Before it opened on 1 January 2000 and until it closed on 31 December the same year, the Millennium Dome attracted an avalanche of criticism. Classified as a monumental white elephant by many political and lay critics, the venue in Greenwich has since been spectacularly re-born as the UK’s top concert venue and is set to provide yet another series of world-class events during 2010.

The O2 Arena was officially opened on 24 June 2007 featuring a concert by American rockers Bon Jovi, seven and a half years after closing as The Millennium Dome on 31 December 2000. However, the only thing that remains of the original building is the huge white marquee canopy and its supporting structure; the entire interior being demolished and rebuilt as the O2 Arena and entertainment district.

When the O2 Arena was announced as the venue for a long-awaited Led Zeppelin reunion in late 2007 it was suddenly catapulted into the world’s consciousness. The ’70s rockers, whose surviving three members had not played live under the Zeppelin moniker since 1985, had chosen the O2 as the place to perform a tribute concert to their mentor Ahmet Ertegun; the man who first signed the band in the 1960s and had died in tragic circumstances at the end of 2006, following a fall at a Rolling Stones concert in New York.

Since then, the venue has staged hundreds of concerts featuring a series of artists that reads like a veritable who’s who of rock and pop history including Bruce Springsteen, Pink, Celine Dion, Coldplay, and Elton John. It was also set to be the venue where the late Michael Jackson was due to perform a series of 50 concerts during his comeback ‘This is It’ residency, cementing the O2’s place in pop history. In addition, the 2009 World Gymnastics Championships were held at the venue, as was a spectacular live presentation of Ben Hur.

Hotels in London have certainly benefitted from the amount of shows, concerts and other attractions that have been staged at the O2 Arena since its opening. During 2010 that take up in London hotel bookings is likely to be repeated as Bon Jovi – the artists originally featured at its reopening in 2007 – takes up residence at the venue for series of shows; it being the only location for European shows on the band’s ‘The Circle’ tour. The venue will also feature concerts by other international stars such as Lady Gaga and Michael Buble during 2010, making it yet again the UK’s most popular concert venue.

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