Simon Parkes has already written about his time creating The Brixton Academy in his excellent book “Live at the Brixton Academy“, so we’re not going to repeat that here.
Instead we have created a short history of the Brixton Academy during the Simon Parkes years told through gig flyers. Readers can see how the Academy developed both as a venue and in how it represented the changing musical trends.
Inevitably there will be a few gaps here and there. Please let us know if we have missed anything.
1983
In November Black Echoes announced that the Academy would be launching the Splinters nightclub. The launch party was on the 11th November, with a set by the band Swaye plus live PAs and dance troupes. The club was due to be open from 7PM-2AM seven nights a week, playing soul and reggae. Annual membership was £10. There were no gigs/club nights that we could find in the listings in relation to Splinters, although we did find a photo (see below):
Black Echoes magazine announced that Tim Westwood would be hosting a “pure electro” night on the 14th December. Entrance was £1.50. The brief article said that if it was a success it might become a regular event. We couldn’t find any mention of future events.
NME announced a gig by The Twinkle Brothers on the 19th December with support from Al Campbell, Coxsone and Exodus Papa D.
1984
Simon Parkes’ book mentions that on the night of the Burning Spear gig, promoter John Curd arranged to promote The Cult at the Academy. We’re not sure when this gig happened.
From early 1984 the Academy set up “The Cooker”, a short lived project (probably in the foyer), which ran on Sundays. Time Out contains a few listings from earlier in the year for bands. Most of the bands listed there appear in the adverts below:
The Eek-A-Mouse gig was cancelled and rescheduled for June.
Note the advert for “Splinters Club” on the right hand side. Anyone have any more information on this?
August 30th-Event announced in Echoes magazine and Music Week to include Joe Higgs, Michigan and Smiley, Winston Jarrett and Jennifer Lara, with backing provided by the Hi-Times band. Did this happen? Anyone have anymore details on this?
Concert was rescheduled to 24th October due to lead singer Ian McCulloch developing a throat infection.
The Clash played benefit gigs for the miners on 6th and 7th December.
Both the performances were captured on bootleg recordings:
Lou Reed played on 16th and 17th December 1984.
1985
Ethiopian Famine benefit-January 1985, featuring Blackstones, Natural Mystics, Jah Screechy, Winston Reedy, Smiley Culture, Maxi Priest, Barrington Levy, Saxon Sound, Desmond Dekker and Alton Ellis. The gig was on 6th January 1985 according to Echoes photographer David Corio.
Barrington Levy played on February 8th, broadcast live on Capital Radio.
Meatloaf played at the Brixton Academy on (we believe) 25th February, which would tie in with when he was touring the UK. The concert was then broadcast on the BBC, nearly a year later on 5th February 1986, which seems like quite a large time gap. The concert was also given a commercial video release:
Andrew Logan’s Alternative Miss World was held on the 31st May.
The Style Council played on the 5th June.
1986
Still looking for a few flyers for this year. Some bands were so big that the gigs sold out very quickly, so they didn’t have to advertise much.
Big Country played on 27th March after their concert at Hammersmith Odeon sold out in 5 hours.
Wham played a warm up gig at the Brixton Academy on 24th June in preparation for their last ever gig at Wembley Stadium on 28th June.
Andrew Logan’s Alternative Miss World was held on the 13th October.
5 Star played at the Brixton Academy on the 18th October. No further detail on this.
The Smiths played at the Brixton Academy on 24th October:
The Smiths played on the 12th December-a benefit for Artists against Apartheid. It was to be their last ever gig:
Iggy Pop played on the 17th and 18th December.
A series of Westworld club nights were held at the Academy between 1986 and early 1988. Westworld 1 was held in Battersea, after which it switched to the Brixton Academy.
1987
The Pogues played on St Patricks Day.
The gig was filmed for the Old Grey Whistle Test:
An AIDS benefit featuring Bronski Beat, New Order and Sandie Shaw was held on the 4th April:
Los Van Van played a benefit gig for the Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign in May. No more details of this yet.
