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  6. Originally posted by IrishDublin's O2 arena opening next month has been designed to cater for up to three million patrons a year

    THE ROMANS would recognise the shape of Dublin's new O2 arena on North Wall Quay, even though it is all indoors and festooned with air-conditioning ducts and lighting gantries, with bars and food outlets lining the cavernous semi-circular concourses.

    The word arena derives from its original Latin meaning as sand - used to mop up the blood after gruesome public spectacles. Promoter Harry Crosbie hopes there will be "blood on the stage from artists giving their all for people of Ireland".

    Vast is the only word that describes the new venue, which opens next month. It is at least twice as large as the earlier Point that grew out of the old Midland Great Western goods terminal, a protected structure now remade yet again.

    The new arena can take 9,500 people on padded seats with plastic backs, or up to 14,000 in a different configuration - with retractable seats pulled back to make room for 8,000 standing in front of the stage, and the rest comfortably seated.

    "It's going to be a world-class rock venue and the biggest people- magnet in Ireland," says the irrepressible Crosbie. He believes it will attract as many as three million patrons a year - much more than Croke Park, which is used less intensively.

    The old Point, Crosbie concedes, was "grungy 1980s" - a rather makeshift auditorium installed in the shell of the railway depot, with a box-like fly-tower projecting above its neo-classical façade. It served its purpose, though, even for Eurovision.

    Now renovated and extended as the O2 arena (Crosbie will not say how much the mobile phone company paid for the naming rights), it has been turned around 90 degrees on an east-west axis, instead of north-south like the old Point.

    Designed by HOK Sport Architecture, the new venue cuts a dash on the skyline with its translucent polycarbonate cladding extending two storeys upwards above the original building, with a built-in lighting system programmed for all the colours of the rainbow.

    "We wanted to make the architectural expression as light as possible," says Damon Lavelle, HOK's project architect. The lighting gives an "ethereal, diaphanous effect" that contrasts with the stone and brick of the railway depot, dating from 1878.

    Almost the entire west side of the Victorian building was demolished and some of the material salvaged for reuse. The tall cast-iron columns of the old train shed, for example, now provide structural supports for the concrete upper tiers of the arena.

    Ken Jones, of structural engineers Buro Happold, was particularly keen to detach the new elements from the old and to expose as much of the original building as possible. Staircases are suspended in space behind the east façade, where the main entrance is located.

    The arena has also been sound- proofed to make sure that noise from the likes of AC/DC - due to blast the O2 in January - does not disturb nearby residents. It has an "extremely well-balanced sound profile, approaching that of a concert hall", as tests by Arup Acoustics confirmed.

    "That's the holy grail for a venue like this," Lavelle says. "Even the air-conditioning was subject to a strict noise reduction regime."

    The concourses feel like they belong more in a stadium than a theatre, although this robustness is relieved by stainless steel handrails above the wire-mesh balustrades.

    According to Crosbie, "every penny of the O2 sponsorship went into the building". There's no shortage of space for the stage - it is 54 metres wide, 18 metres deep and 20 metres high, to the rigging grid above. It is served by a trucking bay big enough to accommodate four juggernauts carrying equipment and props for touring rock bands.

    The O2 is to be operated by Live Nation, a US-based operator, as will the Grand Canal Theatre - which Crosbie also owns; this venue is due to open in late 2009. "There's no conflict - one will be a world-class rock venue and the other a world- class lyric theatre," he says. "This is not just about me. Mike Adamson [Live Nation's managing director] and all the staff have worked for five years on this. It's a team effort. We're also going to be staging free outdoor events for the public in the new square at the back of the arena."

    Crosbie emphasises the context of the Point Village, which will have a shopping centre anchored by Dunnes Stores, a 285-bedroom hotel, offices and apartments - all served by the Luas.

    Its centrepiece, a 40-storey tower, is on hold for at least a year due to the economic downturn
  7. Originally posted by RTEBono and Edge mark end of the Point

    U2 frontman and lead guitarist Bono and Edge have marked the end of the Point Depot and the opening of the new O2 Arena in a special feature for RTÉ's 'The View'.

    The band filmed part of their 1988 rock epic film 'Rattle And Hum' at the Point and also rang in the New Year in 1990 there during a series of concerts as part of the 'Lovetown Tour'.

    As part of a special 'View' feature to be broadcast next week (Tuesday, 16 December, RTÉ 1), Bono and Edge took a tour of the new venue and spoke about U2's long association with it in its previous incarnation. The pair also performed the song 'Van Diemen's Land', which was the first music ever performed in the old Point Depot and now becomes the first to be played at the new O2 Arena.


    AdvertisementSpeaking about the original Point, Edge said: "It was still in its original condition as a railway depot, but it was absolutely amazing looking and we said wow - this is exactly the kind of place we want, something really about Dublin City and where we came from."


    Bono added on the 1990 gigs: "It was a joyous occasion to be with all your family and friends in Dublin. It's a sociological event, not a gig. It's a tribal thing... and then to realise this might be it. This might be as far as the U2 story goes unless we can dig deep and draw into a different well. And we did in the end. It's a pivotal place for us."

    They also revealed their admiration for the new venue, which has been brought about by developer Harry Crosbie.

    The Edge said: "This configuration is as good as you'll see anywhere in the world. It's an amazing achievement and we wish Harry the very best of luck with it. I'm sure it will see some fantastic nights to beat anything it's seen up to now."

    Bono added: "And we'd better be one of them..or two...or three!"

  8. liking the last line. .
  11. The show will be aired on December 16th on RTE1.

    Fuck yes
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Contribute to the U2 community with uploading photos or by telling us which shows you have visited.
Contribute to the U2 community with uploading photos or by telling us which shows you have visited.