Drumsheds London reviews by real event-goers

Review of 15 Years of UKF presents Pendulum LIVE

The organisation and handling of may people was an absolute s**t show

Review of Drumsheds

Disappointing Hospitality Experience

I recently attended Drumsheds on 13/12/24 and upgraded to Hospitality on the day. While the UKF15 event itself was phenomenal, my experience with the venue and its operations was far from satisfactory.

Firstly, when I first came to Drumsheds, VIP+ was incredible, 2nd time we did it it was very cramped but still ideal, 3rd time we came we had noticed VIP+ had been cut in half. The layout of VIP+ is disappointing and should be reviewed. It offered no view of the stage, making it feel like a downgrade compared to standard tickets. Whoever made this decision seems more focused on pushing Hospitality sales than creating a worthwhile VIP+ experience.

The process of upgrading to Hospitality was chaotic. I had been messaging a staff member on WhatsApp from 4 PM but received slow responses. When I arrived at Drumsheds at 7:15 PM, I decided to approach the Hospitality desk directly, but even that was disorganized. It took until 8 PM to complete the upgrade, which was absurd. Neither the staff nor the system seemed prepared or trained to handle this. There was a lack of clear communication, and the staff had no readily available information about the upgrade process.

Secondly, the Hospitality package itself was overly complicated and overpriced. The minimum spend system feels like a money grab, especially when drinks like Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label are priced at £380—a shocking 87.5% markup for a mid-tier champagne. It would make far more sense to charge a flat ticket price that includes a table. We ended up spending the minimum on Jubel lager, but it was frustrating that the popular peach flavor wasn’t even available.

One bright spot was a staff member in Hospitality—a white male with blondish-brown hair and a tattoo on his neck—who was attentive and provided clear information. He stood out among an otherwise inattentive team, some of whom were more interested in their phones than helping guests.

Additionally, the venue needs to address its security measures. Even within the Hospitality area, there was a persistent smell of w**d, which wasn’t coming from the main floor but rather from the Hospitality section itself. This created an uncomfortable environment and highlights a lack of proper monitoring, especially in what is supposed to be a premium space.

I also noticed a lack of basic amenities, like heaters, which made the space uncomfortably cold early on. My partner and I had to keep our coats on for a while.

Considering the £135 upgrade fee (after deducting the VIP+ tickets), I’m glad we chose Hospitality as it helped us avoid the reported 2-hour queues and overcrowded main floor. However, the overall experience still left a lot to be desired.

Drumsheds, I suggest you:

1. Train your staff better to handle upgrades and provide consistent information.
2. Improve your messaging system for more efficient communication.
3. Simplify the Hospitality package with a straightforward ticket option instead of a minimum spend.
4. Make the environment more comfortable with better heating.
5. Reevaluate your pricing strategy for drinks.
6. Tighten security measures, especially in premium areas like Hospitality.

I’d like to discuss this further and hope you’ll contact me directly to resolve some of the issues I faced. This has been the worst experience yet for Drumsheds as a venue on a whole. If it wasn't for the brilliant UKF15 I would've been out of there earlier.

Review of 15 Years of UKF presents Pendulum LIVE

Review of 15 Years of UKF presents Pendulum LIVE

Avoid drumsheds at all cost

Review of 15 Years of UKF presents Pendulum LIVE

Review of 15 Years of UKF presents Pendulum LIVE

The most dangerous event I have attended in 10 years.

We waited 2 hours to enter the venue. In that line there was no way to get out, no toilets available, no support for accessibility issues, people feeling unwell, people being forced to urinate in public. Unbelievably lucky the crowd remained calm and avoided injury, only to be met with unorganised and problematic security when finally getting to the entrance. We were told there was "increased security" causing the delays yet no IDs were checked and no security to be seen throughout outside whilst we lined up for two hours in the cold and rain.

Inside, doors were being closed throughout the night leading to more queueing and more artists being missed. I paid a lot of money and travelled half way down the country for an extremely unsafe and disappointing evening.

No one should fear for their life because the venue and the companies supporting are failing to safely crowd control.

