Tucked away at the end of Stirchley in a location you cannot see from the main road, neighboured by…read morea canal and a venue for children's parties, you cannot help but wonder how The Roadhouse has managed to exist for so long as a venue. I played here with one of my old bands about seven years ago and it seemed to have been around for ever then. My sporadic visits since have revealed The Roadhouse to be a friendly enough venue with the ambience set to old school/biker . A good sound system and a fairly standard but well priced bar make this a good place to see a band. The schedule seems to consist of a mix of up and coming indie/rock acts and tribute acts of classic rock bands with acoustic nights on a thursday. They also offer music tuition services but I can't comment on these as I haven't had need to use them. The venue side of the business I can recommend, providing the style of act playing that night is to your tastes.

This venue is part of the newly revived and thriving Birmingham (Brum) scene. Entrance is cheap,…read moreusually only a few quid, and the drinks are student prices, which is fortunate considering most of the clients. This venue is big on Folk, acoustic and rock. A place to check out the local talent in all it's various forms. The doormen are laid back and friendly. The staff rather new wave and hippy nice. A good laid back venue for a chilled out evening. Tune in and tune out.

Went there for an evening - you deffo dont wanna go in ya best clothes - chairs are made in Africa…read more- good for the ppl who made em - but not for your best skirt - get caught on a nails. Car park wasnt good for your best shoes either - suggest jeans trainers and tee shirt. Reading the reviews - it seemed a great place to go - but they are dated 2012 - its now 2019. My friend googled their food cleanse things and was horrified to see zero rated. Summer 2019. ive just checked and its not changed. Go enjoy the garden centre - great plants and stuff.

I first went to Akamba in April this year. I'd found it online a few weeks earlier, whilst looking…read morefor tribute nights locally, and then a friend mentioned she had a voucher for a meal there, so we gave it a go. Let's be honest, eating dinner at a garden centre usually sounds like the sort of things your parents or grandparents (depending on your age!) would do, however, this little slice of African themed heaven is a far cry from what you'd normal expect of such a place! I've not made it to Africa, though have traveled widely in Asia, and the outside felt totally authentic, being similar to bars and restaurants I've eaten in abroad. Even outside, you are sheltered from the rain, and inside, where the buffet is served, it's warm and cosy, with live music of an evening, and the most amazing spread of food. I've been a number of times since that first dinner, having returned in the day with my dog, as it's dog friendly if you're happy to sit outside - they even bring a bowl of water for our four legged friends! I've had lunch there, and the most fabulous afternoon cream tea, and cake, whilst the choice is limited, what they offer is very tasty (and I'm a fan of cake!) I loved it that much the first night, that I've refused to go there for a meal again, as I'm going for my 40th, which happens to fall on a Thursday, and looking forward to sharing the experience with close friends. The service is always friendly. It's not always super fast, as it runs on Kenyan time, so this isn't the place to go in a rush. Indeed, why would you? It's such a delightful experience that it deserves to be cherished. Oh, and the shop is pretty fab too! So yes, dog friendly, fab food, great shop and friendly service!

Friendly, helpful staff with a pretty wide menu and a decent selection of beers, ciders, wine and…read morespirits. I enjoyed my my fish and chips as did my wife her steak and ale pie (with horseradish on the side). We've been twice at late lunchtime and enjoyed. As I said - friendly staff plus very clean and well looked after. Free wifi and over all a good experience. Not five stars - but definitely a solid 4!

A real life rock and live music bar, which is still going, still has bands playing and more…read moreimportantly still has people going to watch the music. Love this place.

The Tower of Song is an independent live music venue, run as a true labour of love. Tom Martin is a…read moreveteran touring player who saw that musicians wanted somewhere to play where the music was the focus of the night, not just a side-show to an evening of drinking. I went down to The Tower of Song on the quaintly titled River Rea Roots night. There is an open mic session, then a featured band play an hour slot. After, the open mic runs until closing. It's a simultaneously usual and unusual bunch of people who play that night. A 18 year old plays and sings some slightly out of tune Blues covers, but he sings them with such soul that he has the crowd in the palm of his hand. Organiser Bill O'Brien plays a couple of Birmingham-centric songs. A blokey duo of guitarist and harmonica player in their early fifties play some uptempo folky tunes, and to end a woman sings some proper, proper old folk songs acapella. Sandwiched inbetween a signed Scottish touring band called Panda Su export some gentle acousti-tronica to the audience. There are no egos here and no pretense here. Instead there is a supportive atmosphere that's a million miles away from scenester-ism, taking music back to it's roots as a tool of expression and affirmation.

