The Halls Wolverhampton, formally known as Wolverhampton Civic Halls is a music venue in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunians ...

, West Midlands, England. It has been one of the most notable live music venues in the county for several decades. It is part of a complex also including Wulfrun Hall and the Slade Rooms (previously known as The Little Civic). The complex is owned by City of Wolverhampton Council, operated by AEG Presents and is a

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...

Construction and development

The hall, which was designed by Lyons and Israel in the

Classical style Classical architecture usually denotes architecture which is more or less consciously derived from the principles of Greek and Roman architecture of classical antiquity, or sometimes even more specifically, from the works of the Roman architect V ...

was completed in May 1938. The smaller Wulfrun Hall had been inspired by the architecture of the

Stockholm Concert Hall The Stockholm Concert Hall ( sv, Stockholms konserthus) is the main hall for orchestral music in Stockholm, Sweden. With a design by Ivar Tengbom chosen in competition, inaugurated in 1926, the Hall is home to the Royal Stockholm Philharmoni ...

. It was officially opened by the Earl of Dartmouth on 12 May 1938.

Jack Hylton Jack Hylton (born John Greenhalgh Hilton; 2 July 1892 – 29 January 1965) was an English pianist, composer, band leader and impresario. Hylton rose to prominence during the British dance band era, being referred as the "British King of Jazz" ...

and his orchestra provided the entertainment for the occasion. Queen Elizabeth II visited the Civic Hall and had lunch with civic leaders during a visit to the West Midlands on 24 May 1962. It was renovated and extended to a design by

Penoyre & Prasad Penoyre & Prasad is an architectural practice based in London. It was established in 1988 by Sunand Prasad and Greg Penoyre. The practice has an interest in low energy and sustainability. In 2007 Sunand Prasad became president of the Royal Inst ...

in 2001. The venue was reconfigured to create the new Slade Rooms in March 2010. City of Wolverhampton Council announced plans for a revamp of the Civic Halls with a budget of £10.4 million in March 2015. The halls closed in December 2015 at which time the cost projection had increased to £14.4 million. In March 2019 it was announced that the halls would not reopen until autumn 2021 and that the cost was projected at £38.1 million. In November 2021 it was announced that the Civic Halls were now due to reopen in Autumn 2022, which in October 2022 was officially revised to June 2023. The City Council also announced that they had signed a 25-year deal with AEG Presents to manage and promote the venues, which have been expanded to 3,404 in the Civic Hall and 1,289 in the Wulfrun Hall.

Organ

A Compton Organ was specially designed for the Civic Hall. The organ was made up of over 5,500 pipes and contained an early electronic division known as a Melotone. G. D. Cunningham, then Birmingham City Organist, had the distinction of being the first musician to play there to invited guests. The Organ was re-built and enlarged in 2001, and was capable of being played as a concert organ or

theatre organ A theatre organ (also known as a theater organ, or, especially in the United Kingdom, a cinema organ) is a type of pipe organ developed to accompany silent films, from the 1900s to the 1920s. Theatre organs have horseshoe-shaped arrangements ...

. In September 2016 it was announced that the organ would be removed and would not return to the Civic Hall. In February 2019 it was revealed that the pipes had been scrapped, despite several offers to restore them, free of charge.

Events

The first concert was performed on the evening of 16 May 1938, by the Old Royals Association, with

Anne Ziegler Anne Ziegler (22 June 1910 – 13 October 2003) was an English singer, known for her light operatic duets with her husband Webster Booth. The pair were known as the "Sweethearts in Song" and were among the most famous and popular British music ...

Webster Booth Webster Booth (21 January 1902 – 21 June 1984) was an English tenor, best remembered as the duettist partner of Anne Ziegler. He was also one of the finest tenors of his generation and was a distinguished oratorio soloist. He was a chorister ...

and several other soloists. Comedians, such as

Ken Dodd Sir Kenneth Arthur Dodd (8 November 1927 – 11 March 2018) was an English comedian, singer and occasional actor. He was described as "the last great music hall entertainer", and was primarily known for his live stand-up performances. A lifel ...

Peter Kay Peter John Kay (born 2 July 1973) is an English actor, comedy writer and stand-up comedian. He has written, produced and acted in several television and film projects, and has written three books. Born and brought up in Bolton, Kay studied ...

and

Jim Davidson James Cameron Davidson (born 13 December 1953) is an English stand-up comedian, actor, singer and TV presenter. He hosted the television shows '' Big Break'' and ''The Generation Game''. He also developed two adult pantomime shows such as ''B ...

, have appeared at the hall. It has also staged some sports events. Throughout much of the 1970s and 1980s professional

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

was broadcast live from the venue on Saturday afternoons. On 16 March 2006 the venue was first utilized by the Professional Darts Corporation as it hosted Week 4 of the

2006 Premier League Darts The 2006 Holsten Premier League the second year of the Professional Darts Corporation's popular darts league. The 2006 league was launched with the top six players in the PDC world rankings and the addition of a wildcard player, Raymond van Ba ...

. From 2007 the venue has staged the

Grand Slam of Darts The Grand Slam of Darts is a darts tournament organised by the Professional Darts Corporation and is known as the Cazoo Grand Slam of Darts for sponsorship purposes. The PDC also invited the best performing players from its rival, the British Dart ...

. However the tournament in 2018 was moved to Aldersley Leisure Village due to on going refurbishments at the Civic Hall. Gary Anderson, having competed every year in tournament since its conception, says he prefers the Civic Hall over the new venue. "The Civic Hall - that was the Grand Slam of Darts." There have also been some memorable concerts. Morrissey played his first solo performance at the Civic Hall on 22 December 1988. Nirvana performed "

All Apologies "All Apologies" is a song by American rock band Nirvana, written by vocalist and guitarist, Kurt Cobain. It appears as the 12th track on the band's third and final studio album, '' In Utero'', released by DGC Records in September 1993. The song ...

" for the first time before a live audience at the Wulfrun Hall on 6 November 1991 and

Louise Redknapp Louise Elizabeth Redknapp (née Nurding, born 4 November 1974) is an English singer, songwriter and media personality. She was a member of Eternal, an R&B girl group which debuted in 1993 with their quadruple-platinum studio album '' Always & ...

performed there on the final date of her Soft and Gentle Tour on 18 December 1997. In 2009,

The Specials The Specials, also known as The Special AKA, are an English 2 tone and ska revival band formed in 1977 in Coventry. After some early changes, the first stable lineup of the group consisted of Terry Hall and Neville Staple on vocals, Lynval ...

played a concert at the Civic Hall as part of their 30th anniversary reunion tour; the performance was later released on DVD. More recently, the Welsh rock band, the

Manic Street Preachers Manic Street Preachers, also known simply as the Manics, are a Welsh rock band formed in Blackwood in 1986. The band consists of cousins James Dean Bradfield (lead vocals, lead guitar) and Sean Moore (drums, percussion, soundscapes), plus ...

, gave a concert in June 2015.

References

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Music venues in the West Midlands (county) Buildings and structures in Wolverhampton Darts venues Tourist attractions in Wolverhampton Grade II listed buildings in the West Midlands (county)