Portsmouth Guildhall, Guildhall Square, Portsmouth PO1 2AB. (Last updated 1.11.2024)
Portsmouth Guildhall has a very grand exterior. It was built in 1890 but it was bombed heavily in WW2 and only the outer walls survived, with the interior being rebuilt and completed in 1959. Inside there is that 60s civic building feel which doesn’t match the grandeur of outside. Perfectly good for a gig though.
It’s just a couple of hundred metres from Portsmouth and Southsea train station and plenty of parking nearby – I’ve often ended up in the Isambard Brunel car park – I don’t think he built this concrete multi-storey (!), just 150 metres from the Guildhall. (You can pay for your parking at the box office on arrival for a swifter exit later – this can also be pre-paid for and box office validate your exit ticket – check still available on Guildhall website getting to us pages.)
Brunel was born here and the nearby Wetherspoons on the edge of the Guildhall square also bears his name. The Wetherspoons is extremely convenient, just over the road from the queues to get into the Guildhall.
When staying over, the Premier Inn does the job and a very short walk to the venue, near the station.
The Brewhouse and Kitchen brewpub is another spot I’ve visited beforehand, just a few hundred yards off the Guildhall Square and along passed the closer Wetherspoons option.
The bars in the venue are fine if heading straight in. Nice bright bar with some seating off the main auditorium downstairs (featuring old photos from performances last time I visited) and a spacious standing bar upstairs, behind the balcony entrances.
Inside the auditorium there are the options of upstairs reserved balcony seating, to the rear or down the sides; downstairs standing usually or unreserved seating to the rear on a first come first serve basis.
It is a superb view from the front of this venue’s balcony. Not much knee room but hey, it’s good and this grey-haired gig goer is into saving his legs a bit these days.
I noticed a sign on the front of the balcony on my last visit, requiring those in the front two rows to remain seated, as well as some caution from inadvertently showering the crowd below with your drinks.
There are also those unreserved seats downstairs at the back of the standing area if saving your legs mid-gig with a standing ticket. Capacity is 2500 with downstairs standing and the seated balcony.
The room is wider than it is deep and view and sound are good.
It’s just on the limits of an evening out by car for me, from Poole, but I have always enjoyed my trips here.
Previous gigs here have included these:
Bit of a run on Decembers there and other visits included The Reytons, The Stranglers and Beady Eye when Liam Gallagher was cutting his post-Oasis teeth.
Gigs with Ivan 