This is a fantastic venue right in the heart of Birmingham. There is reasonably priced parking a 5 minute walk away.
We arrived fairly early. The stage was already set and ready.
The venue was set up with rows of small round tables and chairs. Our table was right in front of the stage. We ordered our dinner. We ate our food before the entertainment started.
The first artists of the evening were Stuart Landon and Neil Cook from The Angels with Dirty Faces. I am a real fan of these guys and it has been a few months since we had seen them perform and I have missed them. It was great to hear their familiar songs. I love singing along.
Stuarts new single 'I Can't Take It Anymore' had gone to number 1 in the country charts a few days before and it deserved to as it is a brilliant song
There was a very short break while they reset the stage. Literally just enough time to get a drink.
Next up, Simon James took to the stage. He was accompanied on a baby grand piano by Kevin Duncan who runs Ginger Dog Recording Studio's and on bass by Ben Janowicz. After the first song he was joined on stage by Sam Coe who did some backing vocals on a song. It sounded great. Simon is a really good songwriter and he mixed his set up with some songs that we knew and some great new ones. He always plays a great set and tonight was no exception.
Time to order another drink before our full band set of the event.
Sam Coe And The Long Shadows (I defy anyone to say that when they are drunk lol) are from Norwich, so because of logistics, we haven't seen to many performances by this band. They are making a bit of a name for themselves though. They are more traditional sounding than a lot of bands on the UK country circuit choosing to use a pedal steel to enhance their sound, but that doesn't mean they sound dated. They are bang up to date with their sound. They played a fabulous set and their lead guitarist was none other than Mr Simon James. Apparently he kept having a conversation with Sam mid set 'how does this one start...?' I admit it now, I was too busy watching Sam to notice lol.
All in all this was a fantastic evening. After the artists came off the stage they came and chatted with the people who had stayed behind to say hi. This is what I love about our British country artists. Always friendly and approachable. Nothing is too much trouble to make a fans experience of their gig as good as it could possible be.
We at Forever British Country highly recommend all these artists.