Medicine Bar
Encyclopedia
The Medicine Bar in Birmingham
, England
started as a collaboration in the 1990s between the London
Medicine bar and local hip hop
DJ 'Simon Fat Head', who began his career at the legendary 'Brothers and Sisters' at the 'Coast to Coast' club on Broad Street
.
The bar is in the Custard Factory
in Digbeth
, and has hosted many techno
, acid jazz
, funk
and hip hop events.
Substance (which evolved out of Amplified) is the longest running hip hop night in the bar, with DJs Roc1, Magoo, Chris Reid (also from Scratch in London) and MC Mad Flow. It has brought hip hop acts including Afrika Bambaata, De La Soul
and Jeru the Damaja
to Birmingham.
Leftfoot
is the bar's main funk and soul
night which is part run by ex Rockers Hi-Fi
DJ Dick and Adam Regan (who now owns the Bull's Head bar in the birmingham suburb of Moseley). Leftfoot hosts many large acid Jazz type events with appearances from Gilles Peterson
to Mr Scruff. Both nights feature live acts.
Other events to take place at the bar include breakdance and graffiti
art shows.
For a short period in 2006/07, the Medicine Bar hosted the Birmingham leg of Club NME.
Birmingham
Birmingham is a city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands of England. It is the most populous British city outside the capital London, with a population of 1,036,900 , and lies at the heart of the West Midlands conurbation, the second most populous urban area in the United Kingdom with a...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
started as a collaboration in the 1990s between the London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
Medicine bar and local hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
DJ 'Simon Fat Head', who began his career at the legendary 'Brothers and Sisters' at the 'Coast to Coast' club on Broad Street
Broad Street, Birmingham
Broad Street is a major thoroughfare and popular nightspot in Birmingham City Centre, United Kingdom. Traditionally, Broad Street was considered to be outside Birmingham City Centre, but as the city centre expanded with the removal of the Inner Ring Road, Broad Street has been incorporated into...
.
The bar is in the Custard Factory
Custard Factory
The Custard Factory is an arts and media production centre in Birmingham, England .Located on the redeveloped site of the Bird's Custard factory in the industrial district of Digbeth, it is home to a community of businesses, primarily with an artistic and media slant, but also including...
in Digbeth
Digbeth
Digbeth is an area of Birmingham, England. Following the destruction of the Inner Ring Road, Digbeth is now considered a district within Birmingham City Centre. As part of the Big City Plan, Digbeth is undergoing a large redevelopment scheme that will regenerate the old industrial buildings into...
, and has hosted many techno
Techno
Techno is a form of electronic dance music that emerged in Detroit, Michigan in the United States during the mid to late 1980s. The first recorded use of the word techno, in reference to a genre of music, was in 1988...
, acid jazz
Acid jazz
Acid jazz is a musical genre that combines elements of jazz, funk and hip-hop, particularly looped beats. It developed in the UK over the 1980s and 1990s and could be seen as tacking the sound of jazz-funk onto electronic dance: jazz-funk musicians such as Roy Ayers, Donald Byrd and Grant Green are...
, funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
and hip hop events.
Substance (which evolved out of Amplified) is the longest running hip hop night in the bar, with DJs Roc1, Magoo, Chris Reid (also from Scratch in London) and MC Mad Flow. It has brought hip hop acts including Afrika Bambaata, De La Soul
De La Soul
De La Soul is an American hip hop trio formed in 1987 on Long Island, New York. The band is best known for their eclectic sampling, quirky lyrics, and their contributions to the evolution of the jazz rap and alternative hip hop subgenres...
and Jeru the Damaja
Jeru the Damaja
Kendrick Jeru Davis, known as Jeru the Damaja is an American rapper and recording artist who has worked extensively with Guru and DJ Premier of Gang Starr, whom he has known since high school.-Biography:...
to Birmingham.
Leftfoot
Leftfoot
Leftfoot is a musical event. It started life in Birmingham's Medicine Bar and the Bulls Head Public House in the suburb of Moseley in the late 1990s.Primarily an acid jazz night, many other major music styles such as hip hop, funk and dub are included....
is the bar's main funk and soul
Soul
A soul in certain spiritual, philosophical, and psychological traditions is the incorporeal essence of a person or living thing or object. Many philosophical and spiritual systems teach that humans have souls, and others teach that all living things and even inanimate objects have souls. The...
night which is part run by ex Rockers Hi-Fi
Rockers Hi-Fi
Rockers Hi-Fi were an electronic dub/dance outfit formed in Birmingham, England in 1992 as Original Rockers. In 1994 they changed their name to Rockers Hi-Fi...
DJ Dick and Adam Regan (who now owns the Bull's Head bar in the birmingham suburb of Moseley). Leftfoot hosts many large acid Jazz type events with appearances from Gilles Peterson
Gilles Peterson
Gilles Peterson , is a DJ, record collector and record label owner from London, UK. Through his labels Acid Jazz, Talkin' Loud, and latterly Brownswood Recordings, he has been associated with the careers of well-known artists of the 1990s such as Erykah Badu, Roni Size and Jamiroquai...
to Mr Scruff. Both nights feature live acts.
Other events to take place at the bar include breakdance and graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
art shows.
For a short period in 2006/07, the Medicine Bar hosted the Birmingham leg of Club NME.