3rd June 2022 - Rumours of Fleetwood Mac
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Written while listening to DjVole's show on aNONradio.

Last Wednesday, I had the pleasure of making use of a friend's free 
ticket to see a Fleetwood Mac cover band called Rumours of Fleetwood 
Mac. This meant a visit to the centre of Birmingham and it was with 
reasonably good timing. I had spotted a couple of new pubs to try. One 
was a reopening of a pub which sadly closed during Covid. It was 
formally a gin and mixology bar which had a sort of Alice in 
Wonderland theme. The pub itself is narrow but has a garden at the 
back and a cracking period wooden room on the second floor. I first 
went in 2006 as it was the Queen Anne and it was a touch scary. A 
'locals only' affair or certainly anti-student. Then it became the 
Jekyll and Hyde in 2007. This was a breath of fresh air with a huge 
selection of spirits. I helped them while I worked in Maplin with the 
sound systehm and ended up getting known there for a couple of years. 
I ended up in there with my Dad once and they knew me by sight which 
surprised him. Now, it has been bought by a brewery which was founded 
in Hockley, an area some 2 miles away from the pub, in 1829. They have 
done a marvelous job in making it feel like a traditional Birmingham 
boozer. Tiles adourn the walls and some of the space saving changes 
were inspired. The garden is now with a roof to more than double the 
seating space in all weathers. A garden appeared on the second floor 
between the wooden bar and the toilets although focused for smokers. 
It was lovely to have a pint in there. Of course it was a Davenports 
beer called RIP, an IPA of sorts. Tasty and bitter. The other pub I 
wanted to try was one open since 2019 but it escaped my attention. It 
is in a corner of Colmore Row, a posh street filled with former banks 
converted into wine bars. Well this so happened to be a pub instead. 
It is again a brewery owned pub but from a non-West Midlands one. 
Thornbridge are an interesting brewery who seem to play with flavours 
a lot and trying new things. They are from the Peak District, 
somewhere near Bakewell. This particular pub, the Colmore, is a former 
bank and so filled with marble, wood and mirrors. It is a rather 
swish place to end up even if the bar stools are ridiculously high. I 
had a couple of beers here while waiting for my friend to appear. The 
first was a Irn Bru sour called Krankie. For those unaware of the 
nectar that is Irn Bru, it is a fruity delight which is more popular 
in Scotland than Coca Cola. It is orange and so sugary. It is a 
perfect hangover cure. Anyhow, the beer was an almost perfect 
recreation and just lacked a bit of carbonation. I also love the pun 
on the Krankies, a derranged Scottish commedy duo of a husband with a 
particularly small wife. The wife plays wee Jimmy Krankie, a 
mischievous school boy. Yes it is already weird. However, they were 
also known for weird sex orgies in the 80s and 90s. The second beer 
was a pale ale from Trinity Brewing in Lichfield. It was pale and 
pleasant enough. It just lacked oomphf after the previous beers. 

The gig went wonderful with the first half being the whole of Rumours 
followed by the 'memorial section' where they played some of the Peter 
Green era songs. I loved it. They were an amazing band and worth 
seeing. The power of the Peter Green era stuff was magnificant. The 
second half involved lots of songs where I thought 'huh, didn't 
realise that was Fleetwood Mac' to myself. I might have only heard 
Rumours, Tusk and the Peter Green era.... Anyhow, it was fun and the 
first time I was in a seat at a gig for some years. I appreciated the 
seat. Particularly as it was second row and just to the left of the 
middle of the stage.

Birmingham is in full swing for hosting the Commonwealth Games at the 
moment and it is rather exciting. Victoria Square has returned to its 
glory with the Floosie in the Jacuzzi now having water, Queen Victoria 
back in place and the Iron Man lurking where he should be. There has 
been lots of effort to tidy the place up. The Town Hall, a Georgian 
classical revival delight, has Commonwealth Games banners in place. 
Signs are everywhere to make sure we remember that they are happening 
too. Then there are the new art works which are appearing. I stumbled 
across one which I love. It is a shield being pulled up by a gang of 
community leaders. These people are represented as metal cut outs. 
Union flag bunting is placed along the chains they are pulling. The 
shield is what makes it. On the shield there is "Nobodys here without 
a struggle" and "We all came here from somewhere." At the top of the 
shield is "Forward" in a sanskrit script and is the Birmingham city 
motto. At the bottom is "TOGETHER". These feel a perfect selection of 
phrases. I particularly love the forward together message and feel 
this should be the new motto. Birmingham is a city of great change in 
both architecture (for better and for worse), culture, industry and 
people. It is a young city which has a melting pot of cultures and so 
some fantastic food options. Brummies do not sing about the city as it 
is not the done thing. Save that for Mancunians about Manchester. 
Instead, Brummies take the piss out of their city and let the delights 
talk for theirselves. Birmingham is not pretty but it is interesting 
and I enjoy living here mostly. Some sea would be nice :P