Point Theatre
The Point Theatre (sometimes referred to as the Point Depot or simply as the Point) was a concert and events venue in Dublin, Ireland, that operated from 1988 to 2007, visited by in excess of 2 million people.[1] It was located on the North Wall Quay of the River Liffey, amongst the Dublin Docklands. The Point was closed in the middle of 2007 for a major redevelopment and underwent a rebranding as The O2 in July 2008.[2][3]
This article is about the Irish theatre. For other uses, see The Point (disambiguation). For the current owners of The Point Village, see 3Arena.Address
8,500
1988
25 August 2007
Late 2007
1988–2007
Prior to the redevelopment, the seated capacity was 6,300; the rebranded O2 has a fully seated only capacity of 9,000.[4] Following the acquisition of O2 Ireland by 3 Ireland,[5] it was renamed in September 2014 as the 3Arena.[6]
The Point was noted for its flexible seating configurations – over the years it served not only as a music venue, but had also been turned into an ice rink, a boxing arena, a conference hall, an exhibition centre, a wrestling ring, a theatre, an opera house and a three ring circus. It hosted the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994, 1995 and 1997 and the 1999 MTV Europe Music Awards.
Live recordings[edit]
The Theatre has been the venue for numerous live recordings subsequently released as live albums. David Gray's live performance video, David Gray: Live, released on 19 March 2001, was recorded at a sell-out show at the Point at the end of an Irish tour in December 1999.[31] David Bowie filmed his A Reality Tour DVD in the Point during two sell-out shows there on 22–24 November 2003.[32] R.E.M. filmed and recorded their live double CD/DVD set, R.E.M. Live in the Point on 26–27 February 2005.[33] Bruce Springsteen recorded his 2007 album, Live in Dublin at the Point from 17 to 19 November 2006.[34] Bell X1's live album Tour De Flock was recorded at their sell-out 1 December 2006 performance at the Point.[35] The Venue is featured in The Corrs Documentary Home, which sees the band during sound check while on their Borrowed Heaven Tour.
Sports events[edit]
The Point has hosted many boxing fights featuring local fighter Bernard Dunne most notabally his fight for the EBU Super-Bantamweight title against Kiko Martinez. Other boxing events at the venue have been headlined by world champions Lennox Lewis, Naseem Hamed, Steve Collins and Wayne McCullough.
The Point has hosted a number of WWE Smackdown & Raw live events.