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Top draw: Reunion gigs such as Led Zeppelin's have helped turn the O2 Arena into the world's biggest selling rock venue

Clawed back credibility: Ike Turner

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David Smyth throws his spotlight on the 02 Arena, as London's least loved building has rapidly become the world's leading concert venue.

LED ZEP PUSH 02 OVER THE TOP

Here's an impressive statistic: the O2 Arena has now sold more concert tickets than any other venue in the world this year, around 1.4 million, despite only opening in late June.

Greenwich's white elephant was once London's least loved building, whose only previous notable musical moment was Tony Blair singing Auld Lang Syne with the Queen. Now it has been packing in the punters night after night with a galaxy of huge names, leaving New York's second place Madison Square Garden firmly in the shade.

Since Bon Jovi performed at O2's opening night there's been something for everyone - pop from Justin Timberlake and Take That, hip hop from Kanye West and 50 Cent, legends including the Rolling Stones and Elton John, the long-awaited comeback of Barbra Streisand and an extraordinary 21-night residency from Prince.

This week O2 ticketholders became the envy of the entire planet when Led Zeppelin dropped in for their hysterically acclaimed reunion show.

The Spice Girls, Kylie, Bruce Springsteen, Celine Dion and Neil Diamond are all on the way, and the 23,000-capacity venue's owners, AEG, are already hinting at two more major residencies booked in for this time next year. With both Madonna and U2 planning new albums for 2008, I think we all know where they'll be showing off their wares.

I still have a few reservations. It's advisable to sprint for the Tube during a band's last song; that Disneyworld-style indoor avenue of bars and palm trees is pretty tacky; and someone will surely break a leg in the dizzyingly steep fourth tier before long. Still, these are mere quibbles in a year when the Arena has been at the centre of a bumper year for London's live scene.

Up north, Wembley Arena is still ticking over nicely after its refurbishment, the fourth most popular venue in the world with acts including Bob Dylan, The Who, Shakira and Beyoncé appearing this year.

Other recently improved spaces, including the refurbished Festival Hall, the art deco Bloomsbury Ballroom and the gorgeous reincarnation of Camden's Roundhouse, have kept things interesting on a smaller scale, while in Koko, the Shepherds Bush Empire, Hammersmith Apollo and Brixton Academy we have four consistently popular vintage theatre venues that bands love to visit.

We have lost the Spitz, and the Astoria and Electric Ballroom are still on very shaky ground, but thanks to the recent takeover of a few venues by the MAMA group, the Kentish Town Forum should be busier in 2008 and a refurbished Garage in Highbury will reopen in March.

As those ticket sales figures suggest, gig-going in London has rarely been more exciting than it has been this year. Can it get better than this?

Bring on 2008 and let's find out.

MUSICAL LEGACY OF IKE TURNER

Predictably, the late Ike Turner's reputation as the wife-beating husband of Tina Turner has overshadowed his musical legacy in the obituaries this week. I saw him live at the Barbican in 2005, and even then Tina's shadow loomed large in the shape of most recent girlfriend and musical foil Audrey Madison, who looked and sang uncannily like his ex-wife.

But Turner had clawed back some musical credibility despite his name being associated with drugs, prison and domestic abuse. He won a Grammy this year for an impressive blues album, and the second time I saw him, at the Manchester Opera House, he was playing an understated piano solo with Damon Albarn's hip cartoon band Gorillaz.

Still on the road at 76, he had two shows booked at the Jazz Café next year. His family are asking for any memorial donations to be made to the music department of your local school in his name, hoping he can be remembered as a working musician foremost.

NEW ON THE NET

As this is the last Off the Record before Christmas, I'd better take this opportunity to recommend a visit to a download store on 25 December (as if you won't have done enough shopping by then). You could top up your virtual stocking with a couple of nice tracks available that day: Jack Johnson's comeback single, If I Had Eyes, and a mellow pressie from the Super Furry Animals entitled The Gift that Keeps on Giving.

As another gift idea, the discerning music fan in your family might appreciate a subscription to the Rough Trade Album Club (www.thealbumclub.com) a new arm of the leftfield record store that mails out its pick of the latest albums monthly. It's £36 for three months, and past picks include fine albums by Panda Bear, Alela Diane and Battles.

 

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