The Digbeth Institute is a 2,000+ capacity music venue in Digbeth, which has been synonymous in the development of the British rave music and drum and bass scene.
Capacity: 1,500 (The Institute), 600 (The Library), 300 (The Temple)
A former church and theatre, the venue is now called the Sanctuary and was the original home of Godskitchen`s weekly club nights.
As well as Godskitchen, The Digbeth Institute / Sanctuary has also played host to famous club nights such as Atomic Jam, Uproar, Slinky, Sundissential, Athletico, Ramshackle and Panic.
Many influential hip hop artists performed at Digbeth Institute including Redman and Keith Murray.
Designed by Arthur Harrison, it was officially opened January 16, 1908 by the wife of the Pastor of Carrs Lane Church, John Henry Jowett, as an institutional church attached to Carr’s Lane Congregational Church.
In the week that followed, it hosted a variety of acts.
The area which surrounded it was predominantly slums and industrial.
In 1954, the building was put up for sale by the trustees as they felt the building was not needed for its originally intended use. It was bought by Birmingham City Council in 1955 for £65,000 and was used as a civic hall.
The exterior is a mixture of red brick and grey terracotta.The grey terracotta forms the more ornate features of the facade including the three towers, the 1.65 metre tall allegorical figures and the window and door frames.
The allegorical figures are believed to be the work of John Evans, the chief modeller for Gibbs & Canning.
The drawings of the building by Arthur Harrison do not include the figures, indicating that these were probably added in 1909.[2] The building is Grade B locally listed.
People known to have made speeches at the Digbeth Institute include Neville Chamberlain, Henry Usborne, Florence L. Barclay and Herbert Hensley Henson.
In 1987, the building was used as a film studio by the Birmingham Film and Video Workshop for the Channel 4 film ‘Out Of Order’. The venue later appeared onscreen again, when it played a part as one of the main locations in the feature film ‘Lycanthropy’, filmed in 2005-2006.
At the rear of the Institute was The ‘Jug ‘O Punch Folk Club, which thrived in the 60’s. on Thursday nights.
The club was run by Ian Campbell, for me the most under-rated influence in folk music and a man whose influence rates alongside that of Ewan MacColl.
The Ian Campbell Folk Group included the great Dave Swarbrick, Ian’s sister Lorna – whose singing was unsurpassed in Britain and the late John Dunkerley.
The group had also included one Dave Phillips, and later Dave Pegg on bass, who was to join Jethro Tull,
and Fairport Convention
Compiled by Keith Law
Ron Brinsdon sent in this ticket stub of The Fall’s gig here.
There Are Currently 12 Comments for this Post
Saw The Police supported by The Cramps (Lux Interior dropped his trousers!!!) on 6th June 1979….
Also The Cure in 1980.
He did more than drop his trousers. He started playing with himself. Me and my girlfriend were in the front row and she ran a mile because she thought he was going to ejaculate. He didn’t. And we lost our place at the front for the Police.
Maybe just as well because fans were spitting at Sting and he even spat back.
I talked to Sting about this about 5 years ago.
I remember going to Digbeth Civic Hall in the early 70s to see some old American Bluesmen. Who were they? Who else was there?
Hi Ken
2 years since you posted this but I’ve just found the website. I also remember a concert in that era that was headlined by Lightnin’ Hopkins with support from Brewers Droop, who I think were local and played cajun influenced blues. I imagine it was put on by Big Bear Music that ran Henry’s Bues Club.
Hi John
I’ve only just seen this….I think the gig you’re referring to – Brewers Droop as ‘support’ – was the Muddy Waters Blues Band. Wonderful night and I was doing some ‘stewarding’ in the hall for Jim Simpson. Yes, this was a Big Bear promotion. I’ll check out the exact date and let you know….Frank Pizzey
Great venue – I saw many good acts there. It had a decent sized hall & a great bar area upstairs. I remember at the sell out Angelic Upstarts gig on the 7 Feb 1981 punters were letting others who couldn’t get in through the gents toilet windows. They were very small windows – how these skinheads never got stuck has always amazed me.
06 May 1980 – Magazine/Bauhaus
23 August 1980 – Athletico Spizz 80/Tenpole Tudor/The Figures
07 February 1981 – Angelic Upstarts
07 April 1981 – The Spizzles/Department S
25 March 1982 – Theatre Of Hate/Southern Death Cult
06 May 1983 – Sex Gang Children/Play dead
30 July 1983 – Killing Joke/Play Dead
28 October 1983 – Sex Gang Children/Ausgang
The best live band Venue in the late 70’s and early 80’s.
I watched the following bands there.
Stiff Little Fingers
The Exploited
Anti – Pasti
GBH
JJ Burnel
I remember going to the Civic Hall, probably 72/73/74 and seeing some old American bluesmen, but I don’t know who. Has anyone got any info on this?
The Clapton material is much more detailed than any reports I have read before. Shocking stuff. And we used to think he was god!
I remember seeing the police in 1979 all the punks at the front were spitting at them – just knew they would be big – loved them all – happy days !!!
https://ukcommentators.blogspot.com/2010/10/less-gregory.html
“As a chap I’d never seen real female fan hysteria until I saw Gregory Isaacs at Digbeth Civic Hall in the late 70s – 1979 ? Most of the bands and singers I liked attracted an older crowd. But that night you could have bottled the oestrogen – the first 25 yards of the (standing) floor was entirely female. The place was packed and heaving – condensation was dripping off the walls and ceiling, and the Hall’s quite a big old place.
The backing band came on and tormented the crowd – playing tunes that would morph into the opening of some Isaacs classic – cue pandemonium, screams and a huge surge forward … then they’d play something else which would in turn become the opening bars of another Isaacs song … more mania from the girls … they kept this up for about twenty minutes before finally the Cool Ruler stepped from the shadows and the girls really took off. The balcony was shuddering as the whole place danced for the next ninety minutes. Most impressive. I saw him again at the Hummingbird a couple of years later but that was more memorable for being bombarded with rocks from a pedestrian overpass (by bad white boys) as I was getting on my motorbike afterwards. Not a good time to have trouble with the kickstart.”
Does anyone remember Ready Steady Go at the Civic Hall Digbeth about 1966
I saw a fair few bands there in the early 80s ranging from The Enid to Crass and Killing joke. (I have wide musical tastes!) I saw Gong there when it reopened under a new name in 2010 and it was still a great venue. Sadly, the redevelopment of the building since has not been helpful – I saw Gong again there in 2019 and the acoustics spoiled what should have been an excellent show.