Saw Led Zeppelin in Birmingham in 1971- brilliant gig. At the Odeon in the 1960s I saw the Beatles, Dave Dee and the rest of them, Jimi Hendrix and The Kinks. At the Crown and Cushion in Perry Barr saw the Way of Life and The Crazy World of Arthur Brown who nearly set fire to the curtains!
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Groups We Have Seen Live
- Thread starter carolina
- Start date
Brummie a long time ago
master brummie
I have seen Pink Floyd. Julie has screamed for Cliff Richard. Both before we met. We have seen Sandie Shaw together.
We have had sheltered lives compared to others here.
Andrew.
We have had sheltered lives compared to others here.
Andrew.
peters2boys
proper brummie kid
Have seen many of them too.In the days, when music really was music.Happy days.Have many of them on my jukebox.
Does anyone know if there is an archive of all the gigs at Birmingham Town Hall. I am looking specifically for Free supported by The Sutherland Brothers in the early 70's? Many thanks.
A Sparks
master brummie
There is this website for bands although I'm sure it's only as complete as the information they have found/been given... this is the entry for Free, no mention of Birmingham Town Hall on the page...
Free
1968 Line-Up: (April 19, 1968 to May 9, 1971) Paul Rodgers - vocals Paul Kossoff - guitar Andy Fraser - bass Simon Kirke - drums April 19, 1968 Nags Head, Battersea, ENG (first rehearsal) June 21, 1968 Marquee, London, ENG July 15, 1968 BBC Studio 1 Piccadilly, London, ENG (UK Radio "Top Gear"...
Sutherland Brothers played there twice as a support act in late 71 / early 72 but not to Free.
Sutherland Brothers & Quiver
Quiver 1970 May 8, 1970 Mothers, Birmingham, ENG (supporting Pete Drummond) May 10, 1970 Marquee, London, ENG (supporting Forevermore) June 6, 1970 Farx, Potters Bar, ENG (supporting Black Widow) June 11, 1970 Marquee, London, ENG (supporting Heavy Jelly & Jackie Lomax) August 7, 1970 Speakeasy...
There's this website too, which goes back to the 70's if you want to have a look through that!
Wow, I was at loads of those gigs, used to be at the Odeon practically every week. Great memories.A link to the bands who played the Odeon in 1980, some great names appeared that year .
New Street Odeon's fantastic 1980 gigs list that reads like the best ever
Before it became a multi-screen cinema, the New Street Odeon was a favourite gig venue for many with Duran Duran, UB40, Ozzy Osbourne, Van Halen and Black Sabbath all playing there in 1980www.birminghammail.co.uk
Source: Birmingham Live accessed 24/4/2023 @ 14:15 hrs
We went to Birmingham Town Hall yesterday evening to see Lindisfarne. The taxi driver dropped us on the corner of Margaret St and Edmund St and said he'd pick us up at the same place later. He could have said "Meet me on the Corner". Great show but how we miss Alan Hull.
Despite not being a local, my first experience of a proper stadium-scale gig was in Birmingham. My dad took me to see Page & Plant at the NEC. They'd recently released No Quarter, and did a mix of songs from that and the old Led Zeppelin standards, ably supported by a chap from the Cure and great variety of world music folk, including a very talented hurdy-gurdy player. Amazing experience. That first aftermath sensation of being able to do nothing but enjoy the residual buzz as your hearing slowly returns over the next few hours.
Odeon Gigs I can remember going to,
The Rolling Stones 1973
Slade
Bad Company ( Plant, Page and Bonham came on for 3 encore songs)
The Small Faces - 70s reformed Version
Motörhead / Girls School
Be Bop Deluxe / John Cooper Clarke
The Police
and a few others that memory fails to recall.
Also caught Heavy Metal Kids , AC/DC at The Mayfair Suite.