The Tower of Song isn't one of Birmingham's most well known music venues, but that's exactly what…read moregives the space a slightly different edge, and a different atmosphere from people who you don't usually see at the more well known establishments. The audience are generally of the older generation, but that's not to say that young'uns aren't welcomed at all. In fact, as long as you are a fan of music (paticularly acoustic and roots music), you're sure not to go wrong upon entering. More so, the venue isn't even that hard to find, especially if you live in South Birmingham, it's just down the road from Cotteridge. From the outside, the venue has an 80s/90s look about it, probably because the décor hasn't been altered since then, but again, that adds to the unintentional quirk of the place. And on the inside, the walls are covered in stencils of iconic musicians, from Bob Marley to John Lennon to Jim Morrison, making it clear that The Tower of Song is serious about its music. The room itself is very small, with tables and chairs intimately facing the stage. This makes sure that your focus is on the live music, rather than on socialising. And of course, in my opinion, you go to a gig to see the performance, and not to constantly socialise while a band is playing. All in all, Tower of Song is a great little place to discover some amazing local talent. I personally came across some very talented young creatives, who were performing live during a South Birmingham Community Radio event.

The Austin is my local pub, i've lived in the area for 3 years now and became members straight…read moreaway, whether we go out with the parents and sit in the Lounge, go in the bar to watch football or gather up a group of friends and make a night of it watching some of the great live acts they have we always have a great time. It's a really friendly place the bar staff are lovely, food's good, very clean and they have a great garden with a play area for the kids. In my opinion the Austin caters to everyones needs, the bar has the sport, the lounge has the singers and the entertainment room has the live bands, beers cheap and the atmosphere's friendly.

This is the rockingest pub this side of the Pond. I absolutely adore this place, and count the…read morelandlady and landlord to be great friends. They run a grand pub, full of fun with great local music acts every Friday and most Saturdays. My husband originally strolled into this pub thinking we'd have a laugh at the local cheesy entertainment. However, the songstress, who used to perform at Disney World and with their cruise ships, knocked our socks off singing a bunch of jazz and classics, along with covering the sugar out of Amy Winehouse and The Noisettes. Well impressed like, we was. This pub used to be well known as a drug haven (and not just cannabis), and was known for having the police in nearly every weekend for fights and the like. They had topless bar maids and it was a real dive. In 2005, the current landlords came in and really cleaned the place up. They redecorated, got a bunch of very large local boys in to keep the fighters away, and added a new food menu. Slowly but surely, the place turned around to become a real community pub. It's great for families, and often have carnivals in the summer and hold community events. On the weekends, it's great for adults, as the local bands and singers they get in are absolutely fabulous (especially Partners in Crime, a favourite). The beer is cheap, and they have all the cocktail spirits a girl could want. The best part is the crowd, though. The regulars vary in age from 20-50, and it's definitely not just an old man's pub. It's a favourite of local 20-somethings to frequent before they go out to a club in Brum, and for the less adventurous of us, they often stay open til 2am, at which point we teeter home on 4" heels that seemed like such a good idea at the beginning of the evening. Everyone in the pub is friendly, always good for a laugh, and happy to chat. No fights, no drama, just good clean fun and great music, karaoke and sport during the week. The landlady makes an excellent Sunday Roast, and the wine menu has recently been revamped to add some excellent choices rarely seen in Tamworth!

