Wolverhampton Civic Hall

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Wolverhampton's Civic Hall has been one of the most important live music venues in the UK's West Midlands for several decades.

The hall was built in the late 1930s following a design competition in 1934 won by Lyons and Israel to build a large concert hall and a smaller hall (the Wulfun Hall), for theatre and chamber performances. The halls were refitted and reorganised in 2001 to increase the capacity to 3000 and provide new backstage areas and public facilities. In 2001 a third smaller venue (The Little Civic) was created which holds smaller events and up and coming bands.

The hall has continually run various entertainment events since it's opening, although the events are now mostly popular music based. In recent years the venue has been in competition for many of the bigger names with Birmingham's Carling Academy, among others. Despite this the venue continues to attract big names including bands such as Blur and Radiohead. Many mid sized acts will generally stop at the venue on UK tours.

Friday and Saturday nights are now dedicated to two long running club nights, Cheeky Monkey and Blast Off respectively. Blast Off in particular has a large local following, with many regulars, though it has a mixed reputation — some adore the atmosphere in the 3,000 capacity venue while others despise the 'school disco' feel, as they describe it.

The Civic Hall/Wulfun Hall complex is owned by Wolverhampton City Council.

The complex is a grade 2 listed building.

[edit] Notable events

Past notable events at the Civic Hall include:

Morrissey played his first solo performance at the Civic Hall in 1988. Admission was said to be free to anyone wearing a The Smiths T shirt. Nearly 20,000 fans were reported to attempt to gain entry to the show.
Thoughout much of the 1980s professional wrestling was broadcast live from the venue on Saturday afternoons. This became a noted part of English culture until American wrestling became more popular in the 1990's.
Marilyn Manson's performance in 1997 was heavily picketed by protesting Christian groups who felt his act was offensive.
Slipknot's performance at the Civic Hall in 2001 was noted for turntablist Sid Wilson stagediving from the 20ft high balcony onto the crowd, as per his trademark. This injured a young woman, although she later recovered.
Mott the Hoople, Ned's Atomic Dustbin and Space have all released live DVD's of concerts filmed at the venue.