Best UK Venue You've Attended (Live music)

[Otacon]

Be it on acoustics, facilities, location or whatever, which UK venue would you say is the best, or at least, your favourite for seeing a live music act?

 

[iCraig]

Surprisingly Alkaline Trio were really really good at the Wolverhampton Civic, they were spot on with everything and were extremely passionate on stage.

However I'm sure they'll be blown out of the water by Snow Patrol in November.

 

[Tru]

The Barrowlands for a gig, sprung floor, near 2000 capacity and awesome coosticks. On a larger scale, the Sanctuary in MK was excellent for raves.

 

[G|mp]

Wolves Civic, not too big not too small

Even **** bands sound half decent in the Civic

 

[Doohickey]

Koko in Camden for me, small but perfectly formed.

 

[William]

I think its a tie between City of Manchester Stadium and the Manchester Apollo.

Both had great acoustics.

 

[clapton is god]

Brixton .
astoria.
hmmm., i'm stuck, both fab venues,,,,so is shepards bush empire....no damm it, it just has to be Brixton

 

[Doohickey]

Brixton .
astoria.
hmmm., i'm stuck, both fab venues,,,,so is shepards bush empire....no damm it, it just has to be Brixton

^ Oops, forgot Shepherd's Bush, very good there too. The Astoria could have been better I think, and I've not been to Brixton yet, but really want to!

 

[clapton is god]

man you gotta go. i love the place, seen R.e.m, white stripes, too many others to mention.
6 foot or 4 foot, you can See the band and it has a very club like atmosphere, sweaty but mostly fun.
5 min walk from the tube station.

did i say i love the place, it's like a drug,,, i nnnnneeed some more gigs soon, dt's kicking in

edit
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r.i.p steve marriot.

 

[v0n]

Never heard good concert in Brixton or Astoria. Shepperds Bush Empire is marginally better but acustics are plain horrible in all three places with tiny exception of console spot in Shepperds Bush Empire which is almost bearable.

Royal Albert Hall on the other hand

 

[SexyGreyFox]

Victoria Hall , Hanley.
Seen most of the greats there from 1971 onwards.

 

[Kell_ee001]

Saw Iron Maiden at the Stade de France last year - open air on a lovely warm evening - it was beautiful!

Closer to home two of my favourite places to see bands were The Mayfair and The Riverside. The Mayfair hosted a lot of big bands while never over-selling so always a great gig without getting crushed and the Riverside was quite a small venue compared to most but everyone sounded great there.

Shame they decided to tear the Mayfair down after being open 35 years and turn the Riverside into Foundation (crap club now)

 

[Majago]

One of the best gigs i've been to was actually at the Bristol Acadaemy - saw Royksopp there and it was excellent

 

[skinnyl]

The Robin 1, Brierley Hill.

R.I.P

Where i first started to go and see live bands with my dad when i was 12. It was a hole, but a fantastic hole.

Saw Mountain, The Hamsters, Coliseum, Nine Below Zero and a spate of others.

edit: i can't spell..

 

[SidewinderINC]

The portsmouth Wedgewood rooms.
seen so many great bands there, they have a wall of photos of the huge bands that started out and played there. its about 400 people max if i can remember, and the sound quality is awesome!

 

[IceBus]

For me the best sound would be either Brixton Academy or Bristol Carling Academy - for NIN and APC respectively. Brilliant sound, stage setup, lighting and security/bar staff.

In Belfast the best would be the Mandela Hall for medium sized gigs and Auntie Annie's for small shows.

 

[Belmit]

The Barrowlands for a gig, sprung floor, near 2000 capacity and awesome coosticks.

Shed 7 have a live DVD called 'See Youse At The Barras' - I've yet to buy it but apparantly it sounds better than the recorded tracks. Might get it next payday.

Saw Oasis at Wembley for the Familiar To Millions tour and it sounded great, like the music was coming from everywhere. Also saw Ocean Colour Scene at some crappy hall in Reading - the sound was just immense, and excellent quality considering the relatively small capacity.

 

[TripleT]

Manchester Apollo for me.

Sloped floor down to the stage and plenty of bar space (the most important thing obviously ). Not too big. I'm really into smaller venues, I wouldn't want one bigger than the Apollo really.

Academy's good also, 2 & 3 are really good for you're up close and personal gigs

Saw the fratellis at Academy 2 the other night and it was fantastic

Been to Lancashire Cricket ground and also Leeds Millenium Square, both great venues but the bar / toilet facilities were and absolute joke.

 

[Otacon]

Also saw Ocean Colour Scene at some crappy hall in Reading - the sound was just immense, and excellent quality considering the relatively small capacity.

You're the second person to mention somewhere in Reading to me, and funnily enough, he also used the 'crappy hall' description

Dont suppose anyone knows the real name? I don't think googling 'crappy hall reading' will get me far