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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...
MEGSON
Since releasing first album On The Side in 2004, husband & wife team Stu and Debbie Hanna have developed an enviable reputation on the English folk-music circuit. Hailed as fresh and innovative (a description which is hardly surprising, given that Debbie is classically trained and Stu’s a former punk!), the multi-award-winning duo specialise in self-composed melodies which bring together intimate harmony singing and multi-instrumental acoustic playing.
Temperance, Leamington Spa, Saturday 3 May
BOYZLIFE
Take a member of 90s & noughties boyband supergroup Boyzone and a member of 90s & noughties boyband supergroup Westlife, put them together and what do you get?...
Keith Duffy and Brian McFadden forming middle-aged-man duo Boyzlife, that’s what!
The fun-loving fellas first came together almost a decade ago and are now once again reuniting for a global tour, including this late-month Symphony Hall gig.
The show will see the dynamic Dubliners perform a mixture of hits from those heady boyband days, including Boyzone’s I Love The Way You Love Me, All That I Need and No Matter What, and Westlife’s My Love, I Lay My Love On You and Uptown Girl.
They return to the Midlands this spring to play The Buttermarket, Shrewsbury.
The Buttermarket, Shrewsbury, Thursday 8 May
PANIC SHACK
Describing their style as ‘No f*cks given’, Panic Shack formed seven years ago and have been making waves pretty much ever since.
The party-starting, punk-loving, Cardiff-located funsters decided to try their luck in the rough, tough world of professional musicmaking having grown tired of watching indie rock & roll boybands strut their stuff.
Learning to play their instruments in under a year, they released debut EP Baby Shack three years ago and performed their first headline tour in 2023, blending quirky, alternative music with choreographed dance breaks and a significant side-order of accessible humour.
Castle and Falcon, Birmingham, Thursday 8 May
Sultan Stevenson has wasted no time establishing himself as a force to be reckoned with on the jazz scene.
Just a handful of years into his 20s, the London-born pianist communicates his innovative talent and artistic maturity with a quiet intensity, writing and performing compositions that seamlessly blend traditional jazz with more contemporary sounds.
Sultan has this year followed up his debut album, 2023 release Faithful One, with sophomore offering El Roi. The title is Hebrew for the biblical ‘God of Sight’.
“El Roi is about trying to further the themes in my music that have caught my attention artistically, and to explore them more clearly and concisely,” explains Sultan, who uses his musicmaking to navigate the intricate landscapes of faith and identity. “It’s a dedication to my heroes and an exploration of the religious and philosophical.”
Newhampton Arts Centre, Wolverhampton, Thursday 8 May
ROVING CROWS
Since forming in 2009, Midlands-based Celtic folk fusion band Roving Crows have released four full-length albums, including most recent offering Awaken (2022).
They’ve also picked up numerous coveted gongs along the way, including Best Folk Act at Exposure Awards 2011 and Band Of The Year in the Fatea Music Awards 2014. Expect a fast-paced, high-energy performance from this supremely talented ensemble, who make one hell of a noise for just four people.
Katie Fitzgeralds, Stourbridge, Saturday 10 May
ACID MOTHERS TEMPLE
Japanese rock band Acid Mothers Temple was founded 30 years ago by guitarist Kawabata Makoto with a very particular aim in mind. “I had never been fully satisfied with the trippy psychedelic records I’d listened to,” says Makoto, “and that’s when I began wanting to create a really extreme trip music.”
Makoto has certainly fulfilled his ambition, with AMT having pumped out a staggering 100-plus studio albums of entertainingly deranged and utterly head-melting music.
They are stopping off at the Hare & Hounds this month with latest and magnificently named show Dark Within Of Astropia.
Hare & Hounds, Birmingham, Saturday 10 May
SCOTT BRADLEE'S POSTMODERN JUKEBOX
Selling themselves with the slogan ‘today’s music yesterday’ Scott Bradlee’s Postmodern Jukebox reimagine modern-day earworms and iconic pop hits in classic genres like 1920s jazz, swing, doo-wop and Motown. To get a handle on their music, the band advise that you think The Great Gatsby meets ‘Sinatra at the Sands’ meets Back To The Future...
“If we’ve learned anything from 10 years of touring the world,” reveals Scott, “it’s that great music has the ability to transcend time and space in a way that’s best described as ‘magic’... In fact, all of us likely have a song or two that instantly transports us to another place.
“Our Moonlight & Magic World Tour is meant to celebrate this phenomenon through breathtaking live performances that will be remembered long after the curtain falls...” Audience members are being advised to ‘dress vintage, for the full effect!’
Symphony Hall, Birmingham, Monday 12 May
THE DARKNESS
Formed in the year 2000, The Darkness released debut album Permission To Land three years later. The record not only hit the number-one spot in the charts but was ultimately certified quadruple platinum in the UK... The glam-rock four-piece’s Coventry concert this month sees them launching eighth studio album Dreams On Toast, which they will be performing in its entirety, alongside a selection of firm favourites and greatest hits.
hmv Empire, Coventry, Friday 16 May
GEORGIA RUTH
Boasting a unique sound that’s positively dripping with folk influences, Georgia Ruth announced her arrival 12 years ago with debut album Week Of Pines. Since then, the Aberystwyth-born musician has released a further three records, and visits Shrewsbury this month in support of her latest offering, Cool Head. Co-produced with long-time collaborator Iwan Morgan, Georgia describes the album - ‘a candid collection of songs spanning wide-open Americana to 60s-influenced folk ballads’ as “a long drive through night into morning”.
