The Birmingham Rock and Metal Tour

Birmingham is many things: a former industrial hub, Britain’s second city, the dividing line between north and south. But it’s also where heavy metal crawled its way out of the factories and smog, and breathed its first ominous breath.

On this walking tour you’ll explore some of the city centre’s most pivotal and important rock venues. You’ll find out that Birmingham has way more going for it musically than just Black Sabbath, Brumbeat, reggae, ska, post-punk, new wave and indie – and hear about how the city has fathered multiple generations of vital musical heritage.

The tour starts at New Street Station in front of Ozzy the Bull. You’ll make your way to several points of Black Sabbath-themed interest, including The Crown Inn, where the band played their first gig in 1968. As you walk to Black Sabbath Bench on Broad Street I’ll help you re-live the memories of Birmingham’s rock past by telling you real-life stories about the late 80s-early 90s venue called Edwards No. 8 (or “Eddies”) that housed gigs from Pearl Jam, Jeff Buckley and The Smashing Pumpkins. You’ll hear about The Hummingbird, the last place Nirvana ever played in Birmingham, Barbarella’s – the punk venue that showcased The Clash before they’d released their first single – and the former theatre where Eric Clapton went on an ill-advised drunken rant.

On this two-hour tour you’ll also have a chance to:

• Learn how being from Birmingham shaped Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath’s guitar sound
• Browse the independent record store that has tenaciously persisted since its opening in 1979
• Find out how Judas Priest formed an anthem of societal discontent in a former Beatles’ home
• Discover the Brumbeat group that lost their royalties to Prime Minister Harold Wilson
• Hear what the band Dexys Midnight Runners did to fight dead end town nihilism and Catholic repression, creating a wedding dancefloor staple in the process
• Be intrigued by the way Duran Duran predicted their career path with a line from their debut single, and Napalm Death created a new genre out of playing as fast and heavy as they possibly could
• Walk past the former indoor market that supplied Birmingham teenagers with Black Sabbath t-shirts and Doc Martens for fifty years
• Uncover which member of Fleetwood Mac is secretly a Brummie

Birmingham is more than just the home of metal. It’s a place where rock music and culture has thrived for the last sixty years. Hear the full story on The Birmingham Rock and Metal tour.