As someone who always has a handful of concerts and gigs booked at any one time, I (as well as millions of others) have been missing live shows lately. So when I got an email from the O2 advertising their backstage tour, I jumped at the chance to go.
I thought, if I still can’t see live music, I’d do the next best thing: a backstage tour of one of the country’s best music venues.
My sister and I arrived at the O2 Arena one rainy Monday morning and joined the queue in anticipation. We were given these lanyards (which already made me happy as I thought it would make a great addition to my music room of weird and wonderful music memorabilia) and were greeted by our tour guide.
We were led down a long, narrow corridor into the AMEX lounge: a cosy, intimate place for people to eat, drink and watch live music. It looked so cool that it made me want to sign up for an AMEX card there and then!
The next stop was the main arena. It looked eerily small with no stage and no crowd. It made me wonder if artists ever see the arena empty before a show. I think if it were me, I’d make sure I spent some time in the empty arena, to take in the calmness before the roar of a crowd. It must be a humbling feeling.
I daydream and imagine myself preparing for a tour and smile to myself before we are allowed to wander around and take pictures.
After walking backstage and finding out all about the history of the arena, we saw a few dressing rooms and were given a few rider examples. Our tour guide asked us to guess who had requested them: there were some unique items on the list. If you were a high-profile artist, what items would you have on your rider?
If it were me, I’d be happy with a bowl of chips with pesto mayo and a shot of limoncello!
We were then asked to put our phones away as we entered the top secret VIP room. I won’t spoil it in case you want to see it for yourselves, but I can see why Justin Beiber was late for his last show because he was distracted in this room (although, I’m not sure it warrants being a whole 2 hours late!!).
Last but not least, we went up to the grand VIP boxes and saw the view from up there and had the chance to treat ourselves to some merchandise. The view was definitely impressive and I’d love to be able to treat myself one day to the experience of seeing a show from up there. Some say the atmosphere is better down with the fans in the stalls, but I’d still love to try it once!
All in all, it was a great day out and it was nice to see the O2 so quiet. Even though I could appreciate what a great building it is, it did make me yearn for the day when we can see shows again. Let’s hope we don’t have too long to wait.
If you can, book a slot and give it a go. I’d definitely recommend it as a good day out, whatever your age. Hurry before all the slots get sold out – the O2 have extended the tours into September.
https://www.theo2.co.uk/do-more-at-the-o2/backstagetours
Stay musical.