Heartland

Which venue have you been to that you've found adds to a bands performance or can spoil a great night out, and why?

Best: I'm split between Glasgow Barrowland and Royal Albert Hall, seen some great gigs at both. Although the bevvy at the Barrowland ain't always up to standard, the atmosphere is always brilliant . The Albert Hall feels very intimate, and to be working class and sat in "her majesty's front room" is fecking great!

Worst: London Astoria, went there once in 1997 and never been back. Horrible crowd, bouncers who don't understand words of more than one syllable, or even with an accent, basically it's a toilet!

Note: every experience is self judgemental and not intended to cause any offence to anyone, ever.

best: royal park cellars, leeds

when the sound is right, the intimacy and sheer dive-ness of the venue make it perfect for small gigs.

worst: manchester academy and leeds dark arches/blank canvas - both for the same reason: horrible acoustics. like an aircraft hanger - way too much echo and natural reverb. the echo completely drowns out the band!

Worse (but charming):
In mid 80's we had a place in Stockholm that I think was called "3 Tunnor" They only have space for like 30-40 people, so it was SMALL but cosy. The sound was terrible though, but I saw some of my swedish heroes there a couple of times.

Worse II:
The Globe in Stockholm. To f**king big and high. Saw Rolling Stones there a couple of years ago, and without binoculars it was s**t.

Best:
Nalen in Stockholm. A famous place. Very old. My mother and father danced there in the 50's. Then it became a church or something, but a couple of years ago the rebuild it for music again. Takes round 500 people. Very nice inside. Like a Cathederal or something.

Best II:
Debaser in Stockholm. Because they have alot of intresting band playing there. I saw Interpol and Brittish Sea Power there last year. Will see Arab Strap there next Sunday. Not very big. The sound is not the best etc. But the bands that plays there are great.

best: junktion7 in nottingham, club zero/the barfly sheffield, the leadmill sheffield, camden palace, london.

worst: the corporation, sheffield. the casbah, sheffield

I know this is hardly a controversial opinion, but my least favourite venue is Manchester Academy (even though I once saw a blinding gig by Skunk anansie there)

My fave is the Manchester Hop and Grape (upstairs at Manchester uni)
Perfect size (small but not microscopic), great sound, saw killer gigs there by Therapy? and Jolt (anyone else remember them?)

I know, I know, there are probably far better venues out there, but I haven't travelled much.

NEWSFLASH NEWSFLASH NEWSFLASH
I have some inside information that the legendary Salford Maxwell hall venue, five minutes from Manchester city centre, is probably about to reopen, it has the best acoustics of any venue in greater Manchester, but has been closed for seventeen years after an infamous Smiths gig caused structural damage to the building (it's been used as an exam room, since, by Salford uni students!)

You're probably thinking 'so what?', but this is a KICK-ASS venue, which has seen some legendary concerts over the years, and hopefully when the Sisters tour again they will play there rather than the Manc Academy (both have same capacity).

The best concert venue was the sadly departed Leeds Duchess Of York (the fascist Leeds City Council forced them to close so it could be knocked down and replaced with yet another clothes shop. Like there aren't enough of those already.)
Any small venues really. More intimate, better atmosphere.

Some of the worst venues I've been to are: Leeds Town & Country Club (originally a draughty old warehouse). It was used as a music venue for a couple of years before it became the T+C. T+C fixed the draughts and did it up a bit but as it was never designed for a concert venue the acoustics were really crap.

Same with the recent Sisters gigs in Leeds. Crap acoustics. (Couldn't see the buggers either, but that's another thing.)

Birmingham NEC = Total utter excrement. Too big, can see f*ck all. Same goes for any large concert venue or stadium. Necessary for some bands where the audiences are so big a stadium is the only suitable sized venue, but for the unfortunate 90% who aren't near the front you can't see anything.

My fave is Brixton Academy - good sound and good view. Love the sloping floor and the mixing desk isn't smack in the middle of the hall.

Worst venue is the Astoria. I was there last night. What the hell do you do if there's a fire? - oh I know you burn or get trampled. Or both. And Big Si is right about the bouncers. And they pack too many people in as well.

