The Joy Formidable kicked off their largest UK tour to date in Birmingham’s intimate HMV Institute this October. I was lucky to wit-ness this eccentric up and coming band perform their epic debut ‘The Big Roar’. They opened with their latest single ‘A Heavy Abacus’ and the crowd exploded in cheers and chants as Ritzy tore into her live set. The energy reached fever pitch when the band performed the incredible ‘Ostrich’ from their EP ‘A Balloon Called Moaning’. The excitment carried on for the closing track of their recent album ‘The Greatest Light is The Lightest Shade’ a personal favourite of mine which sounds even more deafening when performed live than it does on the LP. This was followed by massive hit ‘Cradle’ which sent the audince into frenzy, chanting viscious lyrics back to the band. The mood changed slightly as Ritzy exclaimed it to be ‘nap time’ as the band played unreleased raritie ‘Anemone’ which was a dreamy, chilled break from the brutal moshpits of earlier tracks.With the end of the gig looming, it could be said that the band really saved their A material for the close. The huge ‘I Don’t Wanna See You Like This’ once again cre-ated an electric atmosphere, with ‘While The Flies’ following. After a small technical hitch, the band launched into their closer and most successful song ‘Whirring’ an incredible medley of live instrumentals and agressive vocals leaving fans singing along all the way home. This band were incredible to watch, their whole show relies only on their talent in playing their own instruments and writing their own songs. I have no doubt they will go far and I look forward to seeing Ritzy and her band belting out hits such as ‘Aus-tere’ and ‘Magnifying Glass’ on an arena tour in front of thousands. I believe 2012 will be their year, they are contributing to the Twilight Saga soundtrack and are currently working on their second album. Find out more at www.thejoyformidable.com

The NME tour returned to Birmingham in early October bringing critically acclaimed talent Wolf-gang. He has a lot to live up to, previous headliners and support are shown to the left; Bands such as Arctic Monkeys, Crystal Castles and Florence + the Machine have all found their fame after performing as part of the tour. NME believe 2012 will be Wolfgang’s year, pick up his debut album now.

THE JOY FORMIDABLEThurs 13th October

UK Indie rockers The Joy Formidable bring their eccentric live show to the HMV with support from Creatures Of Love.

MILES KANETues 18th October

The genius behind Last of the Shadow Puppets showcases ‘Colour of the Trap’ to his ever growing fanbase.

BENJAMIN FRANCIS LEFTWICHThurs 27th October

With his delicate and elegant melodies, catch one of the UK’s most exciting new song writes at the HMV Institute.

ANNA CALVIFri 4th November

See Anna perform tracks from her mercury prize nominated debut album in Birmingham’s most intimate venue.

WILD BEASTSThurs 10th November

One of the UK’s most eccentric Indie rock band’s comes to the city this month with new album ‘Smother’.

THE NAKED AND FAMOUSSat 19th November

This electric band originally from New Zealand bring the incredible ‘Passive Me, Agressive You’ to Birmingham.

FOSTER THE PEOPLEMon 21st November

The Californian band play ‘Torches’ at the HMV in November, including Summer anthem ‘Pumped Up Kicks’.

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AUTUMN 2011

COW is a chain of vintage clothes stores. At the moment there are five stores, one in Nottingham, Sheffield, Manches-ter and two in Birmingham. All of the clothes are original and one off pieces sourced from all over the world. To find out more visit www.wearecow.blogspot.com.

Earlier this month, the warehouse branch in Birmingham hosted a student lock in. As students we love fashion, and we love bargains even more so when we heard that the student discount would be doubled to 20% we thought this would be a fantastic event to cover in our magazine, and if we had the oppurtunity to do a little shopping, well that was just an added bonus.

The lock in attracted a range of people, but the majority being the ec-centric indie market. The range of hair-styles in one room was astounding. I managed to pick up a number of bargains and some really nice one off pieces. I would recommend COW to anyone, the one off finds really would fit in any indie kid’s wardrobe. There is the ability to create interesting, eye catching outfits without breaking the bank.

Halloween Spirit at the canal side pub the FlapperThe Flapper hosted its annual free entry Halloween extravagant on October 29 giving a chance to suit up and show off intensely savage outfits and winning prizes for the best one. Djs, late night partying and a live venue at the pub’s underbelly The Dungeon featuring Morgue Orgy/ Slab/ Husk/ Adrenaline.

SPOOKY GOING’S ON AT THE FLAPPER

Regional, national and international artists participating will respond to the theme of “cultural curiosity”, challenging the repetitive rhythm of a traditional advertising campaign and creating a link of unique responses.The pilot project in 2010, where four billboards were used, provided a platform for the emerg-ing one as the feedback was overwhelming with 100% of the people surveyed wanted to see the project happen on a larger scale.This experimental art installation project will provide the opportunity to members of the public and various community groups to work with the artists ensuring that this creative output is widely reaching. In ad-dition students from Birmingham Institute

of Art and Design and Birmingham City University will help the commissioned art-ists as an intergraded part of their studies to further their experience and knowledge through real projects and work experiences.48- Sheet aims to support artists by giving them a platform to exhibit and develop their practice and also engage people within the project by making the process accessible to participate, learn, be curious and get involved.The advertising billboards selected will be divided into clusters across the city and a project catalogue will be produced detail-ing artists work, maps and recommended routes from which to view the clusters.

Oxjam Brum Takeover 2011 offered an exciting line-up of gigs on the 15th October welcoming music lovers to join for the greater cause of rais-ing money for Oxfam, a global organization of devoted people fighting poverty.The music festival was organised by volunteers and included more than 30 artists with an eclectic mix of genres from acoustic to metal, with acts like Free School, Violet, The Musgraves and was set on 7 different settings.