The SSE Hydro

I made my first visit to the Hydro last night and I was pleasantly surprised. To be honest I had heard lots of people tell me how the sound was not very good and it was not the best venue for seeing bands. Last night I saw Public Enemy and The Prodigy and it was mixed in terms of acoustics. The prodigy seemed to fit into the venue great and you could hear every tune perfectly. PE in comparison was harder to hear as the base seemed to overpower the rapping and made it harder to hear. I have seen both bands live several times and know what they normally can do, so for PE it must be something to do with the setup in the hydro.
Still all in it is a good place to see a band and it is huge and impressive looking. Easy enough to get a drink, car parking was simple and getting in and out the gig was fast. Personally I prefer a smaller venue, but I would not mind going back here.

So yes the stage area is impressive, and maybe I’ve just being grumpy, but my gosh this was hard work!
Entering the building was painless, no lines which was great. But as soon as we got into the main atrium it was bedlam. We had to ask a stewart how to find our area, and the bar queues were huge!
Plastic cups even for water bottles *sigh*
We bought our tickets from a friend who couldn’t attend, and we had’t checked the seating…3^rd floor… eek! The elevators and lifts only go to the second floor so there were some hefty stairs to get to the third. This might be fine normally for folk, but please be careful of this is you struggle with stairs. I didn’t have my walking stick with me and it was quite traumatic.
Wow. I had a touch of vertigo being so high up! It’s very impressive.
The seats truly are packing in like sardines, no wiggle room whatsoever. The girl’s head in front of me managed to collide with my knees on numerous occasions.
The show itself was amazing, great screens for us in the back and the sound was great.
Pricey drinks are to be expected, and of course they make you discard any bottles on entering.
Overall not impressed.

I really like the Hydro! Mostly because it makes SUCH a change from the SECC, which was utterly pants for gigs, but just because it’s been really well done too!
I can also now attest to the fact that basically no matter where you sit in the arena, you get a great view as I have now been in almost every tier (lowest circle of seating, one day you will be mine!) — got great sound every time as well, seriously can’t stress enough how much better that is than it was in the SECC!
I’ve been to see a range of performances here — music gigs including Belle and Sebastian, Jack White and of course my beloved Fleetwood Mac, as well as Still Game, so it’s definitely suitable for a variety of shows. The bf went to see Top Gear (bleh) with his dad as well and really enjoyed that, even though they were in the second from back row!
There are loads of facilities so it never takes too long to get served at the bar or go to the loo, plus there are plenty of staircases leading up to the various tiers, meaning it’s usually not too crush-​y when everyone’s trying to leave at the end.
The arena space itself is utterly amazing! The first time I came here for *cough*McBusted*cough* I remember stepping out and being in awe of how massive it is! It’s really cool to look around the whole venue when everyone’s right into a song being played, or laughing at the same thing being said, and as I said before it must be pretty difficult to get a bad seat due to the circular layout. There’s also a decent gap between the rows of seats, so there’s not too much squeezing involved when someone needs past to go for their sixth pint of beer. (Srsly, Fleetwood Mac are literally in front of you and you’re more interested in beer??)
I do have slight niggles with the Hydro — for instance, last night none of the taps were working by the time I got to them after the gig (soapy hands ahoy!) tickets are generally ridiculously expensive with a stupidly priced booking fee on top, and there was also that time they gave loads of folk E. coli — which pretty much put me off ever trying any of the food outlets.
But it’s definitely the best out of any arena-​type venue I’ve ever been to, so not enough to deny them a fifth star, and I actually enjoy coming to the Hydro itself on top of getting to see my chosen show.
Will I be back? I should hope so!

The Hydro reminds me very much of a slightly more intimate 02. The view is pretty good from any angle although the screens could do with being bigger for those in the top levels at the back! The whole place feels a little dated but there is a good number of bars and food outlets as well as a variety of hotels within walking distance!
My only concerns are for the less able people among us. Level 3 is extremely high and there are no escalators or lifts just a set of stairs. Once in the seats it is difficult to get in and out and one lady even fell while we were there. The website does say that level 3 is not suitable for the disabled or less able but yet for lots of shows tickets for levels 1 and 2 are vastly more expensive. A bit unfair but it’s true for lots of venues I’m sure.
Overall it wasn’t my favourite venue but it did the job!

