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Brixton Academy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Brixton Academy or Brixton is one of London's leading music venues.[1] Situated in Brixton, South London, England, the 4,921 capacity building has hosted a range of leading rock acts since becoming a music venue in 1983, and several major acts have recorded live albums at Brixton, including Dido,[2], Brian May,[3] and Faith No More. In 2004 the venue was rebranded Carling Academy Brixton.[4]
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The venue started life as a cinema and theatre in 1929 on the site of a private garden in Stockwell Road. It was built at a cost of £250,000 as an "Astoria" theatre. The opening show was the Al Johnson film The Singing Fool, followed by a variety act, including Heddle Nash and Derek Oldham which was broadcast by the BBC. The building still retains many of its original features, including the proscenium arch and Art Deco interior.
The Astoria eventually closed its doors as a cinema on 29 July 1972. It was then converted into the Sundown Centre rock venue in September 1972, but was not a success and the Sundown closed down some four months later. In May 1974 planning permission was sought to demolish the Grade II listed building and replace it with a motor showroom and petrol station. However the redevelopment scheme was scrapped. The building was kept heated after it closed, and was used as an equipment store by the Rank Organisation.
In 1981, The Astoria re-opened as a rock venue called "The Fair Deal" with a concert by UB40 and an interior restoration, but the venue closed in 1982 due to debt. The venue was bought by Simon Parkes in 1983 and in the same year re-opened as Brixton Academy.
The Academy's success steadily grew throughout the 1980s with numerous reggae productions and it was hired out to major rock and pop acts such as Eric Clapton, Dire Straits and The Police for rehearsal. The venue was also used for video shoots for Wham and Culture Club.
In 1995, Break For The Border bought the Brixton Academy. Under its new ownership (McKenzie Group), reinvestment started immediately with a complete £500,000 refurbishment of the Art Deco building frontage to its original grandeur, additional facilities both front of house and backstage and a capacity increase to just under 5,000.
The venue is currently run by the Academy Music Group after a re-branding in August 2004, and hosts a range of live acts and club nights.
As one of the biggest non-arena venues in London it attracts many big names and has seen many famous bands perform there. The venue has also been voted venue of the year twelve times since 1994 in the annual NME Awards,[5] only failing to win when the award was sponsored by Carling.
The nearest tube and train station is Brixton.
Heavy Metal band Iron Maiden played a charity gig at Brixton Academy for their previous drummer Clive Burr in July 2007. It was billed as an intimate setting for hardcore Iron Maiden fans. The concert also featured the likes of Lauren Harris and the Indian rock band Parikrama, making them the first Indian band to ever play at Brixton.
In September 2007, the Carling Academy Brixton was announced at the venue for the Sex Pistols comeback concerts in November. All three gigs (8th, 9th and 10th) sold out in less than five minutes. A fourth and fifth gigs were later added for the 12th and 14th.
Rammstein, Massive Attack, The Clash, The Prodigy, Arcade Fire, Nine Inch Nails, Bob Dylan, HARD-Fi and Sex Pistols have all played five consecutive nights at the venue.
Part of Rammstein's DVD "Völkerball" was recorded in the venue between February 3, 2005 to February 5, 2005.
Motörhead recorded their 25th Anniversary concert on October 20th, 2000 at Brixton Academy entitled 25 & Alive Boneshaker, released as DVD music video in 2001 and as an audio album later in 2003 under Live at Brixton Academy title, the latter featuring the façade of Carling Academy Brixton on the cover.
David Gray recorded his concert on 16 December 2000 as the album Live At Brixton Academy December 2000
Machine Head recorded their live CD Hellalive at the Brixton Academy on December 8th, 2001. This CD was released on March 11th 2003.
Moby recorded his concert on 19th May 2005 and a double CD of the recording was available to buy at the venue after the show.
- Live at the Brixton Academy (Faith No More album), a 1991 live album by Faith No More, recorded in 1990.
- Live at the Brixton Academy (Brian May album), a 1994 live album by The Brian May Band.
- Live at Brixton Academy (Atari Teenage Riot album), a 1999 live album by Atari Teenage Riot.
- Live at Brixton Academy (Motörhead album), a 2003 live album by Motörhead, recorded in 2000.
- Scarred: Live at Brixton Academy, a 2003 live album by Gary Numan, recorded in 2001.
- Live at Brixton Academy, a 2003 live DVD by the Inspiral Carpets.
- Live at Brixton Academy (Dido album), a 2004 live album and DVD by Dido.
- Good Charlotte Live at Brixton Academy, a 2004 DVD by Good Charlotte
- Live at Brixton Academy, a Ltd Ed DVD recorded in 2004 for Groove Armada's album Lovebox tour realsed for their Best Of album.
In Bed With Carter was filmed at Brixton Academy. It features a live gig of Carter The Unstoppable Sex Machine (Carter USM).
The movie 9 songs features numerous performances (e.g. Franz Ferdinand) all shot in the Brixton Academy.
Suede's VHS/DVD "Love and Poison", originally released in 1993, was filmed at the Brixton Academy.
AC/DC filmed the music video for their song Thunderstruck at the academy.
Video shoots for Wham and Culture Club were held at the venue. Billy Ocean's video for When The Going Gets Tough, The Tough Get Going soundtrack for the Jewel In The Nile was shot in Brixton Academy.