It won’t exactly be quiet.
On Monday the Robin hosts Blancmange, one of the British synth bands of the early eighties who fused the emerging electro-musical technology with a deep-rooted soul influence. After a 25 year gap they released their fourth album, Blanc Bum in 2011 and followed that up this year with a re-recorded version of their debut, now entitled Happy Families Too.
Tickets £17.50
Tuesday sees Orphaned Land, a Israeli progressive metal band, making their Midlands debut. Formed in 1991, the band have now released five albums, the latest being this year’s All Is One. Their music is a fusion of prog, death metal and Eastern influences and their insistence on their music being accessible to both sides of the conflict in the Middle East has won praise around the world.
Tickets £10
One of the veterans of British blues rock makes another visit to the Robin on Wednesday. Bernie Marsden has played with some of the great bands and musicians but is best known for his two spells with Whitesnake, during which time he co-wrote some of their best known and most successful songs. He has also performed with a Rory Gallagher tribute and has recently played with Joe Bonamassa.
Tickets £16
There’s a new band in town on Thursday, albeit with less controversy than they might once have caused. The Cockney Rejects sprang to fame during the second or third wave of punk, their songs of East End life and football violence causing brief notoriety before ending their career as the band found themselves caught up in a wave of violence at their concerts. They’ve reformed on regular occasions, playing to older and mellower audiences, with a film about their life story, East End Babylon, released in 2012.
Tickets £15
There’s a tribute double bill on Friday featuring Livewire (AC/DC) and the ZZ Tops.
Tickets £17.50
One of the Midlands’ most enduring bands return to the Robin on Saturday. The Beat were a major part of the two-tone movement, although their music had a harder, more punk-tinged, edge than many of their contemporaries. They had a string of hits, they played around the world with such notables as REM (who opened for them on a US tour), the Clash and David Bowie and with original frontman Ranking Roger still leading the band they’re now touring regularly and playing the festival circuit.
Tickets £16
Sunday’s attraction is another regular at the venue. New Model Army are the definitive underground cult band, formed in 1980 and inspired by punk and Northern Soul. They quickly became the best–known politically inspired band in the country and more than thirty years later their music is as uncompromising as ever with a new album, Between Dog and Wolf, released in September.
Tickets £20
Tickets can be obtained from the box office on 01902-401211 or www.therobin.co.uk
