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March 28, 2024, 01:21:54 PM

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Gig venues you hate

Started by Nice Relaxing Poo, June 25, 2022, 05:01:23 PM

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Are we talking the old Brum Academy that was downstairs and later called the Ballroom(?)? One of my fave venues and gutted it was closed.

I've got no beef with the Manchester venues listed so far. I've found the Ritz, Apollo, Albert Hall and Gorilla to all be absolutely fine. Maybe all the Gorilla shows I've been have been majorly undersold though.

Sebastian Cobb

Quote from: The Mollusk on June 26, 2022, 07:38:56 PMDillinja on the Function One sound system, soundtrack of my early 20s.

Sure it wasn't the Valve Soundsystem (built by Dillinja and Lemon D, the running joke was Lemon was only allowed on the decks because he was a joiner who built the cabs)? They drained the pool, I was at that circa 2006!

The Med Bar had the Soul:R Soundsystem IIRC... Saw D-Bridge on that.

The Mollusk

Quote from: Sebastian Cobb on June 26, 2022, 11:21:01 PMSure it wasn't the Valve Soundsystem (built by Dillinja and Lemon D, the running joke was Lemon was only allowed on the decks because he was a joiner who built the cabs)? They drained the pool, I was at that circa 2006!

The Med Bar had the Soul:R Soundsystem IIRC... Saw D-Bridge on that.

Oops, yep you're right, got my name's mixed up. We almost certainly would have been at the same night together, I never missed those!

Ferris

Quote from: drummersaredeaf on June 26, 2022, 09:33:51 PMAre we talking the old Brum Academy that was downstairs and later called the Ballroom(?)? One of my fave venues and gutted it was closed.

I've got no beef with the Manchester venues listed so far. I've found the Ritz, Apollo, Albert Hall and Gorilla to all be absolutely fine. Maybe all the Gorilla shows I've been have been majorly undersold though.

I'm thinking of the one round the corner from Scruffy Murphys which was always absolutely fine. Had an upstairs room for smaller acts as well which was nice, seen [spunge] play up there more times than I could count.

Certainly not a stinker if memory serves, and I've been to far worse since then.

Ted_Dibiase

Another vote for Victoria warehouse being an absolute dump, pain in the arse to get to and no redeeming features. After yesterday the John Smith's Stadium is another horrific venue for gigs but expected that going into it.

Quote from: Ferris on June 27, 2022, 12:07:00 AMI'm thinking of the one round the corner from Scruffy Murphys which was always absolutely fine. Had an upstairs room for smaller acts as well which was nice, seen [spunge] play up there more times than I could count.

Certainly not a stinker if memory serves, and I've been to far worse since then.

This one - https://www.iambirmingham.co.uk/2020/02/12/new-music-venue-open-site-old-birmingham-ballroom-carling-academy/

Saw some huge acts for such an intimate feeling venue. NIN, Massive Attack, Placebo...

I realise I've come at this thread upside down. For venues I don't like, the Manchester Academy is fairly uninspiring. Arenas are generally wank by definition, though again I've seen some great shows at the MEN. I will do everything in my power to never watch music outside again though. Hyde Park was particularly appalling, though OT cricket ground also delivered a lot of disappointment.

Ferris

I saw Placebo there twice, among several other fairly large acts. May well have been in the same crowd.

I remember doing the same mental exercise with my old flatmates and realizing we were all at the same Hundred Reasons/ Hell is for Heroes show circa 2005. Funny when you think about it.

Sebastian Cobb

Saw tool in the bit of the secc that's gone now they built the hydro. Literally just a miserable hangar.

But then didn't The Beastie Boys use the same space to make the best thing ever.


SweetPomPom

Quote from: drummersaredeaf on June 27, 2022, 12:19:02 AMHyde Park was particularly appalling, though OT cricket ground also delivered a lot of disappointment.

Worst thing about Hyde Park is the pricing and partitioning of Golden circles, Diamond circles at crazy prices rather than first-come, first-served. A few Bands say no but most choose to take the money, cunts.

Only been to OT once, for Bowie and he stopped the rain so no complaints.


Pink Gregory

Quote from: Rich Uncle Skeleton on June 26, 2022, 07:34:03 PMAgreed...it was my first regular venue when I started going to gigs as a teenager. Then as soon as you branch out virtually anywhere else in Bristol the shine wears off pretty bloody quick.

Nowadays seeing a bands touring but the nearest gig is at the Bristol academy just makes my heart sink.

Unbelievably, I've never been.

It's not a bad venue, but I'm disappointed that everything that I want to see seems to have migrated from the Exchange to Rough Trade now.  It's *alright* but it's a bit airless and characterless, plus there's the fucking Beavertown ad copy everywhere.

I've been to the Crofter's Rights once and the room was fine and I might have just been in one of my depressive episodes but I just kind of hated it and everyone there.

Really miss the Stag and Hounds as well, but apparently the live stuff was running at a loss for years.

