With a number of the UK’s biggest and most impressive venues in our patch, we Midlanders are guaranteed a chance to see some of the music industry’s brightest stars as they tour the country. Our grass-roots music scene is super-cool, too. Here’s a selection of gigs worth grabbing a ticket for over the next few weeks...  

JOHN J PRESLEY

Fulfilling “music’s need for a new dark lord” - that’s according to BBC Radio One’s Phil Taggart - and garnering positive critical acclaim from the likes of The Guardian, Q Magazine, Classic Rock and The Independent, Walsall-born John J Presley brings folk-noir attention-to-detail to his powerhouse blues.
Citing Tom Waits, The Kills, Josh T Pearson and Duke Garwood among his influences, 
he plays Birmingham having last autumn ended a three-year hiatus with the release of second album Chaos & Calypso.    

Hare & Hounds, Birmingham, Sunday 25 February

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FEROCIOUS DOG

A favourite on the festival scene, Ferocious Dog have been entertaining Celtic folk and punk fans since their inception in 1988, but didn’t release their debut album until 2013. 
“My politics are my politics,” explains lead Ken Bonsall. “We’ll sing those songs about what we believe, but whatever side of the political divide you’re from, we want you to feel welcome at an FD show. We always say, you’re never alone at one of our gigs - and that is the most important thing to us.”

Katie Fitzgeralds, Stourbridge, Wednesday 28 February

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PHIL BATES

Phil Bates has played for a lot of bands since joining his first - Wolverhampton heavy rockers JUG - way back in 1970. Also featuring on the Tamworth-born guitarist’s hugely impressive CV are stints in Enigma, Trickster, Quill, Atlantic, Don’t Panic, The Eleanor Rigby Experience, The Bev Bevan Band, ELO Part II and The Orchestra... 
His Bilston stop-off sees him ‘celebrating the timeless music of ELO’.  

The Robin, Bilston, Thursday 29 February

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THE PRETENDERS

The Pretenders are famous enough that even people with little or no interest in music might well have heard of them. 

Far fewer are likely to know that the band actually originated here in the Midlands - in Herefordshire. 
First enjoying chart success way back in 1979 with Brass In Pocket, they went on to score numerous other hits in the years that followed, including Back On The Chain Gang, Message Of Love, Talk Of The Town, Thin Line Between Love And Hate and Don't Get Me Wrong... The Chrissie Hynde-fronted group is stopping off in Birmingham in support of critically acclaimed new album Relentless.  

Symphony Hall, Birmingham, Wednesday 6 March

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AADAL

Typical Scandinavian melancholy and Americana-inspired soundscapes are magically merged in the music of Norwegian four-piece AADAL, who take their inspiration from artists including Brian Blade, Bill Frisell, Daniel Lanois, The War On Drugs and Bon Iver. The band visit Wolverhampton on the back of third album Voyager, released to great critical acclaim last spring.

Newhampton Arts Centre, Wolverhampton, Thursday 7 March

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NINE BELOW ZERO

 

Forty-plus years after first offering a rhythm & blues alternative to the punk-pop of the mainstream, south Londoners Nine Below Zero are still going strong. 

And so, too, are founding members Dennis Greaves (guitar & vocals) and Mark Feltham (harmonica & vocals), who’ve been performing together as a duo for almost 10 years. 

The pair’s Huntingdon Hall appearance this month comes in support of their brand-new acoustic album, DenMark.

Huntingdon Hall, Worcester, Friday 8 March

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THE CORAL

 

Influential five-piece The Coral exploded onto the music scene in the early noughties with a self-titled debut album that brilliantly combined psychedelia with dub, disco groove with pop and ragtime with Egyptian reggae. Now, almost 22 years later, two of the band, singer James Skelly and keyboardist Nick Power, are touring The Making Of The Debut Album - a special show in celebration of that first storming release. 

An intimate evening of award-winning music and cosy conversation awaits...

Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Saturday 9 March; Lichfield Garrick, Staffs, Friday 29 March

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MARTHA TILSON

Although she’s the daughter of Steve Tilston and has been compared vocally to an early Kate Bush - which is never a bad thing when you’re trying to establish yourself as a sound to be listened to - there’s no question that Martha Tilston’s ongoing success has been based entirely on her own merits as a performer and musician. 

The Cornwall-based singer-songwriter’s concerts regularly sell out, and of late she’s ventured into the world of movie-making, releasing first feature film The Tape back in 2021 (along with an accompanying soundtrack album)... She appears in Shrewsbury with long-time collaborators Matt Tweed and Matt Kelly. 

Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury, Friday 15 March

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BUZZARD BUZZARD BUZZARD

 

Having enjoyed a massive success with debut album Backhand Deals two years ago, Cardiff-based four-piece Buzzard Buzzard Buzzard are now hitting the road with some brand-new music. 

“Playing new songs is always exciting,” says vocalist & guitarist Tom Rees, “but these ones are so heavy and loud and relentless that playing them live is like drinking adrenochrome or something. It’s why I live! I’m very excited!”

Hare & Hounds, Birmingham, Sunday 17 March

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IVY GOLD

Contemporary blues rock is the favoured genre of international five-piece Ivy Gold, whose frontwoman, Manou (pictured), feels it’s the perfect kind of music into which to pour all of her experiences, thoughts and feelings... The band are visiting Leamington this month in support of latest album Broken Silence.    

