London’s Brixton Academy is to remain closed for another three months as investigations continue into the crowd crush that occurred during an Asake show at the venue last month during which two people died. The decision to remain closed was made and announced at the end of last week by the venue’s operators the Academy Music Group.
Lambeth Council temporarily suspended the venue’s licence for one month following the fatal incident on 15 Dec, which resulted in the deaths of concert goer Rebecca Ikumelo and security contractor Gaby Hutchinson. The local authority’s licensing subcommittee is due to discuss the incident in more detail later today.
At the time of the licence suspension, Councillor Fred Cowell stated: “In the view of the licensing subcommittee, given the severity of events of 15 Dec, the risks to public safety as a consequence of, in particular, serious disorder rising from a lack of crowd control at the front doors of the venue remain high if the venue were able to operate as before”.
AMG had actually already suspended operations at the venue for one month before the licensing subcommittee made its initial decision last month, with management there in part anticipating what the committee’s viewpoint would be. The new decision to keep the venue closed for another three months is also likely in part based on the expected outcome of today’s meeting.
A spokesperson for AMG said that the company “recognises the gravity of the events which occurred on the night of 15 Dec 2022 and expresses its sincere condolences to the families of those who died during the tragic incident and its genuine concerns for anyone affected by it”.
“The licence holder is committed to understanding what happened”, they added, and is “co-operating with the various investigations that are under way including providing full cooperation to the police in the conduct of their inquiries”.
A show by American band Wallows due to take place at the Brixton Academy this week has already been moved to the Hammersmith Apollo.