Business News The Griffin Report
The iconic Birmingham “double act” of Town Hall and Symphony Hall continues to go from strength-to-strength. Jon Griffin, Chamberlink’s award-winning columnist, was in awe when he stood on the very spot where his hero Bruce Springsteen performed at Symphony Hall. Here he takes at close look at the venues which stage between 500 to 600 shows a year, attracting visitors from all over the world.
Charles Dickens performed his first reading of A Christmas Carol, Bruce Springsteen strolled on stage with just an acoustic guitar, Chuck Berry and Buddy Holly rocked the place to the rafters, the Beatles played second fiddle to Roy Orbison, crooner Tony Bennett marked his 90th birthday tour in his trademark style….the list is endless. Birmingham’s highly distinguished
on-stage ‘double act’ of elder statesman Town Hall and its latter- day soulmate Symphony Hall, which celebrated its own 25th anniversary in June 2016, continue to pull in 21st Century punters 183 years after it all began in autumn 1834. Birmingham’s Triennial Music
Festival kicked things off at the Town Hall back in the dim and distant past on 7 October 1834 – marking the launch of an inspiring live artistic journey which has captivated dozens of generations of concertgoers and provided millions of lasting memories through the decades. From humble beginnings three
years before Queen Victoria ascended to the throne, the two Birmingham venues have become essential elements of the cultural landscape of the city, bringing world- class artists to the Midlands capital. But as the internet continues to
change the world of communications – and live entertainment – at an often bewildering rate, both the Town Hall and the Symphony Hall are keeping pace with the digital sector – successfully transcending the eras to attract hundreds of thousands of visitors to Birmingham every year. The two venues’ programme
manager Chris Proctor told Chamberlink: “You still cannot get away from the feeling of being in the presence of great artists, be it Bruce Springsteen or Tony Bennett. We have over half a million people a year across both venues. We do 500 to 600 events a year at the Town Hall and Symphony Hall. People travel from all over the UK to visit the two venues – it all helps Birmingham as a destination. I still feel that some people may not realise how good these venues are, but we have a very loyal customer base who come back to us on a regular basis, both for classical and for pop.
14 CHAMBERLINK September 2017 “The Symphony Hall has
something in the diary between mid-September and the end of 2018 already… we even have a provisional booking for 2026. It is a classic concert hall with world-class acoustics – Tony Bennett described it as the finest concert hall in the world. There is a lot of love for the Town Hall because people are aware of its history. There is a responsibility to look after the heritage of the building, physically and emotionally. This is as near to a dream job as you can get but it is not all rock and roll – my job is to book world-class artists.” A case in point for Chris will be
the highlight of the forthcoming Christmas period in Birmingham, when long-established global entertainment company Blue Man Group will bring their world tour to Hall One of the adjacent ICC following exhaustive negotiations. Chris said: “This is a UK exclusive
for Birmingham. It’s the most spectacular kind of event that we have ever put on over the Christmas period. It has taken 18 months of negotiations to get them. It’s a massive opportunity both for us and for Birmingham – I have been wanting to bring Blue Man Group to Birmingham for two years now – this is the most technologically advanced tour that they have ever undertaken.”
Town Hall (above) and Symphony Hall have a long and illustrious history New York-based Blue Man Group
– described as a ‘dynamic combination of art, music, comedy and technology’ - are staging 15 performances from 28 December to 6 January 2018. Tickets are being snapped up, with around 3,000 out of a total of 20,000 already sold months in advance. Another forthcoming creative
coup for the city is a brace of performances of Beethoven’s Fifth by the self-styled Multi-Story Orchestra at North Car Park Level 1, Barclaycard Arena, on 22- 23 September. Tickets are just £5. Other imminent highlights
at the Symphony Hall include veteran singer- songwriter Neil Sedaka on 14 September, Suzanne Vega on 26 September, The Pretenders
on 15 October and a cricketing treat with an Evening with Aggers and Bumble – aka radio legends Jonathan Agnew and David Lloyd – on 22 October. Meanwhile, the Town Hall will play
host to the likes of former Moody Blues favourite Justin Hayward on 5 October, Jason Donovan and his Amazing Midlife Crisis on 8 October and comedian Matt Lucas on 14 October.
For concert hire inquiries contact Chris Proctor on 0121 644 6157 or
chris.proctor@
thsh.co.uk For commercial hire inquiries (dinners, events etc.) contact Nicole Evans on 0121 644 6004 or
nicole.evans@thsh.co.uk
Legend: Tony Bennett receives a commemorative picture of the Town Hall to mark his 90th birthday from programme manager Chris Proctor
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