This is a really nice place in Bromsgrove, it is known at the local music venue. They have live…read moremusic most nights with a wide genre of music to suit most people. The regulars are great and love their music. The staff are friendly and helpful. There is a heated seating area outside but the best part is that there are caves behind the pub which have seats and lighting but the caves go all the way into Kidderminster (so the rumour has it but not brave enough to go and check) this area does get packed so go early to get the best seats. There is music memorabilla in the pub which warrants a visit on its own. They have their own website so you can check out which bands are on.

Scary Canary is a cool little bar / venue at the top of Stourbridge High Street, housed in the…read moreformer McDonalds building. On entering through a fairly plain black door you walk upstairs to find yourself in a lovely room filled with quirky lighting, mis-matched chairs, tables and sofas and with loads of art by local artists on the walls, (most of it for sale). The venue regularly hosts gigs, film nights and quizzes with a different theme each week. Last time I did a film quiz there, one of the rounds was 'who can draw the best picture of Steve Buscemi'! The bar is well stocked with a good range of beers, wine and spirits and also sells snacks like crisps and nuts. It also has a really great sound system and a small area that serves as a stage and dance floor. I went to Scary Canary last night for a birthday party and had a great evening, I would really recommend it as an alternative to all of the chain / old man pubs that are in Stourbridge.

This place is now known as The Robin 2 (I'm guessing due to a change of management or something?)…read more Prepare for some innuendo in this review! To enter the main music venue you have to go around the back (oh-er missus!) and apparently there's a bar next door, that you enter around the front! We didn't visit this part of the bar so I can't comment on it. There's a good size car park at the back, and it's free! It's one of those places where EVERYTHING is sticky (make your own joke there!!) Not just the dance floor but the walls, tables, seats etc. So try not to stay in one place for too long. I guess it's a good excuse to get dancing! They didn't have lots of seats so some people braved sitting on the floor. They may still be there now, stuck forever... They have a great line up of music acts, from tribute bands to proper bands, across lots of different music genres! I went to the Dames of Darkness festival, which was a two day event consisting of 15 female-fronted metal/rock/goth bands from all over the world. Well worth the money. On the Saturday the mike was a bit squeaky (did it need greasing up?!) but the sound was absolutely fine on the Sunday. They serve food all day and was I assured their vegetarian burger was suitable for vegans, but I had my doubts after trying one on the Saturday. The chips were very nice though. On the Sunday I confused the woman behind the bar by asking for chips and a plain bun. I had to explain that I wanted to make myself a chip butty! My friends said the pizza was good, and people seemed to constantly have their lips around pizza and wraps so they must've been tasty! The bar staff were friendly, despite it being very busy. In my tip, I mentioned napkins. People seemed to be constantly walking passed with these stuck to the bottom of their boots, I found it rather amusing! The toilets are upstairs. The stairs are also sticky, making it seem like a mountain hike to get to the top! (there is a disabled toilet downstairs). The ladies toilets stayed fairly clean the whole day/evening and for some reason they reminded me of secondary school toilets. There's plenty of them and I never needed to queue. I'd definitely go back here. It's not an outstanding venue but if a band you like are playing then GO!

I remember going to the old Robin back in the early 90's and not much has changed since then…read more The Robin always seems to have decent acts, both domestic and imported. Some of the names that have played here are amazing. Then... they let me on the stage. What were they thinking? So, the sound was very good - tending to lean toward a "Rockier" sound due to the dimensions of the room. It is a little bit of a "sticky-floor" type venue, but without a doubt has plenty of guts and integrity in it's credentials. One point that I will speak of was the food that we were served. I am not sure if the band food is from a menu that is on offer at The Robin, but it was first-class and home cooked. I went for the lamb shank and it was fantastic. All in all a great venue with some brilliant acts on the roster. I will look forward to returning whether it be onstage or off. A little Robin video footage of my night there below... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPUu1glhGRw

This is a great little pub, they show football and other sports and have an overhead projector…read morescreen so watching football is great. These are also known as a great live music venue and have music on most nights and weekends. They have some great covers bands on and love their rock. The locals are great and make you feel very welcome. They have an outside smoking area which is heated. They also have a cashpoint machine inside and a cigarette machine. It can get very busy at weekends when the bands are on. They have a website you can check out who is playing and directions of how to get there if you need it. Its well worth a visit.