AEG chief celebrates two years of The O2

That winning formula is set to peak when Michael Jackson's 50 dates at the arena begin next month. It means owner and operator AEG Europe has seen its £350million investment rewarded with The O2 now officially the world's most popular music venue.

The Wharf caught up with David Campbell, chief executive and chairman of AEG Europe, to find out more about its success.

He said: "It's hard to believe it's been two years since we opened. People think it's been around forever. The breadth and depth of how people know about The O2 in the UK and internationally within the entertainment industry is staggering.

"It's funny because at the beginning all people called it was The Millennium Dome but now everybody calls it The O2 and never think about what it used to be. It's become part of the landscape of London now, an iconic building."

A lot has happened under that tented roof since Bon Jovi got things off to a rocking start on June 24, 2007, with the likes of Elton John, Prince, The Rolling Stones and a reunited Led Zeppelin headlining the arena. But success was no foregone conclusion.

Mr Campbell said: "People were sceptical about the concept. One of the things we did was we never tried to convince people, other than our partners, that anything was different. We always believed that when we opened the doors it would prove we had done something different.

"In many ways the bad publicity of the Millennium Experience helped us because it was so bad we just let it run. Unless we were complete idiots we couldn't make it any worse."
The venue has even proved to be recession-proof, with ticket sales unaffected. In its first year 140 shows were put on, and over 200 in the last year. Mr Campbell believes the quality of artist is key.

He said: "We've become what's called a 'must-play' building, so we get people like Paul Weller wanting to play here. But we're also getting better at creating content, things like Ben Hur and Star Wars. We're not quite there with that yet, but we're getting there.

"The bits economically where we are seeing a slump is on the corporate level. There is still a big waiting list for suites but the amount of Lanson champagne we sell is probably less than a year ago. People can still afford it, it's just they don't want to be seen having conspicuous consumption."

The biggest buzz this summer is the return of Michael Jackson to live performance. The singer sold out 50 dates at The O2, although rumours persist he won't make it to the first show on July 13. Mr Campbell is confident he will.

He said: "I'm not worried about Michael in the slightest. We thought we'd get him but we never thought it would be this quickly. We've been trying since we started.

"At the moment they are rehearsing in the States and everyone I've heard back from says it's all great. There will be a lot of surprises to blow people away. He was the King of Pop and he will come back and show people why."

Jackson appeared at a short and slightly surreal press conference in March to announce the shows and Mr Campbell was there to meet him.

He said: "Even now people come up to me and say it wasn't him, it was a lookalike.

"Michael was totally lucid, totally together, very focused. We didn't ask him to do 10 press ups but he also looked very fit. I had a chat with him and he was great. He was nervous like anyone else.

"Jackson will be big beyond big. We could have sold 120 shows if we had been able to fulfil every ticket request."

So is there anything The O2 could produce that could possibly top the Jackson coup? Mr Campbell thinks so.

He said: "There's a little foursome out in Sweden we keep talking to but we can't get them across the line yet."

An Abba reunion would certainly capture the public imagination, and with The O2 having persuaded Led Zeppelin and Michael Jackson back to the stage you wouldn't bet against it happening sooner rather than later.