After 2 years of no concerts, there was only one person that I wanted to see live first and that was Gary Barlow! I finally make the decision that I would attend my first live concert since Covid-19, having both vaccinations as I wanted to get back to normality and seeing friends and concerts again.
On Sunday 26 September I attended 3 live gigs by Gary Barlow at Kingston Pryzm, near London. My sister Jean who is also in a wheelchair came with me, along with our wonderful friends.
The booking process was really easy-I booked via www.banquetrecords.com On this website there was an email on the website to let the venue know I had access requirements and to send proof of my disability benefit. There was a very helpful person Ben at Banquet Records who confirmed my wheelchair ticket plus free carer ticket very fast so now I could look forward to the concert!
We travelled to London using my Motability Car to avoid using public transport in London in the current pandemic and found a nearby carpark at where we had pre-booked a parking space.
We arrived at Pryzm 15 minutes before the doors were open to the general public and queued in a separate accessible queue, just to the right of the main doors. Once our tickets, proof of vaccine and our temperature was took we were allowed to enter the venue. The entrance was flat for my wheelchair and wide doors that were already open. We were then shown where to wait for the lift to take us up to the next floor. The lift was a box lift where you keep the button pressed to take you up or down. There was a member of Pryzm staff there to help if needed. Once leaving the lift there was another Pyzym member of staff waiting to escort me through the crowds to the designated disabled area. This was on level 1, on the balcony directly opposite the stage and thankfully our friends as they were supporting us were allowed to sit with us. I often says my friends are my arms and muscles as unfortunately I am no longer able to be as independent as I would like to be so we are very fortunate to have the bestest of friends that help when needed.
The view was good though I had to slightly bend down to look through a large space through the railing, though as my sister can sit straight up her view was great with looking over the balcony.
There was a disabled toilet on the ground floor, accessed by a radar key and was a really good size for doing my wheelchair transfer to the toilet. Yay!
Gary Barlow live was absolutely amazing, as he always is! He did 3 sets that night and luckily we got tickets for all three shows. It was so intimate and so very special to be in such a small venue. So amazing to be back seeing live music and to dance the night away with friends.
Thank you Pryzm Kingston-everything was so well organised and staff so helpful.
Thanks also to my sister Jean for travelling with me and to Ren, Debbie, Lorraine and Rachel for all their help during the concert and in London.
Judith_wheel_travel is back!!
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