Situated on campus at University of Leicester Students’ Union, O2 Academy Leicester opened its doors to both students and music-loving residents in the city in September 2010. Housed in the award-winning Percy Gee building, O2 Academy Leicester sits on one of the oldest sites on the main campus. Originally built in 1957, there was a fantastic line-up of musical icons that played here in its former incarnation with the Rolling Stones, Led Zeppelin, The Smiths and The Jam all appearing. An 18-month major refurbishment transformed the original Students’ Union into an amazing new space and O2 Academy Leicester was added as part of this project.

O2 Academy Leicester is both a live music and club space, with three rooms that attract all kinds of artists from major acts to smaller on bands on the up and events cover a wide variety of genres. The opening night saw chart-topping rapper Professor Green play his first non-festival show of the year to a sold out crowd. The launch night was closely followed by outstanding performances from Plan B, Chase and Status and Frank Turner, and just a year later O2 Academy Leicester hosted one of the most anticipated live shows from celebrated local band Kasabian, who played a homecoming show in association with BBC Radio 1. Other highlights since opening include shows from Blondie, Nero, Catfish and the Bottlemen, Courteeners, Bastille and Ben Howard.