After a fairly relaxed morning which continued into the afternoon, we readied ourselves to go into Birmingham for a gig.
Our good friends, Derek and Helen had booked tickets to see The Proclaimers about a year ago.
The plan was to pick up our buddies before driving into Birmingham early enough for a pre-concert bite in the ‘Spoons on Broad Street.
Helen had an offer for reduced parking so once we’d worked out where the car park was it was a case of following the SatNav. It was a bit of a winding route as we neared Brindley Place but with the parking pre-booked, the ANPR recognised the car and we were straight in.
We made our way to Broad Street but after entering The Soloman Cutler and finding it rammed with no free tables we made our way towards Symphony Hall, perhaps having to make do with a coffee in lieu of dinner.
Luckily, there is a small cafe / bar as part of the Symphony Hall complex from where we ordered four meals and drinks. Two of us had the veggie curry, Sue the Birmingham Soup (a thick beef stew with bacon infused dumplings) and a schnitzel. All the food was good (Sue really liked the Soup) and afterwards we stayed put, chilling until the doors opened to the hall.
Passing the merch counter, I was surprised to see, as well as the usual t-shirts and albums, tea towels for sale.
I don’t go to many gigs but apparently this is quite normal nowadays; being cheap to produce and, at twelve quid, a lot cheaper than the more traditional items. From research, the rock ‘n’ roll tea towel started being a thing in the late 2010’s.
I resisted the urge.
We made our way to our seats in the third row back (benefit of booking early) and watched as the roadies did the usual “one-two” stuff into microphones and went about setting the sound levels.
A little after half seven, the lights dimmed and the support act took to the stage.
Kirsten Adamson, daughter of rock guitarist, Stuart Adamson (The Skids, Big Country) now leads her own band, playing mainly country music.
Kirsten’s band played for around forty minutes before leaving the stage which was quickly re-shuffled for the main act.
The brothers, with their band of Drummer, lead Guitar and keyboards, rattled through song old and new including the famous, Five Hundred Miles, Letter from America and Sunshine on Leith.
As usual (we’ve seen them a few time including a set at Moseley Folk Festival in 2016) they were excellent and a great hit with the crowd.
The gig ended and we slowly made our way out of the auditorium and headed for the car park, crossing over the canal near Black Sabbath Bridge.
At the car park, we bypassed the crowds at the ticket machines and went straight to the car. As we had already paid, the automatic number plate recognition, opened the exit barrier as we approached – so easy.
It took a while to get out of the city centre, being a Saturday night and all, but once on the ring road it was plain sailing all the way to Water Orton. After depositing Derek and Helen it was back home for us, getting in just after eleven.