Monday, 16th January
Spotted Dog
Traditional Irish Music
All Musicians welcome
Alternate Monday Nights

Wednesday, 18th January
Adam & Eve
Reverie
Lottie Phazey

Wednesday, 18th January
Rainbow
£6 Advance
Various Cruelties
Deceptions Pocket
Counteract Magazine DJs

Friday, 20th January
ALL-ACOUSTIC SHOW
Moseley Arms
The Downfalls
Rhesus
Joseph Hicklin
Dale Hanson
Billie Richards

Kent has very kindly donated £300 to DRA.

The Rainbow is succeeding in keeping Digbeth vibrant, and is also an example to all businesses in the area for keeping residents informed as to their activity; whenever the Rainbow is planning a street party, all residents are given information about the event, and a contact number to call should they feel the noise levels becoming excessive.

DRA appreciate these communications, but we also sincerely appreciate the £300 donation too! We hope that the money will help us continue and extend our work within the Digbeth community.

A discussion as to what we can use this kind donation will be had at our next meeting, at 6pm on Monday 12th December in the Nomad room, Zellig, Custard Factory. We hope to see you there!

On behalf of DRA, once again, thank you to Kent and everyone at the Rainbow for the support! Remember to like the Rainbow on Facebook to keep informed with what’s on at the legendary venue.

It’s going to be busy in Digbeth tonight with all that’s going on.  First off, there’s Imagine The Digbeth Summit at Eastside Projects at 6.30pm – with presentations from Birmingham Friends of the Earth, Project Pigeon,  Digbeth Residents Association, Friction Arts, Edible Eastside and myself (about Reclaim the Spaces guerilla picnics) to kick-start a discussion around the future of Digbeth.

But it also sees the triple launch of the BASS Festival, Heath Mill Studios and new Digbeth eatery Bay Leaf Restaurant.

Heath Mill Studios, home to the two music and education organisations Access to Music and Armstrong Learning, open their doors at 5.00pm so visitors can enjoy live performances from students and guided tours of the college.  Bay Leaf, a new Bangladeshi restaurant in the Custard Factory, will be there to ‘serve culinary delights throughout the launch, reflecting Birmingham’s multiculturalism and compounding our celebration of music, food, culture, creativity and learning.’

Last but not least, it’s the launch of Punch Records’ 2011 BASS Festival from 8.00pm at The Rainbow. Launching this year’s revolutionary-themed BASS Festival are local acts Ghostpoet, MC Roxxxan and the ‘new downbeat trio from Handsworth and winner of the BASS Talent Award 2011′ Sherrazi – a lovely little taste of what they’re about is above.

Reggae City | Birmingham’s newest and biggest Reggae Festival Vibe! – This Saturday 11th June sees the launch of Reggae City, ‘Birmingham’s leading reggae and roots festival’. The Rainbow will play host to the likes of Luciano, Digital Mystikz, Takan Zion and Peter Spence for an all-night party with a chilled-out, festival feel:

From 4pm to 4am Reggae City presents some of the finest international Roots, Reggae and Dub artists alongside the best of British and West Midlands talent. The event will also explore the huge influence that Reggae has had on today’s dance and club music scene, expect some of the finest reggae inspired Jungle, Dubstep, and Hip-Hop.

Rewired PR | News | BASS Festival set to revolutionise urban culture – Punch Records’ BASS Festival (British Arts and Street Sounds), the UK’s only month-long celebration of Black music and art, returns in June to bring the theme of Revolution to Birmingham with a range of music, arts and fashion events in venues across the city. Digbeth highlights include:

Club nights with Benji B at the Hare and Hounds and local Hip Hop stalwart Juice Aleem at The Rainbow.

Other planned highlights include Pauline Black, lead singer with Two Tone outfit The Selecter, who revolutionised music through the Two Tone movement 30 years ago. BASS Festival marks this key figure for women in music by a special event in the intimate surroundings of The Edge, where she will talk about her career, new book and play tracks from her new album – and hopefully a few old classics to boot.

