O2 Academy Islington Review

Good acoustics and quite nice staff (not everyone though). And that s about the positives. The ventilation doesn t handle the amount of people inside, it s incredibly warm no matter what season (and you can die from smelling everyone s More

They make you not just empty but bin any water bottle in your bag. Great way to fight plastic waste and save the oceans, guys.

A good night out on a friday or saturday.

Reminiscent of old student club nights. Also a great place to see a live band.

Absolutely insane experince. Small, intimate venue with plenty of atmosphere.

Great music venue. Drinks are quite overpriced and the bar staff seemed to think that filling up a cup with ice is acceptable.

I have only good memories of the O2 Academy Islington.

Here I went to see great artists and bands like: Goldfinger, Zebrahead, Mc Lars and many others.

Place is quite small, it can probably host 200-300 people top, but that's not too bad as it allows you to stay very close to your favourite artists if you want.

Here I also got a drumstick from the Goldfinger drummer and met MC Lars.

It was too little and I think they sold too many tickets. But the waiting outside was nice and the queue was well organised. A big shout out to the security guy high fiving everyone

Been to both the o2 academy and the o2 academy 2. Both fantastic venues, 2 is much smaller which is great for an intimate gig! Drink choices are always great and there have been offers on cocktails too before. Good sound quality too.

Went to the bone thugs n harmony concert on the 31st January, had a great night. Would definitely recommend a night out there.

Club Fromage- brilliant!! Had so much fun - best cheesy music ever!!

25 Jan 2020...three bands...Das Fluff...B-Movie and the great TOYAH. Superb music venue. Very close to Angel tube station. Nice area of London. Plenty of cool bands coming up. Give it a go and enjoy yourself...!

Kenny wayne shepherd was truly amazing here, so good, great sound, small venue, talented musicians and a load of blues, what more could you wish for?

Great venue, close to the bands wherever you stand and it's easy enough to find somewhere to stand where the pits won't affect you.

Found it difficult to find. Standing only which is a shame

So far so good . Doors haven t opened yet but the lid in ( get in) went very smooth . The bus isn t parked to far and the staff has been tip top. Merch area is a little cramped but I will make due .. plenty of food options nearby . Thanks O2

The venue is good for standing performances but balcony area is practically useless when you have more that a row of people in that area.

Nice size venue for bands. The staff on the bars are friendly which is always a bonus

Nice venue saw Fu manchu liked the idea of being able to go on the balcony at no extra cost

Great venue, great staff. Really enjoyed performing here. Would recommend.

Sweaty people and sticky floors or indeed sticky people and sweaty floors. If that and some loud cheesy music is what you are after then this is the place. Don't wear anything that isn't machine washable.

Great size venue with useful mezzanine. Slightly over enthusiastic security, as in ~ trying to spice you out of venue seconds after gig finished and while you are trying to have a pee, despite site info saying venue is open for a further More

Great night! Went to an indie night on a Saturday night. Remember to prebook tickets online. Just make sure you take a picture of your cloakroom ticket in case you lose it as they are very strict...

Awful - service diabolical- refused to give me a receipt for drinks

Nice stage area, but no toilet paper in the toilets and a cramped merch section.

Too crowded.
Bar area was overcrowded.
Not enough staff.
Spilled beer on the floor was not cleared or cleaned up.

There are two venues in Islington. I went for a concert in the smaller room. It is very easy to find and really close to the tube. It is also situated within a shopping centre so it was quite easy to get food and drinks while we were waiting on the queue. There is also a cinema in the shopping centre if you get there really early and would like to kill some time.

Good venue. Friendly staff. Its a shame the soft drinks are so expensive.

Live music, expensive beer, what more could you ask for?

Amazing place. I went here to the concert of 5 seconds of summer in 2013 and it was amazing, great memories. I also encountered with a member of Busted in VIP area. Really a good place and good memories

This is an interesting intimate venue. Bars are easily accesible. Getting in was okay, but as soon as the concert started, it became apparent that security is lacking there. we were right at the front before the barrier, only to have random people cramp in front of the stage. I mean it was the worse experience ever. There was even a man carrying a young girl on his shoulder right in front of that stage and no member of staff was present to sort all that out. I will not be returning to that venue.

