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O2 Academy Bristol

Music venue in Bristol, England

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The O2 Academy Bristol (originally known as the Locarno and then Carling Academy Bristol) is a music venue located on Frogmore Street in Bristol, England. It is run by the Academy Music Group. On 1 January 2009 sponsorship was taken over from Carling by telecommunications company O2 and the venue's name changed from the Carling Academy to the O2 Academy. The academy which hosts club nights and gigs was opened in 2001, and was the third Academy venue in the UK.

01History

The venue was originally part of Mecca Leisure Group's New Entertainments Centre and was an ABC Cinema. Opening in 1966, it included: a dozen licensed bars, an ice rink, bowling lanes, the Craywood Club casino, a night club, a grand cinema and the ballroom with an illuminated ceiling. Only the ice-rink and the cinema survived, the rest being demolished in 1998 and subsequently the site given over to student accommodation. The cinema closed in 1996 and was converted into a nightclub in 2000, originally called "Rock". Soon after, it became the "Carling Academy".

Exterior view of venue under former signage (c.2007)
Exterior view of venue under former signage (c.2007)
Watch videos about O2 Academy BristolExplainers and documentaries on YouTube (opens in a new tab)

Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article O2 Academy Bristol, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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