Firstdirectarena Reviews 20

Booked accessible seats at the front of the first tier of seats. There as a fixed railing in front of these seats restricting leg room. Moved to the accessible platform, upstairs. 4 seats from the front, on a flat platform. Absolutely no view of the stage. All complaints answered blaming me for not complaining more, at the time. Accessible seats are Not Accessible.

Seating dangerous especially with no lighting need a magnifying glass to see the seat number?Just one big Aircraft hanger with economy plane seats!No atmosphere whatsoever!but looks cool from the outside!PS get rid of the phone pouches like been in a communist state!

Went to the Leeds Arena for Bob Dylan gig. Sound was great. Stage lighting was totally inadequate. I couldn’t see Dylan or any other members of the band and couldn’t say how many members of the band were actually performing. Gig ruined by inadequate lighting on stage.

I try hard to avoid this place but seen four music concerts here. Thin sound, uncomfy seats with not enough leg room, long viewing distances - even from the corporate boxes. Atmosphere vacuum.

You'd have thought one of the main considerations for an arena would be to make the seating a comfortable experience! Not so at First Direct, Leeds where the seats are about as comfortable as an uneven rock with minimal space between rows and either side of you. A bit like a jam-packed Ryanair flight but without an aisle. We had the pleasure of seeing Tim Minchin here a few weeks ago and he was absolutely spectacular. Despite this, the seating was and is so uncomfortable we were pleased when the encore finished and we were able to leave this so very poorly designed and bum numbing arena behind, that's how uncomfortable it is.

Sort it out First Direct, or ASM Global, many commented on the state of your appalling seating.

I just visited the arena for the first time in a few years and was shocked at the behaviour of some of the (security?) staff, the ones I encountered where aggressive and unpleasant, one woman actually screamed in my companions face because she had become separated from me and had joined the wrong queue - Contrast this with Co-op Live where I went in May, where without exception everybody I encountered was friendly, helpful and polite, much like the staff at Leeds Arena used to be - I wonder where I will go next?

Disappointing customer service after a poor sound experience

I usually love visiting Leeds First Direct Arena — it’s a great venue and I’ve had brilliant experiences in the past. However, at the recent Sugababes concert (8th April), our evening was spoiled by a persistent vibration noise coming from the speaker or structure behind our seats (Block 104, Row X).

There were no staff visible in the area during the show, so we put up with it and raised the issue afterwards with customer services. I submitted video evidence of the noise, which clearly shows how disruptive it was — but the response I received was dismissive. They stated I should have left my seat and gone to the information desk mid-show to report it, which just isn’t practical when you’re trying not to disturb others and have paid nearly £80 per ticket to enjoy the event.

Unfortunately, despite the evidence, they denied any issue and offered no resolution or accountability. It’s a real shame, as I expected better from a venue I’ve always trusted.

We sat in block 137 row O . Up in the gods. At that height you rely on the TV screen to see the show but half of Peter Kays head was covered by the lighting gantry. People above us must have only seen his Knees. Can I have my money back please?

We attended Leeds First Direct Arena for our first gig of the year which was Pantera 19th February 2025, on the whole a very good venue and reasonable parking charges if you don't mind a 10 minute walk this also steers away from the madness and congestion of the multistory car park nearby and gives a quick exit from the city.
My only issue was people being allowed to vape inside the arena ignoring the laws of no smoking including vaping whilst Showsec crowd management team members look on and ignore.
What amazes me is that Showsec security will force people to throw sealed bottles of water away as you are not allowed to take them in but allow people to take vapes into the arena then watch them use them without challenge. I spoke to people on the row in front of us and people to the side to politely ask them to cease vaping as it a no smoking arena however my requests were merely futile as in the standing area a good number of people were vaping and again in front of Showsec security. Clearly Leeds First Direct Arena do not police smoking or vaping in their establishment which is placing people's health at risk, I wonder what the fines are for such negligence! Anyway obviously nobody will listen, we enjoyed the gig whilst getting our lungs full of people's disgusting vape we will make sure we ditch our water well in advance for future visits whilst we watch the security allow people to vape in the arena.

