Utilita Arena Newcastle, Main Auditorium

Great arena and easy to get to. Staff are friendly and helpful. Very expensive food and drink as any entertainment place. Comfy seats for Torvill and Dean.

It's been a long time since I last visited Newcastle arena (about 20 years + since I saw my first ever concert here) & the venue was smaller than I remembered. Pretty decent facilities & a great atmosphere though. James Blunt was amazing & we had a brilliant night. We parked in Grainger car park which was a little bit further away than some of the car parks but only a 5-10 minute walk, we got out quickly as most people had used closer ones & it cost less than a fiver too & we arrived at about 4pm.

Some of the yellow fiz security guards at the event that stand outside need a hell of a lot of equality training when it comes to learning disabilities and Autism, the short slightly plumpish lady with hair tied back and glasses and brown hair was unnecessarily pressurising, repeating herself multiple times with a raised voice, and rude to me told me I had an attitude for telling her not to pressurise me to leave the venue!!! Me and my staff were in the middle of trying to make arrangements so she could stay longer to support me if I am buying a ticket we were literally making a plan then I was buying the ticket at the box office !! She told me if I continued to to an attuide she would have me leaving the venue, never would ever expect to be treat they way as an autistic individual, always got to be that one that ruins it because quite honestly I’ve been coming here for years and there are some amazing attendants, security staff and workers here, they are usually super accommodating but this lady needs to some work, nice of her to apologise tho right after upsetting me and having me shake !!! It’s a bit too late. Hope the next visit to this arena is more positive & diverse/and welcoming to people with a hidden disability who look like the average person like me, ^ below me at Sean Paul & Ashanti concert was great never the less !!! Also blonde lady and old guy in the blue I think he was with show sec, they were incredibly compassionate people, once they knew the circumstances they was with us all the way supporting us and being our voice and ear becus my support worker her English isn’t the greatest I speak up for her and she helps me so much, the staff helped the both of us, sooo not all people are crap, hope the arena staff read this and take my positives as constructive critism, yes I have a hidden disability and love concerts/dancing and fun and making friends along the way 😊 !! xx