Awesome place for metal gigs, near Angel tube station

The music was amazing, but the bar service was so subpar that I m actually posting a review about it, which says quite a bit. For a venue that s promoting new talent you d think they would try to make patrons feel welcomed and not as a nuisance that is a bother to serve. We were served in 24 minutes... which for the size of the place is totally unacceptable.

Terrible, rude staff, hot and stuffy, wouldnt pay to go there again

Several stages so tends to have great atmosphere no matter how famous the band is. Seating limited. Plenty of bars.

Not too big, one of the more intimate venues in London. You have to pock your spot, re acoustics, air-con and bar traffic, but staff are generally extremely good.

Fantastic venue, staff were amazing, beers a bit expensive..

Drunken, cheesefest, smells a bit like farts but it does exactly what you need it to when you've left Uni but really fancy a night at the Union (without the cheap drinks!)

Great venue for concerts. Layout is perfect as the floor slopes and you can nearly always see the stage.

Rude, corporate, overpriced. Even when I played here to a packed room I had a horrible night. Could be a space for a really good venue if everything about the way it was run wasn't awful.

Upsides: Its a nice, small venue perfect for seeing the band you're watching up close. The sound system and acoustics are great, you can really feel the vibrations of the music blasting through you. All the staff I spoke to, including the bar staff and security, were all helpful. They also served a good pint, though expensive as you would expect.

Downsides: The queueing outside was a bit awkward as they had to divide the line into two so that the entrance to the adjacent clothing store wasn't blocked. The staff were generally helpful about it though. As for the inside, there was absolutely no WiFi or mobile signal, which is a shame because I wanted to message a friend to ask if he wanted a shirt from the merch table. Also - the layout of exits and such wasn't as easy as in some other venues. I had people shoving past me to go outside or get to the bar every 2 minutes which was a bit distracting and I've never had this issue at other O2 venues.

On a very strong note though, shout out to the box office staff for saving my night. I'm a very forgetful person and I managed to forget my TICKET for the show! I spoke to the box office about it, though, and they let me in after I showed them my conformation email on my phone and my ID to prove it was me. I'm not sure if they were supposed to do this, so don't take it for granted that they'll let you in if you forget your ticket, but I'm very grateful they helped me out!

Neat venue, good size and atmosphere. Saw VNV Nation here in 2013 and had a great time. Phoned up for information on the day of the gig and after navigating a maze of phone menus found the staff to be very helpful after all.

Drinks were a bit pricey but hey, it's London what do you expect?

Upper balcony/bar area worked as a great refuge from the gig when tired and the crowd (at capacity) was a great size, not too scary and not too small.

I'd recommend this place in general though having my water and glowsticks confiscated at the entrance was rather annoying.

Went on a hot day and was pleased they had air con on. Good sized venue. Good sound and lighting.

Fantastic little venue, great acoustics, great bar staff all let down by over zealous and rude security. I have never seen such gung-ho security in all my times of gigging. I understand they have a stressful job but there are ways of handling it. Even at Download festival the armed police were really chilled and happy and we appreciated them there. I find this odd as other 02 venues have been perfect!

I hope the next time I visit this venue this would have changed, then I can alter my review.

Great venue place. Prices seemed a bit too high for beers.

Attending the Aesthetic Perfection gig with a "temporary" wheelchair user felt quite daunting. However all the team including security and medic were very helpful and made it so much easier. Great night, thank you

Smaller venue, which I love. It's intimate, great sound, and features many a great band.

On the smaller side of the O2 Academys that I've been to. Decent.

excellent concert venue, was able to catch my favourite band play in London.

Been many times for concerts. Good acoustics. Toilets nice and clean. Staff polite and helpful. Only issue is getting a drink at the bars took over an hour. The bar staff work hard and quickly but because of the sheer volume of people it s a long wait.

Very accessible, and very intimate venue. Good bar service

Live area. Good energy. Great for party event; music promotion.

Decent sized (not too big) venue with great atmosphere and good sound quality.