The Hive, Shrewsbury, Saturday 17 May
PIXIES
Comprising Black Francis, Joey Santiago, David Lovering and new member Emma Richardson, Pixies are best known for singles including Where Is My Mind? and Here Comes Your Man, their lyrics across the years having covered such offbeat subjects as extraterrestrials, incest and biblical violence... They’re visiting Birmingham this month in support of brand-new studio album The Night The Zombies Came. Bringing together country-tinged ballads and furious punk numbers, the record takes its inspiration from ‘surf rock, gargoyles, bog people, and the distinctive dry drum sounds of 1970s Fleetwood Mac’.
O2 Academy, Birmingham, Tuesday 20 May
SUNDAY (1994)
After many a year spent writing songs for other artists and composing music for sync deals and adverts, romantic partners Paige Turner and Lee Newell decided during the pandemic that it was high time they created a band of their own.
Accompanied by an anonymous and enigmatic drummer referred to simply as ‘X’, they launched Sunday (1994), writing and performing music which they describe as dreamy, nostalgic and whimsical...
Their Birmingham appearance this month comes as part of their debut tour.
Sunflower Lounge, Birmingham, Wednesday 21 May
K.O.G.
Using a mix of English, Pidgin and Ga to paint sonic pictures, Kweku Sackey - aka K.O.G (Kweku of Ghana) - not only boasts a massive vocal range and some wicked dance moves, he’s also been hailed “Ghana’s finest” by none other than boogie-woogie piano legend Jools Holland.
“I view music as a major weapon needed in the battlefield for peace of mind in the world,” explains Kweku. “I love to make music that connects, revives, educates and entertains, drawing on the spiritual, physical, emotional and mental wellbeing of us as individuals, and our quest to maintain balance with the universe.”
Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry, Thursday 22 May
SCISSOR SISTERS
Camper than Julian Clary in a pink tent, Scissor Sisters made a name for themselves thanks in no small part to bitchily observational lyrics that were every bit as sharp as the band’s name suggests.
Cheerfully ignoring the main trend of their native New York, as peddled by the likes of The Strokes, their cheesy party music worked equally well whether experienced in a dark, sweaty club or outside in the garden with the sun beating down...
Their Birmingham gig this month forms part of a tour which sees them playing live for the first time in 13 years, having announced an indefinite hiatus back in 2012.
Utilita Arena Birmingham, Sunday 25 May
EDUARDO MARTÍN & AHMED DICKINSON
Cuban guitarist Ahmed Dickinson Cárdenas didn’t just admire fellow countryman Eduardo Martín from afar; he actually took lessons with the great man, who is one of the most-performed guitar-music composers in the world. The pair clicked, and are playing Stafford to celebrate the release of their new album, The Bridge, a carefully curated compilation of Eduardo’s most alluring works for two guitars.
Stafford Gatehouse Theatre, Sunday 25 May
WE ARE SCIENTISTS
We Are Scientists’ breakthrough success came with debut studio album With Love And Squalor, which featured hit single Nobody Move, Nobody Get Hurt, the song for which the rock duo are best known.
“I can’t wait for these shows to begin,” said frontman Keith Murray, prior to the late-April start of the pair’s new European & UK tour, of which this Sugarmill date forms a part. “I’d happily skip straight to the first show if I could - although I suppose we do need to rehearse, and I should probably get some new stage outfits!”
The Sugarmill, Stoke-on-Trent, Thursday 29 May
THE YOUNG'UNS
After many a year spent plying their trade at festivals and around the folk clubs of the North East, the Young’uns are now well established as one of the country’s most popular folk/acoustic acts.
“We approach folk music as stories and songs and anecdotes,” explains the trio’s singer & accordion player, David Eagle. “Every gig is about storytelling, so our songwriting has become more sophisticated.
We know what we like and we’re more unabashed now. We know who we are.”
Expect plenty of that heart-on-the-sleeve storytelling, along with beautiful lyrics, warm harmonies and relentless repartee, when the trio stop off in Shrewsbury this month as part of their 20th anniversary tour.
Theatre Severn, Shrewsbury, Friday 30 May; Huntingdon Hall, Worcester, Thursday 29 May
SCOTT MATTHEWS
Singer-songwriter Scott Matthews’ ground-breaking debut album, Passing Stranger, earned serious critical acclaim, while his first single, Elusive, bagged the Ivor Novello award for ‘best song musically & lyrically’.
Having since gone on to produce a further eight albums, he’s visiting Malvern as part of a tour to support latest offering Restless Lullabies. Hailed a subliminal listening experience, the much-lauded record has further cemented Scott’s status as one of the UK’s master songsmiths.
Malvern Cube, Friday 30 May
JORJA SMITH
When West Midlander and soul singer Jorja Smith uploaded debut track Blue Lights to SoundCloud nine years ago, Canadian rapper Drake was among the legion of listeners to sit up and take notice. Indeed, he liked what he heard so much that he featured Jorja not once but twice on his 2017 mixtape, More Life, which went on to score a massive hit on both Spotify and Apple Music.
The resultant exposure played its part in launching the Walsall-born singer into the music-industry stratosphere - and her star has been burning brightly pretty much ever since.
Bringing her Falling Or Flying tour to Wolverhampton this month, Jorja is supported on the night by soulful singer-songwriter Mychelle.
The Civic at The Halls Wolverhampton, Saturday 31 May