Review of 15 Years of UKF presents Pendulum LIVE

Worst event I have ever attended. We were very excited about seeing pendulum for first time but especially to attend a gig at Drumsheds for first time, however everything turned into a nightmare straight away. As soon as we joined the first line me and another friend we were selected for a random security check, taken into a tent, stripped on some of our clothes, searched and touched everywhere including parts of our underwear inside the socks, very humiliating all together, they removed all my belongings from my jack*t and later I realised my pair of earbuds were never returned to me. That's already a £120 down for the night. Then we were let go as we didn't have anything on us and put back in the main queue were we queued for 2.30h with thousands of other partygoers. That was not only dangerous as any crowd rush could've resulted on a fatal crush, but also very energy draining with people just deciding to give up and leave the place. After all that we reached the gate we were put on another queue to go through an airport security style check which I guess was the causing of the +2h queues. Once passed my friend was taken again by police and put on another line for searching. I entered the venue alone just before 12.30. I couldn't share a text with my friend as there was no network so I had no idea were he was or if he was allowed in. I went to the toilets which was the furthest away from the crowds and I managed to learn that after 1am he was cleared from the police check and let in. We managed to see a bit of Pendulum not before trying to order a can of beer at £6.8, which took half an hour to get despite the large amount of lazy staff chilling behind the bar. We can say we were there for an hour, before deciding to leave the venue at 2.30 having seen the disgraceful and criminal management of the event and try to get home safe, which cost us another £60 for a trip to east London. Worst event ever. People should be refunded for that.

Review of 15 Years of UKF presents Pendulum LIVE

One of the worst venues for queuing in and out, toilets are too far away from the music and even getting to the different stages was difficult. Would not go back.

Review of 15 Years of UKF presents Pendulum LIVE

I would only recommend this show if you enjoy queuing for two hours to get into the venue and missing half the acts

Review of 15 Years of UKF presents Pendulum LIVE

We made a trip from Austria to London and wanted to see pendulum live. We got there an stuck in a crazy queue without security for over an hour until we even could enter.

Review of 15 Years of UKF presents Pendulum LIVE

Review of 15 Years of UKF presents Pendulum LIVE

Terrible venue. Spent over 1h in the queue trying to get in. Then 30min for coats and getting a drink. Missed half of the performance because of this.

They were out of beer as we.

And they stopped serving drinks altogether before the main headliner even started.

Never coming again to Drumsheds.

Review of 15 Years of UKF presents Pendulum LIVE

Review of 15 Years of UKF presents Pendulum LIVE

Music was decent but the venue was shocking. Queued for just under 2 hours to get in meaning we missed a lot acts, and there was an unsafe number of people being funnelled into it with no toilets, so people were getting crushed and peeing in the queue. Toilets were so far away from the music rooms, security were unreasonably aggressive, sound systems were low quality and the organisation of the event was just awful. Drinks were so expensive for tiny cans. The location of it meant travel back home was so difficult to organise. What should have been an amazing night was ruined by the venue.

Review of 15 Years of UKF presents Pendulum LIVE

Review of 15 Years of UKF presents Pendulum LIVE

Worst organised event I have ever been to. I have loved Drumsheds the other times I have been but this was an absolute shambles. I was on the guestlist of one of the DJs playing - when we arrived, we collected our wristbands and got sent for a special guestlist search. After this we should've been filed into a separate queue but were forced into the main queue even though we said that wasn't right. 2 hours later, having stood out in the freezing cold with no toilet access, we made it to the front and were told we shouldn't have been in that queue. Absolute chaos at security checks, there was clearly no communication between staff members everyone was pushing and being told to go in different directions. When we were inside the venue this sort of thing continued, with the one way system going out the window and staff having no clue which doors were meant to be exits/entrances. Queues to get into the X room for some sets for no reason. Additionally, since we were in the queue for 2 hours, I did not even get to see the DJ I was on guestlist for backstage which was of course very disappointing for both of us. Couldn't communicate at all because of the lack of signal and wifi.
Artist were extremely unhappy with barely anyone being in the venue for the first couple of hours. Music was okay but all in all an absolute shambles that has put me off going back to what was my favourite venue.

Review of 15 Years of UKF presents Pendulum LIVE

Some amazing acts let down by poor sound and long queues.
Logistical nightmare for evening events. Massive 2 hour queues to get in and similar leaving. The sound in the main room was really not great - even outdoor festivals have better sound. I can imagine day time events to be a lot better for queues, and maybe the sound would be better if it is noise bleed that forces to sound to be so bad in the evenings.

Review of 15 Years of UKF presents Pendulum LIVE

Absolutely awful organisaiton and queues fkn everywhere. 2 hours to get in, half an hour to get into the main room, ages to get drinks. Awful venue, class music (except Modestep, wtf was the tech doing?)

Review of 15 Years of UKF presents Pendulum LIVE

This was by far the worst Event ive ever been. Just queued 2 hours not to see my favorite acts. On top they closed rooms for No reasons. Prices we're too high. Sound mixing was Bad, only the acts we're good...

Review of 15 Years of UKF presents Pendulum LIVE