O2 Academy Bournemouth

Coordinates: 50°43′37″N 1°50′24″W / 50.727°N 1.840°W / 50.727; -1.840

O2 Academy Bournemouth is a live entertainment venue in Bournemouth, Dorset, England. It is a grade-II listed building.

The building was originally the Boscombe Grand Theatre, opening on 17 May 1895. Then in 1902 it became a music hall called Boscombe Hippodrome. In the 60s the building then became used as a music venue called Starkers Royal Arcade Ballrooms, which was visited by acts such as Pink Floyd, Status Quo, Led Zeppelin, Thin Lizzy, Hawkwind, The Faces and David Bowie.

In 1982 the building had a multi-million pound refurbishment to become the Academy Nightclub. The nightclub had one of very first watercooled lasers and the first Karaoke bar in the UK. Acts included The Sisters of Mercy, Hawkwind, Brand New Heavies, Courtney Pine, JTQ and Frankie Goes to Hollywood. Other acts known to held concerts at the venue include, Deep Purple, Canned Heat, T.Rex, Colosseum, Freedom, Joe Jammer and Slade.

The rise of rave culture in the 90s spawned nights such as Fantasia, Wild Turkey and Parhelion. From 1997 until 2009 the venue was called the Opera House nightclub. In 1997, the dance night Slinky was launched, which has now grown into an international dance music brand.

The Opera House was closed for a three million pound refurbishment between November 2006 and June 2007, and officially reopened by Jo Whiley.

The Opera House was sold to AMG Group in July 2009 and rebranded as O2 Academy Bournemouth from September.^[1]

References

1. ^ Quainton, David (20 July 2009). "Bournemouth Opera House sold to AMG, becomes O2 Academy Bournemouth". Event Magazine. http://www.eventmagazine.co.uk/News/MostEmailed/921391/Bournemouth-Opera-House-sold-AMG-becomes-O2-Academy-Bournemouth/. Retrieved 2009-09-16. 

External links

• o2academybournemouth.co.uk - Official site
• slinky.co.uk - Official website of Slinky - an event that was held every Friday night night at the Opera House until it closed as a nightclub.