Trendsetter and US Hip Hop artist Spec Boogie, who hails from the same corner where The Notorious B.I.G once roamed, will be performing his underground SMASH ‘Bed Stuy’ as well as previously unheard material at the Custard Factory. This event is set to be one of THE Hip Hop gigs of the year and a sure fire sell-out.

For more information on BASS Festival and line-up announcements, visit Punch Records at www.punch-records.co.uk

Eclectricity Presents – Electric Carnival – this musical extravanganza is ‘a full on festival experience set across the entire district of Digbeth’ with gigs in the HMV Institute, Custard Factory, Rainbow and Air Nightclub. They may be overstating the case a little by claiming it’s ‘the greatest show on Plaet Earth!’ but with ‘over 75 of the biggest live acts and DJs from around the globe’ it does look like it will be really rather good. Enjoy Electric Carnival ‘for one night only’ on Saturday 4th June from 8pm and party on through until 6am the following morning.

After the huge success of the Flying Low launch night there was a lot to live up to, but thankfully the Flying Low team did not disappoint last Friday.

As promised Flying Low bought together a mix of DJ’s guarenteed to make the crowd go mental.  The event comes to The Rainbow monthly aiming to provide the crowd with a selection of DJ’s who push the boundaries of bass music and mixing.           

The Mcmash Clan tore it up with an epic set, mixing a variety of genres including dubstep, drum and bass, electro, jungle, hip-hop and reggae. The Mcmash Clan are a three man team, Dudgy, Hallmark and Majorkooms. The technical team joined forces in 2005 amd look at DJing as an artform. The trioare best known for their perfectionism and when it comes to creating a journey through music these are definitely the ones to beat. Last year the group got the opportunity to play to a crowd of  8,000 at Glastonbury.

Rattus Rattus also got the crowd going with his party mash up, including a diverse mix of genres from bassline to grime. As part of the Urban Nerds, Rattus Rattus has dropped a selection of dirty beats at a variety of underground venues over the UK including Bigger than Barry and Snowbombing Festival.

For just £6 the night was an absolute blast, with great drink offers and UV paint available for all the hardcore ravers. Flying Event is just getting better and better so don’t miss the next one!

The brothers draw influence from the US saxophonist Donny McCaslin and the post-bop style. The gig will differ slightly in vibe from the rock-influenced bands of recent Jazz Clubs, with a sound more influenced by the contemporary New York scene. What will remain the same is the thrilling new music that emerges from the Courtyard each month.

The fun kicks off at 9pm, entry is £5.

The Jazz Club session at the Rainbow on Wednesday 23rd February originally booked with Tony Levin will now feature both his son Miles Levin and Mark Sanders on drums playing with Paul Dunmall on saxophone and Nick Jurd on double bass.  The Nick Jurd Quartet will start the concert with an opening short set.   This concert with Tony Levin’s son, Miles, and close associates  Paul Dunmall and Mark Sanders and the Nick Jurd Quartet, students from the Jazz Department at Birmingham Conservatoire, will act as a very fitting tribute to Tony Levin.  The session will start at 9pm and ticket income will be donated to Blue Chairs: Shropshire Blood Trust Fund.

NEW Eastern Electronic Festival 2011 « Punch Records – This 28th February – 5th March 2011 is the Eastern Electronic Festival:

The six day festival is packed full of film and music offerings including an explosive citywide music programme, art exhibitions, panel debates and world premieres of visual-artworks at various venues across Birmingham. The Eastern Electronic Festival uniquely programs ambitious and high quality line-ups featuring plenty of electronic visual experimentation with quality music performances by British Asian artists, both locally and overseas, and from traditional to contemporary exploration.

Festival highlights include The Power of The Multi-Cutural Soundtrack with former Asian Dub Foundation member Pandit G (4 March, The factory, Space 2) and a free evening of Eastern Electronic unsigned/emerging music (3 March, The Rainbow).