The Rolling Stones 1973
Slade
Bad Company ( Plant, Page and Bonham came on for 3 encore songs)
The Small Faces - 70s reformed Version
Motörhead / Girls School
Be Bop Deluxe / John Cooper Clarke
The Police
and a few others that memory fails to recall.
Also caught Heavy Metal Kids , AC/DC at The Mayfair Suite.
poker_pete82
master brummie
Paul McCartney
Donovan
The Who
Bob Dylan
The Rolling Stones
Neil Young
Coldplay
Kasabian
Oasis
Guns N Roses
Prodigy
Echo and the bunnymen
Stone Roses
Ian Brown
Ocean colour scene
Foo fighters
Peter Hook
First aid Kit
Greta van fleet
Many more lesser known bands (and some I've forgotten) and all of the above post 1995. Oh what id give to have been around in the 60's with all those bands!
Bands i wish i had the chance to see
Beatles
Pink Floyd
Jimi Hendrix
Cream
The Kinks
Joy Division
Queen
Simon & Garfunkle
Led Zeppelin
Black sabbath
Donovan
The Who
Bob Dylan
The Rolling Stones
Neil Young
Coldplay
Kasabian
Oasis
Guns N Roses
Prodigy
Echo and the bunnymen
Stone Roses
Ian Brown
Ocean colour scene
Foo fighters
Peter Hook
First aid Kit
Greta van fleet
Many more lesser known bands (and some I've forgotten) and all of the above post 1995. Oh what id give to have been around in the 60's with all those bands!
Bands i wish i had the chance to see
Beatles
Pink Floyd
Jimi Hendrix
Cream
The Kinks
Joy Division
Queen
Simon & Garfunkle
Led Zeppelin
Black sabbath
Eric Gibson
master brummie
All that 'modern stuff' 
I saw Nat King Cole at the Odeon New Street, Shirley Bassey at the Colston hall Bristol Simon and Garfunkel at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin and a few others at the Crystal Room in Hereford also back in the fifties a few old timers at the Aston Hippodrome.
I saw Nat King Cole at the Odeon New Street, Shirley Bassey at the Colston hall Bristol Simon and Garfunkel at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin and a few others at the Crystal Room in Hereford also back in the fifties a few old timers at the Aston Hippodrome.
jukebox
Engineer Brummie
At the Odeon, New Street - Shirley Bassey, Sasha Distel with Olivia Newton John; at the Night Out Lonnie Donegan, Jack Jones; at the NEC Neil Diamond, and a charity concert organised by Jasper Carrott which included Chris de Burgh, Jamelia, Shaking Stevens; at Solihull Arts Centre George Melly, Acker Bilk, Joe Brown, Helen Shapiro; at Redditch Theatre Chas and Dave, Ken Dodd
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Duran Duran - at the Blues ground
OMD - at the NEC
Simply Red ( Rehearsal On a NEC car park !)
David Bowie - Bingley Hall, Stafford (The Cowshed, Not Brum I know, but still in The Midlands).
(The Rolling Stones, numerous times but as we all know they haven't played in or near Birmingham since the 70s. Apart from Coventry in 2018)
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Eric Gibson
master brummie
This one at the Aston Hipp would cause a bit of a hullabaloo now, the Chocolate coloured coon.
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Eric Gibson
master brummie
Some of his music here:
Eric Gibson
master brummie
What I haven't said is that I didn't need to go to the theatre to see some of the bands you have mentioned, where I had my business in Clearwell the local castle was used as a recording and practice studio for many groups and I served them in the shop and garage, Deep Purple, Badfinger, ELO, Whitesnake, Sweet, Black Sabbath, Queen, Bad Company, Led Zeppelin and Dire Straits come to mind immediately.
The studio's gone now and the place has become a wedding venue, if you fancy a posh wedding.
The studio's gone now and the place has become a wedding venue, if you fancy a posh wedding.
