Here it is, NME's Student Guide 2006. A guide to all the UK's major cities sits just to your right. Where to drink, eat, shop and watch bands. It's all there.
Emma Hickman, head of music at Burn FM
“Birmingham is a very misunderstood city. Admittedly, there are plenty of run-down restaurants and its main attraction is a shopping centre called the Bullring full of emo kids, but it’s a city on the rise. There’s been loads of redevelopment in recent years, with new nightclubs opening all the time, and the countryside is only a short train journey away if you want somewhere rural.”
University Of Birmingham
Contact: Edgbaston, ZB15 2TTWebsite: www.bham.ac.uk
Student Union: www.bugs.bham. ac.uk/
Number of Students: 27,000
Boy/Girl Ratio: 45:55
Famous alumni: Simon Le Bon, Sister Bliss (above), Chris Tarrant, Philippa Forrester, Victoria Wood, Ann Widdecombe.
Redbrick
http://students.bugs. bham.ac.uk/redbrick/Free weekly paper with a great music section. Come along to the informal weekly meetings if you want to get involved.
Burn FM
www.burnfm.comOn air for four weeks, twice a year, in October and March. It has mainstream shows ’til 7pm, then it goes specialist. Departments include sports, speech, news, music and technical.
Guild TV
http://students.bugs. bham.ac.uk/gtv/Still going strong after 30 years with comedies, documentaries and a music show. Go to the studio basement on a Wednesday afternoon to get involved.
Oasis Market
112-114 Corporation Street, B4 6SX A crazy feast for the senses, Oasis Market offers all the clothing options any student could ever possibly need, from purple velvet jackets to six inch-heeled boots.Swordfish
14 Temple Street, B2 5BGOne of the few independent record shops reamining in the city centre, this shop has a lot of character and is staffed by genuine music fans who are happy to help.
Custard Factory
Gibb Square, B9 4AAA range of shops from a betterthan- average Oxfam to a vinyl shop and even a flea market. It’s a much calmer experience than the weekend’s manic Bullring centre.
The Sunflower Lounge
78 Smallbrook, Queensway, B5 4EGSome of the city’s best DJs spin tunes in the basement here making it a great place to chill out day or night. Pretty tasty grub too.
Rooty Fruity
Custard Factory, Gibb StreetDigbeth, B9 4AAEven the most carnivorous will enjoy this vegetarian experience here. There’s buffet-style meals, smoothies and healthy shots to provide what ready meals can not.
Gun Barrels/Bristol Pear
Bristol Road, Selly Oak, B5 7SWScream pubs at either end of Bristol Road with bargain bin prices and fab jukeboxes.
COVENTRY
GigsThe Colosseum
Primrose Hill Street;
tel: 024 7655 4473;
www.coventry colosseum.co.uk
A haven for ‘I was there at the start’ gigs. The View, The Rifles and Air Traffic are all passing through the doors so get in there first.
Club
Phoenix
122 Gosford Street, CV1 5DL;
www.phoenixdbc. netfirms.com
Get your dancing shoes and glad rags on for local DJs spinning bang up-todate hits.
Shop
Midnight
Queen Victoria Road, CV1 3HT;
www.coventrymarket.co.uk
This market is a haven of specialist stalls, from clothing to fruit’n’veg. Record, T-shirt and badge store Midnight has much more than your high street rubbish so is worth a afternoon’s browse.
Food & Drink
The Flying Standard
10 Trinity Street, CV1 1FL;
tel: 024 7655 5723
OK, so it’s a Wetherspoons pub, but the ambience is good and beer reliable.
WOLVERHAMPTON
GigsCivic Hall
North Street, WV1 1RQ;
tel: 01902 552122;
www. wolvescivic.co.uk
A tiny venue which sees smaller touring bands play in front of beserk crowds.
Club
Blast Off
North Street, WV1 1RQ
tel: 01902 552122;
www. wolvescivic.co.uk
All the indie hits and cheap drinks, every Saturday.
Shop
Music 2OOO
11 Broad Lane, WV3 9BN;
tel: 01902 345999;
www. music2000.co.uk
This place does instruments and equipment both new and used, so fits any budget.
Food & Drink
Royal London
4-6 Wulfrun St, WV1 1LX
tel: 01902 795760
Take your Yellow Card for bargain prices and students aplenty..
Snobs
29 Paradise Circus, Queensway, B1 2BJtel: 0121 643 5551;
www.snobsnightclub.co.uk
Wednesdays are all about cheap drinks, great music ’60s garage and northern soul), and loads of drunken, shiny, happy people.
Ramshackle
Carling Academy, 52-54 Dale End, B4 7LS;tel: 0121 262 3000;
www. birmingham-academy.co.uk
Mammoth club with two rooms – one blasting indie hits and exclusive album playbacks, the other specialising in live bands and tomorrow’s hits.
Panic
The Sanctuary, Digbeth, B5 6DY,tel: 0870 9070999;
www.barflyclub.com
Birmingham’s biggest and best indie night, boasting six – yes, a might six – rooms of music. Currently only fortnightly, but it’s worth the wait.
Carling Academy
52-54 Dale End, B4 7LS;tel: 0121 262 3000,
www.birminghamacademy.co.uk
The Academy has three different venues, which means it can facilitate bands of all sizes. Some, like The Libertines, have worked their way up through all three.
Barfly
The Sanctuary, Digbeth, B5 6DY;tel: 0121 633 8311;
www.barflyclub.com
The place to catch bands on the up. Last year saw action from The Kooks and Dirty Pretty Things.
Flapper & Firkin
Cambrian Wharf, Kingston Row, B1 2NU;tel: 0121 236 2421
Live music three nights a week, usually local bands. The quality varies, so you may see the next Monkeys, or the next Darkness, but you’ll have a good time either way.
Rich Bitch Studios
505 Bristol Road, Selly Oak, B29 6AU;tel: 0121 471 1339;
www.richbitchstudios.com
Popular with students as midweek it’s half price. They offer recording services, rehearsal space and tuition.
Blue Whale Studios
Unit 414, Custard Factory, Gibb Street, Digbeth, B9 4AA;tel: 0121 245 6035;
www.digeworld.com/ bluewhale
This recording studio has been established for four years and all the best artists from the Midlands have been through its doors.
Fairdeal Music
81-83, Smallbrook Queensway, B5 4HX;tel: 0121 643 1685;
www. fairdealmusic.com/
Everything from drums and amps to guitars and woodwind instruments, plus it’s close to New Street station for lugging that illadvised harp purchase home.
Wade Keighran, The Scare
“Bands like us are here to put Birmingham back on the map. I hope The Scare can help resurrect the city. The music scene here has a lot of really important local bands – She’s A Kamikazee Machine and The Untitled Musical Project, to name just two. Although the scene is not quite like Manchester or London say, there’s a lot of people here just doing their own thing, which is important. Over the last six months I’ve got to know Birmingham like the back of my hand. The city is stuck in the middle of the country, which means the bands work really hard to get out onto the road to make the most of it. Get down the Barfly or the Sunflower Lounge, they always have great line-ups.”
“It’s just outside Birmingham, in Moseley, but it’s always great to visit as it’s rammed with friendly locals. It’s complimented by a jukebox stuffed with superb tunes.”
“This is a tiny little bar that probably only holds about 60 people. We’ve played some of our best shows there.
“We stayed in the back room of here when we first moved over here from Australia. They’re life-savers.”
“My friend volunteers at the shop, so I always spot the bargains coming through. A must for skint students to dress themselves.”
“At the factory you get a guided tour, a history of the company, with a little ride and free chocolate. What more do you want?”
