The Drum

What a great place! I hadn’t been to @The_Drum before which is hard to believe!
We went to see the delightful Courtney Pine for his album launch and I get the distinct feeling I have been spoilt! In a relatively small theatre, we easily got the second row but Mr Pine actually came up and down the steps to be up close to his fans! He was there to sign autographs afterwards too, for which there was a very long queue!
The tickets said 7.30 start and we got there just before 7 to meet friends in the bar — which wasn’t quite open. There is the Barton Arms right opposite for drinks (and thai food) though.
Clearly this place means so much to all, including people like Mr Pine.

Birmingham’s rich diversity has made it a top place for multicultural artistic flair. The Drum is testament to this with performers from various black and ethnic minority backgrounds showcasing their talent.
I’m a regular here to check out exhibitions illustrating monumental histories and to be entertained with a variety of comedy and tragedy dramas, which always give you a unique perspective to different cultures.
The theatre has an adjacent car park, which usually fills up during sell-​out shows so you’ll have to resort to parking on the nearest side road. There is a bar at reception where you can also have light snacks and hot drinks. The building is glass-​fronted and overlooks the main road, so it’s a pleasurable place to catch up with friends.
Music classes are held here so you may walk in to find a class of dhol drummers raising the roof — but this never clashes with performances so no fear!

It’s great to have an arts venue outside of the city centre, because it makes you explore and get to know other areas of Birmingham that little bit more. I kind of wish there were more venues like this spread across different areas. We’d soon develop our own map of the second city, rather than just assuming there’s nothing much going on outside of the centre.
The Drum is devoted in bringing unique African and other ethnic minority art, performance and culture to Birmingham, an area that is of great interest to me. However, I am fairly new to discovering the venue, and I’m very keen to experiencing a show here. I’ve only ever utilised the space for activities and workshops for Kalaboration.
The venue’s architecture is like a 90s time capsule and will hopefully remain unmodernised. I think it’s great to leave elements of history around our city as it allows future communities to experience a snippet of the past.
The staff inside are also very helpful and approachable, and the café inside The Drum serves great traditional Caribbean food.

I’ve been to The Drum many times for events, meetings and training days but never for a show and so I can’t comment on the quality of the programming.
If you are looking for African, Asian and Caribbean art and cultural performances then Drum is the place to check out. If you or someone you know is a young person with an interest in any of the above or urban art activities then there youth programming is well managed but often over subscribed.
As a venue I find it a weird space to enter and navigate and I can’t say that I’ve had positive experiences of it as a venue for hire as basic hospitality functions tend to go awry.
The Drum does great things but its location in Newtown often seems inaccessible to many across the city.

Looking for what’s happening in the arts & cultural scene in Birmingham mainly focusing on the Black & Asian arts & entertainment then the Drum would be a good place to visit. It’s where all the arts & cultural shows and events take place. I’ve been there for quite a few shows and have even hosted at the FabAfriq show which took place there late last year. The venue is huge and if you are wanting to put on a function the Drum has really big function rooms.

For an excellent night out you can’t beat one of the live events at The Drum on the Aston/​Newtown border, right next to Elbow Room nightclub.
A couple of years I went to a Carribean night there and had a right laugh, all the black guys in there were running around with face paint ‘blacking up’ all us paler types! The music was brilliant; steel drums and guitars playing into the early hours and a buffet of traditional Carribean food which I couldn’t leave alone all night!
They have loads of different events on here such as reggae singers, tribute bands, soul and R&B with all acts being absolutely brilliant and worthy of their spot.
There is something for everyone at The Drum; music as I mentioned above, comedy nights, exhibitions and lots of other things which are particularly interesting to the black community in Birmingham although anyone can go in and feel welcomed and enjoy their night.
I went to a dance show there late last year and it was stunningly put together with wonderful costumes and music that really pulled me into the storyline.
The bar within The Drum is well stocked with lagers, ciders, spirits and liqueurs all of which are reasonably priced and served in spotlessly clean glasses — which is worth a mention as Elbow Room next door often use grimy glasses which is really off putting.
The Drum is much larger inside than it appears from the entrance with space to host the events I mentioned above and it also incorporates a cinema screen in there which is used to show films and documentaries relating to the black community around Birmingham, the most recent of which is to be This Is England which is a film about racism in the 80’s.
I think The Drum is a fantastic community project which can only do good in a largely troubled area of Birmingham.

This is such a great place for plays, they have all different plays for different sets of people who can relate to the plays as they are very educating and moving and deal with problems and issues we have in the world today like gun crime and violence, great actors and they also have drama work shops for people wanting to get into acting and the plays start from an amazing £3.00