Temperance, Leamington Spa, Monday 18 March

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JUDAS PRIEST

 

Formed in 1969 and with a string of classic songs to their name - not to mention more than 50 million album sales worldwide - Birmingham’s Judas Priest really hit their stride creatively in the second half of the 1970s, delivering a quartet of albums which cemented their reputation as one of heavy metal’s greatest-ever bands: 1977's Sin After Sin, 1978's Stained Class and Hell Bent For Leather, and 1979's Unleashed In The East. 

More recent times have shown that they’re still very much alive and kicking when it comes to creating new material - 2018 release Firepower was their highest-charting album ever... 
Bringing their Invincible Shield Tour to their home town this month, the guys will be sharing the spotlight with fellow veteran metal masters Saxon and Uriah Heep. 

Resorts World Arena, Birmingham, Tuesday 19 March

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THE SMILE

Given that two members of The Smile are Thom Yorke and Jonny Greenwood (the third is Tom Skinner from Sons Of Kemet), it’s hardly surprising that the trio’s output has been likened to that of Radiohead, the band with whom Thom and Jonny also play. 

After making people sit up and listen with 2022’s A Light For Attracting Attention, the boys are visiting Birmingham in support of second studio album Wall Of Eyes.  

O2 Academy, Birmingham, Friday 22 March

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BLEACHERS

US rockers Bleachers’ self-titled fourth album has been described as sonically sad, joyful, and music for driving to, crying to, and dancing to at weddings... 

In short, it’s a record that’s ideal for plenty of occasions! 

The album is due for release on the 8th of the month, so this 02 Institute gig offers Midlands-based fans of the Jack Antonoff band a fairly swift opportunity to check out the tracks live.  

O2 Institute, Birmingham, Saturday 23 March

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SIMPLE MINDS

Formed from the ashes of Johnny & The Self-Abusers, Simple Minds took their name from a line in David Bowie’s The Jean Genie. And while only Jim Kerr and guitarist Charlie Burchill remain from the original line-up, the art rock of the band’s early albums has played an increasingly prominent role in their recent resurgence, as well as their live sets.

“It’s strange to try and work out what’s behind the resurgence,” says Kerr, “beyond the fact that more and more bands are playing big shows, and more and more people want to attend live gigs. Certainly for bands of our generation it seems there’s still an audience that wants to come along, or come along again. And not only are they coming along, they’re bringing their kids with them!”

Utilita Arena Birmingham, Saturday 23 March

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RICHARD SHINDELL

From living in a Zen Buddhist monastery, to busking on the streets of Paris (not to mention opening for the legendary Joan Baez), native New Yorker Richard Shindell has routinely embraced fascinating and extraordinary life experiences - a good many of which, it’s fair to assume, have positively impacted his remarkably insightful songwriting. 

Lighthearted ballads, adulterous love songs, and dirges and diatribes that skillfully skewer politics, prejudice, war and religion are all present and correct in his output, as are songs telling stories from a first-person perspective. Indeed, he’s even written one from the point of view of a cow stuck in a barbed-wire fence!

The Hive, Shrewsbury, Sunday 24 March

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LOTTERY WINNERS

Indie pop quartet The Lottery Winners provide a melodramatic blend of momentous melodies and insightful lyrics. 

Citing inspiration from ‘all the painfully miserable’ groups - think The Smiths, The Cure and Joy Division - the band have released five albums to date, the latest being last year’s chart-topping Anxiety Replacement Therapy.

Kasbah, Coventry, Thursday 28 March; Keele University, Stoke-on-Trent, Friday 29 March

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MG BOULTER

 

Although well established on the UK music scene, MG Boulter prefers to steer clear of labelling himself. 
“I never really think of my music as sitting in one genre or another,” he told the website pennyblackmusic. “I was described as Americana, but this changed to folk as the trends changed. I can see myself in both camps, but I like to use instrumentation that doesn’t always fit with either of those genres: clarinet, vibraphones, synthesisers... 

“I’m most comfortable with ‘singer-songwriter’ because that is essentially what I see myself as. I write songs, I play guitar, and in the studio I can make those songs whatever I want them to be.”

The Tin Music & Arts, Coventry, Saturday 30 March

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DUB PISTOLS

London electronic-music band Dub Pistols boast a sound that takes in dub, punk, jungle, ska, breakbeat, hip-hop and a whole lot more. Celebrating their silver jubilee a couple of years ago, the notorious party rockers have embraced plenty of changes across the years, both in terms of their personnel and their musical direction... They visit the Midlands 12 months after releasing their ninth and most recent album, Frontline.

Queens Hall, Nuneaton, Saturday 30 March

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THE HIVES

Iconic Swedish garage rockers The Hives visit Wolverhampton this month in support of The Death Of Randy Fitzsimmons, their first album in more than 11 years (although they have released some singles during the last decade). 

For those not in the know, the ‘Randy’ of the title is a fictional and limelight-shunning sixth member of the band (in reality, it’s a registered pseudonym for guitarist Niklas Almqvist). The story goes that Randy doubled as The Hives’ manager and sole songwriter, and that it was his ‘mysterious disappearance’ which caused the fellas to be absent from the studio for so long. 

It’s all in good fun, of course - a fact which comes as no surprise when you’re talking about The Hives; the band are well known and much loved for their lighthearted and goofy approach to their music. 
“We give so much energy, and then it kind of bounces right back,” lead singer Howlin' Pelle Almqvist told Clash. “So on one hand your body gets tired, but your soul feels better and better. So it’s not just tiring... it also gives you a lot of energy.”

The Civic at The Halls Wolverhampton, Saturday 30 March