Manchester Academy 2

This was my first gig at Academy 2 and I was surprised by how small it is. It's capacity must be way under 1,000 - but does make for a good atmosphere when watching a live band.

It's situated on the 1st floor of the Manchester University Students Union - which instantly took me back to my Uni days.
The bar in the room was small, with only 4 members of staff serving on too - which for a room with that many people in it I found to be a bad decision. Because of the queue for the bar being so long most people would buy 2 beers at a time and then spill it everywhere whilst jumping around. (Listen to me sounding like a grandma)!

To sum it up, it's your standard student music venue - crap beer, sticky floors and toilets that you wouldn't like to go in.
But, it was fun and I had a blast.

I've only been to the Academy 2 twice,and i'm still not sure if I like it or not. On the plus side the sound is good and the space is nice and square(ish). But on the bad side,the bar is terrible,way too small(especially if it's busy),and way too under stocked.

Thinking about it,the plusses aren't that much of a plus,and the minusses aren't thar much of a minus,which is why I probably find it such a Meh kind of a place...

It does Kro right outside,which is always a good thing right?

Big bands play at the MEN for about £30+, big but not massive bands play at the Apollo for £20+, famous but less popular bands play at the Academy for £15+ and popular-ish bands that you've vaguely heard of play the Academy 2 for £10+.

Apart from being the cheapest, The Academy 2 is my favourite of the aforementioned venues. I've seen numerous bands here including Presidents of the USA, Hot Hot Heat and the Futureheads as well as partaking in other events hosted here in the Union building such as Pangaea.

As Sarah-Jane rightly points out that there are no real defining characteristics of this venue, but who needs pretty décor when you've come to see a band? Wherever you stand you can always see the stage, the sound quality is always good, the music is loud but not deafening, the security staff are alert, you can get cheap drinks from the Union bar downstairs and bring them up and you get your ticket back to put on your wall. What more do you need? A pub for afterwards? Try Big Hands or the Oxford.

Academy 2, 3 and Club Academy are located within the Manchester University student union building. There's two main ways of getting in;


1) Have a student ID card (allows you as far as the bar)
2) Have a ticket to one of the many gigs


Otherwise if you turn up of an evening you'll get turned away by security. It's worth noting that if you buy your tickets from the on site box office, then you won't get ripped off on booking fees, postage and the like. You will pay merely face value! Incredible! (In the day anyone can walk in off the street)


The venues themselves are pretty cool. I've seen many a great concert here; White Stripes in Academy 2, Regina Spektor in Academy 3, etc.. Iron & Wine at Academy 2 was the most recent on 25/10/07. Wicked.


One thing I can't say much about is the current state of the Club Academy, since I've never visited since it's refit. Years ago it was an all-black, dirty little club called "The Cellar".

We popped here to watch Absolute Bowie (amazing tribute act) last Saturday night and I've previously watched Nervana (spot a trend developing...) and '...trail of the dead' play here.

It's a little basement club, the smallest of the 3 Academy music venues in town but it delivers in terms of you being able to get really close to the action. If you see one of your favourite bands here then you're lucky because you'll be a much more part of the action than if you were watching them at an arena or somewhere bigger in town.

The bar is well stocked and long meaning it's super easy to get served. Full marks to all Academy venues for stocking decent beer now - the Brightside pale ale in bottles is awesome and only £4 a bottle (almost a pint) - much better than paying nearly a fiver for a can of warm Tuborg at the Apollo (although that's still my fave venue in town!) There's also the Student Union bar upstairs with a bigger selection.

Housed in Manchester University's Student Union building on Oxford Road, Academy 2 is a long, wide room with no defining decor or characteristics. There's a stage at the front, a section for mixing desks and engineers at the back and that's about it.

Whilst I've seen some great bands play great gigs here over the years, the venue itself is nothing to write home about, hence the three stars. I appreciate the drinks are cheaper than at other venues in the city but I'd rather pay a bit extra and soak up the ambience of a place with character or history. Given the choice, I'd much rather go to the smaller, sweatier, Academy 3 / Hop and Grape upstairs!

A raised stage always pleases me and the sound here is good. Unfortunately the bar at the back means you have to deal with people basically constantly pushing at you to get a drink. In the end it marred our enjoyment of the gig (Frightened Rabbit) as it was pretty incessant and meant we could never really just stay focused on the music. I don't really know what they could do about this but if you go I suggest trying to stand nearer the centre, it seemed to be worse at the sides. Having written this I have now looked at a lot of the other reviews that say the same thing...not great that it's a consistent problem they haven't been able to fix.

Back in my electro-girl days, when I wore 4 different Barry M products on each eye and danced ironically (actually, I stil dance ironically, to hide the fact that I cannot dance) I DJ'd in Academy 2. I was predictably awful, but the crowd (made up almost exclusively of friends and people waiting for Sky Larkin to come on) was very supportive, and the room was small enough to make it seem lively. Ill-advised DJ ventures aside, I do like Academy 2. I've seen a lot of bands here, it's small enough to be intimate, and you can always see the stage, which is always good. I'd say that where gigs are concerned, it's my favourite Academy venue after Club Academy.

It also plays host to the student market and various open-day style fairs, and is a really great, versatile space that makes the most of the Union building.

I have been to very many great gigs here over the years!
Academy 2 is the bigger of the 2 and academy 3 is a smaller more cosy venue, don't buy drinks at the upstairs barsgo to the bar on the ground floor where the drinks are cheaper!!

The Academy is a great venue overall but 2 and 3 offer a much more intimate feel to any gig. The kind of bands/artists that tend to play in these venues are newer bands so you have a great chance to see them really up close and personal before they hit the big time and move to the bigger stage, as it were.


There are plenty of bars nearby, as you would expect with it being so close to the Uni; although drinks inside are cheaper than most larger venues.


The venue is also on the main Uni drag so there are plenty of buses that pass until very late and plenty of taxi's that pass here too. Parking is a plenty although you should beware when parking on one of the many side streets as they can be a haven for car break in's. There a couple of NCP car parks nearby.