Feature article: O2 Academy - Leicester, 2010

News about Leicester's O2 Academy | Click here to see the official O2 Academy Leicester web site | Find out about O2 Priority tickets

Leicester rocks

O2 Academy Leicester - The Percy Gee Building, The University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester, LE1 7RH

O2 Launch night - Thursday 23rd September

O2 launched its main stage with a full house, a VIP reception for Leicester's music industry and top hip hop artist Professor Green on stage.

In our view, the gig of the year! Well over 1,000 fans turned up for the first night of the main stage. Meanwhile, backstage, over 300 of Leicester's rockerati and industry figureheads gathered for a lavish reception.

Despite a massive thunder storm and torrential downpour just as the guests were arriving for the reception, the VIP room filled with rock stars, promoters, music moguls and even arts journalists. The champagne was flowing along with huge trays of delicious nibbles.

As the great and the good were warming up, the main hall began to fill with fans and the show kicked off at 7.45 p.m. with Envy - aka Nicola Varley, a 20 year old rapper/ MC from Manchester, followed by a set from Ironic, another big name hip hop artist. After lots of build up, the time came for the headline act everyone had been waiting for.

Professor Green ( Stephen Paul Manderson) appeared on stage and huge cheer went up from the 1000+ fans packed on to the floor of the house. Dressed in a simple green t-shirt and Jeans, he cut the image of an ordinary joe in the street. His performance was that of a super star.

The warm up acts (Ironic and Envy) gathered together the momentum for the appearance of the star of the night. Leicester gave him a warm welcome. Hip Hop has a strong following in Leicester, amongst both townies and students. It is interesting to see these big name rappers bringing live bands into their acts.

Just like the rock bands we know so well, now we see drums behind the hip hop stars and guitarists and a bassist at the front, together with the backing vocalists on the side. The traditional MC is still there with the decks but real music adds a layer of sound and makes the whole set more live and less like Karaoke.

O2 is a new experience for Leicester. Although Birmingham's O2 is bigger, ours is brand spanking new and at 1,450 capacity, the biggest venue in town and the newest addition to the growing Academy empire. With the massive Academy Music Group behind it, we can expect some top class acts to be heading our way over the next few months as this venue is big enough for the top touring bands. With it's opening, Leicester's live music scene is set to change more than it has done in past 10 years or more.

If you are expecting to see something like a refurbished version of the old Venue, forget it. You won't even know you'r actually in the same location as the old place. It's a rebuild rather than a refurbishment and that involved digging down to make the whole space considerably larger. You can see what they have been doing for 18 months!

With state of the art lighting and sound systems, there was an atmosphere of magic about the night. Spot lights swept across the crowd and multiple beams constantly moved around the stage. It was a sound and light experience designed to show off what up to date shows are about. Having over 1000 fans gathered together in one place, is something Leicester has known too little of, since the closure of the old Leicester Students Union venue. This is something only seen at the largest local festivals.

The room vibrated with the sound coming off the stage; it was music you could feel as well as hear. Although the sound was loud, it wasn't ear bleeding. Having spent a fortune on the latest PA equipment, you would expect to get something that was powerful but also comfortable.

Even so, at least one band member in the audience had some critical comments about the mixing, saying he couldn't hear the instruments clearly enough. Teething issues! A system in a new hall, must take some getting used to. I was standing by the sound control desks, huge arrays of lights and dials mounted under a gazebo at the back of the floor with four engineers working it. It gave the appearance of the control room in a TV studio. The drummer from one of Leicester's biggest bands is standing in front of me, thinking about his being on that stage and hoping it will be with a crowd of this size, in a few weeks time.

Professor Green talked to the crowd, drawing them into the action, warming to them as much as they warmed to him. In between and sometimes during songs, he talked to the fans, making them feel like they are having an audience with him, personalising his show. He understands what they are feeling, they understand what he is singing about. It's interactive in a way that TV is not.

