Audio is seriously small and seriously loud, which gives it real character. However, our experience of Audio wasn't great for several reasons:
We arrived shortly after the doors opened at 7. There was a series of support slots before the main act, Chali 2na. It was around 11pm when he took to the stage. (!!!)
After a few local hip hop acts, there was a final support band on the decks and with bongos. I really, really liked them. And then they played for an hour and a half. The gig itself was essentially a club night with a headlining act. Chali 2na seemed to be really late to the venue so it was probably necessary to fill until he arrived. But, until we saw him arrive, we just found it strange that the support slots had run over so much and that the staff hadn't kept us in the loop. If you had to shoot off early or just weren't out for a late night, I think you'd be a little peeved at having to miss the headline act. BUT, good job on Audio/the promotors for booking local support acts. - Hearing rap with a Glasgow accent was entertaining!
A fight broke out as we were leaving the venue, and it turned nasty really quickly. With just one bouncer in the venue, this wasn't sufficient and it wasn't nice to see it spiral out of control. It soon descended to the street and we just had to ask if the staff had phoned the police because we were worried about what might happen. We were shocked that they hadn't so chose to do so ourselves to dissolve the situation. Understandably, these things happen but the venue needs additional security on site for nights as busy as this one, and they also need to call the police when necessary.
Also, there's no cloakroom but you can put your jacket behind the bar for £1. Although, there is limited space so be quick before it runs out. Once the space is full, people left their jackets and coats around the side. We took our valuables out and did the same and our jackets were as we left them.
Another downer is that the place gets a bit sticky and messy as the night goes on as staff don't seem to collect empties until the night is done.
Negative points aside, staff on the door and at the bar were really great and, despite the fact that the night was a busy one, there was no need to wait at the bar for long at all, as service was speedy. (And also really friendly.) read more