Quote from: SweetPomPom on June 27, 2022, 07:15:18 AMWorst thing about Hyde Park is the pricing and partitioning of Golden circles, Diamond circles at crazy prices rather than first-come, first-served. A few Bands say no but most choose to take the money, cunts.

Only been to OT once, for Bowie and he stopped the rain so no complaints.



I was lucky enough to get close to Soundgarden where BST had yet to introduce the golden circle, but it was the quietest gig I've ever been to. The intro tape was louder than when the band came in.

Cornell made it rain that day as it turned out.

The Mollusk

FAO @drummersaredeaf and @Ferris in case you were still wondering I was on about the new Academy in Birmingham, not the old one which was the location of heaps of incredible life changing gigs for me in my teenage years. Motorhead, The Mars Volta, A Perfect Circle, The Damned, loads more I sorely wish I could remember. Really should have kept all my old stubs!

Quote from: The Mollusk on June 27, 2022, 09:28:05 AMFAO @drummersaredeaf and @Ferris in case you were still wondering I was on about the new Academy in Birmingham, not the old one which was the location of heaps of incredible life changing gigs for me in my teenage years. Motorhead, The Mars Volta, A Perfect Circle, The Damned, loads more I sorely wish I could remember. Really should have kept all my old stubs!

I've deliberately avoided the new Academy assuming it was shit. Thanks for confirming I was right. Like you, I've had some great experiences in the old one. It is still probably the best venue I've been to. If you didn't read the article, it appears to be reopening.

Being in Stoke I have tons of venues within an hour, but given the choice I would always head north rather than south. Easier to travel, less bother to park, and the Brum venues just feel more sterile. Did see Mogwai in The Mill a few years ago, which was a decent one though.

JaDanketies

#43
Manchester Academy is fine. Gorilla is quite nice if you choose the right spots to watch the band; it's like you've got your own private toilet and bar just yards away. MEN Arena is okay too. Albert Hall is lovely, gorgeous interior to watch a show in.  The Apollo is a bit out of the way and inconvenient but it's nice inside.  I reckon Band on the Wall might be the best in town.

I've only gone to Bowlers once for a psytrance night, slept in a van afterwards and woke up with a car boot sale happening around me, but I'm going again this year for Damnation Festival and that is very inconvenient. Damnation was previously held in Leeds Student Union and that was a very challenging venue; it might be okay for things other than Damnation.

dmillburn

Quote from: The Mollusk on June 26, 2022, 07:38:56 PMCustard Factory was always my favourite gig venue in Birmingham. Some amazing weird music courtesy of the legendary Capsule plus heaps of drum n bass and dubstep nights in the drained out swimming pool. Dillinja on the Function One sound system, soundtrack of my early 20s.

When I first moved to Birmingham about 18 years ago the amount of fucking amazing stuff on at the Custard Factory/Med Bar was ridiculous - it was not uncommon for me to be going there 3 nights a week for bands or club nights, and you might get some weird Capsule noise on a Thursday, then a Trigger or Heducation night on Friday and someone like KRS-1 on Saturday. It helped that my wife had a workshop upstairs there so I could often sneak in for free via the fire escape which came out near the toilets near the Kitchen bar. Pretty much all the nights where they drained the pool (Drop Beats etc) were amazing.

Quote from: drummersaredeaf on June 27, 2022, 09:49:03 AMDid see Mogwai in The Mill a few years ago, which was a decent one though.

The Mill should in theory be a brilliant venue, but it's been awful the last few time I've been, to the point where it will stop me going to see an act playing there. It a decent size, nice terrace etc but just awfully run. At Pigsx7 they managed to run out of beer about 20 minutes after it opened, at Roni Size/Bukem they wanted £5 for lukewarm bottles of water, the sound is often ropey for bands and the security can be fucking weird.

It's being used for Supersonic this year, so I'm really hoping that they can address some of the issues for that. I'm there again for Overmono in September as well, plus possibly Flashback next month, so can't escape the place.

The Mollusk

^ Yikes, that's eyebrow raising. I'm psyched as hell for Supersonic, I hope they know what they're getting themselves into.

dissolute ocelot

Corn Exchange in Edinburgh recently rebranded as an O2 venue, always used to be terrible partly because it was a really long narrow hall with a stage at one end and shit bar service, and partly because it's far from the city centre (served by terrible buses and completely the wrong side of town for me). Not been there since the rebrand so no idea if they've improved it, but they've not moved it.

Likewise, hate it when a band plays SWG3 in Glasgow because it's in the middle of nowhere next to the Clyde Expressway and annoying to get to unless you drive, although as a space most of the rooms are fine.

It's hard to begrudge a tiny basement venue when tickets are £10 or £15, but Broadcast in Glasgow feels like the stage is at the lowest point so you've a terrible view, lots of pillars in mid-floor, has the worst toilets with no locks and tiny sinks on top of the toilet cistern (what the actual fuck!?) although you can go upstairs if you want to pee in slightly greater luxury, and is also rather long and narrow with the stage at one end and the entrance next to it.

idunnosomename

Its not so much a rebrand is it means Academy Music Group have acquired it. O2 is just their partner sponsor, before that it was Carling.

