richard p franks | blog

Birmingham Riots 2011 - Exclusive Eyewitness Report #4

This time around I’ve decided to document my own eyewitness report from what I saw on Tuesday night in Birmingham City Centre. I wasn’t there for the whole night as I got threatened by police to be arrested if I didn’t disperse.

*****

For the second night, rioting was rife in Birmingham as hooded youth took to the streets in more mindless acts of violence. I was around the city centre on both Monday and Tuesday as it unfolded but was swiftly moved on from police as events got worse.

At around 3pm on Tuesday the first closures came into place with the ICC shutting its doors and all staff sent home as a precaution. Shortly following on from this, offices on Colmore Row, Great Charles Street and the majority in the central area of the shopping precinct were also advised to go home. By 4pm, local businesses such as Café Blend started to close and the Bullring shopping centre had closed by 5pm. By this time, violence had already started in the city centre as reports of youth gathering were confirmed.

I witnessed the high street’s Marks & Spencer store smashed, with both entrances breached and looters inside.

I also witnessed Black’s camping store looted with the shutters breached and thousands of pounds worth of stock stolen. Word spread of Machan, a newsagents in the Jewellery Quarter, also smashed as youth used manhole covers to breach entry and steal what they could.

I walked down Corporation Street and saw youths gathering at local business Hatman. I tried to take a video but was followed by a small group as soon as they saw me take my phone out so I headed for a safer place to get away from the area whilst police were assisting shoppers. The main front window was smashed and a lot of stock was stolen.

Although barricades were put up at the Bullring the doors were still smashed through and three shops on the periphery of the shopping centre were attacked and looted. At this point, although doing a commendable job, it was obvious police resources were stretched as there were areas of the City Centre that had no police patrolling streets.

A heavy police presence arrived at the shopping centre and gangs dispersed to areas less policed. By 9pm all main entrances to train stations were blocked and all public transport had ceased. Roads in and out of the city centre were blocked by police and further officers were drafted in.

Shortly after, local home cinema shop Superfi was looted with tens of thousands of pounds worth of stock stolen, including a number of Pioneer DJ decks worth around £1000 each.

Fires then spread across the city as cars and vans were set on fire near Digbeth, with attempted arson on buildings too. A car was set on fire on Moor Street, near a church, and Richer Sounds on Smallbrook Queensway and Nostalgia Comics were also targeted. Thankfully, Nostalgia Comics was left with just a few smashed windows on the facade - but Richer Sounds was not as lucky. The entire store was trashed and cleared out, with youths seen walking down the street smashing televisions on the floor.

Birmingham Crown Court was also later smashed up.

In the early hours of Wednesday morning (0030) Sky News and other outlets confirmed that there was a firearm discharged in the Aston area of the city in a park. Police, an armed squad and a helicopter went over to the scene to investigate after up to 20 youths were seen running away – and while officers had dispersed, The Drum, a black arts centre in South Aston was targeted and smashed.

At the same time the Muslim and Sikh community took to the streets of Winson Green to protect their community against rioters.

At approximately 0115 a hit and run collision occurred. Three innocent men were killed for simply protecting their communities. Their names were Haroon Jahan and brothers Shazad Ali and Abdul Musavir.

Surprisingly, with tension gathering around the city due to the murders, Wednesday night was peaceful, with no reported incidents in the city and West Midlands Ambulance confirming no calls of incidents related to the riots.

In the late hours of Wednesday evening a candlelit vigil was held in memory of those murdered, in one of the most powerful and moving demonstrations I’ve ever seen.

Birmingham Riots 2011 - My Latest Birmingham Mail Blog

On Tuesday I was asked to write a blog for the Birmingham Mail newspaper on what it felt like being a Brummie ents editor caught up in the riots the night before.

I spoke about what I saw and what it felt like wandering around the city centre the morning after in the aftermath of the looting.

Click this link to read it on the Birmingham Mail website.

“Birmingham is a city going through major redevelopment, with millions of pounds recently ploughed in to improve our status.

Please don’t ruin our great city. We are better than that.”

Birmingham Riots 2011 - Exclusive Eyewitness Report #3

In the third installment of my exclusive eyewitness reports, I asked Joseph Seliong about his recent ordeal, whilst caught up in the riots.