Great venue but some of the door staff are up their own ass jobsworths . Rude , obnoxious and too full of their own self importance. Mainly a female member who loves the sound of her own voice a little too much

We went to see culture club and as we didn't want to miss out we bought early release VIP gallery tickets. Before the event I did find negative reviews about seat placement and we did debate changing seats but decided not too and went in with realistic expectations. They seats were good however the service which was included was definitely not VIP. We had an included drinks token which was infront of us but no-one came to take our order untill we put on a paid for order by qr code and then we had to ask how to redeem token. Because of train issue we hadn't eaten as planned so ordered a pizza and loaded fries with our drinks at highly inflated prices. After at least 8 inquiries our drinks finally arrived an hour later with our included drinks and after 3 different people coming to us at least 5 times while the acts were on asking what we had ordered and saying the food was coming the food arrived 2 hours after we ordered it. The pizza was fine the loaded fries were stone cold so I took them back and asked for refund. 10 mins later they arrived back the waiter saying he had reheated oh I mean got you some fresh ones. They were obviously reheated the chicken was now on the bottom and there was a sauce on the chips which wasn't part of the original order. We didn't except them and said again we just want a refund. 15 mins later he came back and said we would have to FIND the manager after the show. In all this we just had excuses about technology and a overwhelmed kitchen not once did we get an apology. We did find the manager after the show it took half an hour and a lot of trailing around and we did get our refund and the concert was amazing but it did taint the night and we certainly not treated as VIP guests. We would have also drank more if we could get the drinks. Just for reference tickets in the row infront of us were £75 we paid £167 for bar seating access to vip toilet (a blessing) a drink and lanyard and table service drinks. People on normal seating were tipsy we were stone cold sober, not that we wanted to be drunk. Worth the money probably not!!!!

Tom Walker fantastic, but, from the moment The Script came on, one selfish young woman decided to stand up from start to finish, despite everyone else remaining seated. Shame I can’t add a photo, because she blocked my view of the band entirely. A man who asked her to sit down was just ignored and rebuked by her companion who was enjoying a clear view of the stage herself. Lucky her! To end it all, some cretin from the tier above threw their VERY expensive lager all over us below, just for fun it would seem. A lot of money for a lot of nothing.

I have attended events at First Direct Arena in Leeds and they were satisfactory. I set out to book tickets (for my wife and I) but found the prices extortionate at over £100 each. Although I can afford it despite being poor pensioners I hope others like us will vote with their feet and refuse to stump up and let those responsible know this pricing strategy is unacceptable.

Booked one event for Bprakh on 22sep 2024. The event is postponed, but there is no free phone number to talk to. It starf with 0844 paid phone number

Horrible and shocking experience. Don’t understand how they get voted as one of the best banks. They are just useless and incompetent. Customer service - ignorant, patronising, clearly no common sense. They wanted me to verify my identify, sent me to HSBC bank where I went twice. Person (living, breathing human!) verified me identity upon checking my passport and drivers licence. Only for First Direct to block my online account again and tell me that they will send me a form to confirm my identity this way! Absolutely furious that I can’t access my money!!! Will be leaving them as soon as this fiasco is sorted!

I really want to leave a 5 star review because it is the best arena I have been to, however like many venues in the UK you just get ripped off once you're trapped inside. The food and drink prices are extortionate at the very best, what they charge is utterly shocking but if people are prepared to pay these prices, the venue will keep ripping people off.

Booked a Premium package, The Luxury expereince tickets for Take That. One week before got a notification on my phone that the event name had changed, this became Premium Package Club 200. Upon checking the differences, I had been downgraded and lost my reserved seats, access to the Black and White Lounge and our 3 course meal. Got in touch with hospitality but because they don't take calls I had to email. Received no reply, contacted again via the fans support and kept getting a response to say the tickets can be in any ones name ?? Clearly not understanding my query, I was not changing names, they had changed my package ! Finally got an email from the hospitality team by fluke congratulated me on my Club 200 purchase. I responded to tell them this was NOT my purchase and I had been downgraded. The response I got was that there had been 'an unfortunate inaccuracy ' and this meant my email confirmation showed I had The Luxury Experience but I did not and I never had this, the Club 200 was my booking. I responded to say this was untrue as I booked The Luxury experience, my husband has a broken neck and needs to be seated in reserved seats, allocated dining etc, I know what I booked. They insisted I was wrong and they were right and I had to pay an extra £300 to get it back to what my email booking confirmed. I refused.
This was mis-selling completely, I paid and booked The Luxury Experience and I should not of been downgraded a week before the event. Shocking customer service, never again !

Attended the First Direct Arena in Leeds to watch New Order with the premim mixer package, the concert and venue were class however the hospitality staff turned to be inexperienced and obnoxious which spoilt the evening.

We booked the premium upgrade with dinner at the First Direct Arena in Leeds before we went to see Peter Kay on Sept 8th and it was absolutely appalling.
The food was cold and thrown on the plate, the staff were so busy some were in tears. The service was shocking and we had to wait 25 mins for a water and diet coke, the poor staff had no clue where the tables were and where food was going it was a shambles. There were far too many people in the area and the queue for the bar was right to the door.
There was no Air conditioning and it was 32 deg and people were having to leave as it was so uncomfortable.
We paid £75pp and it was absolutely disgusting. I do not recommend the premium upgrade at the Black and white lounge at Leeds First direct Arena.