Eventim Apollo Hammersmith (10/2/2023 - Palaye Royale)

Palaye Royale @ Eventim Apollo Hammersmith

10/2/2023

I was so excited to see Palaye Royale again, not just because at the time they were my favourite band, but also because it was the band I went to see when I had my meltdown just before COVID, so I was desperate to enjoy myself at a Palaye Royale gig once again.

This concert was originally supposed to be held at the O2 Academy Brixton but was moved to the Eventim Apollo Hammersmith after the O2 Academy Brixton got temporarily closed down because of an incident that occurred in December 2022. Because the original location was an O2 venue, I sorted out my accessibility using my O2 code from the O2 Academy Bournemouth, which I'd previously set up the year before when attending Gary Numan. After I was notified of the venue change, I was worried I would have to go through all the accessibility requirements again with the new venue. However, the O2 Academy Brixton had already notified the Apollo of everyone's requirements and also automatically transferred everyone's free companion ticket if they had one. I was extremely impressed with this, as I didn't have to do anything other than show up at the new venue.

On the night we arrived and joined the accessibility queue, we were let in before the general public. Once inside, we queued up to get my friend's companion ticket. Once again, the same as before at the O2 Academy Bournemouth, I started to get overwhelmed at the rush of people coming in behind us whilst we queued to get the ticket. So I put my headphones on and turned and stood facing the other way away from the crowds.

Once we got up to our seating area, I was shocked to find they had reserved the whole front part of the balcony for accessibility and VIP seating; you can see in a selfie I've added just how much room there was around us. I don't know if this is the norm for the Apollo or if this was just them trying to work out where to put everyone because all the original tickets were for a different venue, and they were just trying to get everything as close to the original seating plan as possible. But either way, I loved it and had a brilliant view of the stage.

When it came time to leave, no one seemed to have a problem with us waiting back for a bit for things to clear. We waited around 10 minutes before leaving once the crowd had died down a bit.

Overall, I highly recommend the Eventim Apollo Hammersmith. They did a fantastic job at organising, not just accessibility, but the whole event last minute after it had been transferred over from Brixton with less than a month to sort everything out. I had a brilliant time and was thrilled I got to enjoy Palaye Royale once again.

Excellent accessible seating with lots of room, Eventim Apollo Hammersmith - 2023

Taken by me, Eventim Apollo Hammersmith - 2023