Youngest Thorne
proper brummie kid
Got to throw a bit of me in here. Following a heap of early days gigs at the Ritz in Kings Heath and Mother's in Erdington I saw Rory Gallagher twice. Once at Kinetic Circus (supported by Nazareth) and once at the Pulse. Brilliant, but the best gigs of all had to be Jeff Beck twice. Odeon and NEC were the venues. Absolutely unbeatable. He was a genius. The bonus was Jan Hammer as his keyboard player with no bass player at the Odeon show.
jukebox
Engineer Brummie
Having just read about the passing of Laurie Holloway, pianist, composer and musical director, reminded me that I went to see his wife Marion Montgomery give a recital at the Birmingham Conservatoire, must have been 1980s or 90s. She is probably best remembered as resident singer on the Michael Parkinson Show in the 1970s.
I once bumped into Tony Iommi outside Curry's superstore on Marshall Lake Road, Solihull. He lived in Dorridge at the time.
Very friendly.
He also came into Scruffy Murphy's, Dale End, for a Photo and Radio Interview a couple of years ago.
BARTLEY GREEN
Ex Fellwalker
I can't be the only one that went to see Steeleye Span.
Down Memory Lane
master brummie
I was going to see them but I had gout that day… I’ll get my coat!
adap2it
master brummie
I saw them at Convocation Hall in Toronto in the early 70's
Dave A
Hats off to you people
i cannot compete with the no of artists you have all seen
i can count mine on one hand
i did do alot of work for UB40
But back in the 70s i took my Mother
to see David Essex at the odeon new st
as birthday treat i was only guy there
anyway for his 1st no he walked down the aisle
towards the stage only stoping once to greet my Mum
he had a couple of heavies watching his back
made my Mum shred a happy tear
those were the days
i cannot compete with the no of artists you have all seen
i can count mine on one hand
i did do alot of work for UB40
But back in the 70s i took my Mother
to see David Essex at the odeon new st
as birthday treat i was only guy there
anyway for his 1st no he walked down the aisle
towards the stage only stoping once to greet my Mum
he had a couple of heavies watching his back
made my Mum shred a happy tear
those were the days
If anyone still has any tickets from concerts that they attended back in the day, you may well be sitting on a gold mine. I noticed the ticket stubs below for Birmingham concerts, are up for auction on Monday at Richard Winterton (Lichfield) and the current bid is £340!
The 17 tickets relate to THE BEATLES - ROY ORBISON SHOW, Town Hall Birmingham, 4th June 1963, THE BEATLES, Odeon Theatre Birmingham, 2nd Perf. October 11th, THE SEARCHERS, Odeon Theatre Birmingham, 2nd Performance, November 12th, ACKER BILK, Town Hall Birmingham, 12th December 1962, KENNY BALL AND HIS JAZZMEN, Town Hall Birmingham, 1th February 1964 (2) YOUR LUCKY STARS, Hippodrome Birmingham, 2nd Performance March 24th, ticket with FATUEUILS?, Hippodrome Birmingham, 2nd Performance, August 1st, THE CLIFF RICHARD SHOW, Hippodrome Birmingham, 2nd Performance February 24th, THE BILLY J. KRAMER SHOW, Hippodrome Birmingham, 2nd Performance, March 8th (2) BOBBY VEE / THE SEARCHERS, Odeon Theatre Birmingham, 2nd Performance, March 18th (2) THE BRENDA LEE SHOW, Town Hall Birmingham, 20th March 1963 (this show promoted by DON ARDEN) THE DAVE BRUBECK QUARTET, Town Hall Birmingham, 26th November 1962 and JAZZ 1963, Town Hall Birmingham, presented by The Musicians Union and The Labour Party, 14th October 1963 (complete ticket) together with one ticket stub from the Royal Shakespeare Theatre Stratford.
