Royal Albert Hall

On Thursday 31 March, we visited London's famous Royal Albert Hall for the first time, to see the Symphonic Rock 2011 concert, performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

The Royal Albert Hall is one of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, recognisable all over the world. Since it was opened by Queen Victoria (and named after her deceased husband, Prince Albert) in 1871, the world's leading artists from every kind of performance genre have appeared on its stage. Each year it hosts more than 350 performances including classical concerts, rock and pop, ballet and opera, tennis, award ceremonies, school and community events, charity performances and lavish banquets.

The Royal Albert Hall is complemented by a memorial statue of Prince Albert in Kensington Gardens, which looks across at the Hall. The Hall is an almost circular shape, with an enormous glass and wrought-iron dome roof, and dozens of acoustic diffusing discs hanging from the ceiling. The inside of the Hall is beautiful. We sat in a small box/balcony on the second level (there are four levels of seating in total) and we had a fantastic view of the stage where the orchestra was set up as well as great views all around the inside of the Hall. The Hall has accommodated as many as 9,000 in the past, but due to modern safety regulations, it now has a capacity of around 5,550.

The Symphonic Rock 2011 concert was magnificent. It is over two hours of legendary rock anthems, chart hits and classic songs performed by the brilliant Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. It includes hits from Bon Jovi, The Moody Blues, Queen, Eric Clapton, Meat Loaf, U2, Coldplay, Elbow, Led Zepplin and others, and was accompanied by a spectacular light show. The 2011 version of the concert also included a special tribute to the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, in the form of four MJ favourites.

We both absolutely loved it - it was one of the best performances we have been to (and there have been some crackers!). We loved it so much we bought the 3-disc CD with all of the songs played at the concert and some more! See photos below of the Royal Albert Hall and the Prince Albert Monument.

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Prince
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