Echoes magazine reported that the Franco gig was cancelled at the request of the president of Zaire-you don’t argue with him if you want to stay alive!
1988
The Whodini gig was cancelled.
Ever heard of Bowser and Blue? Thought not. The gig was cancelled and transferred to The Marquee club in Soho, which had a capacity of several thousand less than The Academy.
The Fela Kuti gig was originally due to take place on 1st November but was postponed due to immigration problems.
The Pasadenas played at the Academy on the 14th December.
The Alarm gig was cancelled and rescheduled for January.
1989
February saw the start of Channel 4’s Big World Cafe being broadcast from the Academy. Shows we know about were:
February 14th-Kassav, S-Express, Throwing Muses and The Judds.
February 21st-New Order, Diamanda Galas and Edward II and the Red Hot Polkas.
February 28th-Cookie Crew, MC Busby and Dagmar Krause.
There is other footage online, so there were several other programmes in the series other than those initially advertised.
The Metamorphosis event included a surprise special guest appearance by Diana Ross.
Salif Keita played the Brixton Academy on 22nd April, with support from Ray Lema and Adioa. The concert was captured on film, which also gives a rare view of the backstage area:
Miriam Makeba was scheduled to play on the 28th May but cancelled due to European commitments.
The Anatoli Vasiliev and Company performed Six Characters in Search of an Author between the 6th and 11th July as part of the London International Festival of Theatre.
“Woodstock House Music 89” took place on the 30th September according to listings. No more detail at present.
The Lenny Henry Comedy Jam, in aid of Sickle Cell Anaemia Research was held on the 6th October.
Ozzy Osbourne brought out the “Just say Ozzy” EP in early 1990, which the publicity claims was recorded live at Brixton Academy in November 1989. Several sources have suggested that he did not play on this date as his tour had already finished in August after which Ozzy went into rehab having tried to kill his wife, Sharon. It wouldn’t be the first time a live album has been mis-credited but maybe it did happen:
Artists appearing at “A review of the eighties” included Aswad, Double Trouble and Rebel MC, Odyssey, D Mob, Soul II Soul and Chaka Khan, according to Melody Maker.
1990
The Dennis Brown gig was subsequently cancelled and moved to The Astoria in Charing Cross Road.
A Poll Tax benefit gig was held on 30th March, featuring Rebel MC, Wee Papa Girl Rappers, Double Trouble, Guru Josh, MC Duke, Daddy Freddie, Silver Bullet, Overlord X, Beat Freak and Souled Out.
Adamski played on 7th April:
Jermaine Jackson played on 16th May according to listings.
A salsa all-dayer is listed as happening on the 26th May.
Cabaret Voltaire, A Guy Called Gerald and Sun Ra were due to play on the 10th June. The gig was cancelled, with Sun Ra subsequently moving the gig to the University of London.
A Black and White Summer Ball is listed as happening on 28th July. No more details of this yet.
Flyer for “Dance Daze” a series for Channel 4, which was broadcast in September (see below for further listings).
September saw the launch of Dance Daze, a ten part series to be filmed at the Academy for Channel 4. The series was produced by The Academy Broadcasting Company, a film company that briefly filmed gigs at The Academy in the early 90s.
Kiss FM started a club night called “Ton Up” in September.
Gary Clail, Jah Wobble, Eusebio and Sunsonic played on (we think) 28th September. The gig was reviewed by NME and Record Mirror. We suspect it was as part of the Dance Daze series:
Run DMC played at the November Kiss FM Ton Up club on 23rd November:
Soul II Soul NYE Boogie Wonderland:
1991
The LL Cool J gig was cancelled according to Time Out.
Feeling Boomba event held in the foyer on 30th March:
A benefit gig for Jackie Mittoo’s family was held on 21st May.
29th June. A night of Total Insanity.
Sweat! party was held on 24th August.
Mildmay benefit on 1st November was cancelled.
David Bowie’s group Tin Machine played on the 10th and 11th November.
