Braehead Arena

Went here tonight for a hockey game and giving a 4 as it was satisfactory and I didn’t really investigate the extra facilities, e.g., food and toilets. It wasn’t as cold inside as I thought it might be so you don’t need to layer up too much.
Seats are hard but so long as you don’t need much back support they’re fairly comfortable for sitting on for the 2 ½ hours or so you’d expect to be there for a hockey game. The steepness of levels allows for a very good view of the floor even if you have an extremely tall person in front of you; however, you might want to avoid sitting right by the railing as my view of the net meant I had to move a little from side to side as it was sometimes obscured slightly, and that puck is small! Also, watch if you put your bag on the floor… the bottom of mine got wet from someone behind me having spilled a drink. :(
Two breaks allowed for a wander back outside to the foyer for juice or a cider (Magners) or beer, and there are hot dogs and bags of crisps available, too. A bottle of water is £1.50 — worth bringing your own if you’re on a budget. I’m curious to see what it would be like for a non-​hockey event and how they’d cover up the ice. Presumably for Dancing On Ice tours they’d need to get rid of all the Braehead Clan branding…

This isn’t really a great venue for gigs, it’s small and the accoustics suck. I remember when I was around 14 I went to a Marilyn Manson concert here, good old teenage angst. It wasn’t great and I just remember being squashed the whole evening. The whole place is lacking any kind of atmosphere or character and just feels like the inside of a warehouse.
The only good thing is that you can get the ferry to Braehead Arena which is quite exciting and a little different just remember to pack your sea legs.

Not quite sure what the point of this venue actually would be: it’s not convenient for a night out, doesn’t have the tmospher of the older theatres, doesn’t stage anything that can’t go to another place (the SECC could pick up the larger gigs, and the theatre shows could certainly go to the Kings). The sound system is okay, but the space lacks intimacy, atmosphere, charm… still, it keeps the Singing Kettle out of the Theatre Royal, I guess.

The Braehead Arena is an enormous, stadium style venue which hosts an odd variety of gigs. A quick glance at their website tells me they are to host the Singing Kettle Christmas Pyjama Party, TNA Wrestling Tour and the Radio Soulwax and 2 Many Djs Christmas party.
The website is really good, there you can see a 3d view of the arena as well as what’s on. As evident by my last example of their gigs they really cater for anybody’s taste and the atmosphere when the arena is at full capacity is certainly memorable.

We have been to several shows here and have always had a good time. Parking is at the nearby Braehead shooping centre or Xscape.
Food is extortionate in here so would advise going downstairs to the sainsburys and stocking up with goodies there first.
Stairs into the arena are VERY steep so its very hard for the less able bodied and also those with small children. I’m sure there must be other entrances for wheelchair users. Prams must be left at your own risk upstairs which is a pain but we’ve never had any problems.
Be prepared to get your nags searched going in but in todays society this happens often elsewhere