The 17 tickets relate to THE BEATLES - ROY ORBISON SHOW, Town Hall Birmingham, 4th June 1963, THE BEATLES, Odeon Theatre Birmingham, 2nd Perf. October 11th, THE SEARCHERS, Odeon Theatre Birmingham, 2nd Performance, November 12th, ACKER BILK, Town Hall Birmingham, 12th December 1962, KENNY BALL AND HIS JAZZMEN, Town Hall Birmingham, 1th February 1964 (2) YOUR LUCKY STARS, Hippodrome Birmingham, 2nd Performance March 24th, ticket with FATUEUILS?, Hippodrome Birmingham, 2nd Performance, August 1st, THE CLIFF RICHARD SHOW, Hippodrome Birmingham, 2nd Performance February 24th, THE BILLY J. KRAMER SHOW, Hippodrome Birmingham, 2nd Performance, March 8th (2) BOBBY VEE / THE SEARCHERS, Odeon Theatre Birmingham, 2nd Performance, March 18th (2) THE BRENDA LEE SHOW, Town Hall Birmingham, 20th March 1963 (this show promoted by DON ARDEN) THE DAVE BRUBECK QUARTET, Town Hall Birmingham, 26th November 1962 and JAZZ 1963, Town Hall Birmingham, presented by The Musicians Union and The Labour Party, 14th October 1963 (complete ticket) together with one ticket stub from the Royal Shakespeare Theatre Stratford.
Godber
master brummie
Of the modest number of bands I’ve seen play live, a couple in particular stand out. I was lucky enough to see Fleetwood Mac play with the Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Christine McVie, Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham line up. I was worried I’d be disappointed as they were all around 70 at the time or close to it, but I was stunned by their performance. Lindsay Buckingham, who had the physique of a welterweight boxer, ran around for almost two hours and only left the stage once when Mick Fleetwood beat the snot out of his kit for an extended drum solo. Incredible. The other performance that stands out was by The Cult at the NEC many years ago. I’ve seen Aerosmith and David Lee Roth live (both excellent) but nothing compared to how loud they were, it was borderline laxative and at one point where blinding white lights were shone from the stage into the crowd it felt like that scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark where the Ark of the Covenant is opened and everyone melts.
Being a lot older now it’s rare I go and see a band, and there’s a lot in what she says here that makes me laugh out loud.
Being a lot older now it’s rare I go and see a band, and there’s a lot in what she says here that makes me laugh out loud.
The final hammer price was £400 yesterday.If anyone still has any tickets from concerts that they attended back in the day, you may well be sitting on a gold mine. I noticed the ticket stubs below for Birmingham concerts, are up for auction on Monday at Richard Winterton (Lichfield) and the current bid is £340!
The 17 tickets relate to THE BEATLES - ROY ORBISON SHOW, Town Hall Birmingham, 4th June 1963, THE BEATLES, Odeon Theatre Birmingham, 2nd Perf. October 11th, THE SEARCHERS, Odeon Theatre Birmingham, 2nd Performance, November 12th, ACKER BILK, Town Hall Birmingham, 12th December 1962, KENNY BALL AND HIS JAZZMEN, Town Hall Birmingham, 1th February 1964 (2) YOUR LUCKY STARS, Hippodrome Birmingham, 2nd Performance March 24th, ticket with FATUEUILS?, Hippodrome Birmingham, 2nd Performance, August 1st, THE CLIFF RICHARD SHOW, Hippodrome Birmingham, 2nd Performance February 24th, THE BILLY J. KRAMER SHOW, Hippodrome Birmingham, 2nd Performance, March 8th (2) BOBBY VEE / THE SEARCHERS, Odeon Theatre Birmingham, 2nd Performance, March 18th (2) THE BRENDA LEE SHOW, Town Hall Birmingham, 20th March 1963 (this show promoted by DON ARDEN) THE DAVE BRUBECK QUARTET, Town Hall Birmingham, 26th November 1962 and JAZZ 1963, Town Hall Birmingham, presented by The Musicians Union and The Labour Party, 14th October 1963 (complete ticket) together with one ticket stub from the Royal Shakespeare Theatre Stratford.
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