Good day to you all. I have been made aware of a project to try and create an archive of Birmingham Town Hall’s history. Hot on the heels of the sudden awakening of interest in Birmingham, I remembered that I had a few things.
So, readers – do any of you have anything interesting? Actual memorabilia, photos, digital stuff, stories…?
If so… go here: https://bmusic.co.uk/news/amplify-town-hall-past-present-and-future
Also feel free to post a reply here and I will alert the relevant people.
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Hang on! How did you do that? Is it because you’re the original poster?
Oooh…we’re working again!
Does this mean, like a select few here, you are a Brummie, or as least, like me, a denizen of the west mids and surroundings?
Yup
I was born there. Does that count?
@Twang
Stalls, circle or gods?
Definitely stalls. At the back
Lovely venue.
Saw quite a few concerts there in the early to mid-70s –
Three that leap to mind are
Mahavishnu Orchestra (first and best iteration) have an A4 -sized poster I can email over if you’d like it
Don McClean (not the “it’s Friday, it’s 5 o’clock” one)
ISB (the fairly forgettable No Ruinous Feud – was prevailed upon by my mates
to go and meet them after the gig – the amount of Scientology rubbish we all
came away with would have saved a few acres of rainforest)
Am sure there are several more
I like Town Hall very much as a venue, in part due to the vicinity to the station. But it has a nice vibe, and, since the 90s refurb, has decent acoustics. Which was certainly not the case beforehand. Sadly the curse of Wolverhampton means Brum tends again to be overlooked again, in the tour schedule for so many bands, whether Symphony Hall tier 1 acts or Town Hall for on the way up/way down acts. I don’t bother with the NEC or NIA as such vile experiences. Luckily few premier league stadium bands appeal. Academy is shite. A soft spot for the Institute , even if run by the same evil O2 who run the Academy. Which leaves only the Hare&Hounds, which is fine, the Kitchen Garden Cafe, my choice for intimate, along with Sunflower Lounge, Castle&Falcon and various Digbeth occasionals, all putting up occasional gems.
Have I missed any out?
The Hippodrome used to host gigs once upon a time – saw Genesis (LLD tour) and Pink Floyd (WYH) tour there.
The Odeon also hosted some pretty big acts. While not the best, the most memorable show I saw there was Eric C going off on his Enoch Powell rant
The universities.
Do they admit non-students these days?
Hippodrome no, but the Alex very rarely puts on a gig. Last. time was the Waterboys reprise of Fisherman’s Blues line-up tour. About 6 years ago.
The Odeon was flipping great, but reverted to cinema only, from the mid 90s.
Which reminds me, MAC, Midlands Arts Centre occasionally do gigs, when they feel up to it. I note they are beginning to use the outdoor theatre there again for such, which used to be a fabulous night out, weather willing. Usually folkie fare, so I suppose the Red Lion Folk Club, still lurching on, needs a mention, too.
Uni’s don’t do gigs these days, do they? Did they ever, in Brum, thinking B’ham and Aston, let alone “Central England” (the old poly.)?
Birmingham Conservatoire, the music college, put on the occasional niche gig.
Lanchester Poly in Coventry always used to put on some pretty good/big acts and was open to non-students.
They also ran a fantastic arts festival every Jan/Feb. Saw Pink Floyd ( a late replacement for Bowie) do an early version of DSoTM at the same venue on the same night Chuck Berry recorded My Ding A Ling
The universities certainly did, back when I was a student in the 1970s.
I was at Birmingham (not Aston).
The Jess Roden Band there remains one of my all time favourite gigs.
George Melly & JohnChilton’s Feetwarmers (twice), Steve Gibbons Band, Isotope, Brand X, Mud, Al Stewart, Ralph McTell, Deaf School all spring to mind. There are many more that I don’t immediately recall.
It’s sad that they don’t do so any longer.
I went to see Richard Thompson some place in south Birmingham on a little sort of outdoor amphitheatre. Really lovely. RT was impressed, he commented “what a lovely place, I thought I’d played everywhere in the UK but I’ve never been here before”.
That’d be the MAC (Midlands Arts Centre), opposite Edgebaston Cricket Ground. It was a great little venue, if seemingly short term as a going concern. I suspect I was at that gig too, it being where he first outed non-album favourite “Hots for the Smarts”. In the same series were concerts by Oysterband, Jackie Leven, Kate Rusby and many many more. And it never seemed to rain.
Organised and put on by a duo of music promoters, no longer extant and name, annoyingly, forgotten, for several years they also organised gigs at the Ceol Castle (now Castle & Falcon) and the Wulfrun Rooms in Wolverhampton, and they specialised in folk, roots, world and americana. My introduction or consolidation to much the music that mostly absorbs me today.
They have started, the MAC, that is, using it again, I note, with a forthcoming all dayer.