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...  

TAKE THAT

Fame and fortune certainly didn’t come easily to Take That first time round. Schlepping around nigh on every nightclub in the land, their first couple of singles flopped. But then a 1992 cover version of the 1975 Tavares hit It Only Takes A Minute opened the door to better things, and their popularity rocketed. 

The good times couldn’t last forever, though, and after Robbie left the band in 1995, the remaining foursome managed just one more year before calling it a day... 

Now the boys are back - well, three of them are anyway: Gary, Howard and Mark - visiting Coventry this month with one of their biggest and most iconic shows, The Circus Live, originally staged 17 years ago. 
Support on all three nights comes from The Script and Belinda Carlisle.

Coventry Building Society Arena, Thursday 4 - Saturday 6 June

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RYLAND CARAVAN

One-day indie music festival Ryland Caravan is making a welcome return to MAC’s outdoor theatre for a fourth year, and on this occasion is being headlined by The House Of Love. The event’s line-up also features Michael Head & The Red Elastic Band (pictured), Independent Country, Johnson & Finnemore and Ollie Cook & The Hogwash.

Midlands Arts Centre (MAC), Birmingham, Saturday 6 June

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JESS BRETT

Berlin-based former Worcestershire resident Jess Brett returns to her home county to present an evening of trademark raw and confessional synth-based music. Blending experimental production with memorable hooks, her songs focus on themes of mental suffering and intense desire, along the way generating soundscapes which steer the listener through a range of emotions.    

Drummonds Bar, Worcester, Thursday 11 June

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MARGARITA WITCH CULT

Birmingham-based big-riffing stoner rock trio Margarita Witch Cult absolutely adore Black Sabbath - and it shows in their music. They’re not averse to tugging their forelocks in the direction of early-70s proto-metal bands like Pentagram, Leaf Hound and Wicked Lady either. 

Forming in 2020, the boys launched their self-titled debut album three years later, and have been steadily building on its success ever since. Expect fuzzy riffs, occult-themed lyrics, and a raw garage-doom sound... 

Hare & Hounds, Birmingham, Thursday 11 June

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CQ WRESTLING

Led by songwriters Charlie Woods and Jake Mac, South London-based independent grunge/alternative rock band CQ Wrestling (formerly Chappaqua Wrestling) are causing a real stir nowadays with their fierce, 1990s-inspired sound and melodic, socially conscious lyrics, delivering chaotic and high-energy shows wherever they play. 

They’re visiting Birmingham in support of their second studio album, Resistance, released late last month.

The Sunflower Lounge, Birmingham, Thursday 11 June

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MARLEY & THE UPRISING

While being the son of Bob Marley certainly helps Julian Marley gain publicity, it doesn’t guarantee him a loyal fanbase. Only his own talent can do that. Luckily, when it comes to ability, he has it in spades - a fact which is evidenced by the Grammy award he won a couple of years back for ‘best reggae album’. 

Spreading a message of unity, love and consciousness through music, Julian visits Coventry - with his regular band The Uprising - to present an evening of deep basslines and roots reggae energy.

hmv Empire, Coventry, Friday 12 June

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EDDI READER AND JOHN DOUGLAS

With an MBE sitting behind her name and numerous Brit Awards decorating the mantelpiece, Scottish singer-songwriter Eddi Reader is well remembered for her association with Fairground Attraction, with whom she scored a UK number one, Perfect, in 1988... Eddi is visiting Shropshire mid-month in the company of her husband, John Douglas - songwriter & guitarist with Scottish indie rock band Trashcan Sinatras. 

The couple will be interweaving songs from their debut album with some sure-to-be-fascinating stories. 
A good night (or two, if you really, really love them!) should be had by all.   

The Edge Arts Centre, Much Wenlock, South Shropshire, Friday 12 & Saturday 13 June

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LOLA YOUNG

South East London troubadour Lola Young is racking up the milestones like they’re going out of fashion. 
From signing her first deal by the age of 18 and releasing her first body of work a year later, she then bagged a nomination for the Brits’ Rising Star Award in 2021 and was chosen as the voice of the much-loved John Lewis Christmas advert that very same year. She released her first studio album in 2023, took the US by storm, and has this year won both a Grammy and a Brit award. 
Her mid-month Birmingham gig comes as part of a short UK tour. 

O2 Academy, Birmingham, Saturday 13 June

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MADDY PRIOR

Surely the undisputed queen of English folk music(?), Maddy Prior continues to be an energetic, much-in-evidence force on the circuit. Her trademark voice ensures the vast majority of folk tunes are safe in her hands, and her love for the songs that she sings is evident for all to see. 

