Academy Music Group developed the 250 capacity 'Bar Academy' in Islington (London) at the end of 2003 at a cost of £250,000. The adjoining smaller space to the main Carling Academy Islington concert and club venue (formerly the site of the Marquee Club Bar & Grill) in the N1 Centre, Islington, it is the sister venue to Bar Academy Birmingham – an exciting direction for the Academy brand and first expansion of the Bar concept to the Capital.
Specifically designed to function flexibly as a stand alone, production complete gig venue, it also provides a second room for club nights and acts as a relaxing City bar that is the perfect hang-out both before and after shows next door in Carling Academy Islington.
Its development is somewhat unique in the fact that AMG offers the only production complete small capacity venue in London, with all facilities in-house. The intimate venue has 2 dressing rooms, its own dedicated load in, box office, first rate production specification and front of house/technical staff.
Bar Academy is key on the London gig scene, not only because of its backing by AMG, but is also fundamental for showcasing Academy Events acts and hot new talent. To date Bar Academy has enjoyed capacity gigs from the likes of Just Jack, Little Man Tate, Arctic Monkeys, Bloc Party andThe Kooks, all of whom have gone on to immense recording and live success. More recently acts such as Scouting For Girls, Alphabeat, Scott Matthews and The Hooisers have enjoyed the same rise to stardom.
A selection of musical styles and genres compliment Bar Academy's vibrant diary including club nights such as 'Feeling Gloomy' on Saturdays, 'Sad music you can dance to... ' that spins everything from the Elton John and The Cure to The Clash and Barry Manilow; as well as a residency from 'Live & Xposed' every Tuesday for new and unsigned acts and Time Out Magazine's 'On the Up' events, showcasing artists on the cusp of the big time including Ida Maria, Palladium, Those Dancing Days, dan le sac vs Scroobius Pip, The Metros, Ben Westbeach, Plan B, Pop Levi, Guillemots and The Boy Least Likely To.
Bar Academy's EAW PA system features a 24-channel Soundcraft MH3 for live events and DJ equipment with Technics 1210s and Pioneer CDJ800. The output runs into BSS Soundweb for distribution around the rest of the building with the main output being fed to Crest Pro Series Amps which drive four EAW JFX290's and four SBX220 subs.
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