The Brisbane Entertainment Centre is a multi-purpose

indoor arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

located in the

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

suburb of Boondall,

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The centre is managed by

ASM Global The Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG), also known as AEG Worldwide, is an American global sporting and music entertainment presenter and a subsidiary of The Anschutz Corporation. It is the world's largest owner of sports teams and sports event ...

. The arena has an array of

seating plan A seating plan is a diagram or a set of written or spoken instructions that determines where people should take their seats. It is widely used on diverse occasions. Seating plans have a wide range of purposes. Formal dinners At formal dinners, ...

s which facilitate the comfort of its users, subject to performance. Specific seating plans are usually allocated, depending on the performance and the size of its audience. The general seating arrangements are end stage mode, "in the round" and intimate mode, which only uses half of the arena. The centre also houses a sporting complex and small function rooms which are available to hire for

wedding reception A wedding reception is a party usually held after the completion of a marriage ceremony as hospitality for those who have attended the wedding, hence the name reception: the couple ''receive'' society, in the form of family and friends, for t ...

and business functions. The centre's large audience capacity is mostly used for the staging of

concerts A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or musical band, band. Concerts are held in a w ...

and

musical theatre Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical – humor, pathos, love, anger – are communicated through words, music, movemen ...

shows, including

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston in ...

’s

Nothing But Love World Tour The Nothing but Love World Tour was the ninth and final concert tour by American recording artist, Whitney Houston. It was her first major tour in almost a decade and was used to promote her seventh studio album '' I Look to You'' released in 200 ...

One Direction One Direction, often shortened to 1D, are an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group are composed of Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and previously Zayn Malik until his departure from the gr ...

's Take Me Home Tour,

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...

Fearless Fearless or The Fearless may refer to: Psychology * Lack of fear * Courage or bravery Film, television and audio Film * ''Fearless'' (1978 film), an Italian film directed by Stelvio Massi * ''Fearless'' (1993 film), an American drama directed ...

and

Speak Now ''Speak Now'' is the third studio album by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, released on October 25, 2010, through Big Machine Records. Swift wrote the album entirely herself within two years, while she was promoting her second studio alb ...

Tours, Grease,

Beauty and the Beast ''Beauty and the Beast'' (french: La Belle et la Bête) is a fairy tale written by French novelist Gabrielle-Suzanne de Villeneuve, Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve and published in 1740 in ''La Jeune Américaine et les contes marins'' ( ...

, and The Man from Snowy River: Arena Spectacular. It has also staged

ice-skating Ice skating is the self-propulsion and gliding of a person across an ice surface, using metal-bladed ice skates. People skate for various reasons, including recreation (fun), exercise, competitive sports, and commuting. Ice skating may be perf ...

shows, including ''

Disney On Ice Disney on Ice, originally Walt Disney's World on Ice, is a series of touring ice shows produced by Feld Entertainment's Ice Follies And Holiday on Ice, Inc. under agreement with The Walt Disney Company. Aimed primarily at children, the shows fea ...

''. The Entertainment Centre was also the filming venue for the original Australian series of

Gladiators A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...

from 1995 to 1997.

Location and access

Located in Boondall, just off the Gateway Motorway, patrons can catch a

Queensland Rail City network The Queensland Rail Citytrain network, provides urban, suburban and interurban electric passenger railway services in South East Queensland, Australia. History The first railway in Queensland did not run to Brisbane, but ran from Ipswich to ...

service to

Boondall railway station Boondall railway station is located on the Shorncliffe line in Queensland, Australia. It is one of two stations serving the Brisbane suburb of Boondall, the other being North Boondall station. The station is within walking distance of the Bri ...

, on the

Shorncliffe railway line The Shorncliffe railway line is an suburban railway line situated north of Brisbane, the state capital of Queensland, Australia. It is part of the Queensland Rail City network. History The Sandgate Railway, opened in 1882, was the first tr ...

, or travel by taxi. There are 4,000 car parking spaces. Buses do not run to the centre even on event nights.