El principal motivo de mi viaje a Glasgow era el concierto de Belle and Sebastian. Por primera vez en su carrera tocaron en el Hydro Arena y lo hacían a lo grande con la orquesta de Glasgow! Si eres gran fan de la banda la verdad que es un momento bastante genial :)
Glasgow es genial, puedes ir andando a los sitios bastante bien y el Hydro no está nada lejos del centro. Llegamos en nada andando y está muy bien señalado. Tienes que cruzar una especie de puente acristalado para ir hasta la zona donde está, lo que podría compararse con el Palacio de los Deportes de Madrid, además de un edificio donde se deben celebrar un montón de conferencias y ferias, también un rollo IFEMA.
Las puertas las abrían con bastante tiempo como para poder colocarnos en primera fila. Eso sí, tuvimos primero que enseñar las mochilas y bolsos, en ese momento nos dijeron que no podíamos meter la cámara por lo que tuvimos que dejar la mochila en el ropero.
Mientras hacíamos tiempo nos pillamos unas cervezas y un poco de comida rollo wok, ya que había bastantes puestos en el hall para que la gente comiese antes del concierto. Luego cuando salimos ya estaban cerrados, así que hicimos bien en pillarlo antes.
El Hydro es bastante grande y se escucha muy bien. El concierto fue fenomenal, yo creo que estaba bastante lleno, pero me puedo imaginar eso repleto cuando vienen los cantantes que lo petan bastante. Nos pusimos en primera fila y disfrutamos un montón, creo que se escuchaba mejor desde más atrás pero mereció la pena el estar tan cerca :)

None of the bands I like are big enough to play the Hydro, so this was my first time here, for the Dr Who Symphonic Spectacular. We arrived with only a couple of minutes to find our seats, so I didn’t get a lot of time to wander around but it’s a spacious place with plenty of food outlets in the foyer. The staff were efficient and helpful and the signposting is clear — we found our seats quickly and easily.
The arena is massive — as it was a Dr Who event, there were a lot of jokes about it being bigger on the inside! The upper levels of seating are steeply tiered so you have no problem getting a clear view of the stage even from the very top. The only thing I didn’t like was the security guard employed to stand and stare at the audience — I’m not quite sure why, although he did say «no flash photography» on our way in, so maybe he was trying to spot people using flashes. But he was really quite unsettling!
Still, the concert was great, the sound quality was great, the view was great. I’m not a fan of massive concert arenas but this seems like a particularly good one and cetainly knocks the socks off the neighbouring SECC as a gig venue.

The SSE Hydro brings Glasgow into the top league of cities with big-​scale purpose build indoor venues, alongside London’s O2, and New York’s Madison Square Gardens; «Glasgow’s answer to…» as the Evening Times would say.
Fully configurable, the venue has hosted Commonwealth Games gymnastics, big name acts like Beyonce, Kylie and Prince, and events like Disney on Ice and Top Gear live.
The tiered circular seating means excellent sight lines to the stages. Although the top tier might leave you squinting a bit to see the action because this venue is huge!
Plenty of toilets, bars and snack areas mean little if any queuing, and the high staffing means things run efficiently despite the huge crowds.
I haven’t used the car park (its a pet hate of mine, ugly ugly structure!) and believe getting out after a big event can take as long as the night’s entertainment itself (slight exaggeration). But being part of the SECC complex, it’s linked to Exhibition Centre railway station by walkway, a quick 10 minute walk at most.
I drove by the site watching the venue take shape on a daily basis, and marveled at the fantastic design. The finished building is fabulous — big, bold, and colourful. Like the world’s biggest Mathmos lamp, the entire exterior changes colour spectacularly…