“I arrived at Birmingham New Street Station about 9.45pm on Monday evening to find all entrances shut except the main exit facing Debenhams. I live just off Victoria Square, and so had to go through New Street itself, but it was blocked off by riot police at the Rotunda.” he explained.

Riot police guarding the entrance to New Street

“Similarly Union St was cordoned off. I wondered up to Bull Street, where I saw a lot of young kids (majority were 14-16) in the typical chav outfit: tracksuits and hoodies. They were dressed in black. About 95% of them were young black males, with the rest being white or asian. There were a few girls too.

“As I walked up Bull Street, more police reinforcements arrived from Corporation Street who shouted at the rioters to move back down towards High Street. I turned back and walked back up to New Street. Along the way I saw the looted Orange shop. Kids were running freely up and down the High Street. They seemed to enjoy the whole experience, some of them even had smiles on their faces.

Empty phone boxes left on the floor by looters 

 
“I went back up to New Street and got permission from the police to cross the riot lines towards my flat at Victoria Square. There were a lot of police trucks, and the street was fairly empty. The Adidas shop at this point had its glass door smashed. There were clothes hangers everywhere outside the premises.

Adidas store, New Street, at 5am the next morning

“I then came up to another line of riot police at HSBC - near the ramp to the Pallasades (effectively they had sealed off that portion of New Street). They let me through but said I could not turn back. There were also some news crews outside Jane Norman / Waterstones area.”

As Joseph carried on walking around the city, scenes got a lot worse.

“Things looked much worse after I walked past Tesco. There was no police presence from Temple Street onwards. Here there were alarms going off, and there was a large group of youngsters, again in the same demographics as above, numbering about 100 strong. Boots just had its doors smashed in, and some older kids rushed out carrying the the cash machine. They rushed across New Street to a dark alley next to Snappy Snaps and I could hear them using metal instruments to bash the till. The younger looters rushed into Boots after the older ones had left and started looting the place.

Boots was quickly boarded up after looters ransacked the shop

“I walked past and came across the New Street Orange shop which had been looted earlier. I could see people carrying phone boxes. I also saw a homeless guy taking advantage of the situation and was carrying what looked like a printer (in a box) from Maplin.

Boarded up Orange shop the next morning

“Suddenly there was an excited chatter in the crowd when a few of the looters managed to bash their way through the wall of Santander (this is the one closer to Victoria Square - there are two branches on New Street). My guess is that they had been trying to break in for a while because the cash machine was broken and had its panels ripped off. They gained entry through the lower portion of the wall, beneath the cash point. I don’t think they managed to get any cash from the cash machine, but I saw one of them coming out with a big brown box.

Santander bank the morning after, which is now the scene of a forensic crime investigation

“In my video you’ll see (or rather, hear) the looting of Boots and Santander.”

This short video portrays the tense atmosphere whilst Santander bank was getting broken in to. “I was quite afraid they would snatch my iPhone!” said Joseph: http://bit.ly/n1Sjjg

“As I approached Victoria Square, there was another group of youngers, this time about 20 gathered outside Supercuts. There were more girls here, and a few of them were opening boxes of hair straighteners and hair dryers. The look on their faces gave me the impression that Christmas had come early for them. Also by this time, the crowd had grown around Santander, looking to cash in on the break-in of a bank.

Supercuts on New Street, broken in to and looted

“I walked past the group at Supercuts and there was another group of looters, this time slightly older, and it appeared that they had just been informed of the break-in at Santander. Some of them were on their mobile phones, saying “They’ve broken into a bank, they’re robbing a bank”. They then broke into a sprint to join the crowd outside Santander.

Heavy police presence still in the city centre

“Beyond New Street, the situation was much calmer and I couldn’t see rioters anywhere. The looting was mainly focused on New Street. I could not believe that there were no police in this part of New Street. The looters did not seem to mind me (despite carrying a Paul Smith bag and a suitcase); however I was filming surreptitiously.”

The morning after in the Bullring area

Winson Green mourns loss of three with candlelit vigil

Approximately 300 people have this evening congregated on the Dudley Road in Winson Green, Birmingham, as respects are paid to the three murdered residents in the riots. 

Haroon Jahan and brothers Shazad Ali and Abdul Musavir were knocked down in a hit and run collision after protecting their community from rioters in the city, during the early hours of Wednesday August 10, 2011.

Prayers and a silent candlelit vigil is currently being held at the scene of the deaths, and three policemen, with helmets off, have joined in on the prayers. 

