The smaller academys take a cut of merch, so I'd imagine the main hall does too. I think the problem is that the academy is the only venue in the centre which can accommodate a band of this size (like mogwai and sonic youth too). Bridgewater Hall could work but it's pretty big and risks being half empty. Lowry is brilliant, saw Sigur Ros there back in 2005 (I think) and it as great. Thing is; people in Manchester, students and the like, don't want to travel out on the metro to Salford. It's only 15 minutes but it puts them off, especially if you need to get the last train back to places like R