UB40 played their Raise The Roof gig at The Rainbow last night, raising publicity to the campaign against the Noise Abatement order as well as money for a new, sound-insulating roof. Photographer Karen Strunks listened to her gut instinct and went to the gig sans press pass, but managed to sweet-talk her way in (she’s good at that) and got some great photos.
UB40 gave their support to The Rainbow because it is under threat as it has received a noise abatement order from local residents (or resident). Although the landlord Kent Davis has agreed to build a noise insulating roof, there was still more funding needed. UB40 stepped in, and the sales from the tickets and takings behind the bar will go towards the new roof. Digbeth is a vital part of Birmingham’s cultural scene and the music in and around the area plays an important role. I hope that tonight, The Rainbow has managed to raise all the funding needed. As the local saying goes “Keep Digbeth Vibrant!”
UB40 – One In Ten – Steve Recommends… – Tonight UB40 are playing a free gig at The Rainbow to help them Raise The Roof and hopefully fend off the noise abatement madness. Here, according to Steve Lawson, is why it’s important:
…UB40 are playing a gig at The Rainbow in Birmingham. A venue plagued by problems in a city where music venues are disappearing at a rate of knots. It’s a pretty big statement for them to do this, and hopefully the conversation will continue to grow about what needs to happen to protect that vital voice in Birmingham Culture that its music scene has provided over the years.
It’s also a chance to hear UB40 without any of the trappings or expectation of an arena show. Most bands get less interesting the bigger they get. Throw them back into a pub gig, and it all gets vibrant again. I’m here to be won back :) It’ll be broadcast live on Rhubarb Radio.
The gig is sold out, but you can catch them live on Rhubarb Radio from 8pm.
On Sunday afternoon, after my last stint on Rhubarb Radio’s Sunday Local show, I joined Nikki Pugh and the sizable gang she’d recruited on an Eastside Walk along the area’s boundary, which she’s been wandering repeatedly around with GPS devices for the last few weeks.
But there were no GPS devices this time. This walk was dedicated to taking the time to explore, examine and record our discoveries in whatever way we saw fit. I particularly liked Pete Ashton’s film and photo hybrids (with his homemade Flip/camera contraption). Here he is in action getting the shots in the film above:
I’d been contacted the previous week by Katy, an art student at Birmingham City University working with found objects, so thought I’d collect some items for the DiGpuss shop to pass onto her. Here are the things I found – my favorite item was the double pushchair, which became a useful receptacle to collect and carry the finds in.
Although I’ve given up presenting Sunday Local regularly (I’ve decided to stick with what they taught me in school and make Sunday a much-needed Day of Rest), Michael Grimes is carrying it onwards and upwards and will be presenting it this Sunday with Pete Ashton. So tune into Rhubarb Radio 12-2pm!
Weather permitting, we will meet at the Old Crown pub 2pm for a 2.30 start. We will then walk once around the perimeter of the regeneration area taking great care to stop, investigate, prod, document, tell stories about and explore things along the way. A no-frills walk takes about 90 minutes, so be prepared for this one to last 2 or more hours….Kendall mint cake optional.
Nikki will be popping by Rhubarb Radio Sunday Local show on (12-2pm) to talk about her Eastside drawings and make last-minute weather announcements, so tune in and hope rain doesn’t stop play as it could contribute to something pretty special:
I have the beginnings of an idea that I might collate the photos, GPS drawings and other documentations into a printed magazine so that there is some sort of a record of what things are like now (and how we remember them being in the past) that we can look at a few years down the line when everything will have changed beyond recognition.
The last post about my uber-busy Digbeth weekend. I started Sunday off in the Rhubarb Radio studio presenting Sunday Local with Michael Grimes. It’s a weekly show we do at 12-2pm every Sunday about all things local, be it news, events, music or whatever takes our fancy. John Mostyn popped by to fill us in on the imminent Digbeth O’Lympics, which cartoonist Alex Hughes, who likes to come in and document the proceedings, captured nicely.
Digbeth O'Lympics by Alex Hughes
Karen Strunks and Shona McQuillan also joined us in the studio. After the show we filled up on a nice big dinner at The Big Bulls Head before facing the games. The slideshow of Pete Ashton’s photos above documents our day, which was gloriously anarchic.