I’ve got to start by complimenting the security guards, even though I think they aren’t specific to the venue. They worked for an agency called G4S. Super nice, civilized people who treated the audience kindly and did a good job keeping the artist and everyone else in the venue safe. I interacted with about ten of them, and they were all very lovely people.
The venue people working at information and merch were great too. I found them to be intelligent and helpful.
One bad seed. Guy who worked for the venue… Was doing coatcheck at the end if the night (21^st of March) and was acting security up next to the stage right when the concert ended. Scrawny guy with rectangular glasses, reddish blondish brownish hair, a little shaggy. Looked really young. That guy sucked. My jacket fell right next to him and I politely asked him to hand it back to me. He refused to, very proudly. Then, smirking, he tried to look at the two G4S security guys next to him for validation. They didn’t acknowledge him; instead, one of them handed me my jacket. I thanked him for being kind and said something negative about the scrawny glasses guy. He responded professionally just making a face about the mean venue guy and not touching on what I’d said other than that, and commenting something about it being cold out there, in regards to me thanking him for being nice handing me my jacket.
The barrier holds probably 35 – 40 people between where the speakers are setup. The seats are comfortable. Bathrooms are decently kept. Clean venue overall.

Love the hydro! It’s a great building to look at from the outside and although it’s really big inside the atmosphere is not lost.

Went to see Noël Gallagher at the sse hydro on Saturday 7 March. After calling the venue earlier on, we knew he wasn’t coming on until 9pm do we arrived just on time.
We managed to get the club house suite tickets which are situated in block H, 209 pretty much bang in the middle of the first tier. We were on the 2^nd row which was fab as it meant no one was standing up in front of us. The clubhouse wrist bang gets you into their exclusive bar, no convo drink but it means you don’t have to queue for ages.

I love my gigs, and I like them to be small an intemit. But if you’re going to see the big hitters then you got to go big. Now I detested the secc, but now the hydro is here my love for a bigger venue has grown.
I have seen many bands and singers here including Beyonce, Justin timberlake, prince, dolly, Kylie and Lionel to name a few. I’ve also been to see the gymnastics during the commonwealth games which I loved.
I have never had a bad seat and wherever I have been I’ve had a great view. I have not yet sat in the gods so can’t comment on the view from there.
Not only does the venue have a big modern almost space age feel (it does look like a crashed space ship) it is clean, well staffed and has loads of toilets.
As big venues go this is a good one. Doesn’t feel like a big empty warehouse. And I always love waiting to see what colour the outside will be on the night of the gig.

The Hydro is Scotlands biggest, purpose built music venue. Even though it’s owned by an electricity company, I like it.
I’ve been here a couple of times since it opened, just over a year ago — first to see 30 Seconds to Mars, and last weekend for the SNP tour.
I find it to be really well laid out — each tier has its own set of kiosks and toilets, meaning that you don’t have huge amounts of people hanging around the main foyer, and it clears out quickly when your gig has finished. Once you go into the actual arena, it’s huge. The seats are well spaced — for once I don’t have to sit at an angle because I have long legs!
A drawback for me both times I visited was the sound mixing — the volume of the music is much higher than the mics, and overpowers the voices of the singers.
Overall, a pretty decent place for a gig,

Great venue and second time we have been to a gig in here. The venue is massive and the sound is fantastic. We went to see Kasabian and the place was full to capacity, have not been to a gig with the crowd so revved up which was brilliant. The only issue this time as it was full to capacity was the wait for the bar, no Q in the toilets but the bar staff are slow and you can’t even get a bottle of water without the cap on lol. The first time we went it couldn’t have been this busy as we had no Q’s for anything. Love this place and it looks great from outside too.

I came here on Thursday night to see Lee Evans. First impressions were that operations were pretty slick; we got into the venue quickly, security seemed on the ball and we were shown to our seats with no bother at all. The arena itself? Phwoar. I was a little overwhelmed by the size; It’s just massive! I know, stating the obvious right?
My only gripe is the same gripe I have with most big venues, in that if you want to have a drink you have be loaded/​remortgage your home/​sell off your first-​born. But overall, nifty little gig venue: P