Tariq Jahan, whose son Haroon was one of the victims of the hit-and-run, earlier said this: “Blacks, Asians, Whites, we all live in the same community. Why do we have to kill one another? What started these riots and what’s escalated them? Why are we doing this? I lost my son. Step forward if you want to lose your sons. Otherwise, calm down and go home.”

Photo courtesy of Paul Lewis

Birmingham Riots 2011 - Exclusive Eyewitness Report #2

In the second eyewitness report recovered from the Birmingham Riots, Laura Hickey talks of her neighbourhood being destroyed.

Monday 8th August 2011 - College Road, Handsworth Wood

“I’d arrived home to Handsworth Wood from Boston around lunchtime on Monday and slept for most of the afternoon - so although I’d seen a few bits about the riots while I was in America it wasn’t really until Monday night that I realised quite what was happening, and that there was rioting on the Soho Road. Between the jetlag, watching the news and the helicopters hovering overhead I was still awake at 1:15am.”

“I’m not sure quite what made me look out of my front window then, but was shocked to see several small groups of two and three young people walking and cycling down the road past my house all wearing dark clothes with hoods up. I wasn’t overly concerned at this point as they just seemed to be going past not causing any trouble. A few minutes later however I could hear shouting and banging, and a group of about twenty youths, seeming to be between the ages of 11 and 18, certainly none of them were much older than that, appeared from College Road. I watched in shock and horror as several of them used planks of wood, metal bars and a fire extinguisher as well as their fists and feet to smash every window and attack the bodywork of a van and a taxi and a car parked on College Road while the rest looked on laughing and cheering. They then turned their attentions to the cars parked on the corner of Slack Lane and did a similar job there. “
 
“I had already turned all the lights out and was peeking through a small slit in the curtains, terrified that they might see me but unable to stop watching the destruction they were wreaking. The photographer in me desparately wanted to catch it on camera, knowing it would make fascinating and powerful images, but the mother in me decided that self preservation was far more important as I was sure had they seen me that my house would become a target for their carnage. Once they had left several of the neighbours went out to inspect the damage and it became apparent they had moved down College Road smashing cars and shopfronts.”

“Most of the shops survived relatively unscathed because they were shuttered, but the three that weren’t had their windows and interiors smashed up. It wasn’t until I was on the phone to the police to let them know what had happened and the despatcher asked me if I was ok and my voice started breaking and my hands started trembling that I realised quite how terrified I had been. It took about an hour or so until after they had gone that I stopped being scared and started getting angry. Who did these kids think they were? What had any of us ever done to them? Why the hell did they think it was acceptable, and worse, fun, to smash innocent people’s cars and businesses?”
 
“By the following morning I just felt sad. Some of these kids didn’t look much older than my son, who was tucked up in bed where he should be. Rioting and looting or not, these children should not be out on the streets at that time of night. The reaction of the residents and shopkeepers was heartwarming though. Everybody was helping out sweep up glass, clear up the debris strewn across the street and boarding up windows of the shops that had had their windows smashed. Four different neighbours knocked on my door that day just to make sure I was ok, but the atmosphere was still tense and slightly eerie. Most of the shops remained closed all day and the rest had closed by early afternoon. The street which normally has cars parked everywhere was practically deserted as people had either gone to stay with friends and family or had moved their cars off the road.”

“I stayed with a friend last night and I’m now staying at my mum’s tonight. I’ve sent my son to my sister’s because I’m too scared for us to stay at home, which makes me sad and angry in equal measure.” 

Birmingham Riots 2011 - Exclusive Eyewitness Report #1

In light of the recent Birmingham disorder, I managed to speak to local resident Milly Ambrose who got caught up in the City Centre.

“On Monday night I was on a coach back from Portsmouth and didn’t hear about anything until I reached Birmingham airport about 18:30.” she said. “I had friends and relatives calling me telling me to book a taxi home because Colmore Row, where I usually get my bus from, was full of rioters.” 

“Whilst on the coach I called about six or seven different taxi companies, none of which would come and get us. Some said they may take up to an hour and a half to get there because drivers arent willing to drive into town.”

