Venue The Hummingbird
This club was originally known as the Top Rank and became known for hosting major names through the 1960s and 1970s and many local bands would play their first home town gigs here.
In the 1980s it became The Hummingbird Club and then was closed for a while and later it was bought by the Academy group and was known as the Carling Academy for a number of years.
Inside there were two levels and no seating and by the 1980s there was an industrial feel to the building. The Hummingbird attracted mostly national and international acts but occasionally local bands would play and there was also a smaller room within the venue for up and coming acts.
Proposed demolition work on the area meant that the Academy venue had to move and it found a new home in the old Dome nightclub in 2009. When the proposed demolition plans were shelved, the venue was re-opened as The Birmingham Ballroom catering to smaller acts. However, the venue ran for 18 months and then closed in January 2013 but was then re-opened until the demolition plans were put into practice in 2025.
In the 1980s it became The Hummingbird Club and then was closed for a while and later it was bought by the Academy group and was known as the Carling Academy for a number of years.
Inside there were two levels and no seating and by the 1980s there was an industrial feel to the building. The Hummingbird attracted mostly national and international acts but occasionally local bands would play and there was also a smaller room within the venue for up and coming acts.
Proposed demolition work on the area meant that the Academy venue had to move and it found a new home in the old Dome nightclub in 2009. When the proposed demolition plans were shelved, the venue was re-opened as The Birmingham Ballroom catering to smaller acts. However, the venue ran for 18 months and then closed in January 2013 but was then re-opened until the demolition plans were put into practice in 2025.