What's On In Brum? - Your guide to what's on in Birmingham?

BIRMINGHAM EXPERIENCES CHICAGO FOR FREE

WITH LAUNCH OF TAXI LOTTERY

The Chicago and Illinois Tourist Office (CITO) are giving busy Brummies free cab rides and a chance to win a Simply Magnificent shopping spree holiday in America’s favorite lakefront city.  Chicago has released a fleet of 10 marked taxis that will be driving the streets of Birmingham, Chicago’s sister city, waiting to be hailed by lucky commuters between the 15^th October and the 15^th November 2009.

On the first and last days of the campaign, in lottery style, one of the 10 Chicago taxis will be offering free rides* within Birmingham city centre limits, courtesy of the CITO. The lucky “free” taxi will remain undistinguished from the others.

Once inside one of the “Chicago” taxis, commuters will find details on how to enter the competition to win a luxurious holiday and indulgent shopping spree in the heart of downtown Chicago.  To qualify for this once in a life time opportunity, entrants must correctly answer a specific question about Chicago at gochicago.com/win before 15^th November.  Terms and conditions

Jan Kostner, deputy director, Chicago and Illinois Tourist Office, said, “The Chicago-branded taxis highlight our diverse shopping scene and holiday shopping incentives while giving Brummie’s a taste of the city – on us.  Through the free rides and complimentary holiday, we will show people why Chicago is the ideal city-break”.

Chicago is proud to partner with the city of Birmingham for this exciting event and hopes to energise and excite travelers from the UK to experience all there is to see, do, taste and try in the city of Chicago.

For insider travel tips, follow @GoChicagoUK on twitter and learn more about Chicago and Illinois at www.gochicago.com.

Calling all fashionistas! A new fashion season has begun and what better way to revamp your look and find out all the latest clothes and beauty trends than heading to The Sunday Times Style in the City, hitting Birmingham from the 24 – 26 September. The ultimate live fashion and beauty experience, Style in the City will be hosting an array of fabulous catwalk shows and events around the city as well as offering amazing shopping treats, plus exclusive style sessions with ‘How to Look Good Naked’s style guru Gok Wan.

Super stylish soft drinks brand bottlegreen will be exhibiting at the show (visit the Oasis to see bottlegreen’s glamourous limited edition bottle design created by textile student Rachel Pitman) and has teamed up with What’s on in Brum? to giveaway five pairs of VIP tickets* (worth £38 for a pair) for you and friend plus a luxury bottlegreen hamper for each of the five winners. Each hamper is filled with a selection of its mouth-watering cordials and sparkling pressés, including our new Williams Pear & Elderflower sparkling pressé - the perfect refreshment for the stylish gal or guy about town!** www.bottlegreen.co.uk

To enter simply email mail@zimma.co.uk with the subject ‘I want to go to Style in the City’ by Sunday the 13th of September. Include your name, postal address and phone number. Winners will be picked at random. Good luck!

To find out more about The Sunday Times Style in the City, visit http://www.styleinthecityevent.co.uk

* Valid for use on Thursday 24^th and Friday 25^th September.

** bottlegreen’s sophisticated range of cordials are delicious not only with natural spring or sparkling water but can also be added to cocktails for extra zest. Alternatively, for a bit of fizz, bottlegreen’s sparkling pressés are gently blended with sparkling spring water to create a crisp refreshment with a subtle finish. Each pressé is ideal as a non-alcoholic alternative or can be mixed with spirits for a unique and delicious cocktail. bottlegreen’s drinks contain no artificial flavours, colours or sweeteners.

31st December 2008

New Year @ The Custard Factory.

With a  top notch line up including @ 2 Many Dj’s, Simian Mobile Disco, and Plump Dj’s - The Custard Factory was a likely choice for us on New Years Eve.

The pool had been drained, and a marquee erected to keep the worst of the weather off, it was the real focus point for the night. Heavy Feet saw in the new year, with the traditional countdown and some excellent sparks and bangs. Ticker tape exploded and rained down on the ecstatic crowd.

Over in the Medicine Bar, Joebot provide an excellent set, which was followed by the consistently superb  duo of breaks - The Plump Dj’s, who performed a very tight and energetic set.

The vibe in all arenas was particularly good, and we reckon there were just the right amount of people in. Nice and busy and atmospheric, while still very easy to move about and around, and no stupid mile long ques for the toilets or bar. The security were friendly, and helpful. The ques to get in didn’t look too long either.

Back in the Marquee, Pete Jordan put on great mixture of breaks, electro, dubstep and all things funky and upbeat. Although only supposed to be on till 1:30, by 2:15 it was becoming apparent that headliners 2 Many Djs were unlikely to make an appearance (Due to possible bad weather conditions hindering arrival from elsewhere in the country). Pete was left in the driving seat, and continued to pull tune after tune out of the bag, and extend his set by around double - while making no compromise on the quality.

Simian Mobile Disco hit the decks around 3:30 and pulled the crowd through the night until the wee hours. Their unique sounds filling the air and giving a boost of energy to the remaining revelers.

