Whilst the Academy itself is an exceptional gig venue, the Academy 2 couldn't be further away from that if it tried.

I can see the logic of it however, get a second, smaller room to host the smaller touring bands in who wouldn't fit the main room, ensuring they don't play other Bristol venues such as the Fleece or Thekla, so the idea is there, but the sad fact of the matter is that the room simply is the wrong shape to be holding gigs in.

Birmingham Academy gets this concept right, with the Academy 2 there being in a custom gig room.

Bristol Academy fails dismally though, with what was once a seperate bar being converted into a poor attempt at a live room.

If you're at the front then the sound is fine, but once you get past halfway (where they've installed three, poor quality, top-heavy speakers into the ceiling) the sound becomes grating, and the further back you get the more muffled the sound is.

The stage itself is pretty nonexistent, being less than a foot off the ground, and visibility is again awful unless you're in the front 1/3 of the room.

Likewise any hopes of an atmosphere is destroyed with the bar running the entire length of the room, ensuring that the stage lights become utterly pointless as the standard Bar bulbs drown them out altogether.

Drinks prices are what we've come to expect (and, for some reason, accept) in an Academy.

Approximately £3.50 for a pint of just about anything.

Why gig goers pay these obscene prices is beyond me nowadays, if punters voted with their wallets then chains such as O2 Academies would be forced to put their prices down.

Although saying that I'm aware that the draw of a band you love is great, regardless of how poor the venue is.

The message really needs to get across to the bands themselves (and not their agents, who obviously book according to convenience and the mighty $) to prevent t