Bigger music acts could play at The Sage Gateshead after the venue revealed plans for more standing at gigs.
Plans have been lodged to make it easier to remove stall seats in Hall One.
But bosses hope the move will increase capacity and attract big name stars.
The stall seating in the 1,650-capacity Gateshead venue can currently be moved, albeit with great difficulty.
"This is a manual operation and takes a long time and is costly in lost venue time and the labour involved, meaning that it cannot happen regularly," states a planning statement.
Since opening in 2004 , seating has only been moved on a handful of occasions - most notably for the BBC 6 Music Festival in 2015.
Previously, it took two days to remove the seating in the venue's main space and the layout means most concerts are - bar a small pit - all-seated.
But to "accommodate a more flexible use for more varied events", management want to use nearby railway arches in Abbots Road to store the seats when they want to incorporate standing - while revamping the chairs to make them easier to move.
The planning statement adds: "To meet Sage Gateshead’s ambition to make this process easier the proposal for a new electrically operated release mechanism that can be retrofitted to the base of each individual seat in the stalls has been explored with potential manufacturers and installers."
The venue is now seeking planning permission from Gateshead Council to convert the existing arches into general storage.
Previously, the venue has hosted music legends such as James Brown, Nick Cave and Morrissey.
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