The Asylum - Birmingham United Kingdom

The Asylum is a venue which has developed a strong reputation as a mid sized option of local and touring bands, in particular those with a persuasion for rock, metal and heavier styles of music. The venue is friendly, has a unique vibe and a sense of its own humour (bar staff dressed in nurse outfits it is The Asylum after all! . The sound is excellent especially when the venue is filled! There are also little things which give the venue character whether it is its unique graffiti art or the beer garden outside. There is also a smaller venue upstairs, the aptly named Asylum 2, which is not only much smaller, it is also a classic tiny rock venue often full of sweaty young guys headbanging away!

The Asylum is quite hidden away in Hockley, and I'm still not sure how to get there on foot myself. I've always been in a taxi. This place is a hub of all things heavy metal, contained within a black mist. You can't really see much aside from the darkness, and you can just about make out the people in front of you, right before you bump into them. The venue is great for any self-proclaiming rocker, old or young, everybody is united through head banging, leather jackets, long hair and tattoos. Yeah, you'll probably feel a little of out place if you're not a rocker, but I think that's just from individual perception, and it's certainly not a reflection from the bar staff or the punters, who are highly welcoming to all. If you love your live gigs prolifically loud, then The Asylum would definitely suit you. I went to see a metal band here called Point Blank Fury, who turned the venue into a chaotic, sweaty, mosh pit.

The last time I went to Asylum, it was to see an extremely noisy band with a name containing swear words play a gig with other bands with equally obscene names and an aversion to melody. I had a cracking time. The Asylum is essentially a metal venue, so if you're not into the heavy stuff, there's not much a lot of point in going there. A quick look at the line up reveals a selection of up and coming metal, hardcore and emo bands and also a refreshing lack of tribute bands, a rarity for small venues nowadays. There's also Uprawr (that's the way they spell it) their regular rock nights for drunken wayward teens. As I place to see bands, I like it. The place has a relaxed feel missing from many of the bigger venues in town, there's a cheap bar and the staff are friendly. It's the sort of venue where the customers actually talk to each other rather than standing around trying to look cool. It's the classic dirty little rock venue, and if that appeals, you sholud definitely give it look.

Have been to 6 different gigs at this venue and 3 of them have had show ruining sound issues (equipment not working, vocals being silent, the PA still playing during bands sets, I could go on). The sound system in this venue is absolutely abysmal, find another date on a bands tour and go and see them at another venue, I urge you. When I posted that on Twitter (with no insults or swearing, simply stating that the sound system was abysmal and ruined the show) the venue blocked me. When I then posted on Facebook saying the same thing (still with no insults or swearing, just stating a fact of an experience that I had at the venue) the venue blocked me on there too. Staff don 't search anyone on the way in, so fingers crossed nobody brings anything unsavoury into the venue with them. The venue itself is in a very unsafe looking neighbourhood, absolutely no chance in hell I 'd risk parking my car nearby. The venue itself is so rundown and grotty its unreal, the toilets are an absolute state and the 'security ' are non existant so good luck to anyone crowd surfing on breaking their own fall on the other side of the barrier. The venue is a joke, clearly run by people who couldn 't care less about the experience of its patrons. Avoid this venue like the plague, I will be.