O2 Academy Glasgow

I have a love/​hate relationship with the O2 Academy. Whenever a band I love announces a gig here I automatically groan in despair. It is notorious for overcrowding and rarely gets the atmosphere that regularly fills my favourite venue The Barras. There is an element of tension that seems to resonate through the crowds due to the «packed in like sardines» capacity.
And it’s not just gigs. I love Club Noir for the acts but I normally leave shortly after as it also falls prey to overcrowding. When you’re out at a club night the elbow-​bumping, apologetic, sweaty dancing is not a good look. The wait for a drink is absolutely horrendous too, not to mention the price!
Yet it does warrant 3 stars because it has attracted some of my favourite acts and they’ve put on some phenomenal shows. If you get a good spot, like I did last night, you can have a relatively comfortable night in a packed house and it allows for a much bigger production and lighting set up than my beloved Barras.
The balcony is a lovely place to watch the burlesque acts of Club Noir and if you go up early you get a fab seat at the front. Take a fan though; even upstairs you are not safe from the overwhelming heat.
I know I am far from positive about this venue and a three star seems generous, but the acts I have seen and some of the productions they’ve put on save it. Despite my gloom at the announcement of a band I love playing here, I’m now seasoned enough to know the good spots to stand, when to head to them without getting squashed, and if I love a band enough to actually go to a gig here then it’s normally enough to keep me happy.
Although I will forever utter my auto-​response: «Why can’t they just play The Barras?»

This was the first time i had been downstairs in the standing section for a gig normally ive always ended up with tickets for the seated section.
I was surprised at how big the standing section is with 3 bars to chose from. Considering i was at a sell out event there was never big queues for drinks.
There are ladies toilets in the main hall and also located outside at the main entrance.
Cloakroom is upstairs on the 1^st floor and is £1.50 or i noticed a sign that allows o2 customers on priority to use it for free. I will need to find this out for next time.
Overall its a great wee venue and i think i prefer this to the abc in town!

To be honest, the Academy has never really agreed with me, to the extent that unless it’s someone I’m dying to see I tend to avoid gigs here. There isn’t a huge amount wrong with it, but the issues that are there are significant enough that it puts me off.
The main issue is the overcrowding. If you’re on the floor and it’s sold out you can get super-​cramped. It just seems to be about 5% too full, and at the Faith No More gig I was at it looked stupidly busy. In turn, the queues to the bar can be a bit on the big side. There also seem to be fewer toilets than there should be, which is a bit frustrating. Also, the march is only in one location, so if you’re up in the seats it sometimes isn’t that easy to go down and see what’s there.
Having said that, if you get tickets for the balcony booths, or if you fancy seating, it can be OK, and the right band can get a good atmosphere going. There seems to be a few less gigs going there than there used to be — a lot seem to be going to the sister ABC venue — not a bad thing in my book. If you’re happy with getting up close and personal with your fellow gig-​goers then fine, but I find I’m picking and choosing what I see here.

When the academy first opened I was not happy as every gig was here instead of the Barrowlands. I went along wanting to hate it as no where is as good as the barras. For the record it’s not as good as the barras, but in my eyes nowhere is, but as live venues go it’s a good one.
There is a balcony, where I have only sat once, as I like to dance at gigs. But the view was great. Downstairs there are a few different levels so this allows for good viewing wherever you stand.

So im always in 2 minds about this place. Ive been alot. Firstly location is pretty convenient especially for the tube, unless you dare a Sunday night. In my experience the staff are on the ball and usually very pleasant. My main issue with the place is the price of drinks, because your there for an event you’re not going to leave, and there isn’t any bars too conveniently close, so they have the upper hand in locality. Which means they can overcharge for small varity, and basic selection of drinks i.e. over £2 for a bottle of still water! On the positive side the building is lovely and ornate inside, and sound wise it has great accoustics, regardless of where you are. Overall its a good venue, and many great memories are made here.

Such a beautiful place for a venue! Saw Biffy Clyro and Slash here and the place is beautiful with a perfect reverb for rock gigs! Small place, you can see the stage from everywhere!