We missed the Opening Ceremony, so joined the fun at the Cardboard Coracle Race in the Custard Factory pool. Unfortunately, paint had been spilled into the water the day before so it looked like chemical waste, but at least it hid the fag butts, beer bottles and Christ knows what else was floating around in there.
From there we moved onto The Old Crown, where John Tighe was placed in the stocks for Noise Crimes, and pelted with water balloons.
We moved onto the Spotted Dog, where rumour reached us that someone had thrown an egg 60 feet in The Anchor’s Egg-a-thon and caught it without it breaking. In other news, children were seen running around in custard-filled wellies outside The Wagon and Horses. The Tug-of-War at The Fountain was sadly cancelled due to lack of rope.
Next came the Soapbox Race, which seriously surpassed itself this year for having the sheer gall to take place on Bradford Street, traffic be damned (to listen to their beeping, you’d have thought they were). There were some brilliant creations, such as the Penguin Carrier and a weird Grandad Armchair-Trike hybrid.
After that the children went off to enjoy a Snail Race at The Spotted Dog, whilst the more rebellious amongst us headed to The Rainbow for the Rock ‘n’ Roll triathlon of Sex, Drugs and Rock ‘n’ Roll. I couldn’t resist taking part in this one, which included necking sambucca, blowing up a sex doll and snorting a (legal) line before downing a pint. Unsurprisingly, I was crap. But the humiliation was worth it for the sheer satisfaction that is chucking a telly out of the window.
'Nicky Getgood Housekeeping' says Katchooo
It must of been even more satisfying for those who hit the bullseye target that was Martin Mullaney’s face.
The games ended back at The Spotted Dog with a bizarre Awards Ceremony (I haven’t a clue who won, or why John Tighe drunkenly beat up a penguin) and an extra-special announcement from John Mostyn:
The Free State of Digbeth has no constitution. It has no geographical boundaries. It is the most powerful of all states – a stare of mind.
Oh yes. The Free State of Digbeth is born. We are independent. These streets are ours. We are free. Free to use our roads to race sopaboxes down and throw tellies upon. Free to use our paint-filled pools to sail in boats that sink like lead balloons. Free to wang wellies. Free to lob eggs.
Behind Closed Doors » Rhubarb radio – If you can tune into Rhubarb Radio tonight (Wednesday 29th July) to hear Anne Guest with Leon Trimble discussing her part in the Unnatural Selection Project in The Rea Garden on Floodgate Street.
There’s also free craft-based, green fingered family workshops taking place at the Rea Garden this Saturday 1 August:
Lead by trained garden designer Heather Goodchild, children and their parents will create natural habitats for bumble bees and three dimensional butterflies and other insects from garden vegetation. Visitors will also be shown which plants encourage insects, particularly the endangered bumble bee, into a British garden and how to plant these effectively. Free plant cuttings, posters and flyers will be given away.
To book a place on a free workshop, email midlandcity@blueyonder.co.uk. Workshops will take place on a rolling basis, between 12 and 3pm.
The Rainbow was packed on Friday night with people waiting to see Kent Davis react to Birmingham City Council’s serving of a Noise Abatement Order against his much-loved live music venue. And what a stirring, impassioned speech it was – people were saying things like ‘Henry V’ and ‘Agincourt’ afterwards. If you missed it (and trust me, you missed something a bit special), Pete Ashton caught the whole thing on his Flip camera:
I caught up with Kent afterwards, who described himself as ‘overwhealmed’ with the level of support he’s received:
I also had a chat with Digbeth Residents’ Association Chair Adam Crossley, who mused that The Rainbow had really caught the public imagination and was possibly a ‘better platform’ for tackling the issue than The Spotted Dog was.
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Normally, I would link to all the other online media regarding this nonsense around about here. But I don’t need to. Pete Ashton’s gone and done the job for me by creating a thread on The Rainbow’s Facebook group.
Rhubarb Radio scoops the Digital Innovation Award – Birmingham community station Rhubarb Radio, based in the Custard Factory, has won the Digital Innovation Award at the Midlands Media Awards. It was presented to them at tonight’s ceremony in New Bingley Hall, Hockley. Congratulations!
