Odyssey Arena vs. Point

blastman

I don't know what the new incarnation of the Point will be like, but having recently been to my first gig in the Odyssey in Belfast, it makes the old Point look like a particularly stinky old toilet. It was a better experience in every way; getting there, parking, getting out again (OK, this was not that much better as I know Dublin better and could get out through the smaller roads), the sound, the view....hell, even the merch stand took credit cards!

So, why do we continually get the sh!tty end of the stick here in fabulously wealthy Rip-offLand?? :mad:

galwayrush

I agree, i was at the Odyssey for the first time a few weeks ago, so impressive in every way. :cool: The new Point is going to be bigger, but it's still going to be a nightmare to get there.

peter1892

There's a LUAS line and a new carpark for the Point but whether or not this will improve access is another thing. Best bet may still be to park in the city centre & walk up (as I've done for years, it was scary before the IFSC & other new buildings opened!).

As for the facilities - if it's anything like the M.E.N. Arena in Manchester I'll be happy enough, that place is impressive (it helped that Rush were on stage though!)

NIBBS

apples and oranges......
can't really compare the two venues until the Point reopens......

was in the Odyssey for the first time on Sat, and it's a very impressive venue, however it's certainly not without it's problems (well at least there were problems on Sat night, having hundreds/thousands of people queing out side a venue in the rain is never a good idea, but it took longer to get in then it ever has for any gig I've been to in the Point. Once inside the queues for the bar were pretty shocking, and there's been a few complaints about the organisation of things at this particular gig - not sure if it's the norm there or just who was running that particular show.

But from a venue point of view the Odyssey blows the Point out of the water, sound a million times better, setup nice.
If they really develop the Point as they say they are going to it will be class and will rival anything around Europe, but that's an if, at least the acoustics should improve.

Passenger

Anybody have any Artist impressions of what the new point will look like?

blastman

NIBBS wrote: »

apples and oranges......
can't really compare the two venues until the Point reopens......

Just to comment on this, I don't see why you can't compare it to the old Point. They're both the main large dedicated venue in their respective cities with similar capacities and both are in dockland areas slightly away from their city's centres. I know the Point was built before the Odyssey, but how is that any less fair than comparing the Odyssey to the new Point, built well after it?

In fact, as the Odyssey was built to house an ice hockey arena, the fact that it is a better music venue acoustically than the Point is even more impressive since the Point was primarily built as a music venue.

Having said that, I'll be delighted if the new version equals or betters the Odyssey, but there's still the matter of a tolled motorway between the venue and the city outskirts. And I did hear complaints about the bar queues on Saturday. Maybe the old rocker crowd just drink more!

NIBBS

blastman wrote: »

Just to comment on this, I don't see why you can't compare it to the old Point. They're both the main large dedicated venue in their respective cities with similar capacities and both are in dockland areas slightly away from their city's centres. I know the Point was built before the Odyssey, but how is that any less fair than comparing the Odyssey to the new Point, built well after it?

In fact, as the Odyssey was built to house an ice hockey arena, the fact that it is a better music venue acoustically than the Point is even more impressive since the Point was primarily built as a music venue.

Having said that, I'll be delighted if the new version equals or betters the Odyssey, but there's still the matter of a tolled motorway between the venue and the city outskirts. And I did hear complaints about the bar queues on Saturday. Maybe the old rocker crowd just drink more!

Hey blastman - I think you can't compare them because of the following :-

1) The Odyssey has roughly twice the capacity of the old Point, 14,000 as opposed to nearly 8,000.
2) The Odyssey wasn't actually built as an Ice Hockey arena, it was built as a multipurpose venue (in the same way that the new Point is being built, only the new Point is due to be cutting edge), and the old Point wasn't really built as a music venue, it was just a slightly renovated shed - very little was done with it with regards to acoustics, which they say will be rectified in the new building.

but yes, it's not going to be fair to compare the Odyssey to the new Point either, I'm just praying they put the money and effort in to make a really world class venue this time.

I was very unimpressed by the queues both outside and inside the Odyssey on Sat, but it didn't detract from the show for me, and at the end of the day that's all that counts......for some that stayed in a queue for 45mins to get a beer I think they are mad

I think we are both hoping for the same result here though

bryston

Hi,

Not sure if it's been mentioned already, but the new layout will have the stage along the "long" wall (facing the city I think) and there will be a balcony running along the other long wall in wrap around style (one of the reasons for the increased building height). I assume the lower area will be retractable raked seating so they have option for flat foor standing concerts (I haven't seen the layouts but was involved years ago when the scheme was originally proposed - 5 years ago!!). Sight lines will be excellent.

The 14,000 capacity is what the industry now demands as it's hard for the big tours to justify costs at less than that sort of capacity. There is a major push for 10-20k capacity venues around the world as you can still maintain good sound and sight-lines.

I was driving past there last week and am disappointed with the exterior to be honest. There's an artist's impression below and if you look here you can download the north elevation http://www.archiseek.com/content/showpost.php?p=79753&postcount=328. No internal layouts seem to be out in the public domain yet.