About O2 Academy Glasgow

Like the ABC, the Academy was formerly a cinema. It is a historic building with traditional features and lots of character.

Even after a £3 million refurbishment the original features were restored, a top quality stage

and front-of-house and excellent back stage facilities were created .

It opened as a music venue in March 2003 and was known as the Carling Academy until 2008.
After this it entered a new sponsorship deal with Live Nation who rebranded it the O2 Academy.

It can now hold up to 2500 people and in my opinion is the best gig venue in Glasgow.

About O2 ABC Glasgow

Since it was built in 1875 the venue has had a number of uses. In the past the ABC was home to Scotland's first cinema and has had various names over the years including

The Ice Palace, The Hippodrome and Hengler’s Circus Regal, It was also known as the MGM, Cannon and more recently, the ABC until 1999.

In June 2005 it underwent an extensive £2 million conversion by Regular Music. David McBride (Regular Music) had a vision and spotted a gap in the market for a music venue of this size in the city. In 2009, the Academy Music Group took a majority stake in the venue and rebranded it the O2 ABC.

O2 ABC Glasgow has had great success over the past 6 years and is now one of the city's most popular music venues and nightclubs.

The building currently has two music venues, ABC1 and ABC2, along with five bars; ABC1, ABC2, The Red Room, The Pod Bar, and The Polar Bar.

ABC1 is on the second floor and is the main venue.

It has a capacity of 1250. A number of well known acts perform here on a regular basis. Resident DJ Euan Neilson hosts the club night Festival every Friday, with DJ Gerry Lyons mixing it up at "Love Music" on a Saturday.

ABC 2 is a much smaller room on the first floor which is said to be able to hold 350 but this would definitely be a squash!

This room is used for bands doing intimate tours or performances and also unsigned bands gig here regularly.

On the club scene - ABC2 holds Rubbermensch on Thursday with resident DJ Andy Wilson, on Saturday, DJ David Sinclair mixes the Electro, House & Pop. Sunday used to host Distortion, an alternative night, however this was cancelled in 2009 due to a decline in popularity.


The Polar Bar is located just off of the ABC1 on the second floor.

It has large arched windows looking onto Sauchiehall Street and also hosts a number of dj's from Thursday to Saturday.

Welcome :D

Welcome to my blog about the Glasgow Music Scene!
This is a topic I am extremely interested in and of which I am going to share some of my views over the coming weeks. I have decided to post info about some of the top music venues in and around Glasgow. I will also look at the talent that Glasgow has produced – in particular focusing on Paolo Nutini. Then I will review some of the gigs I have been to. Enjoy!! xx