Palais 12 - Brussels    Share

Great venue: - Great dance floor, great sound, great light. - Clean toilets. - Lockers with code so you don't have to re-pay when you want to use it multiple times during the night. - Much room to cool off and watch people. The is one bad point, the drinks are very expensive. But you can always refill your bottle with tap water, if you want.

I don’t recommend this venue. I recently went to see a ballet (Swan Lake) in Palais 12. First, before entering the building, the staff said that I could only take my bottle of water without a cap and they took the cap off. Several meters farther, other staff members did not let me enter the concert hall even with my uncapped bottle. All this doesn’t make any sense. I would understand if it was in a theatre with good quality carpets, armchairs, etc. But the ballet took place in an industrial looking hall, with concrete floor and plastic chairs. I can’t see what could be destroyed by mineral water there. By the way, I could see a lot of other people later in the concert hall bringing beer in disposable cups from the bar located in the same building. I don’t understand how come they were allowed to enter. It seems there is a different policy for drinks bought on the spot and brought from elsewhere although this is not openly said. Another issue, the show started with an over-20-minute delay which would be acceptable for a rock concert but is quite annoying if you go to see a ballet. If Palais 12 aspires to organise theatre-like shows, it should also apply theatre standards. It would be better if the staff put more effort into ensuring everybody is sitting by the time the show should start, rather than frantically checking water bottles… Uncomfortable seats, little legroom. One of ceiling lamps on the left side of the concert hall incorrectly regulated blinding me for one hour when I was waiting for the show. No chairs/benches to sit outside of the concert hall. The place is not well connected by public transport. Although there is a metro line less than 1 km away, the frequency of trains in the evening is 1 per 20 minutes (and the same frequency on other metro lines in case you need to change the line) which makes the way back quite cumbersome. There are also works on a nearby tram line (tram replaced by a bus on a part of the line with no indication of temporary stops). Last but not least, although this is not direct fault of the venue, apparently it attracts peculiar public. There was a bunch of people right behind me talking in a loud voice during the show, one of them even whistling the tune of the Swan Lake! Never seen anything like this! There was also a lady with a very young kid with a dummy in his mouth (at a show lasting from 8 to 11 p.m. while there was another show for kids at 3 p.m.). The only positive thing I can say is that the sound was quite good.

I visited this place for LaDemence main party (it's a gay party organization). The arena is great! Its spacious, has amazing sound and light systems, huge number of lockers and place to grab something to eat if you get hungry. All in all a good concert or festival place!

Excellent little venue. Well run, secure, good food and also very close to the stage. My partner nearly had a heart attack from the shock of being so close to Gary Barlow. Feels very personal, complete opposite to larger venues and that is meant in a positive way.

Great place for concerts. Amazing sound and easy access to bars and toilets even when it's crowded.