O2 Academy Birmingham

Over the years I have seen some amazing live music at both this O2 Academy and at its previous location on Dale end. Its one of those place that you can only say ‘it is what it is’.
Last night we spent a good amount of time fighting our way to the front of the bar to spend £5 on some of the worst beer I have tasted. The thing is… you kind of don’t mind! It’s always been like this and I have honestly come to expect it.
If you want to see a great live show go to the academy. Don’t be expecting cocktails or anything fancy, just a good sound system, sweaty room and usually a top night out.

I have been to see many a gig here over the years, but after heading out to see the legendary Prodigy last night — I finally felt it was time to tap out a review. First, let’s have a look at the venue. Boasting 3 (?) different venues of differing sizes; I have been to both the Academy and Academy 2.
Academy 2 is bob on really… Sound always seems to be fine for a venue of this size and there are toilets readily available as well as ample bar space. Drinks are (as you can imagine) overpriced, but this is pretty standard for gig venues all around the country. As a top tip, if you are on the mobile network O2 — you can get deals for drinks which seem to make it a whole lot more reasonable.
Academy 1 is unfortunately where my rant has to begin… The main hall is reserved for bigger acts and I have seen several larger bands here (Rob Zombie, Orbital and last night, The Prodigy) over the years. I had a seating ticket in the balcony area and was impressed to note that there are two separate queues (one for standing and one for seating), which makes entry a little easier to manage. The security greeted me in a friendly manner on the door and duly checked everyones bags as they went in, so nothing to complain about there. The bar queues upstairs were pretty horrendous (there are two bars), but again, that is to be expected. A pint of Turborg was £4.80/£4.90 — which, again, is to be expected.
The toilets before the main act had come on were really filthy and I witnessed some unsavoury behaviour therein. Whereas security seemed to be pretty hard on people dancing in the seating area (telling people to sit down, even when the others around them genuinely didn’t mind), they didn’t seem to be checking the toilet area regularly enough. The real crime of the night was the sound. Now, I have seen both Orbital and Prodigy before live (Orbital at the Leeds Academy and Prodigy outside of a tent at Download Festival), but the sound at O2 Birmingham was shocking compared to the previous experiences.
There was no audible treble, the bass was too high, there no distinction between the bass and mid range, hardly any vocals for Keith Flint and any melody was turned down so low that it was completely lost… I couldn’t actually recognise most of the tracks for full minutes whilst they were playing. This was made even more disappointing when the band seemed to try and put on such a good show with a massively varied set.
Needless to say, I left seriously disappointed at the whole experience. I just cannot understand why the sound here seems to be so sub par, especially when I had such a positive audible experience at the Institute last year?
In summary… If there is a big band coming to town that you are desperate to see, I would recommend checking to see if they are playing in any other local venues before opting for the Academy 1. The Academy 2 (I can’t comment on 3), is totally fine for more niche bands — but Seriously sound and security crew… Let’s sort this out, shall we? Unfortunately, I cannot recommend this venue.

I’ve been to this venue twice so far and found the atmosphere thoroughly enjoyable both times. The first time was to see Lostprophets, I was pretty chuffed at getting to the barrier, which at most rock concerts is like a VIP space. It was great being so close up and almost personal with the band, I recall Lee Gaze the lead guitarist flashing us a smile. An amazing concert, shame about what happened to that band.
The second time I visited this venue was to see Bullet For My Valentine, again I was pretty close to the front only one row back. The advantage of o2 academy, its a small place that guarantees you a decent spot without having to queue for a whole day. I’d recommend getting standing tickets at this venue, it adds a more personal feel, like you’re at a massive party where everyone shares the same passion for music and the lack of space makes you feel equal to the band. The view from balconies however isn’t that great and you tend to feel detached from the show. Both shows I went to plenty of cups of water were provided by the stewards and everyone in the crowd was friendly making sure that it was distributed evenly all the way till the back. Towards the back of the Venue there is a bar and merch stands, all of the staff were friendly and talkative.
Great strobe lighting and sound.
Being such a small venue everything was pretty much easily accessible. The only downside to my experiences here was queuing in the cold for about 2 hours for each show, however once you get inside, well worth it! Perfect for anyone who is used to the atmosphere of rock gigs, (disclaimer: yes there can be moshpits and plenty of pushing! Not suitable for younger children without adults) rock n roll.

Overall an amazing experience! There are two types of tickets to buy sitting or standing. I picked standing, kind of a bad mistake. I nearly got crushed to death! That might be a little over-​exaggerated but my first real gig was certainly a time to remember. Sitting would be better for younger people maybe. If you like that live music atmosphere then I would recommend standing! You should also get there earlier so you’re not at the back of the queue, (although you don’t really have to wait for longer than an hour). The music wasn’t too loud or quiet and the atmosphere was excellent. The staff were helpful and it was easy to buy things after the gig had finished. The intervals between bands was a little lengthy though.

I thought this place was perfect to get close to the artist playing, would definately go there again and perfectly accessible to get back into the centre/​restaurants etc.

If you stand under the balcony the sound is awful, move into the middle of the venue if you can and it gets much better but its still not ideal.
The balcony also blocks your view from a number of areas only way is to push into the middle front somewhere if you want to see, plus its not a good venue for the shorter people amongst us as the stage isn’t very high.