All My Friends (Counting Crows song) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Vocalist Adam Duritz and other band members David Bryson, Charlie Gillingham, Dan Vickrey, David Immerglück, Jim Bogios and Millard Powers, took the nineties children back to their teenage years when grunge was at its height.

Cover of Hadouken!

Once one of the leading lights of the new rave scene in the noughties, the band (named after the special attack move from Street Fighter) was formed by singer, writer and producer James Smith with his synth-playing girlfriend Alice Spooner, guitarist Dan Rice, bassist Christopher Purcell and drummer Nick Rice.

Cover of Bananarama

CHART toppers JLS, pop legends Bananarama and songbird Paloma Faith are to headline this year's Birmingham Pride festival.

They will be joined by high-profile X Factor contestants including Rylan Clark, Misha B, Kitty Brucknell and Lucy Spraggan as the city celebrates its biggest Gay Pride spectacular yet.

P!nk, The Truth About Love tour, LG Arena, Birmingham, Sunday April 21

WHEN Pink burst onto the scene 13 years ago - her hair dyed to match her stage name - few would have predicted her meteoric rise.

Yet the star - born Alicia Beth Moore - is now a fully fledged global phenomenon.

That fact owes as much to her spectacular live shows as it does to the steady stream of hits that have paraded through the upper echelons of the chart.

Flog It! fans can finally discover how the BBC bargain hunters got on when they visited Coventry last year.

This afternoon's episode comes from Coventry Transport Museum, where presenter Paul Martin believes he may have spotted a possible Rembrandt painting in the crowd.

The star has announced that he will kick off his new UK tour at the Kasbah club in Hillfields, Coventry, on May 18th.

The star - best known for his Stevie Wonder sampling smash hit - will headline the Coventry club on March 23.

It follows hard on the heels of a hugely successful show by Grandmaster Flash at the venue in Primrose Hill last month.

THE outline of a wolf's head hangs over the stage and beneath pastel green lighting, a symbolic reference to new album Wolf's Law.

It's especially ironic with Wolves playing just a mile away from the Wulfun Hall in Wolverhampton.

What followed was a bruising, powerful and energetic display to rival any football match - and it lasted well in excess of 90 minutes.

A crescendo of whirring feedback was broken by a battering ram guitar riff as the Welsh trio kicked-off with a thunderous version of new single Cholla - set to a black and white video of desolate landscapes.

The Joy Formidable's new album has NOT been inspired by legendary Birmingham band Black Sabbath.

In fact, no one appears to have influenced the Welsh rockers on their second LP Wolf's Law more than themselves.

Speaking ahead of their gig at Wolverhampton's Wulfrun Hall tonight, bassist Rhydian Dafydd said: "We all still feel like we're in a bubble and don't try to reference anything.

"We were utterly consumed by what we were writing."

(Picture by Andy Hughes Photography)

A TANGIBLE buzz of excitement consumed the crowd as hotly-tipped Indie band Peace (pictured) took to the stage for their homecoming show on the tour.

And the four-piece, who built a steady, yet fiercely loyal, following with a series of small gigs in Digbeth, lived up to the hype with a set full of sweat and swagger.

Not only are they leading the 'BTown' scene of bands from Birmingham, but it's Peace who appear to be spearheading a grunge revival on these shores.

Ironically, most of the fresh-faced fans rocking Nirvana tops and brightly-coloured floral shirts in tribute were not born when Seattle ruled the sound waves in the early 1990s.

It is a mouth-watering prospect for music fans - two of the country's top talents on the same bill.

Much has been made of Everything Everything's perceived shift towards a more radio-friendly, pop sound.

In truth, many of the songs on new album Arc, which reached the top 5 in the UK chart, could have sat comfortably on 2010 debut Man Alive.

Duet, which opened with edgy violins and stabs of guitar before speeding up into a noisy climax, was the perfect example of this.

What was more apparent hearing the new songs live, is quite how much this eclectic bunch - who trade in falsetto, quirky lyrics, soaring synths and off-beat drums - have been influenced by US R&B.

Yet the poll may still sow the seeds of change for the region's flagship free festival.

To the surprise of many, the council received nearly 8,000 votes in favour of moving the event lock, stock and barrel - 38 per cent of the total.

ARTISTIC credibility is inevitably questioned when a band so acclaimed for their quirkiness return with a far more accessible album.

There's no denying Arc - the 'difficult' follow-up from left-field art-rockers Everything
Everything, whose gig at The Institute in Digbeth tomorrow night is sold out - carries more radio-friendly cuts.

But, argues bassist Jeremy Pritchard, it simply mirrors the Manchester based quartet's development as a group and as people - evolving naturally from 2010's Mercury Prize-nominated Man Alive.

"We are really proud of that record but it's not who we are anymore," he says.

At a packed out Institute in Digbeth, Frightened Rabbit came on stage to raucous applause.

Lead singer Scott Hutchison looked at the audience and proclaimed, "It's been a while. Nice to be back in Birmingham."

The Scottish quintet opened their set with a festival-like light show and Holy from new album Pedestrian Verse.