Featured Image: Patrick Frossard on Unsplash
Brixton’s O2 Academy has revealed it will reopen on April 19, with a host of tribute acts planned for the first week.
The music venue has been closed since December 2022, following a crowd crush at a concert from Afrobeats artist Asake. Two people died following the incident, while a third was left in a critical condition.
O2 Academy Brixton’s future remained in doubt, but major artists and music-lovers petitioned to save the music venue from closure. Artists such as The Prodigy, Muse and Skunk Anansie were among the 20,000 that backed a campaign from the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA), Brixton BID and Save Our Scene to protect the venue.
This was in addition to the 100,000 music fans that had also signed a petition.
In September last year, it was revealed that the venue would be allowed to reopen if it could meet more than 70 “extensive and robust” new licensing conditions. Lambeth Council made the decision after a two-day hearing, with operator Academy Music Group (AMG) agreeing to 77 conditions.
These included stronger doors, new crowd management systems, more detailed risk assessments, a new ticketing system, a centralised control and command centre, and new security and management.
In a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, the venue said: “O2 Academy Brixton will reopen on Friday 19 April with Nirvana UK (tribute to Nirvana) and The Smyths (tribute to The Smiths), followed by Friday 26 April with Definitely Might (tribute to Oasis) and UK Foo Fighters (tribute to Foo Fighters).”
— O2 Academy Brixton (@O2AcademyBrix) March 4, 2024
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