Entertainment For Lively Minds
Favourite/least favourite venue?
Posted by Native on 5 March 2011 - 10:29pm.
I like going to gigs at:
The Brudenell Social Club, Leeds
Manchester Apollo
Manchester Academy
I don't like going to:
London O2 Arena
And yours?
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Venues
Love...
Brixton academy
Shepherds Bush Empire
Northampton Roadmenders
Not so keen
Wembley arena
Birmingham NEC
Haven't been
to the Roadmenders but everything else is exactly my choice.
An up arrow
for the Brudenell Social Club. Great atmos, very good sound and sightlines. The old Working Mens Club design with the stage set in a semi circle with raised bar area is perfect as a modern gig venue.
Fans love it, bands love it and they get some big names in there considering it's not even in the City Centre.
Manchester's Deaf Institute is great although a bit of a squeeze when sold out. and the newly re-modelled Ruby Lounge is splendid now that they've removed a pillar that meant you couldn't see the band from a large part of the venue.
On occasional London Village jaunts I've been very impressed with London's own Lexington, and the newly refurbed Highbury Garage.
Not been to many enormodomes in my time but the Manchester Evening News arena is a hideous, draughty Ice Hockey arena. I defy any band to get a 'vibe' going in there.
And sorry to diss an independent venue, but Night & Day in Manchester is rotten. Hopeless layout, sweaty and overheated, no draught beer all bottles, surly bar staff and mediocre sound. Seen some truly great gigs in there though!
The Brudenell, the
The Brudenell, the Brudenell, a thousand times the Brudenell!
Down south
Top:
Bush Hall (Plenty of room nice high stage)
Koko (Decent size but never too far from the stage)
Electric Ballroom (Perhaps it's nostalgia but I've always liked it)
Dingwalls (Multilevel design means it's better now than in it's heyday)
Borderline (Intimate and sweaty)
Tingewick Village Hall (Some great nights out here)
Bottom:
Brixton Academy (Just too big)
Shepherds Bush Empire (The stage is too low, raise it by 2 feet and it would be a top venue)
Here goes ...
Yes please:
Borderline
Dingwalls
RFH
RAH
Union Chapel
No thanks:
Islington Academy
Luminaire
Brixton Academy
Islington Academy
That's a strange one. Inside I think it's a really good, well designed layout, it's the right size and you can see the stage. The problem is that it's completely soulless. It needs some Disney style imagineers to come in and make it seem like a proper venue. It's nice and easy to park nearby as well which is always a bonus for a London venue.
Union Chapel
Great venue. Saw Laura Veirs there a week or so ago. Excellent sound quality but might take a cushion next time. Those old pews weren't designed with comfort in mind.
I have not been impressed....
With the RAH as a gig venue. Lovely building but if your up in the gods it just feels to far away for my liking.
Out of interest,
why is Brixton Academy in the 'No' list?
I can answer that
From my point of view, it's too big. I think it must be just over the max size a venue should be. In my younger days I would be down the front moshing and I wouldn't care how big it was but these days I'm more likely to be at the back and it's just too far away. The bigger the venue, the more dickheads there will be at the back chatting while the bands on as well.
Worst ever
Bingley Hall, Stafford - long since closed but remember my one and only gig there Fleetwood Mac and although the band were great the venue was truly awful.
Birmingham is blessed with 2 great venues in the Symphony Hall and the Town Hall - do not care for the O2 Academy.
Warwick Arts Centre is a great venue.
Worst ever
The late and lamented by no-one London Arena in Docklands. A character-free shed plonked in the middle of a load of yuppie flats. Absolutely ghastly.
Bingley Hall
I went to the 1st ever gig there - The Who in 1975.
Harvey Goldsmith came onto the stage to tell how he thought the venue was "a winner". I'm sure it filled his pockets nicely. For the audience a cow shed with no facilities beyong toilets, miles from anywhere was a definite loser.
THE best
Is obviously the great Glasgow Barrowlands. Sprung floor, stars on ceiling, cheap beer being sold by the can, great size and wee wummen from the calton staffing the cloakroom. Corporate it ain't but it's great and I've been to many brilliant gigs there.
ABC in Glasgow isn't bad. Always near the stage. Decent sound.
Union chapel, Islington. Atmospheric!
Caberet Voltaire Edinburgh. Sweaty walls. Good beer.
Kentish town forum.
