Welcome to the O2: Kings of Leon rock new venue
WELCOME TO The O2, the new Dublin music venue where people paying good money can actually enjoy the space, the facilities, the design, the space, the sense of event, the lack of pressure, the space, the Indigo Bar (if they’re lucky) and, well, did we mention the space?
There were more than a few thousand people here who, as erstwhile Point customers, were probably spending the first 10 minutes or so straining their necks checking out the advanced features of the venue.
The 02 is something else, a 21st-century state-of-the-art palace of entertainment where, for the first time in an indoor venue of its capacity, the acoustics are on the money and totally in the zone.
For many commentators, the venue was christened last night by Kings of Leon and not by Tuesday’s Childline concert. While the rumour of an appearance by U2 proved to be as fanciful as it was unfounded, there was no doubt that the spirit of the venue was buoyed by that possibility.
That might bear fruit next year, of course, but in the meantime we have the likes of last night’s headliners and tomorrow night’s major act, Coldplay.
Complaints? There were few and far between in the media- and celebrity-saturated Indigo Bar, where the likes of 2FM’s Jenny Huston and Dave Fanning, and others cruising and schmoozing.
It was a slightly different matter in the rather less-cossetted areas of the venue, where the queues for the bar brought back only too fresh memories of Ye Olde Point. There also seemed to be an issue or two with the lifts that ferried people between floors. Minor teething problems, we are assured, that will be anaesthetised within days.
There were some other complaints about traffic congestion and parking problems. Also, high winds led to the cancellation of a new river taxi service which was to transport people to and from the venue.
It was meant to be the first night for Liffey River Cruise’s service between Custom House Quay and The O2 on a concert night. Operators said, however, that ferry services planned for tomorrow and Monday to facilitate Coldplay fans are expected to go ahead, with weather conditions due to improve.
Such considerations were generating little concern in The 02, however. The Point? Long gone and forgotten.
