Ally Pally - worst venue in London?

[clandestino]

No, the worst venue is the Brixton Academy. Utter toilet. Both times I've been was as a guest so spent most of the evening in the "VIP bar" (a grim concrete space upstairs), but last time, Nick Cave + the Bad Seeds, Mrs C and I went downstairs to check out the atmos. Could stand only five minutes of it but when we turned to leave my wife found her feet stuck to the floor it was so sticky. nearly fell over.

if you mean the upstairs bar where they usually hold the aftershows, no wonder you had a bad time. you're not actually in the same room as the gig and there's a big glass window cutting the sound in half. you might as well be at home watching it on the telly.

brixton academy is the best venue in london i reckon. great space, good sloping floor which means everyone can see, nice and local (biased point i'm know), usually a brilliant atmosphere. the only time it's a real nightmare is when it's overpacked - i remember a beck gig there that was pretty much unbearable because it was just too full.

 

[Dubversion]

Went to see the Modfather there last week. I usually hate big gigs but I quite liked it. It was so huge it was like being at a festival but indoors. Shame Budweiser were the beer sponsors though.

No, the worst venue is the Brixton Academy. Utter toilet. Both times I've been was as a guest so spent most of the evening in the "VIP bar" (a grim concrete space upstairs), but last time, Nick Cave + the Bad Seeds, Mrs C and I went downstairs to check out the atmos. Could stand only five minutes of it but when we turned to leave my wife found her feet stuck to the floor it was so sticky. nearly fell over.

The place reminds me of a dog track.

you're joking. has to be the best venue in London (is consistently voted as such) and has a brilliant atmosphere and a guaranteed good view

 

[clandestino]

the antidote for geekiness is cool - may i prescribe some sixties girl pop/soul?

thank you! excellent advice and it worked wonders

 

[Griff]

Saw the White Stripes last month there and it was fucking awful.

Saw the Stranglers there years ago though, and had a thoroughly good night pissed as anything.

 

[Giles]

I went to a big Antiworld/Technoworld party there last December, techno room, trance room, chill out etc and really enjoyed it. I think it's a great venue with the huge rooms, palm court etc.
However, I actually live quite near so it is easy for me to get to (can walk if necessary)

I went to that and enjoyed it. But a club night is essentially different from a gig because at a club night you aren't trying to see a performer, so the non-sloping floor etc doesn't matter.

It is a bit of a fucker to get to and get back from, as I remember.

Giles..

 

[Hollis]

But the point is that it shouldn't be used as a gig venue. It's totally unsuitable. It was built as an exhibition type centre.

It's in a nice location (I mean on top of a hill over London, not it's closest to Wood Green ) but that's about all it's got going for it, really.

I think the point is that its cost Haringey Council shedloads of money over the years.. and they're desperate to get it used for anything!

I agree it lacks atmosphere etc.. but all the stuff about drink prices, cloakroom ques etc pretty much applies to any other venue.

I've been to decent gigs there.

Ignoring Ally Pally, I'd probably vote for Hammersmith Apollo as the crappiest venue..

Favourites are Brixton Academy, Hammersmith Palais..

Lyric Theatre Hammersmith's excellent for sit-down gigs.

 

[clandestino]

i quite like hammersmith apollo.

i've seen some excellent sitdown gigs there - sigur ros, kd lang, slayer - and some great standing ones too, including the best rock gig i've ever been to - ac/dc, the other year.

i don't have much love for shepherds bush empire - if you're sitting on the first balcony it's pretty good, but the top balcony is miles away and downstairs seems to slope away from the stage rather than towards it. i went to see bjork there a few years ago and we could just see the top of her head - i know she's short but even so.

i've seen some great gigs there - sigur ros, teenage fanclub, elliott smith, go-betweens, pavement and stereolab, etc etc - but my heart always sinks when i see that a gig i want to go to is on there.

 

[Hollis]

I just remember security being crap when I saw Primal Scream there.. getting arsey with people to leave the place at the end while they were still queing up for the cloakroom..

Having said that the Apollo was fine when Motorhead played.

