The O2 Academy Brixton is still awaiting its reopening — one year after a fatal crowd crush at the south London music venue.
Two people died during a stampede at a gig for Afrobeats star Asake on December 15, 2022.
Commonly known as Brixton Academy, it is a popular venue that can hold more than 2,000 people and is much missed in the city.
The Standard approached the venue's management and Lambeth Council for comment on December 14, 2023.
There has been no update on when the venue might reopen — despite councillors agreeing in September 2022 to restore its licence.
Here is how we got to this point.
Who owns the O2 Academy Brixton?
Academy Music Group (AMG) owns and runs the venue, which has won the NME Best Venue award 12 times since 1994 and hosted more than 50 live albums.
Brixton Academy opened in 1929 as a cinema, before being converted into a discotheque in 1972. It became a concert hall in 1983.
AMG also owns the O2 Shepherd’s Bush Empire and other O2 Academy venues in Islington, Bournemouth, Glasgow, Leeds, Bristol, Liverpool, Leicester, Sheffield and others.
An AMG representative told the Standard on December 14: “Academy Music Group (AMG) continues to be devastated by the events of 15 December 2022, and our heartfelt condolences remain with the family and friends of Rebecca Ikumelo and Gaby Hutchinson. What happened was and is a tragedy.
"Over the past year, we have been driven by determination to learn all appropriate lessons from that night to ensure it can never be repeated. We are pleased that the comprehensive plan for reopening the venue met with the approval of Lambeth Licensing Sub-Committee. AMG is working hard to implement the new conditions before welcoming fans back to O2 Academy Brixton. There will be an announcement for the reopening timeline in due course."
What happened during the fatal crowd crush at the O2 Academy Brixton?
People attending Asake's concert, some of whom were thought to be ticketless, tried to force their way into the sold-out gig.
Gaby Hutchinson, a 23-year-old security guard, and Rebecca Ikumelo, 33, a mother of two from Newham, were killed amid the chaotic crowd surge.
A third woman was badly hurt in the incident and needed to be in hospital for an extended period.
What happened next?
AMG temporarily lost its licence to run the venue and it has been shut ever since.
In April 2023, the Metropolitan Police said they wanted the licence revoked for Brixton Academy and that they did not have confidence in the owners to run it safely.
However, in September councillors voted to restore its licence.
Lambeth Council’s licensing sub-committee has voted to allow the venue to continue operating — as long as it meets “77 extensive and robust new conditions”.
Brixton Academy said it was “immensely grateful” to Lambeth Council and would reopen at first with test events.
AMG said changes to its operating policies had been developed by “leading professionals” to prevent a repeat of last year’s events.
The company had done “all in its power to analyse what went wrong”, the barrister representing AMG, Mr Philip Kolvin, added.
It is not clear how many of the 77 conditions have been fulfilled.
As of December 14, there are no gigs listed to take place at the venue.