Worst: secc. Totally soulless shed
O2 academy Glasgow. Potential wasted by overpacking the place. Ceiling too high for good acoustics. Although fleet foxes sounded pretty good a couple of years back.
The one
I seen to frequent the most these days is Bury Met. Seats 200 or can also be a standing venue. Adjacent bar from where you can hear the act, if you desire. Real ale bar downstairs but you can bring your drink into the hall. Intimate, good views, good sound, centre of town, easy free parking. Off to see The Enid there later this month.
i really like the Met too &
i really like the Met too & you get some cracking gigs on there. How nice is it not to have to take a plastic pint pot into the hall with you!
Ok
Besties
Kentish Town Forum
The Troxy
Shepherds Bush Empire from Level 1
Union Chapel
Birmingham Symphony Hall
Nottingham Rock City
Southampton Guildhall
Highbury Garage
Worsties
Shepherds Bush Empire - standing
Koko
Islington Academy
Electric Ballroom
Ally Pally
Earls Court
I find arenas are generally crap unless you're lucky enough to be close up. the 02 Arena works well 'in the round' but is shite to get to and back from. Wembley Arena is better than it was.
time as well as place
... my best venue was the Town and Country Club, Kentish Town during the late 80s/early 90s - it was called the Forum the last time I visited (well over a decade ago)and just wasn't the same. Being the whitest most uptight man alive, I am almost embarrassingly immobile at gigs and the TCC was perfect with it's upstairs seating and tables, just right for rolling spliff after spliff (those were the days) whilst watching the pop draws of the day - BAD, Wendy & Lisa, World Party, Blue Aeroplanes, Love and Rockets and Shamen all-nighters spring to mind.
the worst? Atmosphere free aircraft hangers like Wembley Arena...the Beastie Boys Hello Nasty tour springs to mind (although I did get to stand behind Debbie Harry) The Faversham in Leeds runs a close second though... small and intimate, seemingly perfect until the rest of your fellow gig goers turn up and drown out the band with chatter
Best; Manchester
Best;
Manchester Apollo
Manchester Hop & Grape / Academy 3
Manchester Main Debtating Hall / Academy 2
Royal Albert Hall
Koko
Night & Day (when its comfortably busy)
Worst;
o2 Arena
Brixton Academy
Manchester Ruby Lounge (although if they have removed that pillar it might be ok now)
Night & Day (when its full!) They also lose a point for charging a booking fee when you buy tickets from them direct.
Can I ask what's wrong with the O2 Arena?
For a megadome, the view is excellent, the sound fantastic and access is brilliant. Too see bands of a certain "size", a megadome is a necessary evil and the O2, in my experience, does it ten times better than anywhere else in the UK (though I do like the one on the docks in Liverpool).
Borderline is great - bar service can be iffy during really busy gigs though - great Club nights on Saturday that bring out the big Indie Kid in me.
Camden Electric Ballroom is good. Proper sticky floors and nice n sweaty.
Brixton Academy is just too big for a standing type venue and whilst the slope is nice for a viewing perspective, my calves can't take three hours of that any more!
o2
I quite agree about the o2. Compared to the cattle shed that is Wembley Arena, it's a positive luxury.
Stockholm venues
Thumbs-up:
Södra Teatern (lovely old theatre, right size, great bands)
Cirkus
Fasching
Konserthuset
ChinaTeatern
Dramaten
Kulturhuset Hörsalen
Göta Källare
Thumbs-down:
Globen (Huge ice-hockey venue? No thanks)
Hovet
Annexet
Berns (I'm not very tall and can never see a thing)
Kägelbanan (see above)
Debaser Medis (see above)
Filadelfiakyrkan (poor acoustics)
Nalen (see above)
Solnahallen (huge sweaty basketball arena. Nice)
Best venues
In this region, Birmingham Glee Club -- cosy, friendly, welcoming, eclectic booking policy. Worst used to be the old Barfly, grim, dark and grubby, but I've seen some excellent gigs there (for example Raveonettes, and, surprisingly as they aren't top of my list, Mystery Jets who were terrific -- first album time), and some appalling badly attended ones as well -- Fiery Furnaces with about 15 people, for example.
Anyone else prefer old scruffy unreconstructed Mac to the new version? (although the bar is quite nice, the auditoriums seem less atmospheric and internal design impenetrable).
Best and Worst
Best: The Barbican. Great atmosphere and sound.
Worst: Southampton Guildhall. No atmosphere, appalling sound.