“We got off the coach about 19:15 at The Priory Queensway just by the old Carling Academy. As soon as me and my friend got off, we had many members of security/coach drivers/members of public, warning us not to head up to Temple Row/Colmore Row. At this point there was no police in sight. The only way we could get home to Halesowen was a bus from either Colmore Row or Broad Street.. and there was no way we were going to treck through town. We heard many sirens and saw about six helicopters circling town.” 

But, the situation worsened when Milly got on to the streets of Birmingham City centre, as she went on to explain.

“We thought the best thing to do was to head to Moor Street train station and sit there whilst we decide how to get home.”

“We headed to Moor St and had to cross the road instantly as behind us, and infront of us, were groups of hooded rioters picking up bricks/wood/heavy objects and wrapping them in coats and bags getting ready to swing them at something. Also, on the other side of the road, there was a congregation of about 40 young rioters, stashing bags into car boots and driving off.”

“At this point there was no police in sight at all, no public, no cars. We ran to Moor St and all the doors were locked. We saw someone who worked there and spoke to them through the gate and they kindly let us in and let us stay in there until all these rioters had gone out the area. It was quite frightening.”

“Whilst we were in Moor St, we thought it was a good idea to get a train to Cradley heath, just to head out of Birmingham and be safe. We waited about an hour and a half for our train and we waited with other members of the public who were locked in Moor Street Station with us. One of these members of public was waiting for a train because her car had been smashed in and wheels had been punctured. Another member of public was a photographer who was showing everyone pictures on his camera of the pallasades riots and also people smashing through Primark.”

As you can see, innocent passers by are getting caught up in needless, mindless riots from a copycat culture of feral behaviour. I must admit I’m not too sure when this behaviour will end, but it’s clear for all to see it’s affecting people’s day-to-day lives, including mine (I’ve had several plans ruined over the past few days due to disorder in Birmingham).

Voluntary riot clean ups are taking place after every night of rioting in Birmingham City Centre by members of the community proud of their city; I’ve witnessed this and joined in with the clean up myself in the aftermath and I have to say well done to everyone involved. The best thing we can do at the moment is group together and do all we can to make sure our city goes back to normal as soon as possible and these violent thugs get taken off our streets.

Birmingham Riots 2011 - The Aftermath in pictures

I took a stroll through Birmingham City Centre this morning (09/08/11 - approx 10.45am) and these are some of the sights I saw.

I was almost escorted out of the Bullring by a security guard amid suggestions it is “illegal” to take photos in the property (which was ignored by me), so there’s only one photo of inside there - at Thomas Sabo.

As you can see below the majority of shops already started work overnight on their broken glass and damaged premises. Coffee Republic remains open. Cybercandy was open for two hours and then advised to shut on police orders. All of the others are currently closed with Adidas and Orange being major crime scenes.

Other premises such as Emporio Armani, Maplin’s and Foot Locker were all ramsacked and completely emptied; whilst the Square Peg pub’s front doors were smashed. EAT was also targetted, as well as Santander Bank where a cash point was almost ripped off the wall. This is now being treated as a serious crime scene with forensics undergoing tests.

New figures show that over 30 properties were damaged and/or looted in Birmingham, and there has so far been approximately 140 arrests.

All negative news aside, it was great to see so many volunteers helping to clear up the streets with brooms and bin liners.

Follow me on twitter for updates from the Birmingham Riots - www.twitter.com/richardpfranks

More disturbances are rumoured for tonight so make sure you stay safe wherever you are in the city.

All photos copyright Richard Franks.

The Metro take another dig at Birmingham - my reply

The Metro newspaper recently published an article on July 5 which stated the following:

According to a tripadviser poll: 

Birmingham is “least romantic city in Europe” 
Birmingham is “the third worst for food in Europe” 
Birmingham is “the most boring city in Europe”

And supposedly: ”Brummies call it ‘the Venice of the North’”.

The paper also decided to use the least flattering photo of the city, in grey and rainy conditions, nice.

So, I felt like hitting back with a somewhat positive article on the UK’s second biggest city.

***** 

It’s a little bit annoying how Birmingham is always struck under a bad reputation. I’m a strong advocate of this city, I love it. Okay it has it’s bad points, it’s not London, it doesn’t have all these “cool” bands from Manchester, but I honestly think it’s one of the best cities in Europe. It’s widely diverse with multiculture and ethnicities, has a vibrant arts community (infact, Birmingham is now being seen as creative hub of the UK with many people now moving here due to cheaper living costs and fantastic resources) with more bands, writers, bloggers, journalists, artists, photographers and broadcasters than ever deriving from or relocating to the city. 

