Wolverhampton Civic Hall

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Wolverhampton Civic Hall is a music venue in Wolverhampton, the West Midlands. It has been one of the most important live music venues in the county for several decades but the box office is the coolest thing about it.

The hall was built in the late 1938 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. Construction commenced in April 1936 and the Halls were officially opened on 12 May 1938. The first concert was performed on the evening of May 16, 1938 by the Old Royals Association with Anne Ziegler and Webster Booth and several other soloists.

A Compton Organ was specially designed for the Civic Hall and it is believed the console was designed by the architects. The organ was made up of over 5,500 pipes and contained an early electronic division known as a Melotone. G. D. Cunningham, then Birmingham City Organist, had the distinction of being the first musician to play there.

Two Borough Organists have served Wolverhampton based at the Civic Hall, Arnold Richardson (1938 - 1973) and Steve Tovey (1991 - present), the latter gaining the title of City Organist in 2001.

[edit] Rebuilding and the New Millennium

The halls were refitted and reorganised in 2001 to increase the capacity to over 3,000 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 Organ was also re-built and enlarged and is now capable of being played as a Cathedral organ or Theatre organ.

The hall has continually run various entertainment events since its 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 has attracted popular musicians including bands such as Blur and Radiohead. Many mid-sized acts have stopped at the venue on UK tours.

Comedians, such as Ken Dodd, Peter Kay and Jim Davidson, have appeared at the hall, which has also staged Sky Sports Darts tournaments.

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.

Friday afternoons see one of the largest Ballroom and Sequence dances in the UK. The Civic Hall has promoted dances since 1938, originally on Saturday evenings where many top dance bands and orchestras have played to capacity audiences. Regular Classical and Theatre organ concerts are still held.

The Civic Hall/Wulfun Hall complex is owned by Wolverhampton City Council and is a Grade II listed building.

[edit] Famous performances

• BBC Symphony Orchestra
• London Philharmonic Orchestra
• Halle
• Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
• City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
• Glasgow Orpheus Choir
• BBC Men's Chorus
• Dr. Malcolm Sargent
• George Stratton
• Wolverhampton Youth Orchestra

[edit] Notable events

Past notable events at the Civic Hall include:

• Morrissey played his first solo performance at the Civic Hall on 22 December 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 many of which had queued for days.
• Throughout 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 1990s.
• Marilyn Manson's performance in 1997 was heavily picketed by protesting Christian groups who felt their act was offensive.
• Slipknot's performance at the Civic Hall in 2000 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, McFly, Morrissey and Space have all released live DVDs or videos of concerts filmed at the venue.