Brum Blog #1
Orginally published here on 15/11/06
Given that Edwards No 8, which burnt down on Saturday, was frequented on the whole by those of the goth / rock persuasion it's not that strange to find a lot of mentions on the Google Blog Search, and while most of them can be summarised with "OMG! Edwards burnt down!" there were a few poignant comments, not to mention a couple of first hand accounts.
Best of the bunch is Silver Footed Gig Slut (who I'll be keeping an eye on I think). Scroll down half way for the tribute, of which this is but an excerpt.
"Moving on... to the back of this room, through the sea of emo, was the room known as the Hair Metal room, even when there was no Hair Metal playing. It had paintings of a sexy Snow White and demonic seven dwarves on the walls, and too many shot based drinks for its own good. Or ours, anyway. And a sticky floor. Anyway, reversing out away from Glenn's wildly flailing hair, we'd go upstairs to the 'other main' room. This would be the goth stomping ground; literally, you know that one-two sideways stomp they do because their boots are too big and heavy to get any flexibility round their ankles. Awesome."
More blog posts and one from UCE's RockSoc which says there's a wake being held at Scruffy Murphy's "next Thursday". There's also a thread on the LiveJournal's Birmingham community which I've found myself contributing to.
I hadn't been to Edwards for years (and sorely regret not making a pilgrimage of late) but it did provide some of my best nights out in the mid 90s. My housemates, you see, were goths. In fact they wound up running Goth Soc at Birmingham Uni for a while and I even DJ'd a couple of their club nights at Eddies. That was where I discovered, to my amazement, that The Sun Always Shines On TV by a-ha is the best goth record ever record ever made. Yes, really. Despite my liking for black clothing I was never a goth, nor much of a metalhead, and found the whole thing kinda funny, but even if the music sucked the nights themselves, coupled with the insane dedication to dressing up, were tremendous fun. And I sprained my wrist dancing like a drunken loon in the indie disco there on my 23rd Birthday.
On the Sunday after the fire I happened to be in town for the Flickrmeet and passed by the area to see what could be seen. Not much, since it was still cordoned off, but there were small gatherings of folk looking sad, some young, some old. And I felt a bit sad too, though oddly pleased that the stench of smoke had made it all the way to the Bullring. That seemed fitting somehow.
Right now the front page of the says "We hope to be up and running again either in the club or at an alternative location ASAP... For now we have had to cancel all upcoming gigs, however we are seeking an alternative venue. So be optimistic, and lets all look forward to the club's return in the not too distant future."
Photo
Remembrance Sunday in Centenary Square, taken by Matt Murtagh
Music
News to me, but we're half way through a massive music festival in Birmingham at the moment. With 100 performances in 19 venues over 3 months and most of them for free Birmingham Rocks looks like the sort of thing everyone should at least have heard of. Here's the lineup which runs until the end of the year. (via BBC Bham)
Links
The Birmingham Post has a long article on Stripsearch, the comics outreach program run by local comics luminaries John McCrea and Hunt Emerson with the Hi8tus project. (via Ten4)
Last week Jon Bounds of Birmingham: It's Not Shit scored high with a piece in the Guardian pushing those areas of the city that aren't on the marketing radar. Expect to see some new faces at Mr Egg and the Nature Centre.
BiNS also draws attention to a public meeting to save Moseley Baths, one of only three Grade II* listed swimming pools still in use in the country, which is apparently under threat. The meeting is on November 27th.
Again with Moseley, the Telegraph covered the area in their guide to the best regional food with an emphasis on the farmers market and local independent shops. (via Jez)
Given that Edwards No 8, which burnt down on Saturday, was frequented on the whole by those of the goth / rock persuasion it's not that strange to find a lot of mentions on the Google Blog Search, and while most of them can be summarised with "OMG! Edwards burnt down!" there were a few poignant comments, not to mention a couple of first hand accounts.Best of the bunch is Silver Footed Gig Slut (who I'll be keeping an eye on I think). Scroll down half way for the tribute, of which this is but an excerpt.
"Moving on... to the back of this room, through the sea of emo, was the room known as the Hair Metal room, even when there was no Hair Metal playing. It had paintings of a sexy Snow White and demonic seven dwarves on the walls, and too many shot based drinks for its own good. Or ours, anyway. And a sticky floor. Anyway, reversing out away from Glenn's wildly flailing hair, we'd go upstairs to the 'other main' room. This would be the goth stomping ground; literally, you know that one-two sideways stomp they do because their boots are too big and heavy to get any flexibility round their ankles. Awesome."
More blog posts and one from UCE's RockSoc which says there's a wake being held at Scruffy Murphy's "next Thursday". There's also a thread on the LiveJournal's Birmingham community which I've found myself contributing to.
I hadn't been to Edwards for years (and sorely regret not making a pilgrimage of late) but it did provide some of my best nights out in the mid 90s. My housemates, you see, were goths. In fact they wound up running Goth Soc at Birmingham Uni for a while and I even DJ'd a couple of their club nights at Eddies. That was where I discovered, to my amazement, that The Sun Always Shines On TV by a-ha is the best goth record ever record ever made. Yes, really. Despite my liking for black clothing I was never a goth, nor much of a metalhead, and found the whole thing kinda funny, but even if the music sucked the nights themselves, coupled with the insane dedication to dressing up, were tremendous fun. And I sprained my wrist dancing like a drunken loon in the indie disco there on my 23rd Birthday.
On the Sunday after the fire I happened to be in town for the Flickrmeet and passed by the area to see what could be seen. Not much, since it was still cordoned off, but there were small gatherings of folk looking sad, some young, some old. And I felt a bit sad too, though oddly pleased that the stench of smoke had made it all the way to the Bullring. That seemed fitting somehow.
Right now the front page of the says "We hope to be up and running again either in the club or at an alternative location ASAP... For now we have had to cancel all upcoming gigs, however we are seeking an alternative venue. So be optimistic, and lets all look forward to the club's return in the not too distant future."
Photo
Remembrance Sunday in Centenary Square, taken by Matt Murtagh
Music
News to me, but we're half way through a massive music festival in Birmingham at the moment. With 100 performances in 19 venues over 3 months and most of them for free Birmingham Rocks looks like the sort of thing everyone should at least have heard of. Here's the lineup which runs until the end of the year. (via BBC Bham)
Links
The Birmingham Post has a long article on Stripsearch, the comics outreach program run by local comics luminaries John McCrea and Hunt Emerson with the Hi8tus project. (via Ten4)
Last week Jon Bounds of Birmingham: It's Not Shit scored high with a piece in the Guardian pushing those areas of the city that aren't on the marketing radar. Expect to see some new faces at Mr Egg and the Nature Centre.
BiNS also draws attention to a public meeting to save Moseley Baths, one of only three Grade II* listed swimming pools still in use in the country, which is apparently under threat. The meeting is on November 27th.
Again with Moseley, the Telegraph covered the area in their guide to the best regional food with an emphasis on the farmers market and local independent shops. (via Jez)
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