It was a superb way to see in the new year, and can only be described as a very smooth running and enjoyable event. We’ve already started to hear about some NYE disasters at other events in the city, with events being cancelled, moved, being overly busy, clubs being emptied because of fights, and other general disarray. We’re thankful to report then, that the Custard Factory was a very enoyable night full of fun and frolics.

Words / Pics  - Tom Horton

Full gallery of Custard Factory New Year Photos

Don’t miss the only UK show!!! Catch the legendary Public Enemy perform a full 1.5 hour live set, plus support from Birmingham’s finest MCs and DJs including current DMC World Champion, DJ Switch.

Factory Events, Heducation, Scratch Club, in association with Primary Talent presents
PUBLIC ENEMY

Live on stage – Only UK date!!!

Wednesday 3rd December

@ Space2
Custard Factory
Gibb Street
Birmingham
B9 4AA

£20 + bf
www.theticketsellers.co.uk - CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS
Doors 7pm - 2AM. PE on stage 10 - 11.30pm.

Support from:
DJ Switch (DMC World Champion)
The Lost Generation (live)
MC Serocee (live)
Barrowclough (live)
Mylz
The Doctor
Malicious
Sammy B Side
Hosted by Style One

17th October 2008 : Hospitality, Valve & Andy C @ Custard Factory

With such a stupid line up at the Custard Factory on Friday it was
bound to be heaving and the music was bound to be heavy. With the soul
shaking, ear drum destroying Valve sound system powering the pool,
Hospital records hosting the Med bar and Eardrum Dubstep in room 3
things really did go off.

I arrived shortly after the doors opened at 10:30 to avoid any
ridiculous queuing and chilled in the Kitchen for an hour or so until
Dillinja was on in the pool at 11. As 11 o’clock came there was still
plenty of room in the pool for some stupid skanking and this is what
proceeded. Dillinja came with the bangers, plenty of familiar tunes
and couple of new surprises in there as well, Shining a strong
favourite for me!

Midnight brought “the executioner” Andy C, renowned as the best drum n
bass DJ for his unbelievable ability to mix, he was down for a two
hour set with partner in crime MC GQ> Personally I’ve lost a bit of
faith in Andy over the past year finding his two hour sets a little
boring, obviously they still have that amazing mixing but his
selection just seems to be letting him down and the same old tunes and
same old Ram classics just seem to be coming out the bag.. the crowd
thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it though. Don’t get me wrong there
were some highlights including Logistics - Together and Chase & Status
- Smash TV but other than that nothing remarkable.

After than dipping into the Med Bar to catch a bit of Nu Tone, playing
a little differently to the normal Hospital stuff, including some
disgusting Dubstep-esq tune??

Hopped over to the Kitchen to catch Jason X’s debut set, a purely cdj
set raised my eye brows at least, but he did well dropping some
serious bangers and kept the room bubbling. The next few hours were
really a wait for Plastician at four. Time passed slowly with Lemon D
on the Valve doing nothing special followed by Bryan G who decided to
bring UNCZ to the party which was definitely not a good look.

After chilling with Blaise, Grace and JP inside for a bit, 4 o’clock
came and went. Finally at 4:30 Plastician stepped up and absolutely
smashed through the next hour, working through all the familiar hits
from his Rinse show only 10x’s better live and with the added support
of SP:MC. Tune after Tune I skanked so hard to Jakes/Joker - 3k Lane,
Nero - This Way and plenty of others until Plastician finally brought
the curtain down with Japan and Intensive Snare. By then the vocal
support had switched to Stamina MC now and the “are you stupid in the
face” lyruc echoed around the arena a MASSIVE MASSIVE set from
Plastician.

My night was done, I’d seen everyone I wanted to see so we jammed for
a bit with Emile in the kitchen then headed home, Another huge night
from Broken Minds and Breakthru.

Words By Witts (bntl.co.uk)

Photos By Alina Ha

UltraExcentric Warehouse & Garden Rave Ft. Paolo Mojo, Fergie, Tim Sheridan, Deepgroove, Gavyn Mytchell, Ben Nott @Rainbow Warehouse Nov 22- Bham 9-6am

This is the big one…

If you have not yet been to the Rainbow Warehouse then this is a must, the venue is amazing and this line up is the biggest we have done in a long time, this will be mental…

Ultra+ & Excentric present

“ULTRAEXCENTRIC”
A spectacular event of mammoth proportions!

(more…)

9th October 2008

Wax:On @ The Rainbow Warehouse

Wax:On have been have been running successful nights in their hometown of Newcastle, as well as Leeds for sometime now. MixMag were nice enough to award them 2nd best nightclub in Britain in 2006, beaten only by the mighty Fabric (London).

It’s about time then, that they brought some of this magic to Birmingham, and with a huge line up of quality and genuinely “Live” acts booked, there was no doubt that this launch was going to be a big one.

Headling the night were the mighty Late of The Pier, and with recent NME front cover features, are certainly a band in the spotlight at the moment. No surprise also then, that Late of the Pier’s producer, Erol Alkan was in tow to provided Dj support (and who knows, maybe to be fiddling all the EQ’s behind the desk?).

