Brixton Academy

interior of the auditorium The venue started as a cinema and theatre in 1929 on the site of a private garden in Stockwell Road. Designed by the architects Thomas Somerford and E. A. Stone, it was built at a cost of £250,000 as an "Astoria" theatre. The opening show was the Al Jolson film The Singing Fool, followed by a variety act, including Heddle Nash and Derek Oldham which was broadcast by the BBC. It had nearly 3000 seats, although the publicity for the theatre reported this as 4500. The theatre eventually closed its doors as a cinema on 29 July 1972. It was then converted into a discotheque in September 1972, known as the "Sundown Centre". The club was not a success and 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 venue was remodelled by Sean Treacy, who later ran the entire site services, was re-opened as a rock venue called "Fair Deal" with a concert by UB40 and an interior restoration. The Clash played the venue in 1982 on their Casbah Club tour (30 July) but the venue closed later that year due to debt. In 1983, Simon Parkes bought the venue for £1, and re-opened it as the 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 The Rolling Stones, Eric Clapton, Dire Straits and the Police for rehearsal. The venue was also used for video shoots for Wham! (Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go) and Culture Club. Parkes would go on to write a book about his experience of running the venue, Live At The Brixton Academy: A Riotous Life in the Music Business, which was published in 2014. In 1995, Parkes sold the theatre to Break for the Border. 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 rebranding in August 2004 and hosts a range of live acts and club nights. With the sale, the venue's title was changed to Carling Academy Brixton. In 2008, naming rights were purchased for £25.5 million by the O2 brand, owned by the Spanish telecommunications company Telefónica. Being one of the biggest non-arena music venues in London, the academy has been used by many very successful acts. It has also been voted venue of the year 12 times since 1994 in the annual NME Awards. In addition the venue has won the Music Week Award for Venue of the Year several times including 2009. 2022 Asake concert crush A crowd crush outside a performance by Asake on 15 December 2022 seriously injured four people, two of whom died in the following days. The Guardian cast doubt on early reports that people were trying to force their way in without a ticket. The newspaper also questioned the management of the building and its entrances. As a result of the crowd crush, Lambeth councillors met in the early hours of 22 December 2022 and decided to suspend the academy's operating licence following the "severity of events" and "risks to public safety" from "a lack of crowd control at the front doors". The licence was suspended until a full hearing on 16 January 2023, when it was suspended for a further three months. The BBC reported that security staff were said to accept bribes to allow people in without a ticket. In April 2023 the Metropolitan Police stated that they had no confidence in the holder of the venue's licence and that they were applying for the licence to be revoked. In September 2023, the police stated that they were not opposed to the venue reopening, but simply opposed to AMG operating it. On 15 September 2023 Lambeth Council announced that the venue was permitted to re-open after the incident, providing they meet new licensing conditions including strengthened doors, a new security contractor and additional safety procedures. A full list of the conditions is published online by Lambeth Council. The venue reopened on 19 April 2024. 2026 Incident at Sombr concert The venue came under renewed scrutiny in March 2026, when Sombr interrupted a live show to alert security staff of a concert attendee who had fainted, stating: "This is the most poorly managed venue I've ever performed at in my life", adding "You guys need to pay attention - it's insane. Safety comes first." The BBC reported that, according to eyewitness accounts, the concert had already been interrupted once earlier when another attendee had passed out. Witnesses also told the BBC that the venue appeared “unprepared”, and was subject to high temperatures and a lack of air conditioning. ==Notable performances==