Venue layout

The centre has 11,000 tiered seats and a maximum concert capacity of 13,601 making it the largest indoor live entertainment arena in Brisbane and the second largest permanent indoor arena in Australia behind only the 21,000 capacity Sydney Super Dome (it is smaller than the 14,820 seat

Rod Laver Arena Rod Laver Arena is a multipurpose arena located within Melbourne Park, in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The arena is the main venue for the Australian Open, the first Grand Slam tennis tournament of the calendar year. History Replacing the ...

and the 14,856 seat

Perth Arena Perth Arena (known commercially as ) is an entertainment and sporting arena in the city centre of Perth, Western Australia, used mostly for basketball matches. It is located on Wellington Street near the site of the former Perth Entertainmen ...

, though both of those venues have a

retractable roof A retractable roof is a roof system designed to roll back the roof of a structure so that the interior of the facility is open to the outdoors. Retractable roofs are sometimes referred to as operable roofs or retractable skylights. The term op ...

). It cost $71 million to construct.

Sports

Brisbane Bullets

From 1986 to 1997, the BEC was home to former

National Basketball League Australia The National Basketball League (NBL) is a men's professional basketball league in Australasia, currently composed of 10 teams: 9 in Australia and 1 in New Zealand. It is the premier professional men's basketball league in Australia and New Z ...

(NBL) team the

Brisbane Bullets The Brisbane Bullets are an Australian professional men's basketball team in the National Basketball League (Australia), National Basketball League (NBL) based in Brisbane, Brisbane, Queensland. They competed from 1979 to 2008, and returned to th ...

. The Bullets won the 1987 NBL championship against the

Perth Wildcats The Perth Wildcats are an Australian professional basketball team based in Perth, Western Australia. The Wildcats compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at RAC Arena, known colloquially as "The Jungle". Afte ...

, and secured their second NBL championship at this venue as they completed a two-game sweep of the Wildcats 2-0 after winning the first game which was played at the Perth Superdome. In 1987, the Brisbane Bullets won their second NBL championship and their first at the Entertainment Centre with a 2–0 series win over the

(the Bullets previous championship win in 1985 was at the Sleeman Sports Centre). In 1990, the Brisbane Bullets hosted games 2 and 3 of the National Basketball League Grand Final series against the Perth Wildcats, setting a new NBL attendance record for the time in Australia of 13,221 for game 2. In 2007, the Brisbane Bullets won their third and last NBL championship when they defeated the

Melbourne Tigers Melbourne United is an Australian professional basketball team based in Melbourne, Victoria. United compete in the National Basketball League (NBL) and play their home games at John Cain Arena. The team made their debut in the NBL in 1984 as ...

3–1 in their best of five-game series. The Entertainment Centre was used due to a date clash with the Bullets then home, the

Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre (BCEC) is a convention centre in Brisbane, Australia. It is located in South Brisbane and occupies most of the block formed by Grey Street, Melbourne Street, Merivale Street, and Glenelg Street. The centr ...

. The Brisbane Bullets returned to the NBL in 2016–17 and will again play some games at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre.

Queensland Firebirds

The venue was the main home court for

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

side the

Queensland Firebirds Queensland Firebirds are an Australian netball team based in Brisbane, Queensland. Since 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship and between 1997 and 2007, they played in the C ...

, who won premierships in the

ANZ Championship The ANZ Championship, also known as the Trans-Tasman Netball League, is a former netball league featuring teams from both Australia and New Zealand. Between 2008 and 2016, it was the top-level league in both countries. The competition was owned ...

at the venue in 2015 and 2016. In 2019, the club moved all of their home matches to the newly constructed venue dedicated to netball, Brisbane Arena.

Other

The facility co-hosted the

FIBA Oceania Championship FIBA Oceania Championship was the Oceania basketball championships that took place every two years between national teams of the continent. Through the 2015 edition, the Oceania Championship was also a qualifying tournament for the Basketball ...

in 2007 and 2011. Both times, the

Australian national basketball team The Australian men's national basketball team, known as the Boomers after the slang term for a male kangaroo, represents Australia in international basketball competition. Since the late 1980s, Australia has been placed among the world elite t ...

won the gold medal.

Notable events

The opening event for the centre was on Thursday 20 February 1986, featuring World Champion, British ice skaters,

Torvill and Dean Torvill and Dean (Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean) are English ice dancers and former British, European, Olympic, and World champions. At the Sarajevo 1984 Winter Olympics the pair won gold and became the highest-scoring figure skaters of a ...

