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...  

 ​AZIZ IBRAHIM

Virtuoso guitarist, session musician and one-time Stone Roses member Aziz Ibrahim is finally releasing his long-lost debut album, some 25 years after it was first recorded. Lahore To Longsight - named to reflect his father’s journey from Pakistan to the Manchester suburb of Aziz’s birth - is a musical melting pot he describes as ‘Asian blues’. Now restored and remastered, the album, which features star contributors including the Roses’ Reni and Mani, Paul Weller, Talvin Singh, and Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce of The Smiths, will get its first public airing at a limited number of showcase dates, making this gig a real must-see event

The Feathers Inn, Lichfield, Thursday 29 October; The Asylum, Birmingham, Friday 6 November

---

PEATBOG FAERIES

Although mainly influenced by traditional Celtic music, the Peatbog Faeries create a sound that also embodies numerous other styles and influences, including electronica, folk, rock and jazz. Well established on the circuit, having formed some 35 years ago, the ensemble’s music brings together a blend of programmed effects with traditional Celtic arrangements played on bagpipes, fiddles and whistles. 
The Faeries visit the Midlands mid-month as part of a UK-wide tour.

Malvern Cube, Friday 30 October

---

MACY GRAY

A native of Ohio, Macy Gray honed her unique voice at local underground clubs.

After landing a deal with Epic Records and providing guest vocals for Love Won’t Wait on the Black Eyed Peas album Behind The Front, she released her debut offering, On How Life Is, in 1999. The record enjoyed huge success thanks to the single I Try, which peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100 and went on to win her a Grammy Award for best female pop vocal performance... Macy visits Leamington early this month as part of her The Trouble With The Truth world tour.

The Assembly, Leamington Spa, Saturday 7 November

---

SHABAKA

London-born and Birmingham- and Barbados-raised composer, bandleader and multi-instrumentalist Shabaka Hutchings -  operating mononymously as Shabaka - is a central figure on the UK contemporary jazz scene. 

A BBC New Generation Artist from 2010 to 2012, he developed a style which, although rooted in American jazz, was heavily influenced by Afro-Caribbean traditions, London dance music and spiritual jazz. 
In late 2023, after years spent playing the saxophone both solo and in bands such as Sons Of Kemet and The Comet Is Coming, Shabaka announced that he was setting aside the instrument for a period of time, instead focusing on a more meditative practice centred around global flutes. It’s a move which he credits for slowly changing the scope of his musical inner landscape. 

Castle & Falcon, Birmingham, Sunday 8 November

---

HUGH CORNWELL

Hugh Cornwell is best known as the vocalist and guitarist for punk rock/new wave band The Stranglers, with whom he played from 1974 to 1990.

One of the most celebrated songwriters of his generation, Hugh boasts a back-catalogue that includes Peaches, No More Heroes, Golden Brown, Always The Sun and Duchess. 

This Worcester concert forms part of his first solo acoustic tour in nine years and will see him perform songs from his next studio album, Succubus. A selection of material from both the Stranglers’ songbook and his own back-catalogue will also feature.

Huntingdon Hall, Worcester, Wednessday 11 November

---

MYLES SMITH

Breakout 2024 EP You Promised A Lifetime set Myles Smith on the road to stardom, his intimate acoustic sound quickly finding a global audience. A three-time Brit Award nominee last year - he bagged the prestigious Rising Star title - Myles also supported Ed Sheeran on the European leg of his 2025 tour. 
He’s visiting the second city just a handful of months after the release of his debut album, My Mess, My Heart, My Life, a record which did okay critically without ever threatening to set the music scene alight.

bp pulse LIVE, Birmingham, Thursday 12 November

---

ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN

Hailing from Liverpool, rock band Echo & The Bunnymen have released 13 studio albums across almost half a century. Following Ian McCulloch’s departure in 1988, the tragic loss of drummer Pete de Freitas on a Staffordshire road the following year, and a split in 1993, the band regrouped three years later and have since released seven albums, to varying degrees of success. 

Their Wolverhampton gig comes as part of a short UK tour in support of Apples For Isaac, their first album of new material in 12 years.

The Wulfrun at The Halls Wolverhampton, Friday 13 November

---

HAPPY MONDAYS

If ever you could guarantee that a gig would prove to be a cracking night out, a Happy Mondays gig is probably that gig.

The Mondays were surely the maddest band on the legendary late-80s ‘Madchester’ scene. Formed in 1980, by the end of the decade they were heading out on world tours and garnering praise from the likes of Sir Paul McCartney, who compared them to The Beatles during their mindbending Strawberry Fields phase. 

Well known for their hard-partying ways, it’s quite amazing that maraca player, dancer and band mascot Bez is still in a fit state to tour with the group, so spectacular were his excesses - even by lead singer Shaun Ryder’s standards! 

Keele SU, Staffordshire, Friday 13 November

---

JACK SAVORETTI

Blessed with a husky and hugely captivating voice, and inheriting his brooding good looks from his mother - a Polish-German model - and his Italian father, Jack Savoretti released debut offering Between The Minds in 2007... His Birmingham stop-off this month comes in support of ninth studio album We Will Always Be The Way We Were, a record which marked a return to the raw storytelling and cinematic soul that defined Jack’s earliest work.

Symphony Hall, Birmingham, Monday 16 November

---

REBECCA FERGUSON

Singer-songwriter Rebecca Ferguson came to prominence in 2010 when she finished runner-up to Matt Cardle on the seventh series of The X Factor. She subsequently signed a record deal with Simon Cowell’s label, Syco Music, and released critically acclaimed debut album Heaven, which peaked at number three in the UK charts. 