Obviously its not great that they dominate over independent venues in the interest of shareholders but it's better than a badly run one I guess.

Not to be confused with Manchester Academy which is still owned by the university though. 2, 3 and Club in the union building are great. 1 is just a big shed and it sucks unless you can get near the front, especially the toilet access which is horrendous (it needs some at the sides).

king_tubby

O2 in Leeds is so bad that I've completely given up going. A cavernous drinking barn, poor sound, awful expensive beer, ridiculous curfews, bad sound.

Whoever booked the Magnetic Fields to play there needs keelhauling.

dmillburn

Quote from: The Mollusk on June 27, 2022, 11:08:27 AM^ Yikes, that's eyebrow raising. I'm psyched as hell for Supersonic, I hope they know what they're getting themselves into.

Capsule normally use their own people for sound, security and the bars so sure it'll be ok.  I've never been to the other place being used, 7SVN, so looking forward to checking out a new venue. I love Centrala too so glad that's being used - I've probably had more great nights there in recent years than anywhere else in Brum, an unlikely choice but nowhere else puts on the variety of weird nonsense that they do.

Sebastian Cobb

Quote from: dissolute ocelot on June 28, 2022, 11:53:16 AMLikewise, hate it when a band plays SWG3 in Glasgow because it's in the middle of nowhere next to the Clyde Expressway and annoying to get to unless you drive, although as a space most of the rooms are fine.


I don't think it's a very good venue, because it's basically a hangar and can be a bit chilly, and sometimes it's a bit echoey if people aren't in but I don't think 'poor connectivity' is a major problem. It's over the bridge from the Hydro, not far from the Exhibition train, near the 2/3 Dumbarton buses and not all that far from the Partick interchange.

sutin

Quote from: dontpaintyourteeth on June 26, 2022, 09:37:26 AMI'd hate to start some sort of o2 pile-on, but the Academy in Bristol is fairly rubbish as well, I reckon.

That's my shout. If you're short you'll see nothing unless at the front, and the room is a weird shape.

sutin

Quote from: non capisco on June 26, 2022, 07:00:31 PMMoth Club because I had to say my date of birth to the bouncer when I didn't have photo ID on me and he laughed out loud because it's in the 1970s. 

My gf put a gig on there once and the minute the bands were finished the security were trying to remove us (the people who were involved in the event, not the public) from the venue. We were like 'dudes, we can't just leave, there's tons of stuff we need to pack away' and the daft buggers didn't get it.

Kankurette

I did my exams in Manchester Academy 1. It's kind of weird doing exams in a place where you'd seen Super Furry Animals a few months previously. We had the Freshers' Fair there too.

JaDanketies

I almost went to MMU for English and Creative Writing but Lancaster offered me £1k because I got four As, and I didn't even get the grand in the last year cos my grades were so poor

£2k and I could've had Simon Armitage telling me my erotica was awful instead of Helen Farish

PaulTMA

Unsurprisingly the O2 Academy in Glasgow is getting a pasting, the one thing I will say in its defense is that it has recently been not bad, due to not being as hideously oversold as it usually is, with ticket sales being down.  I've been there a few times in the last month and it's a considerably nicer place to be when you can easily make trips to the lav or bar and return to your spot (down the front) without any misery.

The sourest spot in that venue is the mezzanine between the bar area and the main point of standing, good grief it's an awful place to end up, unless you have managed to secure being down by the barrier.  Also watch out for the toilet attendant whose catchphrase is "if you don't wash your fingers then you put them in the mingers".

sutin

I don't remember anything bad about the O2 in Glasgow. I saw The B-52's and DEVO there in the late '00s, seemed alright but in a crappy area. I was on the barrier for both shows though.

jimboslice

Quote from: king_tubby on June 28, 2022, 02:20:23 PMO2 in Leeds is so bad that I've completely given up going. A cavernous drinking barn, poor sound, awful expensive beer, ridiculous curfews, bad sound.

Whoever booked the Magnetic Fields to play there needs keelhauling.

O2 academy Leeds is shite, especially if it's a sell-out gig - always seems like it's overcapacity. If you've got a good spot or something hasn't sold very well it can be okay - I remember Wilco were good???

The shittest venue in Leeds by far is Leeds University Refectory though. Narrow and long, low stage, awful sound, and rarely used as a gig venue so it's badly organised and there's no bar. And yet it still has a good reputation because of The fucking Who. Next time a gig gets upgraded from Stylus to Refectory I'll be getting a refund.



Sebastian Cobb

Quote from: sutin on June 30, 2022, 01:46:41 AMI don't remember anything bad about the O2 in Glasgow. I saw The B-52's and DEVO there in the late '00s, seemed alright but in a crappy area. I was on the barrier for both shows though.

There's a pub called The Laurieston nearby that looks well dodgy because it has bars on the windows and is one of those flat-roof jobs that was part of a tenement but they knocked that down and left the pub. Inside it's lovely though, a great boozer.