Walking through Birmingham to the Rainbow
I walked here from Arcadia; only about 10 minutes or so from the modernised heart of the City. They're still there, the old workshops but many of them are worn and have been turned into logistics centres or warehouses. A few of the factories I passed still deserve the name - and you can hear the hum of machines and the noisy percussion of metal parts being stamped out.
And at the Rainbow warehouse, sandwiched between two arches, the people gather two hours before the gig. And they are a huge range of people; ages, sizes, colours. As Benjamin Ellis said "I've seen people my daughter's age and my fathers age and older..". The DJs are up in their eyrie above the bar and the Reggae booms out. And it is good.