Her Malvern appearance, for which she will be joined by guitarist Andrew ‘Spud’ Sinclair, sees her presenting ‘a captivating blend of newly written material and beloved traditional favourites’. 

Malvern Cube, Saturday 13 June

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AROOJ AFTAB

Boundary-defying compositions sung with an unforgettably haunting voice has proved to be a winning combination for Pakistani singer-songwriter Arooj Aftab, whose blend of jazz, minimalism and South Asian classical traditions has propelled her to Grammy-winning success. Arooj is here joined by the London Contemporary Orchestra - led by co-artistic director & principal conductor Robert Ames - for a concert which will see her music being reimagined with sweeping orchestral textures and on a truly expansive scale.    

Symphony Hall, Birmingham, Tuesday 16 June

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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.

Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Friday 19 June; Malvern Cube, Friday 30 October

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FOREST LIVE

This month’s festival of live music in the nation’s forests sees Cannock Chase hosting five nights of top-quality entertainment... Billy Ocean is joined by special guest Marti Pellow on Wednesday the 24th, with Fatboy Slim setting out his woodland stall the following evening.

The weekend then begins with Becky Hill (pictured) headlining a Friday concert. UB40 featuring Ali Campbell take to the stage on the Saturday, while pop-rock favourites McFly round off proceedings on Sunday the 28th.

Cannock Chase Forest, Wednesday 24 - Sunday 28 June

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CIRCA WAVES

Distinctively infectious post-punk anthems are the name of the game for Liverpudlian four-piece Circa Waves, who first made their mark more than a decade ago with singles including Get Away and Stuck In My Teeth. Their nervy, melodic indie rock has seen them favourably likened to, among others, The Strokes, Arctic Monkeys and The Vaccines. Fourteen-track debut record Young Chasers, released in 2015, has since been followed by six other studio albums, including last year’s Death & Love, parts one and two. 

KK’s Steel Mill, Wolverhampton, Thursday 25 June

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LILY ALLEN

Kickstarting her music career 20 years ago with debut album Alright Still, Lily Allen has been busy with other projects in more recent times: getting sober, getting married, chiselling out a career as an actor, marketing her own sex toy, and selling images of her feet on OnlyFans.

So it was surely a relief for those admirers for whom her music matters most when she finally returned to the studio to record West End Girl - a 14-track album which she says was partially based on the “demise” of her marriage to Stranger Things actor David Harbour.

The record has enjoyed massive global success, being streamed a staggering 150 million times and inspiring Lily to launch the biggest headline tour of her career.

This Birmingham stop-off sees her performing the album in its entirety, ‘and in the order that the songs appear on the record’.

bp pulse LIVE, Birmingham, Friday 26 June

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INSPIRAL CARPETS

A seriously important element of the infamous ‘Madchester’ movement of the early 1990s - they were one-third of the scene’s ‘holy triumvirate’, alongside Stone Roses and Happy Mondays - 1960s-inspired garage punk-pop favourites Inspiral Carpets have a back catalogue awash with hit singles, This Is How It Feels, Dragging Me Down, Two Worlds, Joe, Collide, She Comes In The Fall and Saturn 5, to name but a few.

Making a comeback in 2023, after a seven-year hiatus following the tragic death of drummer Craig Gill, the band are supported for this month’s Midlands gigs by Trampolene. 

Their performance at The Buttermarket will be followed by the England-Panama World Cup match, televised live on the venue’s giant screen.    

The Buttermarket, Shrewsbury, Saturday 27 June; The Sugarmill, Stoke-on-Trent, Sunday 28 June

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BEVERLEY KNIGHT

Wolverhampton-born Beverley Knight MBE returns to her geographical roots this month with latest touring show Born To Perform. 

Beverley’s been labelled the UK Queen of Soul - and with her influences including the likes of Sam Cooke and Aretha Franklin, it’s easy to see why. 

“I’m excited to get back on the road, but with a different kind of show [to the sort] folks are used to with me,” says Beverley, who three years ago bagged the ‘best supporting actress’ Olivier Award for her performance in the hit musical Sylvia. 

“Born To Perform is me taking you on a journey through my life - on both music and theatre stages - using my memories, and of course, my songs. I’m stripping back my sound so that the audience can lean in a little closer and really hear my soul.”

The Civic at The Halls Wolverhampton, Tuesday 30 June

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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