"Whereas Stewart's Marquee's redolence was antiseptic, now it smells of sweat, smoke and beer. It feels like a proper venue at last." "London has a worthy new venue." - Evening Standard
Carling Academy Islington is situated in the heart of fashionable N1, North London, a 17,000 square foot purpose built venue, with a capacity of 800.
Carling Academy Islington is situated in the heart of fashionable N1, North London, a 17,000 square foot purpose built venue, with a capacity of 800. It is AMG's third site in London and an ambition realised for CEO John Northcote to capture acts of all sizes and stages in the Capital. Carling Academy Islington fits perfectly alongside flagship South London venue; Carling Academy Brixton (capacity 4,921) and the historic Shepherd's Bush Empire (capacity 2,000) in West London.
The venue opened on Friday 19th September 2003 with US rockers Alkaline Trio, and was immediately followed by a staggering and diverse diary including Muse, The Cooper Temple Clause, The Cure and The Zutons. Since then, other major acts to grace the stage include Beck, The Futureheads, Cut Chemist, Jamie T, Bloc Party and Rufus Wainwright.
Leading London radio station, Xfm chose Carling Academy Islington as part of their 10th birthday celebrations in August 2007 featuring Brazilian sensations CSS and Mos Def wowed the crowds in November 2007 with an intimate warm-up gig. Unkle's first live show took place in July 2007 at the Academy before James Lavelle's return to the live touring circuit and Mark E Smith enjoyed 4 successive nights of The Fall in July 2007. A legendary performance by the late Arthur Lee (Love) in 2004 witnessed a staggering performance of the entire 'Forever Changes' album. In May and June 2008, Carling Academy Islington hosts no less than 20 Sparks gigs, a unique concept of performing virtually all of the band's albums.
In February 2004, Carling Academy Islington was home to Carling's New Kings of Rock & Roll, six nights of outstanding bands, never again to be witnessed at such an intimate venue. The line-up included The Vines, Delays, Elbow, Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster, Longview, Funeral For A Friend, Keane, The Ordinary Boys, Snow Patrol and Jet, with the event broadcast on Channel 4. The same event returned in January 2006 with The Magic Numbers, Kano and Graham Coxon. Carling repeated such success with 'Carling Live 24' and a blistering night-time set from Manchester legend, Ian Brown in April 2006, followed by Dirty Pretty Things the very next morning. The same event also took place in May 2004 featuring an 11am gig with Franz Ferdinand.
In March 2004, the Academy hosted the official after-party for the star-studded 'Scooby Doo 2 Monsters Unleashed' movie premiere; in November 2004, was the chosen venue for Eminem's only European date of the year and in October 2006, the 'UK Festival Awards' took place at the North London venue.
AMG's radio partners, Xfm host regular live sessions, with shows from today's biggest artists including Kasabian, Kings Of Leon, Jamie T, The View, The Kooks and Ash to name but a few; plus VH1 chose the Academy for it's 'Bands Reunited' events featuring ABC and Haircut 100.
Other key events in the live music calendar have taken place at the Academy, including shows with The Cure for Nordoff-Robbins Music Therapy and a Motorola product launch starring the Black Eyed Peas.
Carling Academy Islington was formerly The Marquee Club and is situated in the N1 Centre. This purpose-built, digitally enabled live music venue ensures a superb diary all year round from internationally acclaimed artists and new talent. Regular club nights include a weekly fix of 'Club De Fromage', bringing back the days of glamorous polyester, handbag dancing and timeless tunes and indie classics courtesy of 'XFM's First Friday', featurng live performances by the likes of Royworld and Pete & The Pirates and Captain plus a plethora of regular events that cater for all musical styles and genres.
Carling Academy Islington is perfect for filming, audio recording with unrivalled production and backstage facilities. The Mezzanine Bar overlooks the main stage and dance floor and is available for private hire, special functions and as a VIP facility. The interior is clean and contemporary, fully air-conditioned, has unobstructed sightlines, and situated in an excellent location for transport networks.
Upon refurbishment in 2003, AMG added more bars, fitted a replacement wooden floor, large capacity cloakroom, an operational box office and improved logistics backstage to the highest standards and digital cameras beam the sights and sounds from the main auditorium to plasma screens in the adjoining Bar Academy and up to the Mezzanine level. Sound and lighting facilities are state of the art and the venue is incredibly flexible, for production companies filming live performance.
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