A stones throw from Bridge St subway, this beautiful, former church and cinema has been rebuilt as an Art Deco live music and events venue.
Home (so to speak) to live gigs from the likes of Counting Crows, Black Stone Cherry, Korn, QOTSA and Disturbed (to name a few of the acts I’ve seen there) as well as Burlesque extravaganza Club Noir (which, sadly, has become a bit mainstream for me these days) the venue is comprised of a standing area, as well as a seated balcony, more akin to a theatre than a concert hall.
There are 4 bars, which, typically, are over-​priced, and offer the standard range of spirits and yellow fizzy stuff (I think they call it lager), served in plastic cups. I believe on occasion they also offer cocktails. In plastic cups. (I HATE drinks served in plastic cups!).
However, the beautiful interior still remains true to the Art Deco form, and the sound quality is damn good! There’s also a reasonably priced cloakroom for those of you, like myself, who can’t be bothered hauling about a furry coat whilst indulging in some moshing.

Meh, it’s ok. Not my favourite venue in Glasgow. Not even in my top five — that would be Barrowlands, Garage, ABC, King Tuts and somewhere else that isn’t the SECC. Cathouse! There you go, top 5. As the Academy is an old cinema, the hall is longer than it is wide and that makes it more difficult to get a good view. As a shortarse, I love a concert venue that’s wider than it is deep (like the Barrowlands) as the audience seem to spread out a bit or something and you get a much better view. That’s my theory and I’m sticking to it!
I’ve done gigs where I’ve stood up the back at the bar but mostly I go down to the front section and try to see over taller people’s shoulders. Standing upstairs, along the side, you get a really good view but you can’t leave your spot otherwise somebody else will nick it. As the floor isn’t sloped, you can’t see a thing if you’re behind somebody else. Sitting upstairs is fine if you like sitting at gigs (and you can’t stand up because the staff will make you sit down again).
The beer is extortionate — £4.20 for a pint of Tuborg, £4 if you don’t mind Carling. Total rip off prices. I’m always happier when bands I like play other venues.

Offhand I reckon I’ve been to about thirty or so gigs here. For me, sound quality means a lot and I’ve had everything from perfectly acceptable to absolutely terrible.
Moving around at one recent gig, the sound was poor at floor level, but OK when up a set of steps near the sound deck. The one gig I went to where I was on the balcony, it wasn’t too bad.
Staff are superb, on the whole, but I find it very annoying when I’m taking photos (with a pass /​permit) that I have to leave the building to drop my camera off at the box office before re-​entering after my last photo session when the headliners are on. It means I miss some of the gig, plus I have to battle through crowds to get my camera back at the end when it would be far easier to leave via the fire exit at the front.
Full credit, though, to the ShowSec people — a mile ahead of the violent neanderthals who beat up and threatened the crowds at gigs in years gone by (happened to me at Barrowlands in the early 1990s).
I’m also not a fan of people stood in the toilets selling you toilet paper and cologne. Sorry, but they’re utterly out of place as a Killswitch Engage show…
Oh, and the beer’s ridiculously expensive just like it’s sister venue across town. Credit for their free supply of drinking water during and after the gig, though.

Lots count of the number of gigs I’ve been to here but they all follow a similar pattern.
The beer is expensive, the queues long, the stewarding around the venue isn’t great (although to be fair, it’s an old converted building so the layout can’t be the easiest to manage) but once a band gets going, all of that is forgotten.
I’ve never struggled with the acoustics in here, I’ve been at the front, at the back, and up on the balcony, it all sounds great and for the most part, if you are smart where you stand, you’ll always get a view!
For me they’ve never really got the staffing or facilities right but given that it remains one of the more popular venues I don’t see anything change anytime soon.
I’d love to make this four or five stars and, if I was reviewing a band, it probably would but, as a venue, it’s good for the music but falls down in too many other areas.

