Milton Keynes The National Bowl
The National Bowl (formerly known as the Milton Keynes Bowl) is an iconic open-air entertainment venue, located in the city of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. With the capacity for 65.000 people, the event space was built on what used to be a clay pit, for brick-making. After the clay digging operations were disbanned, the site was filled in and raised to form an amphitheatre. The soil used to fill in the pit came from excavations by the new developments in the area. The venue opened in 1979, with first concerts being by Jamaican ska/reggae singer Desmond Dekker and U.S. R&B singer Geno Washington.
Operated by Gaming International & Live Nation UK since 2006, the consortium then made proposals for major developments on the site of the Bowl. Gaming International handed the venue back to Milton Keynes Partnership towards the end of 2010, making it unlikely that any of the developments will ever be made. In 2013, the Milton Keynes Council presented proposals to convert the city into an "International Sporting City", which also included plans to redevelop the Bowl into a sports training base on an international-level, suitable for hosting international teams which would play on the Milton Keynes Stadium, or elsewhere in the UK. The plan was abandoned by early 2014. The same year, new development plans were proposed by a British investment firm, being UK's largest waterpark and several sports facilities, built on the site. The investment firm announced in 2015 that it would not proceed with the plans. Training grounds were proposed once again by the City Council in 2019, this time with an objective to "Support the MK Dons" by delivering a high-standard training facility. This allowed a deal to be agreed in that year, between the Council, and a construction firm, Inter MK Ltd, for the National Bowl to be converted into a sports training ground facility. MK Dons submitted revised planning applications to the council in September of 2022.
The National Bowl has hosted several concerts by iconic artists, many of which have been filmed and released as DVDs. These include Queen, who have released a DVD and a double CD for their 1982 concert, Status Quo, who've filmed their "The End Of The Road" gig in 1984, Green Day, who have filmed their "Bullet In A Bible" DVD at the Bowl in 2005, The Prodigy, who have filmed their live album and DVD called "World's on Fire" in 2010, and Linkin Park, filming their live DVD/CD "Road to Revolution: Live at Milton Keynes" in 2008. Other iconic performances include Metallica, who performed their last leg of the Wherever I May Roam tour in 1993, with the gig broadcasted on BBC Radio 1, Michael Jackson, and Erasure, amongst others.
Muse have used The National Bowl in 2010, as a rehearsal space for their Resistance Stadium Tour in 2010.[1] Additionally, the band performed live at the site in June 2023, supported by Royal Blood and The Warning, as part of the Will of the People World Tour.[2]