They’ve had their Noise Abatement trials and tribulations of late but there’s no holding The Rainbow back. No way. They’re carrying onwards and upwards, expanding their empire with ‘a slew of new venues which will further transform the area and the truly unique experience for those that use them’.
The Rainbow pub and The Rainbow warehouse will soon be joined by the following:
The Cellar Door (May 2010)
‘May 2010 sees the start our most ambitious period of metamorphosis yet. How do you get more underground than The Rainbow? – only one way – turn the cellar into a venue. The Cellar Door (opening May 28 2010) – is under the very floorboards of the The Rainbow itself. The original Rainbow now consists of Bar, Courtyard and Cellar each delivering a specific flavour to the overall taste of this unique venue.’
The Mezzanine (July 2010)
‘The Rainbow Warehouse has hosted some legendary nights and provided the springboard for some maverick and massively successful brands. Anyone who promotes here has relished the sense of decadence that comes with partying under the arches or the frisson of danger provided by the imposing industrial ironwork throughout the interior. There is only one place left to go UP. Launching in July 2010 The Mezzanine will ensure Summer Daytime parties will be going to new levels as The Rainbow Warehouse installs an innovative take on The Zoo Project and DC10, and allows for open air partying on tiered levels.’
The Arena (October 2010)
‘The Arena is at the Opposite end of Adderley Street. Bringing massed ranks of more Victorian railway arches under the over-reaching curve of The Rainbow’s embrace – The Arena is set to witness musical mayhem and battles reminiscent of The Coliseum – whose amphitheatre architecture it mimics. This massive site alone can cater for a capacity of 5000.’
‘New Era. New Sounds. No Bounds.’ As Rainbow landlord Kent Davis says.
This year’s Irish literature event at Tuesday, which was part of the St Patrick’s Festival Birmingham Fringe, was as Kent Davis described – ‘great little event that we can build for the future’. It was a lovely, cosy gathering around the The Old Crown’s fireside, with people reading pieces of Irish poetry and prose that meant something to them. The choices were varied.
There were the classics – a brilliantly theatrical reading of Jonathan Swift’s satirical A Meditation Upon A Broomstick and a touching rendition of W B Yeats’ The Isle of Innisfree.
Of course you can’t get through a night of Irish literature without a bit of James Joyce and James Kennedy was brave enough to read us an extract from Ulysses.
John Kennedy, who compered the evening’s proceedings, gave us Seamus Heaney’s heartbreaking poem Mid Term Break.
I dug out my Patrick McCabe books – my favorite Irish author of deathly dark, ‘bog gothic’ novels. I read an extract from Winterwood, which Deirdre O’Bryrne had gotten me musing upon after her recent talk about fathers in Irish literature at February’s Irish Heritage evening.
We also got a taste of some lesser known authors, including some as yet unpublished works – Brummie performance poet Brendan Higgins of Wrote Under gave us his reflections on the Perils of Drinking and The Sounds of Birmingham.
Kent Davis saw this first event as the start of something special, with readings from new writers and higher-profile authors, so keep an eye on what emerges for next year’s festival.
As great as that is, there’s a lot to be said for intimate gatherings of small groups sharing their favourite reads and their thoughts and feelings about them, and I’m sure I heard whisperings about an Irish literature book group as I was leaving. A grand plan – sign me up!
The Birmingham St. Patrick’s Festival Committee are holding a community meeting at the Irish Centre on Thursday 4th February at 7pm in order to discuss all their plans for this year’s Birmingham St Patrick’s Festival and Parade, which this year is on the weekend of 13th March. This is your opportunity to meet with the committee, make your own festival suggestions and share ideas!
The Birmingham St Patrick’s Festival is the biggest community event in the city, and we really depend on community feedback/involvement to ensure we can curate a great festival. Please make every effort to attend and encourage others to do so.
Digbeth Residents’ Association is meeting tonight at 7pm in The Paragon Hotel. Below are the minutes from the last meeting. All are welcome to come this evening – please come along. Items up for discussion are:
The Rainbow’s Noise Abatement Order from Birmingham Council. Both Kent Davis (Rainbow) and John Tighe (Spotted Dog) will be in attendance and will be happy to discuss the issue.
Work has commenced on the children’s play area, Highgate park. Plans were presented last meeting.
Bradford street improvements have now been given the go-ahead. Belated work to start 2010.
This appeal emailed out by John Tighe seemed worthy of copying and pasting for a wider audience:
Kent Davis of The Rainbow has asked for help in support of two retrospective planning applications for the Rainbow Warehouse. These are for premises that are already up and running, licensed and to quote the local police “run in an exemplary manner”.
Kent’s problem is that the Birmingham City Council’s Planning Department (presumably because he is not a major developer helping to enhance our City with unneeded Gerrybuilt flats) has taken issue with the fact that, although all other departments had been satisfied, he had not requested their permission for change of use from warehouse to whatever category it should be. Also, the bit under the arches is officially uncovered so requires some other hoops to be jumped through.
This was a complete oversight. These matters are normally paper-shifting and rubber-stamp jobs – fairly routine. However, considering the recent threats from Environmental Health about noise issues it might be necessary to demonstrate widespread approval from the unwashed majority. Please get involved and get your friends involved. Too much is happening in Digbeth behind our backs!
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