Asylum Wheelchair Accessibility Review

Image Description: Emma's view at Asylum Main Room in Birmingham. The stage is somewhat visible under green and blue lights with the barrier visible just in front of it.

Time for another access review. This time of Asylum in Birmingham

(Disclaimer: I’m aware “accessibility” means different things to different people, as I said before, these are MY views on my experience of accessibility at this venue as an electric wheelchair user, I obviously can’t speak for others experiences but feel free to add your experiences in the comments!)

Tickets

Ticket buying is an easy enough situation as you just buy a ticket on the door, roll in and collect a stamp.

Gig update: Having recently attended a couple of gigs at Asylum (rather than a night out) I thought I should throw in an update here. Initially I emailed a couple of people at the venue to check which room the shows were in as there is an upstairs room and a downstairs room with the upstairs one being inaccessible. I also asked whether there would be anywhere safe for me to sit (such as a platform or specific area) as I knew that these would be somewhat heavier shows I was attending.

It took weeks for both myself and a fellow attendee with access requirements to get a response, during which I was left without tickets as I obviously didn’t want to get tickets  to the show and then not be able to attend. I was also told that there was no specific area but that the floor was flat so I’d have plenty of choice of seat. If you’re a wheelchair user a flat floor venue essentially means ‘get to the barrier or you won’t see anything’. I was also told they couldn’t control the crowd.

The thing is, I never ASKED for crowd control, just that my safety be thought of as PART of that crowd, and I didn’t feel like it was.

Travel

Travel there is also fairly simple as it’s a 15 minute walk from my room at Aston University. The only vaguely tricky bit is when you reach the road Asylum is on you have to come off the drop kerb, cross the road to the side of Asylum and then go further up in the road (not on the path) and come back on yourself round inside the barriers, but that’s only tricky as it involves driving in the road.

Experience

The experience inside is also very accessible. There is a ramp from the main entrance and bar to the dance floor which can be tricky to navigate if not approached straight on so I would be careful but it’s definitely a very usable ramp. Once on the dancefloor there was plenty of space and a general nice atmosphere which negated the claustrophobia that I find can sometimes be an issue at club nights (particularly when you’re a wheelchair user constantly at bum height and surrounded by those taller than you). Maybe the atmosphere is just a difference between a rock night and a standard club night? I’m not sure.

While there is an accessible toilet, it is not a radar key toilet as the key is kept behind the bar or with security staff. I’d always recommend making toilets radar key over staff held key as it allows for independence in using the bathroom and then going about your night rather than having to hang around waiting for a key, but I’m also aware that not everyone who uses an accessible toilet will have a radar key. The other point to note is that the accessible toilet is situated with all other toilets so queues for the standard toilets can cover the accessible toilet door. Keep that in mind if you want to avoid hitting people with toilet doors!

Gig update: As I was told when I emailed, there is no specific accessible area in the ground floor venue, so it was essentially a free for all to find a decent spot where I could see. Luckily I managed to nab a spot at the end of the barrier for both shows I attended. I did notice they seemed to have added some platforms to the venue in the recent refurbishment but they didn’t look accessible. I understand not making the upstairs venue accessible as lifts are expensive. But to undergo a refurbishment, have the opportunity to improve the accessibility of the downstairs space and then just NOT do that? It upsets me and frankly shows me what little value venues see in my experience as a disabled gig goer.

I hope this review is useful and helps my fellow wheelchair using rockers enjoy an accessible club night and gig!

Stay Invincible!

Em (Invincible Woman On Wheels)

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