly had no idea what she was doing. It was basically left for the companions and wheelchairs to then reorganise ourselves once she had disappeared. (She expected the companion to sit in a chair behind me, which defeats the purpose of being at a gig together!)

By the time we had done all this the main crowd was already though the door, meaning I couldn't look at any of the bands merchandise, let alone fight my way to the bar, and I couldn't move out of my space to access the toilet at this point either.

My companion went off to fight her way to the bar because I needed a drink to take medication, but on a plus note, I managed to get the attention of a member of security who gave me some water.

Oh, and did I mention how lax security was going inside the venue? No pat down, no checking inside of bags.

Halfway through the support act a strong smell hit my nose, it took me a while to realise it was coming from the men's toilets. Perhaps clean them, or add some kind of air freshener inside! It honestly made me gag.

On a plus, leaving the venue was slightly better. The man let me go down the ramp myself, but was behind me just in case. His communication was really good, wish I'd got his name.

Of course the actual band was amazing no problems there!

Do better Electric Ballroom, you need to train your staff better in how to interact with disabled customers.

I look forward to hearing from...

A lot of one star reviews mentioned everything that I have on my review.

Came here a second time for new years eve and the staff for the cloak room were very unreasonable. The queue was stuck in a stand still for over an hour due to security and staff members letting people in through the exit to claim their items without knowing their initials for the tickets. On top of that the staff just took their bloody time. The whole cloak room system is very dangerous and claustrophobic. Be warned.

When it came to my turn to collect my items, my girlfriend lost her ticket in the queue due to being drunk and pushed around by the angry impatient mob of people. She remembers her ticket number and knows her own initials (obviously) AND its her items so she knows the description. The member of staff didn't even listen to her despite us having more evidence than the people who claimed their friends items from the exit. Make it make sense. Not only it was a miserable experience, they decide to give people's belongings under the wrong circumstances AND ON TOP OF THAT think it is okay for a girl to go home in the cold without her coat just because she lost her ticket but have MORE THAN sufficient evidence. Your staff need to be trained, they need to be able think for themselves. Rules are rules but under such circumstances they really need to use their brain.

In addition to this, one of our friend couldn't get in due to being 'too drunk'. She was the least inebriated out of the group and yet she was denied entry. What even is the bench mark for being 'too drunk'? You obviously sold too many tickets for the capacity of the venue and instead of telling people that, you just say they are too drunk and deny them entry and refund for their ticket.

Won't be back here. Last time. Worst...

Been here twice for 2 different music nights, left early on both occasions. The traffic of people doesn't flow very well so wherever you stand you get barged into. The toilets are grim and can be smelt from the dance floor! Water costs £3.60 for a small cheap bottle. Cloakroom is more than most venues at £2.50 per item.

When the venue is busy temperatures can rise above my comfort level, there doesn't appear to be much ventilation or air conditioning in the venue unfortunately.

The tiny smoking area (the only option for fresh air) is very small and often packed with no security to ensure things are staying sensible. The entrance to the smoking area is small and you often have to wait to get outside and anyone over 5ft5 will have to duck.

When the upstairs bar is closed, you have to make your way around the front of the upper mezzanine with people flowing in both directions. The walking space at the front of the upper mezzanine does not have enough room to cater for the flow of people trying to get through and does become dangerous at times. I have seen this cause fights between people.

The venue is generally very dirty and the floors and stairs were very slippery (I was sober as i was driving so you cant blame beer!)

I also find security to be unapproachable and rude in my experience.

Not happy, won't be coming again for...