Not going to lie it really does grate on me when people slag off Birmingham when they’ve probably only ever been here once or twice, if that, or just drove past it. Birmingham has so many hidden haunts and gems, even Digbeth has its positives, although it might not look like it, with Custard Factory, the Rainbow/Rainbow Warehouse, Irish Centre, Cow, HMV Institute, new coach station, Fazeley Street… 

I also cannot understand how the city is “third worst for food” - do you not know about the Balti Triangle? Birmingham has three Michelin Star restaurants… Liverpool has one. Manchester has none. We also have some of the country’s best restaurants in Brindleyplace, Harborne, The Mailbox and Four Oaks. Purnell’s is the best restaurant I’ve ever been to and Bank isn’t far behind. The Birmingham chain of Zizzi (my favourite restaurant) in the Mailbox is better than any other in the country I’ve been to (London, Manchester, Bristol). Spiceal Street also has heritage and history and is making a reappearance this Winter down by St Martin’s which should be great. The local sourced food is great in Brum, I’ve never had any problems. It seems to me like you’re looking for any excuse to drag that black cloud back over Brum which has recently started to move from above us.

Birmingham also has fantastic parks and open spaces at Cannon Hill and in Sutton Coldfield, the same goes for architecture - the City Centre being a great example of this within the vicinity of the museum, council house and fountains. There are some great churches and cathedrals too, St. Paul’s, St. Martin’s and St Philip’s. There’s plenty to do in the City. The poll is more than likely suffering from a past image of 70s and 80s negativity.

As if that wasn’t enough the heritage of the music scene is one of the best in Europe too, if not the world. Metal was originated here, and contrary to a “popular” belief, Metal is FAR from a niche. I’m not a massive fan myself but Metal is a worldwide genre. It brings together more music lovers than almost any other genre if not all of them; and houses hundreds of thousands of fans at festivals in the UK alone, millions worldwide - if not billions. Black Sabbath are one of the most influential bands in the world, with Ozzy Osbourne and Tony Iommi still being household names to this day. Judas Priest and Napalm Death are also big influences. Away from metal, there’s UB40, The Beat, Duran Duran & ELO, through to more recent times of Ocean Colour Scene, Editors, The Twang, The Streets and Fyfe Dangerfield. There’s plenty to be proud about. Also the venues - Dale End, Hare & Hounds etc. are fantastic. There’s always a gig or an event on in the city such as the recent Jazz festival in Moseley Park, or the forthcoming Artsfest, a free festival in Birmingham celebrating art in all forms.

I’ve never heard anyone say Birmingham is the “Venice of the North”. I’ve often pointed out in a bit of a ‘brag’ to friends from other cities about how good Birmingham is that it has more canals than Venice, more trees than Paris etc. but that’s a bit odd really. Also cannot understand how Birmingham is the least romantic city in Europe!? There’s at least ten places in the Midlands I can think of that are far, far more unromantic and grotty than Brum. 

While I could go on all day about how good the city is, Birmingham has a poor museum which needs to be sorted soon, along with the closing times. But there’s a lot of renovation going on in the City at the minute (Library, New Street Station, Spiceal Street, Dale End music venue, eventual development of Eastside/Martineau Galleries) so if you’ve been away for ten years and come back in a few years it will look like a completely different city. It’s probably about twenty years too late as Birmingham seems to be behind the rest of the country for development but it’s getting there. In all fairness we do have probably the most unique looking building in the country in Selfridges. The scaffholding is still outside Snobs, though.

every single band/artist i have seen live

being a music journalist i get the [dis]pleasure of seeing some really shit bands. i’ve seen some brilliant bands too but if you combine that with the fact i was into a completely different genre of music in my early youth, and the fact that i worked at a music venue (o2 academy), it makes for a very erratic list of bands that i’ve seen live - those that i can remember anyway.

this is something i’ve been wanting to do for ages but never had the time - i found myself with a free weekend so this is how i spent my saturday afternoon. there are hundreds missing so help me out if you’ve seen a band live with me…