Since then, the multi-genre artist has established herself as one of the country’s most talented singer-songwriters.

The Jam House, Birmingham, Thursday 19 November

---

BASKERY

Comprising three Swedish sisters - Greta, Stella and Sunniva Bondesson - who’ve been creating music since they were old enough to hold an instrument, Baskery play a combination of classic roots music and Americana, in the process generating a sound that oozes style and playfulness. 

The self-titled Queens of Banjopunk have released six albums to date, the most recent being 2024’s The Young Sessions.

LOOP, Shrewsbury, Thursday 19 November

---

JOOLS HOLLAND AND HIS RHYTHM & BLUES ORCHESTRA

Although originally finding fame in 1970s new-wave band Squeeze, Jools Holland is best known as a broadcaster who boasts an infectious enthusiasm for all kinds of music (his well-established BBC TV show has long championed an eclectic mixture of styles and genres). Jools’ own talent on the piano is immense, his attitude towards his famed Rhythm & Blues Orchestra friendly and egalitarian. The result is a wonderfully joyous celebration of music, and a sound to which you can’t help but tap your feet...

Jools and the gang are joined for this Stoke-on-Trent appearance by special guests Roachford and guest vocalists Ruby Turner, Louise Marshall and Sumudu Jayatilaka.

Victoria Hall, Stoke-on-Trent, Thursday 19 November

---

THE FEELING

The Feeling are stopping off at Shrewsbury’s Buttermarket venue to celebrate the 20th anniversary of their multi-million-selling debut album, Twelve Stops And Home.

“It’s an album that changed all our lives as a band,” says frontman Dan Gillespie-Sells. “The success of Twelve Stops And Home allowed us to continue working and playing together for another 20 years, and we’re still the best of mates. Celebrating this album is going to be so much fun. I can’t wait to play it and sing along with you all!”

The Buttermarket, Shrewsbury, Thursday 19 November; hmv Empire, Coventry, Thurs 26 November

---

DAN OWEN

Shrewsbury-born singer Dan Owen thought he’d be spending his life making guitars rather than playing them, but a workshop accident that damaged his left eye - leaving him unable to carry out any fine-detail craftwork - changed all that. 

Celebrated for his arresting, husky vocals and a sound that fuses blues roots with modern rock, alternative songwriting and Americana, Dan visits Stourbridge having earlier this year released his third studio album, Neptune.

Katie Fitzgeralds, Stourbridge, Friday 20 November

---

​THE ALLERGIES

Employing a meticulous formula of past-meets-future, Bristol duo The Allergies - aka DJ Moneyshot and Rackabeat - extract soulful hooks from forgotten vinyl and infuse them with driving drums and hip-hop energy. An evening of vintage funk and contemporary dancefloor grooves awaits... 

Hare & Hounds, Birmingham, Friday 20 November

---

YEAR OF THE DOG

Brass-house-soul unit Year Of The Dog have made a real name for themselves as one of the underground music scene’s most popular dance-inducing live bands.  

Boasting a magnetic energy, they came to wider public attention when they appeared in smash-hit Netflix show Sex Education... This Worcestershire gig takes place on the very same day that the band release their first-ever album, Break Loose.  

Marr’s Bar, Worcester, Friday 20 November

---

JULIA WOLF

Boasting a ‘gothic babe’ aesthetic, New York indie-pop singer-songwriter Julia Wolf blends ethereal vocals with honest lyrics to sing about self-doubt and suburban anxiety. 

Last year’s album, Pressure, saw her steering her style towards a heavy metal and grunge motif-influenced darker alt-rock sound - a move designed to shift her musical output from being palatable to powerful

O2 Institute, Birmingham, Sunday 22 November

---

SHEELANAGIG

Blending an arsenal of strings, soaring flute, and pounding drums with playful stagecraft, Sheelanagig head for Malvern to present their winning combination of raucous dance medleys and thoughtfully crafted original pieces. Whipping up a storm of foot-stomping, roof-raising, high-energy folk, the boys remain every bit as committed and enthusiastic as ever they were.   

Malvern Cube, Saturday 28 November

---

MIDGE URE

“I love touring,” says Midge Ure, “and I’m looking forward to playing Coventry. I’ve been doing this a lot longer than I’ve ever been making records, and the idea of not touring is abhorrent.”

Former Ultravox frontman Midge, now 73, still finds it hard to believe he’s a part of the music aristocracy: “I think of the reverence I had for other people’s music when I was growing up; you know, a David Bowie track, a Roxy Music track or a T-Rex. That was incredibly important to me. And I still find it strange when people tell me what they’ve done along to my music; you know, buried their parents or got married - seismic moments in their lives. I find it hard to think that my music has been the soundtrack to those moments.

“And meeting people and realising that they know who you are is so bizarre! You can walk into a room and someone says hello and has read about you, they know about you, they’ve bought your records. I find that stuff overwhelming.” 

Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Sunday 29 November

---

CHANTEL MCGREGOR

Blues-rock musician Chantel McGregor was once told by a major label that she had “a great voice, but girls don’t play guitar like that!” Ignoring their view, she enrolled at the Leeds College of Music and became the first student in the college’s history to achieve a 100% pass mark at BTEC, with 18 distinctions.
She’s since released three studio albums of new material, including debut offering Like No Other and last year’s The Healing.

Temperance, Leamington Spa, Sunday 6 December