Ally Pally back as 'people's palace'.

Byline: Amar Singh 

return the "People's Palace" to its "glory days". She added: "When the Victorians built Alexandra Palace in 1865 it was the people's palace -- a hub of entertainment and recreation.

"The changes we have introduced are to help us continue that legacy, with music at the heart of it. Getting the extra capacity was crucial in making this an attractive venue for promoters. We are now London's largest standing venue. Bands and artists like Jay-Z choose to play here because it offers something different in terms of ambience and setting."

In the Seventies and Eighties, the venue hosted the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Who and Black Sabbath, but less than 50 artists or bands have performed there since 2003.

Promoters preferred venues that offered larger profit margins such as Brixton Academy, Wembley Arena and more recently the O2 arena.

Ms Kane said: "Venues restricted by seating lose a bit of atmosphere. Some fans prefer intimacy and while the O2 arena is brilliant at what it does, some bands don't want to fill that space."

ALEXANDRA PALACE is going headto-head with some of the capital's most popular concert venues to attract the world's biggest stars.

The north London venue has been granted permission to increase its audience capacity by 2,000, allowing concerts for more than 10,000 people.

The move triggered significant interest from the live music industry. Hip hop star Jay-Z today sold out his show there next month in 15 seconds.

Managing director Rebecca Kane said the capacity increase would

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Sell-out: tickets for Jay-Z's show went in 15 seconds today