 

[changingman]

you're joking. has to be the best venue in London (is consistently voted as such) and has a brilliant atmosphere and a guaranteed good view

(Brixton Academy we're talking about here). Yeah it's great if you don't mind being crushed half to death and having a few pints of lager poured over you.

I guess I'm too old for all that now...

 

[Sir Belchalot]

Found some more info on the festy that I went to in the park:

The Pop Group endeared themselves to me when I saw them live at Alexandra Palace, one sunny weekend afternoon in 1980. As I recall, this was an open-air gig in support of the British Communist Party, with the rest of the line-up containing other post-punk luminaries such as The Slits (headlining), The Raincoats, John Cooper Clarke and Essential Logic. Halfway through the set, Pop Group front man Mark Stewart disappeared from the stage, and reappeared with a large framed colour photograph of Leonid Brezhnev (then president of the USSR). Fixing the audience with a stare, he announced: "The next song is dedicated to this man. It's called: For How Much Longer Must We Tolerate Mass Murder ?" The Soviet Union had, of course, invaded Afghanistan earlier in the year. If only briefly, the cosy consensus of the afternoon was smashed right through. Respect!

(http://troubled-diva.com/2002_06_23_troubled-diva_archive.html)

Thanks to the commies for getting us all pissed for free and putting on a great gig although it didn't reflect well on their organisational skills

 

[onthebrightside]

Surely the point of having a large venue in North London is that's it's near a tube stop? This is the first hurdle in the way of me enjoying anything there. I have to drive.

 

[Arik]

I like Ally Pally! Saw Faithless and the White Stripes there this year and enjoyed both gigs. I didn't notice the sound being that bad but then I dived in near the front both times.

The crowd is a wee bit dull but then big mainstream acts attract such people.


Additionally it is 5 minutes walk from my house so that is a bonus.

 

[Arik]

if you mean the upstairs bar where they usually hold the aftershows, no wonder you had a bad time. you're not actually in the same room as the gig and there's a big glass window cutting the sound in half. you might as well be at home watching it on the telly.

brixton academy is the best venue in london i reckon. great space, good sloping floor which means everyone can see, nice and local (biased point i'm know), usually a brilliant atmosphere. the only time it's a real nightmare is when it's overpacked - i remember a beck gig there that was pretty much unbearable because it was just too full.

Can't stand Brixton Academy. Ever since I lost my hearing there 2 years ago (hello permanent tinnitus due to fucked up sound levels) I've got issues with the place.

 

[Hollis]

Surely the point of having a large venue in North London is that's it's near a tube stop? This is the first hurdle in the way of me enjoying anything there. I have to drive.

Err.. you could get the bus, the shuttle bus or even *walk* from the tube.

 

[Dask]

brixton academy is the best venue in london i reckon. great space, good sloping floor which means everyone can see, nice and local (biased point i'm know), usually a brilliant atmosphere. the only time it's a real nightmare is when it's overpacked - i remember a beck gig there that was pretty much unbearable because it was just too full.

Brixton is definitely my favourite venue on London.

 

[Dubversion]

Can't stand Brixton Academy. Ever since I lost my hearing there 2 years ago (hello permanent tinnitus due to fucked up sound levels) I've got issues with the place.

the sound is provided to a great extent by the band - they usually use their own rig, sound engineers etc. it's terrible that happened to your hearing, but i think blaming the venue is a bit awry. if it were simply too loud, maybe it's their call, but otherwise probably not

 

[changingman]

if you mean the upstairs bar where they usually hold the aftershows, no wonder you had a bad time. you're not actually in the same room as the gig and there's a big glass window cutting the sound in half.

That was a frigging blessing with Nick Cave and.. er.. Gary bleedin' Moore...

 

[bluestreak]

is it worse than the godawful wembley arena, or earl's court... both venues that make my flesh crawl.

 

[sherriff rosco]

As a sound engineer , Ally Pally sucks.!
You can`t get enough dispersion in the main room unless you fly the rig ( more cost!) and it reverberates like a dustbin. The last thing I helped at there the venue was draped into smaller rooms which worked a treat but if it`s left as the big hall..........

Yep it gets my vote but there again I`ve heard some bloody awful squat rigs in bigger rooms!!!

.p.