Carling Academy Birmingham

The Carling Academy Birmingham is a music venue in Dale End, Birmingham, England (not to be confused with the Academy at the NIA, as the nearby National Indoor Arena is known, when it hosts music events). It is run by the Academy Music Group.

In the 1980s and early 1990s, it was known as the "'Hummingbird",' and occupied the site of the former Rank Ballroom. The venue was reopened as the Birmingham Academy (in the same group of venues including the Brixton Academy) in late 2000, early gigs including Richard Ashcroft and locals Ocean Colour Scene. Around 2 years after this the venue was rebranded under the "Carling" name; at this point the venue stopped serving the lager "Red Stripe" on tap and all the bars switched to selling Carling and Carling Extra Cold.

The venue features three performance areas. The main section is a larger venue for established acts and holds around 2700 people. It is below street level and surrounded by a mezzanine style balcony level. Upstairs, there is a smaller room known as the 'Academy 2', which hosts smaller bands playing to audiences of around 400 to 600. Both rooms are standing only, although there is a disabled viewing section. There is also the Bar Academy which has two levels, one on the ground floor and a first floor level the whole place can accommodate 200 people. The building contains 7 bars, one in the Academy 2, one on the mezzanine level and three downstairs including the large "island" bar and one bar on each level of the Bar Academy. It also has hidden by the ladies toilets upstairs, a private VIP bar. On Friday nights the Academy plays host to alternative and digital/ electronic music based club night called "Ramshackle" (a similar night to that at the Bristol Academy) from 10.30 until 03.30 and rock night "Subculture" is on a Saturday night from 10.00pm-03.00am. Ramshackle plays mainly music from the indie genre such as Razorlight, while Subculture tends to play harder rock such as Trivium. The Bar Academy was brought by Academy Music Group in 2001 and opened as a small bar on two floors, with a stage upstairs for live music. It is also regularly used for pre-show and after-show parties following gigs in the main Carling Academy. It also has its own regular club nights, including "Cold Rice" and "Catapult Club".

Above the venue is the Priory Square shopping centre, including The Oasis Centre, Birmingham, home to a number of independent alternative clothing, jewellery and general paraphernalia sellers. The entire complex (including the Academy) is scheduled for demolition in the near future as part of the Martineau Galleries development. At this point the Academy is set to move to the former Dome nightclub premises on Bristol Street in 2009.

External links

* [http://www.birmingham-academy.co.uk Carling Academy Birmingham Official Web Site]
* [http://www.birminghammail.net/news/top-stories/2008/05/16/birmingham-carling-academy-to-move-to-the-dome-97319-20916893/ Birmingham Post Article on move]