© Harjinder Ohbi

The show saw the chart-topping rapper take to the stage for his first non-festival appearance of the year, with his full live band and an energetic set following hit collaboration (which apparently started on Facebook) with Lily Allen on ‘Just Be Good To Green’ and dancefloor smash ‘Need You Tonight’ with Ed Drewett. First signed to Mike Skinner’s record label, ‘The Beats’ (which later folded in 2007), he is now with Virgin Records, Professor Green has grown from an underground hero to mainstream star. He has just released his debut album (Monday 19th July) ‘Alive Till I’m Dead’ on Virgin Records to mass critical acclaim, reaching #2 in the UK album charts.

Whilst thousands of music fans will have listened to his tracks, now they can see the star himself, in person, on the stage bringing the songs to life. As the artists work through their warm up acts, they are promo-ing their recordings, boosting their sales. That's how live acts relate to recording sales in the big industry of 360 degree contracts.

It's clear that the cohort of fans that paid to see Professor Green love his songs, as the cheering from the crowd testified at the end of each song and, at full volume, when he concluded his set. The floor was a sea of waving arms, looking just like the crowds in front of the festival stages throughout the summer.

It was good to see the launch night packed to capacity. The main floor was full, as was the gallery and many famous faces were in the crowd. More of a party than a gig, it was a night to remember for a long time to come.

Tuesday 21st September - the first show

ElectroAcoustic band Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly headlined the first gig at Leicester's new O2 Academy. Held in the old Queens Hall (a.k.a. Academy 2 or the middle sized room) the show attracted over 400 people to its 500 capacity hall. The oak panelled room has seen many a famous band play over the years and at least one guy I spoke said he could remember being there to see Roxy Music, years ago. Academy 3 will also be opening soon with its 250 capacity room.

After 18 months of work and fifteen million pounds of expenditure, the venue still wasn't ready. We arrived to find the impressive main entrance surrounded by building site barriers but eventally discovered the entrance for the show, round the back of the building.

When it's finished it will be an impressive building. A huge flight of steps, leading down to the main campus entrance on University Road, sweep up to a huge glass atrium. Part students union, part concert hall, the building will serve a variety of purposes.

The show tonight was opened by Leicester band These Furrows with a hugely good acoustic set performed by Darryl Reid and Nile Barrow. They won the distinction of being the first local band to play at the new Academy (a title that would have gone to Surrender the Coast, had their date not been cancelled due to the venue not being ready.)

A great start to a great night, the 'Furrows presented a series of their songs with tantalisingly good vocals and the band's usual razor sharp instrumentation.

© Harjinder Ohbi

Some would say 'not as good as a full band set', but certainly up to their usual high standards and nevertheless a most ear-pleasing experience. Anything that These Furrows does is good and the two musicians dellivered a superb performance.

They were followed by a band called David's Lyre. They hadn't played in Leicester before and I don't think they are well known around here. They gave us a set of attractive indie songs, delivered with a lashings of passion and the sound system was excellent. They are on tour with Get Cape and their music complements what Get Cape do. I thought some of the songs sounded a bit like early Hot Chip. Their new single has been released by East City Records.

Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly. is a name you'r unlikely to forget and they have not played Leicester as a band before, although two of the band members did a DJ set at a local club once. The lead singer is Sam Duckworth and with him on stage were six band members including keyboardist Tim Oliver, guitarist Chris Bradshawe, drummer Andy Theakstone and Cornet player Mikey Glenister and others. More of an orchestra than a band, they pumped out some delightful songs, richly orchestrated and lead by Sam's impressive vocals.

© Harjinder Ohbi

The set of moody, lyrical ballads and storming rock numbers was lapped up by the audience, which included a sizeable contingent of followers who knew their songs and joined in with some of the hit tunes.

© Harjinder Ohbi

Their set was varied in style and pace, soothing the crowd with darkly sentimental ballads and then whipping them up with fervent dance numbers.

A good start to the Academy experience. The music was appealing even if the bar prices were not!

These Furrows | David's Lyre | Get Cape on MySpace

Other pages you might like

Our round up of Leicester's live music venues

Leicester SoundHouse live music venue