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Wembley Arena

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51°33′26″N 0°17′05″W / 51.5572°N 0.2847°W / 51.5572; -0.2847

Wembley Arena
Wembley Arena
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Former namesEmpire Pool, Wembley
LocationWembley, Middlesex
Coordinates51.5572°N 0.2847°W
Capacity12,300
Opened1934

Wembley Arena is a world famous live entertainment venue, located in Wembley, London. The building is opposite Wembley Stadium. It was built for the 1934 Empire Games and originally housed a swimming pool, as reflected by its former name, the Empire Pool. The pool itself was last used for the 1948 Summer Olympics.

The arena is London's busiest music venue and the second busiest in the UK (the MEN Arena in Manchester is busier) in terms of ticket sales. The arena seats a maximum of 12,300 for concerts and although not the biggest of London's arenas (see for example Earls Court), it is regarded as having the best sound quality and the best backstage amenities for touring music acts.

Indoor sporting events such as boxing and ice hockey have long been popular at the Arena, notably the World Championship bout between then champion Alan Minter and challenger Marvin Hagler, which the latter won. The Wembley Lions and Wembley Monarchs were two ice hockey teams that used the venue during the 1940s, 50s and 60s, while the London Lions used the venue for a season in the 1970s. Wembley also hosted the British Hockey League play-off finals weekend at the end of each season up until the league's disbandment in 1996.

The Arena also hosts highly successful comedy nights, with comedians such as David Baddiel and Bill Bailey having appeared. His appearance alongside Rob Newman in 1993 is widely regarded as being responsible for bringing alternative comedy into the mainstream.

In addition, Wembley Arena is also famous for its Disney on Ice shows. The most recent was the show based on Disney/Pixar's film Toy Story 2 in 2004. Because of the refurbishment to the arena, there was no show in 2005.

Wembley Arena was renovated along with Wembley Stadium as part of the regeneration of the Wembley area. The Arena refurbishment cost £35m and the new arena opened to the public on 2 April 2006 with a concert by Depeche Mode.

Artists set to play the "new" venue include Pink, Madonna, Take That, Ozzy Osbourne, Cliff Richard, The Eagles, Céline Dion, Status Quo, Il Divo, Placebo, Meat Loaf, McFly, Dave Matthews Band, Santana, Girls Aloud, Bruce Springsteen, My Chemical Romance, Rush, Dream Theater and Gwen Stefani. World Wrestling Entertainment taped their TV shows RAW and SmackDown!, with RAW on 21 April and SmackDown! on 22 April 2006. Both shows were a huge success resulting in a stadium sellout for each. WWE returns to the arena on October 16th 2007 with the RAW Survivor Series 2007 Tour.

As of 25 January 2006, the venue forms part of Live Nation's (ClearChannel Entertainment) UK line-up alongside the Hammersmith Apollo, Manchester Apollo, Edinburgh Playhouse, Sheffield Arena and Manchester Opera House.

On the final UK date of her I'm Not Dead Tour, Pink enlisted legendary London club G-A-Y to host the event. It became the biggest ever UK indoor Gay and Lesbian event.

A notable Empire Pool attendance record was set in the early 1970s by the performer David Cassidy, in his first tour of Great Britain in 1973 when he sold out six performances on one weekend.

Square of Fame

With the reopening of Wembley Arena in 2006, a "Square of Fame" area has been created in front of the arena. Similar to the Hollywood Walk of Fame, notable Wembley Arena performers are invited to have bronze plaques imprinted with their names and handprints. The first star to have a plaque was Madonna on August 1, 2006.[1]

On November 9, 2006 Sir Cliff Richard added his handprints to the Square. Rick Parfitt and Francis Rossi of Status Quo unveiled a plaque with one of each of their handprints on December 16, 2006. On January 9, 2007 Kylie Minogue included her handprints on the final day of the London leg of her Showgirl Homecoming Tour.

Seven times World Snooker Champion Stephen Hendry added his handprints on January 21, 2007. International country superstar Dolly Parton unveiled her plaque on the final night of her UK tour on March 25, 2007.

Canadian music star Bryan Adams unveiled his plaque on May 10, 2007, just before his 25th appearance at the venue. Just three days later, the former Commodores frontman Lionel Richie was presented with his plaque on May 13, 2007, after another sold out performance at the Arena.

References

  1. ^ "Wembley Arena". LiveNation. Retrieved 2007-04-04.
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