The Filth & The Fury comes to Brum

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The Sex Pistols will play a gig at the Birmingham Academy on Wednesday June 11th as a warm-up for their forthcoming headline appearance at the Isle Of Wight festival.

The show will be the first time the band have played a gig in Birmingham in 32 years.


Tickets cost £37.50 and are limited to 6 per person. They go on sale Friday March 28th at 9am. Visit Ticketweb for tickets.

Seattle Legend Makes Rare UK Appearance In Birmingham

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Shawn Smith, the voice of bands such as Brad, Satchel and Pigeonhed makes a very rare appearance on these shores in May, stopping off at Birmingham's Medicine Bar on Tuesday May 6th.

Shawn’s new solo album, The Diamond Hand, will be released on April 1st and two other solo albums are being reissued in the coming months.

Voted by MOJO magazine as one of the Greatest Vocalists of All Time, SHAWN SMITH is a man of many disguises. He has been driving force behind the cult-rockers SATCHEL, the electro-funk of PIGEONHED, the laid back grooves of BRAD (with PEARL JAM’s Stone Gossard) and as a founding member of THE TWILIGHT SINGERS with Greg Dulli, declared “Seattle’s best kept secret”.

Smith’s vocals have been touted as everything from “yearning and idealistic” to his songs “languid beauties”. A charismatic vocal powerhouse, Shawn’s solo albums showcase his extraordinary voice and beautiful songs. “…deep-soul phrasing and Curtis-styled falsetto you might detect the qualities of Robert Wyatt, a grain akin to Lowell George or the kind of poise Marvin Gaye would have appreciated”. – Jim Irvin MOJO magazine.

As well as a critically acclaimed solo career SHAWN SMITH has toured and recorded as part of THE AFGHAN WHIGS and had songs featured in the global hit TV series THE SOPRANOS amongst many other major motion picture soundtracks.

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Tickets: £11 Adv/Door & £9 Concessions (NUS/Unwaged)
Website: www.theticketsellers.co.uk
Box Office telephone: 0844 870 0000

Alan Partridge Rocks! aaah-haaaa

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The legend that is Alan Partridge will be coming to the Civic Hall in Wolverhampton on October 4th, with more dates rumoured to be added.

Steve Coogan brings his "Steve Coogan is Alan Partridge and Other Less Successful Characters" tour to the Midlands in a not-to-be-missed show featuring the characters that have made him a BAFTA and British Comedy Award winning Comedy Legend. His last live show played 200 performances and was seen by 350 000 people!

Tickets priced £32.50 will be available from Monday 17th March at Midland Box Office: 0870 320 7000 or online at www.wolvescivic.co.uk

The English Originals Folk Festival

The English Originals Folk Festival presents a perfect weekend celebration of English music traditions over the weekend of 25-27 April at Town Hall and Symphony Hall Birmingham, paying tribute to a musical heritage passed down through centuries and generations.

With its sense of identity in representing the sounds of city and country, folk culture continues to have a universal influence on music and art in the 21st century and is currently enjoying a huge renaissance.

From 'one man Clash' Billy Bragg to the distinguished voices of experience in Daughters of Albion, the English Originals Folk Festival programme is packed with seasoned folk singer-songwriters and bright new talent in three unique concerts, free performances and events.

Featuring:

Billy Bragg, Norma Waterson, June Tabor, Martin Carthy, Seth Lakeman, Kathryn Williams, Tim Van Eyken, Chris Woods, Tunng, Sharron Krauss, Bishi, Lou Rhodes, Lisa Knapp, Little Sister and The Old Dance School.

Get tickets from the TOWN HALL & SYMPHONY HALL BOX OFFICE

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Billy Bragg photo - Steve Gerrard

"Rockstar"s Return to Brum

Nickelback have announced four massive shows in the UK this autumn including a date at Birmingham's NEC arena.

The Canadian band are currently enjoying success in both the UK singles and album charts with 'Rockstar' and its parent album 'All The Right Reasons'.

The four dates will be the band's last in the UK in support of 'All The Right Reasons', before they begin recording their sixth album in Canada early next year.

The dates are:

Manchester Evening News Arena (September 15)
Sheffield Arena (16)
Birmingham NEC (18)
London 02 Arena (19)

Tickets go on sale on Friday (March 14) at 9am.

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Envy & Other Sins @ Bar Academy - 7 March 2008

You may remember MobileAct Unsigned as T4's awful indie-X-Factor show with an amusing twist. The twist being that it managed to be more embarrassing for the presenters (hello Alex James, Jo Whiley and Simon Gavin) than for the acts involved. The eventual winners were the Birmingham-based Envy & Other Sins; a likeable quartet of Victoriana-clad gents and the evening's headliners... READ MORE…

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Photo - Steve Gerrard

V Festival Sells Out!

Tickets for this year's V Festival went on sale today (March 7) and sold out within a couple of hours.

Muse and The Verve are headlining the the festival, set to take place at Weston Patrk, Staffordshire on August 16 and 17.

Amy Winehouse, Kings of Leon, Kaiser Chiefs, The Prodigy, The Kooks, The Zutons, Girls Aloud, Ian Brown and Stereophonics are among other notable acts set to appear on the bill.

The line-up for V Festival so far is:

Muse
The Verve
Kings Of Leon
Stereophonics
Kaiser Chiefs
The Prodigy
Amy Winehouse
The Kooks
The Zutons
The Pigeon Detectives
Lenny Kravitz
Maximo Park
Ian Brown
The Chemical Brothers
The View
Newton Faulkner
The Pogues
The Charlatans
The Hoosiers
Reverend And The Makers
The Feeling
Alanis Morissette
Scouting For Girls
Duffy
Jamie T
Hot Chip
Girls Aloud
The Futureheads
Squeeze
The Twang
Sugababes
Travis
Amy MacDonald
The Courteeners
Shed Seven
The Rifles
Robyn
David Jordan
One Republic

For more information visit the V Festival Website

Metalcore Mayhem in the Midlands

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Midlands fans of extreme music are in for a treat on Friday 14th March as Seattle's HIMSA bring a sterling line-up of metalcore and death metal bands to Birmingham's Barfly.

Kicking off at 7pm the gig will feature A LIFE ONCE LOST, TOO PURE TO DIE and TED MAUL before HIMSA headline.

Tickets are just £10 and can be bought from the Barfly website.

Laura Marling @ The Glee Club - 5th March 2008

I must admit to being more excited about this gig than I can remember having been for a while. I'm fully aware that the extent of my Laura Marling cheerleading risks becoming worthy of ridicule and in the back of my mind was the thought that I could be setting myself up for disappointment...READ MORE…

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Photo - Lee Allen

Sum 41 + Reuben + Sound & Fury @ The Academy - 3rd March 2008

It seems no matter how many darker, heavier, more politically charged albums they release, Sum 41 will always be thought of as a pop-punk band. This is no criticism however, as their bouncy riffs and energetic stage presence throughout the set are what makes tonight’s show so enjoyable... READ MORE…
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Photo - Steve Gerrard

Kate Nash @ Wolves Civic Hall

It’s been quite a week for Kate Nash. Not only was she awarded a Brit for best British female, but she also beat Amy Winehouse to the NME Best Solo Artist.
So it was a packed Wolverhampton Civic hall that greeted Miss Nash on Saturday night...READ MORE…

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Photo - Bianca Barrett

Editors Win Over Arena Crowd

Tonight was a truly special moment in Editors career so far, as singer Tom Smith put it, “this is the biggest thing we’ve ever done and its amazing that’s it's just a stone's throw away from where we are from”...
READ MORE…
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Photo - Steve Gerrard