Don't get me started on bands having to cut their setlist short to make way for the club!!!

Quite like Rock City due to the balcony so you can move about and still see the gig

Hate the Garage in London. Too hot, too many people. Yuk.

Not an expert in this area and not sure if it was the venues or the bands, but the two extremes that stick in my mind are both from Manchester.

Best: Appollo. Saw Fun Loving Criminals there 5 years ago and the floor was bouncing when they played Scooby Snacks. Excellent view too, even from right back by the bar!

Worst: Hacienda. Saw Durutti Column sometime late 84/ early 85. The place was FREEZING. And I was very bored.

Best concert:

• Bauhaus (Porto Coliseum)
• Rammstein (Hard Club - V.N.Gaia)
• The Cramps (Lisbon)

Worst concert:

• Dream Theatre... (went there cause a friend gave the tickets, but i swear, i would never see them again, even if someone pay for me to go).

Bestist: Rock City by a mile been a regular since it opened, medium sized, low roof, nearly always a good spot to be found....just alround wonderfulness

Second Bestist: Leadmill/Retford Porterhouse but perhaps it's because of 'who' I've seen there....the stage at Porterhouse is of shinbreaking height and that f**king mirrored column holding the roof up, although handy was an utter pain to get slammed against...

Rather nice coz I'd never been before: Brixton Academy, all rather splendid and grand FANTASTIC views and sound

Where I've always fancied: King Tut's for nothing more than the choice of bands that go and the chuckle inducing name

Worst; Bloody Doncaster Dome, NEC, Top Rank (Sheff) but that's coz I had a nasty bit of sheenanigins going on

The best IMHO is undoubtedly Glasgow Barrowlands, closely followed by Brixton Academy.

Worst - probably the Edinburgh Corn Exchange - a great souless metal shed of a palce where the sound is sh*te!
Though I didn't like the Blank Canvas too much, the design tends to lead to bad crushing.

Best:
Bremen - Modernes (I saw great gigs of Garbage, NMA, ASF and RLYL at this place)

Worst: Düsseldorf - Stahlwerk

Best is easily the Glasgow Barrowlands............A bucket of ale , couple of thousand loons and a kicking band...........

Worst is Newcastle City Hall............Soulless...the band had to be s**t hot to get that place rocking.

Incidently to you Barrowland users is there still a second mini venue underneath the main one ...........about 1988 i remember seeing the Rose of Avalanche there .........About 120 people shoehorned into it ,But i cant recall for the life of me what it was called.............

Best large venues:
Barrowlands, Glasgow; both Bristol and Brixton Academys; Apollo, Manchester; The Forum, Kentish Town; Stadthalle, Fürth; Le Zenith, Paris.

Best small venues:
Royal Park Cellars, Leeds; The Junction, Cambridge; The Old Trout, Windsor (sadly defunct); The Subterrania, Ladbroke Grove; Markthalle, Hamburg.

Worst venues:
Camden Underworld (an absolute dive); Manchester Academy; Leeds Blank Canvas (horrible sound); Wembley Arena; Deinze Brielpoort; Warsaw Mera Hall.

Best: Both already mentioned but two more endorsements for:

a) The Forum. 80's nightclub, black and chrome, good atmosphere. Tip: If you ever go to see The Sisters there you have to get within 20 feet of the stage. Not only is the sound superb but you can actually see them. Just. Anywhere else and it's like watching a smoke screen, whilst you pay guess the song from the atrocious accoustics.

b) Rock City. Always has been, also will be a great venue. Whether down on the dance floor moshing or hanging around the balcony, great views and great sound.

Worst: Earls Court Arena. Only ever did an arena once. Never again. No atmosphere, no nothing. Horrible.

Worst: Smashing Pumpkins playing their last "normal" gig of their last tour in a bloody big-top style tent.

No best venue yet, haven't come across one

I would have put Newcastle Mayfair as 2nd best, but it's closed down . Had some great nights in there, got trampled in the mosh pit by Nirvana , and collapsed with the heat because of Beck

Never had a problem with Manc Academy, had some great nights in there too!

Downstairs at the Barrowland is more like a chillout area, you can always get a seat!