My first time in the SSE Hydro was last night to see Still Game Live. I have never been much of a fan of large venues (much prefer small, intimate gigs/​shows) but as the Hydro has quickly become an iconic sight in Glasgow I was excited to visit.
I travelled by train which is connected to the venue via the large tunnel (it gets busy when theres gigs etc on, some forward planning needed if you’re the claustrophobic sort). I think parking is about £7 and heard there are MASSIVE queues invloved.
I knew the venue would be busy as Still Game was proving to be very popular, there were large queues to get in the door but ticket scanning was swift so we didnt wait that long.
Once inside there are plenty of bars and eateries around to get as much of your money out of you as possible. There were people everywhere but I have to say, I feel the area was well staffed and it was easy to find our way to our seats.
The stairs are a bit drab (this doesnt bother me, I’m more concerned with the stage and show!) which seems to bother some people. Once in the actual theatre we found our seats quite easily. The theatre takes the shape of a typical Ancient Roman-​esque Ampitheatre, no matter how high up you are, you get a great view of the stage (the actors look like ants but theres no need to creak your neck to see them). The stains to the seats are also a bit Ancient Roman! Quite steep and I imagine people with the slightest of mobility/​joint issues could find climbing them troubling. The seats are typical audience seats, i. e not very comfortable, 3 hours was more than enough!
So all in all, it was great to finally see this venue. Its large, well spaced out and I found it to be well staffed. Ideally, my favourite acts would play in smaller venues so it’d need to be something really special for me to go back (or panto).
As for Still Game, well it was fabulous :)

I don’t have much to add to what’s already been said. This place is huge, impressively so, and like many, I was just as excited to experience the hydro as a venue as I was for the gig itself. (Dolly Parton was great though, if you’re asking!)
It was refreshing to see some quirky in-​house food outlets inside the Hydro and prices, whilst still on the steep side, were definitely not obscenely so. Staff were friendly and welcoming and there was an electric atmosphere. — I think no matter where you’re sitting, you’ll have a good view of the stage (owing to the hydro’s shape) and, in turn, a great night.
It’s definitely an exciting thought that some bigger acts will finally be coming to Glasgow, and the Hydro is certainly an addition to the city that we should be proud of. Of course, this is no intimate venue, but she’s a real beauty; a dazzling futuristic orb on the Glasgow horizon and one heck of a crowd pleaser. And that’s good enough for me.

My review is based solely on being part of a production working in this venue. And believe me… to come and see a show here is totally awesome. Seats seem to be pretty decent and comfortable to sit in compared to most venues. Bathrooms are clean and food stands are well staffed. So why 3 stars you ask?
As part of a production crew I like loading docks and storage for my gear. This building is short on both. If I had less than 10 trucks to deal with maybe one more star would be added. There is room to pull the trucks in and load with a forklift. And 10 trucks worth of gear easily tucks away backstage. But more than docks, storage is so important. I would still love to come and play this building again.

For a city that loves its music, Glasgow isn’t really well served by its bigger venues. The Barras is probably the best decent sized venue, and after that everything suffers from a combination of rotten sound, overcrowding and a lack of character. While the Hydro isn’t perfect, it definitely goes some way to giving Glasgow an enormo-​done that’s worth going to.
For a start, it looks interesting. I quite like the look of it, and it’s the sort of place that you can’t help but feel excited about going to. Inside, it has the feel of a bit sports stadium, with the food stalls, bars and merch stands in an outside semi circle around the venue itself. It does look like there might not be a lot of cash machines so you may want to stock up before you go.
The venue area is a huge improvement on the old SECC (to be fair this wouldn’t be hard). Most importantly, the sound is pretty good: possibly a little drum heavy when I was there, but everything was clear and not over loud. Sight lines at the standing area are good, and it’s big enough that you can find a bit of space if you don’t like being crowded. The seating looks pretty good as well, but the top tier does look awfully high up.
In the past I’ve avoided gigs at the SECC as it was such a dismal gig going experience. I definitely won’t be doing the same with the Hydro, although the ticket prices may be the thing that put me off!

