Manchester Academy 2, 3 & Club Academy

Awesome venue, went here last weekend for the trailer park boys live show, also seen easy star allstars, decent size, quite a big bar space, not bad at all. 

Ok, I been here a few times and I would say you will have a god night. Music is varied and staff are polite most of the time.

A brilliant gig venue is all you can say for this complex. The Academy 2 and Academy 3 are inside the actual union and I have been to a few gigs in both. The atmosphere is electric, the sound travels well and the bar underneath the place makes it an easy place to have a drink afterwards. 

I have attended many gigs in Manchester, and by far the Club Academy (Academy 1) is the best venue in the city. I have only seen one show there, which was Never Say Die Tour 2010, but in two days I shall be attending Taking Back Sunday and looking forward to experiencing the venue again. However, I am only giving this review four stars as the other two venues (Academy 2 + 3) are rather poor. I have attended Underoath and Bury Your Dead in those two venues, and even though the sound quality of the venue sounds great, the accessibility of getting to the venue was rather poor through walking up a long spiralled rickety staircase. I also dislike how the security acted at these two shows, taking tickets off customers and exceptionally strict on going in/out of the room. Overall, these three venues are much better than the Apollo (which is very poor.)

We watched a Cee Lo Green concert here the other night. I wasn't sure what to expect really from a 'student' venue. Overall, I was quite pleased. Its quite an intimate venue and you feel wherever you are in the room you are quite close to the stage.

We found parking a nightmare, but eventually found a space next to a church across the road.

Anyway, the bar staff were friendly and pleasant which makes a huge change from grumpy overworked lads and lasses.

It has some really good acts, but expect to spend some serious money especially for a student venue. It could do with a revamp on both the exterior and interior though.

Ive seen some very good acts at these venues, and its a great place to catch new and upcoming artists for a tenner, but I must say that the Club Academy can be awfully expensive considering its a student hangout (£10 for a ticket is great but not when its £3 for a glass of coke!)

Love it here i come to Manchester to see The Damned

This is a great place for catching new bands. I would recommend a subscription to their music listing. Some of the local pubs are good for a cheap beer too.

It's not a bad brace of venues at all really-the stairs etc for academy 3 are a pain,so is the tiny stature of 3,students are generally pretty depressing people but well-doesnt matter!Maybe if youre seeking the kind of money vacuuming experience of an o2 type corporate venue these places would be a little disorganised or daunting but otherwise-if theres a good band on just go!

I've seen loads of bands here the last one being Reverend and the makers. Brilliant.

Saw The Killers here with 80 other people before they made it.

Happy days

A pretty fair cross between a small club & a venue,really-bit of a hike to £,not easy stairs to get down when drunk,but deffo good not bad!

dirt cheap tickets for amazing bands. Been loads of times and still love it. Atmosphere is AMAZING but the bar is a bit expensive. Staff are really kind ( I got on the VIP balcony once because i got a bit squished!). Me and my friends love this place and go all the time for birthdays and stuff.

Personally i wouldnt really go again. I went watching Scouting For Girls at the Manchester Accademy and its FULL of students!!! You get pushed and crushed… the security guards arent that helpful and a lot of people get quite drunk. I went in March 2008 and it couldve changed, but there was a man at the side of us smoking, and my dad also got hit on the head by a bottle. However it is a good place for atmosphere depending on how old you are. And we did get to meet the band afterwards.
The up and coming band seem to perform here so therefore the tickets are quite cheap to buy, but this is reflected in the place itself being a little unorganized and can get very unruly, not a place for younger teens.

This is a fine venue. I only wish I lived nearer to it. The range of bands is eclectic and ticket and drinks prices are very reasonable. The interior is modern and spacious and the sound is excellent. The normal crowd is enthusiastic.

Of particular interest to those of us who live some way away, there is ample cheap parking (£2) right next door to the venue. The venue is part of the university and situated on a busy thoroughfare and is always full of people and very safe.

the acts that perform at the Academy are quite varied, and the smaller rooms allow for an intimate performance between artist and fan. As a student union you would expect drinks to be cheaper but what can you do. It’s OK for an evenings activity especially if there is a band or artist you really want to see.

The Academy venues have a great variety of live music. As a student union, the drinks are pretty cheap, and gig prices don’t tend to be too bad either. Buying tickets at the ticket office saves on booking fees and delivery. Academy 2 is a great venue for medium-sized acts, big enough for a good crowd but not too big (as Academy 1 can be). Academy 3 is my favourite, a really intimate venue with a decent bar. Club Academy offers some good club nights. Great venue all round.

Manchester Academy 2, 3 and the Club Academy are in the University of Manchester Student Union on Oxford Rd. It’s close to Oxford Rd train station and there are lots of buses running past the venue into and out of the city centre. The Academy 2 is the biggest venue of the 3 and doesn’t have a bar within the venue itself (you have to go out and across the hall, which isn’t really any hassle and mean you can’t here people standing at the bar talking). Academy 3 is smaller and on the top floor of the union. It has a bar at the back and I really like seeing bands here as it has a more intimate feel. I haven’t been to the Club Academy in the basement yet (I think I’m going next week).

Manchester Academy is the University Of Manchester’s live venue and it has 4 different rooms catering for small acts such as unsigned bands to a large venue for more established bands.

I have seen many bands here including Faith No More, The Black Crowes and Monster Magnet. Even in the large venue there is quite an intimate atmosphere, and you can connect to the band much more than at places like the Apollo and the Manchester Evening News Arena.

In the students union building there is also a separate bar which is good for pre gig boozing and has cheap drink offers.

The Academy is a great venue overall but 2 and 3 offer a much more intimate feel to any gig. The kind of bands/artists that tend to play in these venues are newer bands so you have a great chance to see them really up close and personal before they hit the big time and move to the bigger stage, as it were.

There are plenty of bars nearby, as you would expect with it being so close to the Uni; although drinks inside are cheaper than most larger venues.

The venue is also on the main Uni drag so there are plenty of buses that pass until very late and plenty of taxi’s that pass here too. Parking is a plenty although you should beware when parking on one of the many side streets as they can be a haven for car break in’s. There a couple of NCP car parks nearby.