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 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. Building actually started in April 1936, the Halls officially opening on 12 May 1938.
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.
The first concert was performed on the evening of May 16th 1938 by the Old Royals Association with Webster Booth, Ann Ziegler and several other soloists. Since, all of the major choirs and orchestras have been featured in the halls, a tradition which is still continued today.
[edit] Rebuilding and the New Millennium
The halls were refitted and reorganised in 2001 to increase the capacity to over 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 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 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.
Comedians like Ken Dodd, Peter Kay and Jim Davidson appear regularly and the Civic Hall has recently 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.
The complex is a grade 2 listed building.
[edit] Famous Orchestras, Conductors and Choirs at the Halls
- BBC Symphony Orchestra
- London Philharmonic Orchestra
- Halle
- Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
- City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra
- Glasgow Orpheus Choir
- BBC Mens Chorus
- Dr. Malcolm Sargent
- George Stratton
[edit] Notable events
Past notable events at the Civic Hall include:
- Morrissey played his first solo performance at the Civic Hall on 22nd 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.
- 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, Morrissey and Space have all released live DVD's or videos of concerts filmed at the venue.
