O2 Academy Bristol

Right in the centre of Bristol on Frogmore Street, O2 Academy Bristol is a multi-room music venue run by Academy Music Group. The venue was originally part of Mecca Leisure Group's New Entertainments Centre and was an ABC Cinema, opening in 1966 with a dozen licensed bars, an ice rink, bowling lanes, a casino, a night club, a cinema and a ballroom. The cinema closed in 1996 and was converted into a nightclub in 2000, originally called "Rock", before soon becoming the "Carling Academy", with the O2 name arriving in 2009. Housed in a former 1966 ABC cinema and converted into an Academy venue in 2001, the site includes two performance spaces, a 1,600-capacity main room and a 250-capacity secondary room, and presents a mix of touring acts, local bands, and club events.

It's a regular stop for touring bands and solo artists alongside club nights, and the genres on its listings page here range through Afrobeats and electro. Expect anything from live gigs to themed club nights across its main room and smaller second space, with the venue sitting right in the city centre near Bristol's harbourside.

Upcoming dates at the Academy mix live shows with club-style events: DJ Yoda brings his 90s Mixtape Live set, James Blake plays two nights on his Trying Times tour, and regular club night Day Fever returns for Halloween, alongside appearances from Fishies and Joshua Idehen.