SPG Moments: Review of an evening at the O2 with Muse

When Rob asked me if I wanted to review the SPG Suite at the O2 and I saw that one of the options was Muse, I didn’t think twice.  Muse are one of the best live bands I have ever seen (and I’ve been to many concerts).  They are so amazing that my Mum decided to come and visit me around the time of the concert so I could take her with me!

The tickets came courtesy of Starwood Preferred Guest via their SPG Moments events programme.   This is the same scheme that Rob used to attend the private Jamie Cullum gig in Dubai the previous week.   It is a great opportunity to use your Le Meridien, Westin, Sheraton etc reward points for something other than more hotel nights.  The points for the tickets came from Rob’s personal stash and the evening was not comped to HfP by SPG.

The SPG suite is located on the 3rd level of the O2. It is directly facing the stage and is therefore a bit far from the stage when the band is playing on the other end of the arena as Rob mentioned in his review last year. However we were lucky as Muse were playing in the round which meant that pretty much everyone in the O2 had a decent view.

Here is a picture of the stage before the show:

And here is the stage during the show:

The lounge has got three different sitting areas – a sofa and armchairs area (see below), tables with barstools and ‘proper’ seats in front of the suite where everyone was sitting during the show.

The food was great with a buffet catering for everyone from meat eater (beef) to fish lover (salmon) to vegetarian (grilled butternut squash).  You won’t go hungry if you come to an SPG event here.

and

The drink choices at the staffed bar included wine, beer and soft drinks, all complimentary.  They were served in glasses but had to be transferred to plastic cups when sitting on the seats in front of the suite.

The toilets were about 20 seconds away and not very busy – which means you are not missing too much of the show.

The sound was fantastic thanks to the O2’s outstanding sound system.

Whether the SPG Suite works for you depends on what you expect from a concert.  If you want to be close to the band, or simply stand in the crowd to sing along to the songs, the SPG Suite is probably not the best option.

If you want to enjoy the music and have drinks without having to queue forever, it’s perfect.  We also got lucky with Muse because they played in the round.  My Mum, who is not a big concert go-er anymore, really enjoyed it.  I think she never quite recovered from an AFI concert six years ago where people were going crazy and throwing beer through the air …..

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