I love this place for gigs but it’s never going to be as amazing as the Barras, that’s just a fact. Another fact is that my brain cannot process this is the O2 Academy, it’s still very much the Carling Academy to me and probably always will be!
There’s always a great atmosphere in here when there’s a band playing and have only ever had problems in here once. My only main issue with the Academy is the ladies. About half an hour or so after doors, they ALWAYS end up disgusting. I had to visit them about halfway through the main set last night to find the only cubicle available at the time had become a vomitorium, although given the amount of empty quarter bottles scattered around I’m not surprised! I know it’s always mad busy but if someone was even checking once an hour or so, it’d probably do a lot to improve the situation!
The discovery of the giant 2 pint tumblers was stumbled upon last night for the first time. I foolishly thought they sounded a good idea until it was plopped on the bar in front of me and my pal burst out laughing. They fill them right to the top the same as the normal pints, but this then makes it a 2 handed business as the big ones are a bit too flimsy to negotiate with one hand until at least about halfway down. In a scale drawing of me last night, I would have looked like a child with a sippy cup. Albeit full of alcohol. They’re a good idea if it’s completely rammed and you won’t get near the bar for an age but I don’t really recommend them otherwise. Goes flat v quickly etc. Amusing though!

I came here to see Jimmy Eat World with Laura and a friend. Jimmy were awesome as per but this is the first time I’ve been to the O2 in a really long time. To me it’s still the carling and having two venues called the O2 something or other in one city is pretty annoying but what can you do.
To be honest I didn’t really give this place a good going over but the toilets were very clean, although they did have an annoying toilet attendant. Personally I think all toilet attendants are annoying as I usually piss like a fiend when out and grudge paying money to be handed a paper towel I could get myself. However, this guy was much more annoying than usual and insisted about rapping, badly, about himself and punanny the whole time. I realise that they probably do make the toilet nicer so they grudgingly do get a pound, but not this guy.
The floor here is slightly slanted which means you can get a great view even if you’re not at the front. For those who like to stand but not get too close the bar is almost a level above the main floor which offers a good view of the bands and is very spread out letting a lot of people get a decent look. Lots of bars doted about to so there is no excuse not to drink, except it maybe being a school night which is a sad sad excuse but still a legitimate one. It’s high ceilings stop you from dying of heat exhaustion when you’re at the front which to me is a big plus. Stewards hand out water to which is always nice.
Great atmosphere and all in all a good place to go and see a gig.

Strange venue for a gig with standing areas, balconies and huge seated area in the gods.
Seems it would be much better suited to being a theatre rather than a concert venue.
Really enjoyed the gig though but it gets incredibly hot. Almost passed out at the last two gigs I went to there.
Air conditioning throughout please!

Good: massive interior (a former theatre), loads of room for standing, nicely done up in the actual venue, the sound quality is decent, seems to have a wide and varied mix of artists in the lineup
Not-​so-​good: I understand that renovating this place must have been a bit tricky what with it being a former theatre, but the way the bathrooms are positioned is just weird. There are two gents WCs in the immediate entrance, leaving girls to wonder where the women’s toilet is (to the left of the stage, if you’re wondering… not sure where the others are, though.) And, while on the topic of the women’s toilets, they could really see some improvements! They’re dirty, probably haven’t seen a paint job in years, and have only three stalls in them each (at least the one I was able to find.)
Another issue is the fact that it gets *super* hot inside. I suppose there’s not too much that can be done about that when the place is swimming with people, but still, not exactly conducive to a comfortable couple of hours at a gig.
The drinks are pretty pricey as well (a tenner for 2), though a pint of Tuborg seems to be the most cheap.
As well, I found the security members inside a bit off-​putting. When my boyfriend was asking where the women’s toilet was for me, the security guy first, quite accusatorially, demanded to see his ID «because he looked 19.» (He’s 25!) Understandable if it’s the protocol of your job to be looking for underageds, but the fact that he was needlessly hostile about it when my boyfriend was asking where the toilet was as opposed to causing a ruckus was a bit irritating. At least he directed us to the toilets afterward.
Overall, the fact that it’s so spacious inside JUST makes up for all its faults.

As a venue, it’s had better days. The Gents toilet situation is pathetic, for example. Tiny, poorly maintained, and always queued to the rafters. Awful. And I paid 4.95 for a pint of lukewarm Carlsberg. FOUR NINETY FIVE! I only paid for one and never bothered after that.
I’d much rather go to the Barras than here, but most bands seem to plump for the corporately sponsored shed rather than the superior Barras.
The queuing situation needs to be addressed. Only telling you when you get to within feet of the front of the HUGE queue that if you have tickets you can go straight in? Horrible. And don’t start me on the O2 priority entry system. Horrible thing to do in really cold temperatures like last night…
It’ll do, but there is better in Glasgow.

