Cocteau Twins?

Well, you'd imagine that only the likes of Maroon 5 could inspire such violence. But you'd be wrong.

But this may have been the fault of Wet Wet bloody Wet, of course. I only went the once (see above).

The NEC is also pretty scaly. I think the only thing that elevates it above the wretched, raging horror of MK Bowl is that relative safety seems, if not at arms length, then at least achievable via public transport.

When you're at the MK Bowl, you feel as if you have ringside seats at the final throes of civilisation itself and that only an eighty megaton device could provide an escape from such a baffling ordeal

Two ladies toilets for 20000 crowd. Gents not much better. Huge queues for the tokens to buy whichever rubbish beer they are ripping you off with.
Fights, crushing and then no taxis into town for less than £50.

Shocking

Not a Hall but a cattle shed , complete with added aroma . Some genius tried to turn this hell hole into a desireable venue in the mid 70s . I think Bob Marley played there , I saw the Who and what to this day remains the worst gig of my life... The Stones on their'76 tour , with the godawful Meters as support act . It was the night Keef drove is Bently off the M1 . A fitting end to a lousy night out .

It's a toss up between the Hallam Arena in Sheffield and Rock City in Nottingham: went to see Neil Young in Sheffield about five years ago. £30 for a standing ticket, fenced off halfway back in the auditorium, so I couldn't get any closer. The sound system was so poor I could hear the people around me talking better than I could hear the band. The stage was so far away, and so low that the band were practically invisible, and there was no video screen...... I'm glad I "saw" Neil, but I'd have been better off staying at home listening to "Weld".
To cap it all, the queue to get a "beer" took about 25 minutes - didn't anyone tell them that 12,000 people were dropping in for a drink?

Rock City is your typical rock venue, decorated in the standard black paint and sticky carpet. I have foolishly been there several times (including Ian Dury's last tour, when there were three bar staff on duty for the whole venue!) KT Tunstall's gig in October 2005 was the last straw: I think they had sold too many tickets, with the result that it was practically impossible to move around, even before the band came on. There were people on the stairs, in the walk-ways, hanging over the balcony... The venue was so badly lit that I twice fell over a step I couldn't see, spilling my hard-earned beer over the same person. When the band came on I realised that no matter where I stood it was impossible to see KT (she's not the tallest of singers). I was really looking forward to the gig, but felt ripped off - the venue has a cynical attitude towards the "punters" and their safety. I certainly won't go there again - no matter who's on.

My all-time best gigs have nearly all been in small pub/club venues, where you can see the whites of the bands' eyes - large venues just don't do it for me.

I saw The Who there the first time the venue was used back in 1975. Harvey Goldsmith came on stage before the band and he spoke about the venue "I think its a winner" he claimed. Well for him it probably was - minimal overheads and a big crowd. Fill yer boots, Harvey.

I also saw the Stones there. I went the night before Keith turned his Bentley over. They were crap that night as well. They came on really late. Jagger embarassed himself while on autopilot with between song announcements with his "Ello Bingley..." and realising we were out in the middle of nowhere, backtracked thinking we were somewhere near Manchester. But he told us "Tonigh' this is our 'ome". Tears welled in our eyes knowing we'd been clasped so warmly to the Jagger bosom. And later he entertained us by swinging out over our heads on a rope. The rope had been lowered. Billy Preston asked if we wanted to see Mick swing out. He got a muted response so he tried to wind things up a bit and eventually the Great Entertainer did eventually swing out. We were singularly honoured to see The Greatest Show on Earth from the Greatest Rock 'n' Roll band in The World with their singer dangling at the end of a rope. That's Entertainment.

At the other end of the scale London's 12 Bar Club must have the greatest ratio of obscured views to clear views. Probably about 5 people can see the act clearly. Everyone else cranes around corners and pillars and beams.

It used to be the pits; the worst of the worst. Impersonal, sprawling and sheer audio hell. But I took my daughter to see Bob Dylan there in April; and, damn me if I didn't hear every single word. He was more articulate than in Brixton or Hammersmith. So, I find myself reaching the dubious conclusion that the clearest sound I've heard at a gig - short of the Albert Hall - is Bob Dylan at Wembley Arena. Go figure.

Sheffield Arena is appalling and has the atmosphere of a wake and the sound of a bad car trying to start. To be avoided at all costs.

You can't even see the stage unless you stand up, as the balcony is angled to see what was presumably once a cinema screen, rather than a stage.

It was at one point the Marquee (talk about denigrating the memory of an old friend) and was fittingly connected with Dave Stewart for about five minutes. The upstairs balcony allows you to look straight down on the heads of the performers on the stage. Bizarre.

Saw Fleetwood Mac there in the seventies - they werre crap so was the venue.Anyone know what it is these days?