Located in Cowley Road, not far from the city centre, the O2 Academy Oxford is among the top live performance venues in the county. The building dates back to the Edwardian period and has been used for gigs and other types of live performances for decades. Before being converted to a dedicated music venue, it was a party hall run by a co-operative. Since then, it has gone by the names of The Venue, Zodiac, and the Carling Academy Oxford.
The main auditorium of the venue is downstairs and can accommodate a little over 1,000 concert goers, although it is sometimes used in alternative configurations, with lower capacities. In 2006, a refurbishment took place that cost a reported £4 million. Following this, the venue was able to be split into three separate performance areas, which can all be used on busy weekends.
After the closure of The Venue in the mid-1990s, the site of the O2 Academy Oxford was not used for any live music for a while. However, two local music promoters were determined that the premiere live music venue in Oxford should reopen. They sought the backing of some of the city's leading musical lights and managed to get the venue up and running again by November 1995. At the time, famous Oxford bands such as Radiohead, who had previously shot the video to their song Creep on the venue's stage, were investors in the venue. Other bands that backed the newly established venue included Ride and Supergrass.
During the period that followed, a number of high-profile acts helped to build the venue's reputation once more. American rock bands such as Kings of Leon and the Killers played at the venue, helping to attract more and more international artists. Other acts that played at what was then Zodiac included Coldplay, Muse and Snow Patrol.
After the venue was relaunched as the O2 Academy Oxford in September 2007, it went on to attract big names. Editors, Ian Brown and the Magic Numbers all took to the Academy's stage. Other bands that have toured there in recent times include Royal Blood, Elbow and Stereophonics, to name but three.
Getting to the venue from the city centre by bus is easy – just catch a City 5 and it will take you right past the Academy. The venue has no parking facilities, but there are some on-road options nearby and some disabled parking bays at Union Street Car Park.
At StubHub, you can obtain tickets for events at the Cellar Oxford, which hosts some live music, as well as the Bullingdon, also on Cowley Road.
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