Sound Academy is a shame for Toronto. I wish people would stop going there regardless of how much they like the band playing. That would teach both the managers/bands NOT to book concerts at this dump. It's far away. It has horrible sound. The layout sucks. Everything that other reviews say is true.
At the other side, very subjectively, this might be a good thing. Since I realized that pretty much all the music venues in Toronto are crappy, I way more prefer to spend my 50$ on trying some delicious food at one of the numerous new restaurants, then hanging out and sweating in the smelly, bad sounding, hot as hell dirty/shady venues. I might be getting old but that dump won't see my ass again.