O2 Ritz Manchester Reviews Summary

Venue Atmosphere

Pros:

• "Absolutely enjoyed it 🎶 Great sound, light, all was set up on time, atmosphere was fantastic!"
• "The O2 ritz is a great venue for watching live music."
• "Great venue, more intimate than The Apollo and better location for public transport."
• "Great venue, small and intimate."
• "Great live music venue!"
• "Great venue. Much better than the O2 in Leeds."
• "One of the best music venues in Manchester for its sound to be fair."

Cons:

• "The only reason it doesn't get 5 stars was that they allowed drinks in the middle area of the main stalls which people then started throwing around as they got drunk."
• "All in I do not intend to go to this venue again (was also my first time)."
• "Dreadful uncaring staff... Every member of staff you talk to shrugs there shoulders."
• "Sometimes amazing and sometimes dire, it all depends on the sound engineer on the night."
• "The calibration on the venue's audio equipment left bass muddy and Kev's singing losing occasional lyrics - a very bad experience."
• "Hats off to 02 Ritz Manchester for providing one of the worst Event experiences I have ever come across at the Jedi Mind Tricks concert last night."
• "The security are often quite rude, and lackadaisical."

Staff and Service

Pros:

• "Lovely venue, and the staff were so, so nice!"
• "I felt well looked after."
• "I would like to say a special thank you to the door staff, bar staff and floor staff who were all very kind and friendly."
• "The staff were extremely friendly and helpful, they are definitely the best staff in a live music venue that I have encountered."
• "The stewards and staff were so helpful, offered to get me seating and checked I was OK throughout the concert."
• "Bar staff, security staff and the guys on the merch stall were all very friendly."
• "The staff are so kind and helpful and are a credit to the company."

Cons:

• "Dreadful uncaring staff... Every member of staff you talk to shrugs there shoulders."
• "Then there was the apparent lack of customer service skills from the security personnel."
• "The security are often quite rude, and lackadaisical."
• "Absolutely horrendous experience from start to finish…arrogant attitude from security and staff members alike…had an accessibility issue regarding my wife…all you get is “oh you should’ve pre-arranged something”."
• "The girl at the door refused to let us in to speak to her... it's incredibly disheartening to see ableism like this in this day and age."
• "Security didn’t seem to know what they were doing, they weren’t very prepared."
• "The queuing system and the staff management was done terribly."

Accessibility and Facilities

Pros:

• "Large stage, bar on both floors, cloakroom & gender neutral restrooms!!"
• "Plenty of floor space with upstairs balcony around the venue."
• "There is also a really good secure multi storey car park not far away called Q park on first street."
• "The toilets are actually really good for a live music venue."
• "The accessible bathroom was installed and laid out immaculately."
• "Even if you buy standing tickets, you can use the area upstairs where there's a bit of seating."
• "The balcony provides an excellent view of the stage and performers."

Cons:

• "Also the toilets are too far away and down a lot of stairs which was a nightmare for someone with a disability."
• "The cloakroom prices of £4 per coat/bag are extortionate."
• "The toilets are a bit of a mission to get to, especially for people with disabilities."
• "The heat was dangerous and especially at the front under all the stage lights."
• "Toilets are a long way."
• "We ended up having a problem at one point re: accessibility because of it."
• "The floor was deflecting by around 3cm when people were lightly jumping. Kinda scary."

Price and Value

Pros:

• "Reasonably priced bar for an event/city centre."
• "Drinks prices were reasonable."
• "The bar isn’t too expensive and they serve ‘2 pinters’ so you don’t have to keep going up for more beer."
• "Multiple bars serving a variety of drinks and giving away large cups of water with ice out for free for the whole duration."
• "Good that they offer 2pint cups, however my only reservation is the sheer cost of drinks at this venue."
• "The drinks prices are ridiculous, £7.55 for a pint of bitter in a plastic glass."
• "£2.70 for a bottle of water & they won't let you have it with a lid is absolutely disgraceful."

Cons:

• "The prices are extortionate, to be expected with it being an 02 venue I guess."
• "Outrageous bar prices and no pass-outs..."
• "Drink prices are also insane, even for central manny."
• "Drinks expensive for plastic glass lukewarm gin and tonics and beers."
• "£8.05 for a single vodka and mixer? Robbed!"
• "Drink was very expensive though at more that £7 a pint for fairly standard options."
• "Drinks are enormously expensive, as usual for these type of venues."