New music venue set to open in Birmingham in March

A new 350-capacity music venue is set to open in Birmingham next year.

Sally Brown’s will open its doors in Stirchley, a suburb in the south-west of the city, on March 1. It uses the site of a defunct venue called The Roadhouse, which closed in September 2017.

The retro-themed venue will also have an upstairs cafe, an ‘absolute sun trap’ garden with seating as well as rehearsal and creative space for artists. It is owned by Steven Davis, who fronts a ska band and has a particular passion for reggae and retro music.

He had previously launched the venue in Bradford after relocating there but told BirminghamLive he felt that it was “in the wrong place” and Birmingham would have been a better home for it.

“So many people said ‘You’ve got to open in Birmingham’ and so we are! We feel fantastic about it,” he said. “We put our first social media posts out yesterday and there have been so many comments. We just want to create a big space that isn’t going to be packed to the rafters but with plenty of space for people to come and sit down.

“The old Roadhouse was split into two rooms, a gig room and a bar, but now it’s just one open space. Upstairs we’re going to put in some rehearsal space for bands and we can probably seat about 150 people at tables upstairs for food.

“There’s room for us to expand the garden in the future too,” he continued. “There’s a brick built barbecue so when the sun’s shining, it’s going to be a really cool place.”

Sally Brown’s isn’t the only new music venue to open in Birmingham of late. Earlier this year, the UK’s second largest city became home to the Devil’s Dog, which opened in Digbeth in a building that was formerly a car showroom.