This in its own would surely be enough of a line up to ensure a mob of neo spangled ravers raising the roof all night, raising some dust whilst sporting the most retro of all Nike High Tops. All that’s left to do is chuck in a few a few hardworking resident Dj’s to provide some fill before the main acts? Not likely, as this really was a “presents..” night worthy of the description. In support we had such fine acts as Midnight Juggernauts, Michachu, Simon Bookish and Wax:On residents People Get Real.

In essence the night ran more like a miniature festival, with 4 quality full live acts on the main stage in the warehouse. The stage was covered in a mass of undulating wires, synths, miniKorgs, guitars, drums, odd boxes with many a blinking light, and of course the sort of uber stylish hip ladies and gents (artists) that would make even the most hardened Hoxton resident feel like he’s not making an effort.

I get the feeling the set times were jiggled around a bit for various technical reasons, as Erol Alkans set, which was slipped in just before Late of the Pier graced the stage at a very *yawn isn’t it bedtime?* 2:30am, seemed a little out of place.

The crowd were up for it though, and both Midnight Juggernauts and Micachu were very well received. Late of The Pier were a climatic end to an action packed night, and despite following on from very strong support sets, still managed to set themselves apart and set the crowd alight. Plenty of people knew every single word of every song played and were happy to sing along, which shows a pretty dedicated fanbase.

In the beach garden area of the rainbow warehouse, Bigger than Barry played host throughout the night. I couldn’t quite grasp the style of things out there, as the music seemed to be going for an all round party medley than focusing on any particular style. Nevertheless, the area is always a very welcome break for chilling out and relaxing under the arches, and is a real winning feature of the club.

Wax:On will be back in Birmingham in the new year, next time for something a little more Dj / Nightclub orientated. They’ve made a big splash in Birmingham, and we really can’t wait for the next one!

Words / Photography :: Tom Horton

D Joust - Midlands Heats, 6th September, Rainbow

The Midlands Djoust heats kicked off at the Rainbow back in August, and the second heat was held last sat 6th September. Dj RCaine (Russ to his friends), is a top notch dj and was host to the midlands heats, from previous experience we knew we were in for a quality nights entertainment and hard wax grooving.

Dj’s battled it out in the Rainbow’s very own courtyard, and played a varied mixture from Jackin’ House to Minimal and Techno. Competition was tight, and not suprising since they were all battling for a place in the next stage of the competition, taking place in London.

Keeping score were experienced Dj’s and judges, Boogie Dave, Viny Kohli and Russ RCaine. Bass6 worked hard all night providing MC support.

Up to battle were EnigmatiK (Worcester), DJ Adam Horton (West Midlands), MissB (Barnsley), DJ Chris Kitchen (Mersyside) and Shep (Newcastle).

The judges were in for a tough time, as every single one of the Dj’s smashed the crowds with tight, thoughtful and creative sets. However, after a tight fight, and lots of pondering and adding up of numbers, it was MissB who was crowned best of the Midlands/North and is now getting ready to skip down to London to continue her quest for the DJoust 2008 title.

Photography: Alina Ha

New Era opens flagship store in Birmingham

New Era has opened it’s second european flagship store right here in Birmingham,

For those of you not familiar with the brand, New Era has been around since the 1920’s, and introduced it’s legendary  “59FIFTY” cap in the 1950’s. New Era supply many of the worlds leading sports, and since 1994 has been the official supplier of headwear for Major League Baseball.

These days New Era supply just about every kind of variation in design you can imagine, and work with numerous designers, musicians, and sports teams to bring a whole wealth of choice for even the most discerning hat connoisseur.

New Era design, make, and sell a huge variety of headwear, and the store is lined top to bottom with row upon row of vibrant and funky caps. Prices are pretty consistent across the range (around £25-£30), but some specialist caps can fetch as much as £200!

The staff are super helpful and friendly, and pay wonderful attention to detail. The layout of the store is immaculate, you can see them get edgy everytime they notice a cap slightly out of place. Not only content with having every cap under one roof, they also offer a great selection of T-Shirts.

The new store is located on the already pretty cool Corperation street, right in the heart of Birmingham’s city center. So get on down, you’ll not be dissapointed.

20th August 2008 Emerica visit Ideal Skateshop

Ideal Skateshop has found a new home at the custard factory, complete with its own mini ramp!

On Wednesday 20th August, some of the UK and Euro Emerica Team dropped in for a session on the ramps, joinen by a fair few locals. Here are some pics.

The ramps are run on a members only voluntary sort of basis, anyone wanting to skate is asked to pay a membership fee. A few quid in the pot everytime you turn up and you are free to skate away.

Ideal is open 10.30 am - 6.00 pm Monday through to Saturday and 12 Noon - 4.00 pm Sundays. But as they say on their website: “these times are not rules. just guidance. Please don’t grumble if we are a little late. we’re not the bank of England, we are a skateboard shop…Thanks”