http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/ Check out our gig reviews and previews of gigs in Birmingham and across the West Midlands. We review local bands along with well known singers, rock and pop bands. en-gb http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/2008/05/12/magnum-wulfrun-hall-wolverhampton-97319-20895599/ Sun, 11 May 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/2008/05/12/magnum-wulfrun-hall-wolverhampton-97319-20895599/ MARKING the 20th anniversary of the now classic album Wings of Heaven, Magnum arrived on stage to thunderous applause from a near capacity audience. http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/2008/05/12/midge-ure-wulfrun-hall-wolverhampton-97319-20895600/ Sun, 11 May 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/2008/05/12/midge-ure-wulfrun-hall-wolverhampton-97319-20895600/ FOR a night of classic acoustic rock, you couldn't go far wrong than a gig by singer/ songwriter Midge Ure. http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/2008/05/12/hadouken-carling-academy-birmingham-97319-20895886/ Sun, 11 May 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/2008/05/12/hadouken-carling-academy-birmingham-97319-20895886/ ON a hot, steamy night at the Academy everyone was up for a party - and boy, did they get one. http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/2008/05/12/shirley-valentine-lichfield-garrick-studio-97319-20895894/ Sun, 11 May 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/2008/05/12/shirley-valentine-lichfield-garrick-studio-97319-20895894/ SAY Shirley Valentine to most people and they think of Pauline Collins and Tom Conti but Willie Russell's play started life a few years earlier in 1986 at the Everyman, Liverpool as a bittersweet monologue. http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/2008/05/09/crystal-castles-carling-academy-97319-20886153/ Thu, 08 May 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/2008/05/09/crystal-castles-carling-academy-97319-20886153/ TORONTO'S finest slayed a ridiculously small crowd at the Carling Academy as they came to Birmingham as headliners of the NME New Noise Tour. http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/2008/05/09/south-pacific-lichfield-operatic-society-lichfield-garrick-97319-20886158/ Thu, 08 May 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/2008/05/09/south-pacific-lichfield-operatic-society-lichfield-garrick-97319-20886158/ THIS lively production of the much-loved Rodgers & Hammerstein musical is proving a big hit at the box office, and it's easy to see why. http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/2008/05/06/nick-cave-the-bad-seeds-birmingham-academy-97319-20867631/ Mon, 05 May 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/2008/05/06/nick-cave-the-bad-seeds-birmingham-academy-97319-20867631/ NICK Cave had a packed Birmingham Academy eating from his hands as enthusiastically as the pigeons in Trafalgar Square. http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/2008/05/01/david-essex-wolverhampton-civic-hall-97319-20846908/ Wed, 30 Apr 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/2008/05/01/david-essex-wolverhampton-civic-hall-97319-20846908/ WITH a wealth of material going back nearly 40 years, it would be hard for any one person to come up with as good a set list and showmanship as David Essex does. http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/2008/04/29/an-english-celebration-concert-for-st-george-s-day-symphony-hall-97319-20835426/ Mon, 28 Apr 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/2008/04/29/an-english-celebration-concert-for-st-george-s-day-symphony-hall-97319-20835426/ Birmingham's St George's Day weekend of activities ended with this first-class concert. http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/2008/04/28/bjork-civic-hall-wolverhampton-97319-20830556/ Sun, 27 Apr 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/2008/04/28/bjork-civic-hall-wolverhampton-97319-20830556/ BEING dull and predictable are words you can never use to describe Bjork and this amazing gig showed why. http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/2008/04/28/the-kooks-birmingham-academy-97319-20830563/ Sun, 27 Apr 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/2008/04/28/the-kooks-birmingham-academy-97319-20830563/ THE Kooks couldn't have got a worse press in recent months if they'd rigged the Zimbabwean elections or gone on stage clutching the Olympic torch every night. http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/2008/04/25/the-blue-planet-live-birmingham-symphony-hall-97319-20819576/ Thu, 24 Apr 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/2008/04/25/the-blue-planet-live-birmingham-symphony-hall-97319-20819576/ WITH breath-taking film from the BBC television series of the same name, The Blue Planet Live! takes the audience where it can never hope to go in real life. http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/2008/04/23/cbso-mahler-symphony-n-5-symphony-hall-97319-20806048/ Tue, 22 Apr 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/2008/04/23/cbso-mahler-symphony-n-5-symphony-hall-97319-20806048/ "LOVE the score, who's this Mahler guy's agent?" an ignorant Hollywood executive is supposed to have said after the premiere of the 1971 arthouse film Death In Venice, which featured the long-dead Mahler's mighty Fifth Symphony. http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/2008/04/22/edwyn-collins-glee-club-birmingham-97319-20799595/ Mon, 21 Apr 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/2008/04/22/edwyn-collins-glee-club-birmingham-97319-20799595/ EDWYN Collins was given a rapturous ovation from the Glee Club after finishing his set with the brilliant 1995 hit A Girl Like You, because they'd never met a singer recovering from a brain haemorrhage before. http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/2008/04/21/captain-barfly-birmingham-97319-20794161/ Sun, 20 Apr 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/2008/04/21/captain-barfly-birmingham-97319-20794161/ PITCHED somewhere in the cavernous gap between The Cure and Smashing Pumpkins, Captain are a confused band who just cannot be all things to all men. http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/2008/04/21/we-are-scientists-birmingham-academy-97319-20794189/ Sun, 20 Apr 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/2008/04/21/we-are-scientists-birmingham-academy-97319-20794189/ IT TOOK me a little while to work out what was missing from this gig - choruses. http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/2008/04/18/ocean-colour-scene-back-in-brum-97319-20783422/ Fri, 18 Apr 2008 07:21:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/2008/04/18/ocean-colour-scene-back-in-brum-97319-20783422/ WHEN Brit-Pop ruled the waves in the mid-nineties Ocean Colour Scene navigated choppy waters to major success. http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/2008/04/18/dominic-kirwan-tamworth-assembly-rooms-97319-20784314/ Thu, 17 Apr 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/2008/04/18/dominic-kirwan-tamworth-assembly-rooms-97319-20784314/ IRISH favourite Dominic Kirwan rocked with his West Midland fans in a show that had groovy grannies crowding in front of the stage yelling for more. http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/2008/04/18/the-long-blondes-birmingham-academy-97319-20784319/ Thu, 17 Apr 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/2008/04/18/the-long-blondes-birmingham-academy-97319-20784319/ IT WAS a brave decision by The Long Blondes to rework the sound that brought them initial fame. http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/2008/04/16/crazy-for-you-coleshill-operatic-society-solihull-library-theatre-97319-20771408/ Tue, 15 Apr 2008 23:00:00 GMT http://www.birminghammail.net/what-is-on-in-birmingham/birmingham-gig-reviews/2008/04/16/crazy-for-you-coleshill-operatic-society-solihull-library-theatre-97319-20771408/ THIS is an excellent, light-footed show, with a pleasing team of dancers and, in Andrew Alton, who also directs, a central character who has clearly thrown himself into the business of learning to tap.