This venue is increasingly getting the gigs that used to be held at the Barras (it has a slightly larger capacity of 2500). Getting served at the tiny bar beside the door is a rage-​inducing lottery, but that’s a walk in the park compared to trying to listen to a band. Let’s just say that if you’re one of these fussy people who likes to hear the guitars, bass, drums, vocals, keyboards etc all at the same time, you might get a bit gumpy. And don’t get me started on the Slippery o2 Academy Steps of Doom. The Guinness Book of World Records approved «world’s largest burlesque club» Club Noir takes place here every few months.

We went to see Chris Moyles Live here on Sunday night. Good gig.
Have been here many times before and the venue is good but a little tired around the edges with the décor.
The bars were sponsored by Tuborg beer so that was what they were selling and not much else.
We got parked easily on the side street by the academy and the place emptied quickly after the gig so that was all good and no crushing. Mid size venue and they do a fair selection on their line up.

Die Carling Academy ist ein Club bzw. Veranstaltungsort den man mit dem Lindenpark in Potsdam oder der Batschkapp in Frankfurt a.M. vergleichen könnte. Hier treten in der schottischen Hauptstadt immer wieder auch internationale Acts auf. Die Getränke sind leider recht teuer aber so ist das ja meistens bei solchen Konzert-​Häusern.

Formerly known as the Carling Academy before O2 got their claws in, it still hasn’t changed much since it opened about ten years ago (?) I might need to verify the exact date, but it feels like it’s been open for years and it a good venue to see popular bands in.
Set in what no doubt used to be either a picture house or theatre, the stage, ceiling and surroundings have the glory of ornate old architecture. Considering it used to host performances in its former life, it stands to reason it would be perfect for gigs, and I always feel as though the acoustics are good.
It took me a while to warm to this venue as places like the Barrowlands have a long established electric, friendly atmosphere, but I’ve grown to love the Academy for its own merits. The staff in here are always cool and friendly, you can always get served at the bar (despite the fact it’s fairly expensive — but so are all venues), there’s plenty room for dancing and the promoters seem to reel in some great artists.
There’s a mezzanine area upstairs if you’re wanting to chill out before the show, and seating on the balcony if you don’t fancy getting a boogie. Depending on who’s playing, gigs can wind on till after 11 and the tickets are usually £20 or under. It’s a steal if you manage to catch one of your favourite bands playing in here before they hit the SECC scale of gig, since it’s a much more intimate space. They also put some club nights on — when The Arches was being renovated resident DJ’s relocated to the Academy, and it is the venue of choice for burlesque extravaganza Club Noir.
Overall I’m a big fan, and have managed to secure a dancing space in the front row for many of my favourite bands over the years. I love the fact older buildings like this are now being used as music venues — it seems like a classy, appropriate choice.

A good music venue.
I go to alot of gigs and immediately after finding out WHO is playing I want to know WHERE they are playing. If it is in here, I don’t grumble.
Most recently went last year to see Massive Attack debut songs from their new album. It was brilliant.
It can get proper sweaty down front, as with everywhere really and they have decent bars which are pricy. The sound and lighting are really good, with the venue looking far nicer on the inside than you might expect from the interior.
Moving around when it’s packed is a nightmare with these annoying ramps that get you from the tier when you walk in down to the front at the stage. I often make a deliberate shift to the back after a band play their main set in the hope to get out reasonably quick.
Somewhere between SECC and Barrowlands in my list of favourite venues in Glasgow.

Just on the southside of the river, until recently this was known as the Carling Academy.
I was lucky enough to go to XFM’s Winter Wonderland and got a spot front and centre at the barrier. After having to suffer through Fightstar, Colin McIntyre was pretty good, and headliners Stereophonics were phenomenal, although I am completely biased in their favour. I have to be careful here to keep my review about the venue and not the gig itself!
But the organisation and staffing seemed very good, more than adequate. A crowd-​surfer (who kicked me in the face) was very swiftly and aggressively removed and the bar service was pretty swift.
Acoustically, the sound seemed good, but I was right at the front and completely smitten so I’m not the best judge!
In short — better than the SECC, worse than the Barrowlands.