. Ticket prices were Adults $22.90 and Juniors $15.90 Brisbane-Entertainment-Centre-grounds-1

*In 1987,

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...

performed during his

Bad Tour Bad was the first solo concert tour by American singer Michael Jackson, launched in support of his seventh studio album ''Bad (album), Bad'' (1987). Sponsored by Pepsi and spanning 16 months, the tour included 123 concerts for over 4.4 million ...

for two sold-out shows on 27 and 28 November. On the 28th,

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

appeared on stage and sang with Jackson. *On 2 November 1991,

Gloria Estefan Gloria Estefan (; born Gloria María Milagrosa Fajardo García; born 1 September 1957) is a Cuban-American singer, actress, and businesswoman. Estefan is a seven-time Grammy Award winner, a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, and has been ...

kicked off her first ever tour of Australia as a part of her Into The Light Tour. It was Gloria's 1st of 8 shows in Australia on her come back tour after breaking her back in a bus accident in March 1990. *During 2002, the musical '' The Man from Snowy River: Arena Spectacular'' was performed at the centre over two separate runs. In October 2002, during the stage show's second run, the musical was filmed for television and later released on DVD and videotape. The soundtrack for the musical won the

Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) is a trade association representing the Australian recording industry which was established in the 1970s by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing th ...

's ARIA award for Best Original Show / Cast Album for 2002. *On 4 February 2010,

performed in Brisbane for the first time to 11,334 people. She made an income of $956,505. *On 14 and 15 December 2012,

The Wiggles The Wiggles are an Australian children's music group formed in Sydney in 1991. The group are currently composed of Anthony Field, Lachlan Gillespie, Simon Pryce and Tsehay Hawkins, as well as supporting members Evie Ferris, John Pearce, Ca ...

performed at the arena as part of their Celebration Tour. This was the last tour The Wiggles did with original members

Murray Cook Murray James Cook, AM (born 30 June 1960) is an Australian musician, actor, and Disc jockey. Cook was one of the founding members of the children's band the Wiggles from 1991 to 2012. Cook provided guitar, vocals, and songwriting in the group ...

, Jeff Fatt and Greg Page before the new members joined

Anthony Field Anthony Donald Joseph Field, AM (born 8 May 1963) is an Australian musician, actor, songwriter and producer. He is best known as a leader of the children's group the Wiggles and a member of the 1980s and 1990s pop band the Cockroaches. While s ...

in the group the following year. *On 25 April 2016, pioneering heavy metal band

Black Sabbath Black Sabbath were an English rock music, rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. They are often cited as pioneers of heavy met ...

performed their final Australian show at this arena. Supporting act was

Rival Sons Rival Sons is an American rock band formed in Long Beach, California, in 2009. The band consists of Jay Buchanan (lead vocals), Scott Holiday (guitar), Dave Beste (bass guitar) and Michael Miley (drums). They are joined by keyboard player Todd ...

. *On 5 and 6 December 2018

Shania Twain Eilleen Regina "Shania" Twain ( , ; née Edwards; born August 28, 1965) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She has sold over 100 million records, making her the best-selling female artist in country music history and one of the best-s ...

performed at this arena as a part of Now Tour. This was the first show of Twain since

Come On Over Tour The Come On Over Tour was the debut concert tour by Canadian singer-songwriter Shania Twain. Visiting North America, Australia and Europe, the tour supported of her third studio album ''Come On Over'' (1997). Deemed one of the most anticipated to ...

in 19 years. *From the 17th to the 19th of September, 2022,

Billie Eilish Billie Eilish Pirate Baird O'Connell ( ; born December 18, 2001) is an American singer-songwriter. She first gained public attention in 2015 with her debut single " Ocean Eyes", written and produced by her brother Finneas O'Connell, with whom ...

performed in the arena thrice as part of her tour, Happier Than Ever: The World Tour.

References

External links

*
Information about the BEC by the Queensland Government
{{Authority control Music venues in Australia Netball venues in Queensland Basketball venues in Australia Brisbane Bullets Indoor arenas in Australia Tourist attractions in Brisbane Music venues completed in 1986 Sports venues completed in 1986 Boxing venues in Australia Sports venues in Brisbane Defunct National Basketball League (Australia) venues 1986 establishments in Australia Boondall, Queensland Venues of the 2032 Summer Olympics and Paralympics