02 Academy Brixton

The 02 Academy in Brixton was built in 1929 and is the largest of the four ‘Astoria’ theatres. Designed by EA Stone, the Brixton Academy was considered the finest venue in the country for showing motion pictures. Formally opened by Nigel Colman M.P., the first picture to shown was the Al Jolson movie ‘The Singing Fool’. The final forty minutes of the accompanying variety performance were broadcast live on the BBC and guests included visionary film director Alfred Hitchcock.

Located on Stockwell Road the site was formerly a private garden.
The impressive and distinctive building boasts a superb art deco interior and an elaborate proscenium arch over the stage. The main entrance features a thirty-five foot semi dome finished in copper and bronze. The ribs of the semi dome have been adorned with neon. A forty foot advertising panel was fitted with interchangeable illuminated letters. The interior of the buildings roof was painted to look like the sky- the design brief was to create a building that gave the impression of being open-air.

During the opening month the Brixton Academy had more than 175,000 guests pass through its box office. In 1950 a variety performance was held for the benefit of old age pensioners featuring variety acts of the day including Charlie Chester and Talbot O’Farrell. The venue finally ceased to be a cinema-theatre in 1972 and reopened as a concert venue the same year. It was not a success and the venue once again shut down just four months later. In 1974 the Brixton Academy was almost demolished to make way for a petrol station- though the grade II listed building was saved and used briefly as a storage facility for film makers ‘Rank’. During the early eighties the building went through several changes in function but reopened as the Brixton Academy in 1983.

Since then acts such as ‘The Clash’, ‘Dire Straights’ and ‘The Police’ have played here. In recent years the Brixton Academy has been fully refurbished and is once again considered one of the premier live music venues in the country.