It made a nice change to go to a gig and not get battered about on the way there by the deluge of storms we’ve faced over the last few weeks. It was a bloody cold night, but Editors are the perfect band to get the crowd moving enough to forget about the weather. […]
The Murder Capital + Egyptian Blue + Unorthodox Coolock @ O2 Institute 24th Feb 2020

It’s easy to get carried away in the here and now, especially with music. Sometimes you have the feeling that the stars have aligned and that the gods of music have stricken down on you with the full weight of their hammer with some righteous intent. Sometimes, you awake to reality the next morning and […]
Smoke Fairies @ The Sunflower Lounge, 7th February 2020

The venue fills up early on in the evening in preparation for John J Presley ‘s support slot. He has frequented the stage at The Sunflower Lounge many a time in various bands and solo arrangements, however, tonight it is just him and drummer, Paul May, bringing his shadowy interpretation of the blues to the […]
Papa Roach @ O2 Academy, 29th April 2019

The unpredictable, yet always charming Papa Roach take over O2 Academy Birmingham again, touring in support of their 10th studio album released earlier this year. Title track ‘Who Do You Trust,’ together with ‘Renegade Music’ and ‘Not The Only One’ teased what turned out to be an unexpected album, presenting a fresh mix of weirdly enthusiastic […]
Photo Feature – Slaves @ The Institute, 18th May 2015

Slaves showed us exactly what to do with a sold venue at the Institute on Monday. If you were there, you’ll know exactly what we mean, if you weren’t it looked a little bit like this… You can see the latest list of Slaves live dates here. Photos: Katja Ogrin Tweet
Patent Pending + Suburban Legends + Mario & The Brick Breakers + The Hype Theory @ The Institute – 17th October 2014

A fairly last minute change to the venue opening time meant I arrived at The Institute, Birmingham to an already packed out room that was quite clearly enjoying the first band of the night – The Hype Theory. Although I didn’t manage to catch all of The Hype Theory I did see enough to know […]
Gary Numan @ Wulfrun Hall, Wolverhampton – Tuesday 19th November 2013

Gary Numan closes his hugely successful Splinter tour tonight in Wolverhampton. The venue is packed out with different generations of Numan fans. The critically aclaimed new album has given Numan his first top 20 album chart spot since the Warriors album in 1983, and definitely one of his best in a long time. Tonight’s opening act […]
Kodaline @ The Institute, Birmingham – Friday 8th November 2013

The queue stretched far around the corner from the doors of the HMV Institute half an hour before they opened. A sign of the great anticipation of what was to come, as Dublin’s band of 2013 came into town. This was a crowd of people out to love every minute of what was about to […]
Wiz Khalifa @ O2 Academy, Birmingham – Saturday 28th September 2013

It was so smoky in the Birmingham O2 Academy tonight that I could barely see the support for the evening, Trinidad James but I could definitely hear him. The repetitive piercing base featured in every track which meant that it was impossible to work out what Trinidad was yelling about. To be honest on tracks […]
The Amity Affliction @ O2 Academy 3, Birmingham – Sunday 15th September 2013

Over the course of this year, The Amity Affliction have been undertaking their biggest tour to date under the banner ‘Brothers In Arms’ tour, rounded out on the UK leg by supports in the form of the UK’s Landscapes and fellow Australians In Hearts Wake. Tonight the tour calls into the O2 Academy 3 in […]