1992
The Dolphin Love event was held on 14th February according to Time Out.
The Lisa Stansfield gig was cancelled and rescheduled for 12th June.
Sepultura were scheduled to play the Academy on the 18th April but had to cancel due to injury.
The N-Joi gig was cancelled according to Time Out
The Big Summer Rave Night was listed as happening on the 27th June. No more details of this.
A benefit gig for Crisis was proposed for 8th August.
The Temptations were slated as playing on the 20th October. However, as singers David Ruffin had died in June 1991 and Eddie Kendricks died just two weeks before the proposed gig, it is highly unlikely the event went ahead.
The B52s concert was cancelled and rescheduled for 14th and 15th February 1993.
1993
The Spiral Tribe event didn’t happen and was replaced by an event in Brent Cross, according to freepartypeople.wordpress.com.
The B52s played their rescheduled December dates on 14th and 15th February.
A proposed “Peace Together” concert for the 12th and 13th June was cancelled.
Sleuth was held in the foyer of the 7th August
Guests at the benefit included Lush, Senser and Billy Bragg.
The World Party concert was recorded for the BBC
The Front 242 gig was rescheduled from 6th October.
A Deacon Blue concert scheduled for 12th November was postponed until 29th April 1994.
Jamiroqui played on the 26th November.
Sepultura played on the 5th December, which was presumably the rescheduled gig from the previous April.
NB This gig was postponed until January 1994 due to the death of The Manics’ publicist and tour manager, Philip Hall
Joe played on 15th December according to Time Out. It seems like a big venue for a relatively unknown artist. He was signed to Mercury records, so maybe this was a record company promotional push?
1994
The Nirvana gig was cancelled. The gig had already been rescheduled from the initial dates of 3rd and 4th April. The NME of 9th April, published on 7th April stated that the revised tour dates had also been cancelled. A day later Nirvana’s Kurt Cobain was found dead.
Deacon Blue played their rescheduled gig on 29th April.
The Stone Temple Pilots gig was cancelled according to Time Out.
Onyx pulled out of the gig. The NME reported that they were unable to organise work permits in time. Biohazard rescheduled for later in the year.
The Village People gig was cancelled.
The Pride after party “Fuct” was held on the 18th June, featuring PAs from Jimmy Sommerville, Lonnie Gordon and Bad Boys Inc.
The Sign of the Times Suzie Wong party was held on the 6th August.
INXS played on the 28th October. The reviewer from the Melody Maker wasn’t impressed!
The Quench club night was held on the 29th October.
The Bends club night was held on the 12th November.
The Beastie Boys gigs of 24th and 25th November were postponed until 4th and 5th March 1995.
The Shakavara/Dolce Vita club night was held on the 26th November.
The Almighty played on the 28th November.
1995
Streetlife Club was held on the 11th March.
It is unlikely that the Return to The Source event happened as at this stage they were still holding events at the much smaller Fridge.
Megadeth played on the 20th March.
Bob Dylan also played on the 31st March.
Punishment Farm club night was held on the 14th April.
Sign of the Times club night was held on the 15th April.
Machine Head played on the 31st May.
Street Life club was held on the 3rd June.
A music business seminar followed by a club night was held on the 8th July.
Land of Milk & Honey club night was held on the 22nd July.
The final Cinema Fumee at the Academy according to Time Out was on the 18th August. Some websites have stated that Placebo played the Academy on that night, although nothing appears in the listings. It may be that the Cinema Fumee scheduled for 1st September did not happen as the next Cinema Fumee listed in Time Out was held in Camden at the end of September.
Streetlife Club was held on the 2nd September.
The Therapy gig was postponed until December 13th due to the singer losing his voice.
The 14th October edition of Music Week announced that the Brixton Academy had been sold to Break for the Border, thereby preserving it as a music venue for future generations.
Iron Maiden played on the 10th November.
Land of Milk & Honey club night was held on the 17th November.
Streetlife Club was held on the 1st December.
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