First time here for the Queens of the Stone Age gig and I was about as excited to get inside and have a look around as I was to see the band!
It is massive. Not sure of the official capacity and it wasn’t rammed full on Saturday night but we now have an excellent venue which should continue to attract some big names, thank heavens I no longer have to miss out on bands! (I have a self imposed ban on going to the SECC, it’s awful).
We walked down from Dumbarton Road which proved a little troublesome as, if you don’t use the SECC walkway, there is no clear pavement without walking the long way around the new multi-​storey car park next to the venue. Feels like an odd omission considering they hard virtually carte blanche to restructure roads and the like around the venue.
Once inside it’s like any other modern venue. Reasonably well signposted, but as always it could be better, and it has plenty of bars and food outlets dotted around the ‘outer ring’. There are a few odd little bottlenecks that are forced by the architecture though so keep your eyes open, it can be quicker to go the ‘long way’ around.
All the staff at the outlets seemed friendly, efficient and well prepared. I think the long queue I saw was for the solitary cash machine (at least the only one I saw).
We grabbed drinks and headed in to the door allocated on our tickets only to be told that the door was ‘shut’ (I think he meant ‘not in use’… a shut door can be opened!), so we toddled round the next door and walked in to an amazing space. It’s only really when you are in the middle of the arena that you realise just how huge it is.
The sound was good, although despite the fact we were fairly central (far stage left about 50 people back) there were some occasional echoes as the sound bounced back off the far walls, but nothing too distracting.
There are still some teething troubles to be sorted out though. The staff communication (and staff levelling) of the stewards wasn’t great. At one point they had one poor woman stuck managing two doors of people coming in and out (some with tickets, some who’d been in already with stamped hands to prove it).
Once they get their operations sorted then the only thing to detract from the gig will be the usual drunken nutters!

I was pretty excited to see the Hydro inside and see what a gig was like. Luckily for us we got tickets to see Queens of the Stone Age on Saturday night. We had dinner and drinks beforehand in Finnieston — the Hydro is a short walk away but could be quicker as you have to walk around the carpark to get in. Hopefully they sort out a new footpath for quicker access soon.
Inside it reminded me a lot of a football stadium with high concrete walls. It’s easy to find your way around and there is a lot of facilities — bars, food and toilets which is great in a venue like this as queuing for any of these can be a real pain. The one thing there was a huge queue for was the cash machine so make sure you get money out before you go.
Inside it’s a huge space which has a real wow factor to it. It feels a little like being in a UFO (trust me, I know what that’s like) and there’s good visibility of the stage even at the back with a tall crowd (in general admission/​standing). The sound was really good to my uneducated ears and the huge screen on the stage makes for entertaining viewing when you get sick of perving on Josh Homme.
Every staff member I encountered was friendly and it was easy to get in and out with not much queuing. I’d definitely come back here for a gig but due to laziness and old age might go for seats next time.

This is the proverbial 3.5 star review… but I’ll give it the 4 until I go back again. I like to be Mr. Positive when I can, y’know?
The plus sides:
— Location: It’s hellishly easy to get to, being located slap bang next to the SECC and The Armadillo (On a side note, I love Glasgow names. We have the Hydro and the Armadillo, along the water from the squiggly and squinty bridges!)
— Size: It’s heeeeeeyuuuuge!
— Image: It looks STUNNING at night, lit up likesome kind of demented UFO that crash landed on the Clydeside.
— Facilities: I was really impressed with the food, drink and merch stands. Plenty of them, plenty of choice, and at just £4 a pint, cheaper than the Academy, Already a plus point for me. I visited the bars a few times *cough* for research *cough* and never had to queue for more than a minute — and in between bands when it was at it’s busiest, too. All the staff seemed happy enough, and general good vibes were had. Nice. Also, a free cash machine inside the building? GREAT IDEA! Kinda… it wasn’t working when I went, but it was as I left, so I’ll let it go this time. Also, free wifi is available and works, simply for entering your email address.
— Layout: The big open spaces running around the the man hall mean that you easily access any of the entrances, and there’s plenty room for loads of people to mill about. There’s also a few places to sit your drink/​pizza/​fish n chips dotted about as well, another good touch.
Now, the downsides that I noticed
— Access: At the beginning of the gig, I arrived half an hour before an email from TicketSoup said that show would start. As I was queuing through the one door into the main hall that seemed to be open, I heard the first band start. If you’re going to email people to give them show times, make sure they’re accurate! As it was, I only missed half a song, but did hear people grumbling later on that they’d missed more.
— Sound mix: I wandered about the arena during the night, watching the show from both sides, and from the middle. In the middle, the sound is pretty crisp and nicely rounded. Off at the sides, however, it’s more sludgy and dominated by the low end. Vocals were a bit buried and the drums were tinny in places, I thought. Of course, I went to what was more or less the first hard rock show, so it could be teething problems.
I want to be positive, so I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt and four star rating. Hopefully the sound issues will be smoothed out, and they can sort the timing glitches.
A good start!