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The Prodigy back campaign to save Brixton Academy: ‘Brixton is our home’

(Picture: Alamy)
(Picture: Alamy)

The Prodigy have become the latest high-profile act to back efforts to save Brixton Academy from permanent closure.

It comes after the Met Police last month called for the permanent closure of the South London music venue following a crowd crush that killed two people last December.

The venue’s licence was initially suspended by Lambeth Council in January following the deaths of security guard Gaby Hutchinson, 23, and Rebecca Ikumelo, 33, who were killed in a crush as fans tried to force entry into an Asake show. A third person was also critically injured.

A petition launched on Change.org to secure the venue’s future has now surpassed 100,000 signees, while a new campaign has now been launched by Night Time Industries Association (NTIA) alongside Save Our Scene and Brixton BID to help save the venue from closure.

Sharing their support on social media, The Prodigy wrote: “Brixton Academy is our home. What happened there a few months ago was tragic & very serious lessons need to be learnt from it. It’s the venue that has been at the heart of our band, the one that we have played the most and where fans from all around the world come to see us play.

“It is super important that it’s able to continue to be a place that you can go and see bands play live. If you agree please, put your full support behind them, as we do.”

Jim Bob of Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine – who played at the venue 15 times between 1990 to 2014 – was also mong musicians to voice their support for the original petition. Speaking to Rolling Stone UK, he said said the proposed closure seems “sudden” and that it would be a “shame” to see the venue permanently shuttered. “It’s a great venue,” he added, sharing that performing at the South London venue was always like “coming home” for his band.

Michael Kill, CEO of NTIA, said: “The loss of this venue would be catastrophic for the industry, so would urge all involved to step forward and engage in productive and meaningful discussions, with an aim to resolve the current challenges and present a unified position on delivering the safe and effective management of this space in the future.”