562 as of 13/11/11

10cc
1990s
3oh!3
30 Seconds To Mars
51 Breaks
A
Abe Vigoda
Ace Bushy Striptease
A Day Called Desire
A Day To Remember
AFI
Afro Celt Sound System
Aiden
Airship
Air Traffic
Alexisonfire
Aloe Black
All Shall Perish
Amon Amarth
An Army of Lights
Anna Calvi
Andrew Weatherall
Angels & Airwaves
Animal Kingdom
Anti Flag
Arcade Fire
Architects
Arctic Monkeys
Arc Vel
Army Of Freshmen
Art Brut
Ash
Athlete
Avi Buffalo
Babyshambles
Baddies
Band of Horses
Band of Skulls
Barnesy
Bayside
Beach House
Beardyman
Bear Hands
Beat Union
Bedouin Soundclash
Benga
Beres Hammond
Best Coast
Beyond All Reason
Biffy Clyro
Big Country
Big Deal
Billy Talent
Black Heart Generator
Black Label Society
Black Mountain
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club
Bloc Party
Blondie
Blood Red Shoes
Blink-182
Bob Dylan
Bombay Bicycle Club
Bowling For Soup
Boy Kill Boy
Braids
Brand New
Brandon Flowers
Break Even
Brigade
Brontide
Brother
British Sea Power
Bryan Ferry
Bullet For My Valentine
By Vengeance I Remain
Cage The Elephant
Calories
Calvin Harris
Cancer Bats
Caribou
Casiokids
Caspa
Cajun Dance Party
Chapel Club
Chase & Status
Cherry Ghost
Chew Lips
Chiddy Bang
Children of Bodom
Chromeo
Circle Circus
Citadels
City and Colour
Claire Maguire
Clement Marfo & The Frontline
Cold Cave
Coldplay
Cold War Kids
Coki
Corelli
Crocodiles
Cry For Silence
Crystal Castles
Crystal Fighters
Crystal Stilts
Cults
Cute Is What We Aim For
Dananananaykroyd
Dan Sartain
DARTZ!
Darwin Deez
David Gibb
David Guetta
Deadmau5
Dead Sons
Death Cab For Cutie
Death From Above 1979
Deftones
Delphic
Devendra Banhart
Devlin
Dinosaur Pile-up
Dirty Pretty Things
Dispute
Dizzee Rascal
Does It Offend You, Yeah?
Dog Is Dead
Doll & The Kicks
Dom
Drop Dead Gorgeous
Dr. John & The Lower 911
Dutch Uncles
Eagles of Death Metal
Editors
Ed Sheeran
Eels
Egyptian Hip Hop
Elbow
Electric Six
Ellie Goulding
Elliot Minor
Eliza Doolittle
Elvis Costello
Ensiferum
Enter Shikari
Envy & Other Sins
Erland and the Carnival
Europe
Everything Everything
Example
Exit Calm
Factory Floor
Fall Out Boy
Feeder
Fenech-Soler
Field Music
Fightstar
Fists
Flashguns
Flood Of Red
Florence and The Machine
Florrie
Foals
Foo Fighters
Foreign Office
Forward, Russia!
Four Year Strong
Foy Vance
Framing Hanley
Frankie & The Heartstrings
Frank Turner
Friendly Fires
From Autumn To Ashes
From The Jam
Frontiers
Funeral for a Friend
Funeral Party
Fyfe Dangerfield
Gabriella Cilmi
Gaggle
Gallows
Gardens & Villa
General Fiasco
Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly.
Get People
G Frsh
Giggs
Girls
Glassjaw
Glasvegas
Godsized
Gogol Bordello
Goldhawks
Goldheart Assembly
Good Charlotte
Good Shoes
Goodnight Lenin
Gorillaz
Graham Coxon
Green Day
Grouplove
Guillemots
Guns N’ Roses
Hadouken
Hands of Hate
Hot Club de Paris
HEALTH
Hellogoodbye
Heroes Fall
H.I.M
Hit The Lights
Hockey
Hoodlums
Holy Fuck
Hot Chip
Hurts
Ian Brown
Idlewild
Iggy and the Stooges
Imelda May
In Case Of Fire
I Killed The Prom Queen
Infadels
Interpol
Ipso Facto
Is I Cinema
Is Tropical
Jack Peñate
Jaguar Skills
Jamaica
James
Japanese Voyeurs
Jimmy Eat World
Joe Lean & The Jing Jang Jong
Johnny Foreigner
John & Jehn
Johnny Borrel
Johnny Flynn
Joyous
Julian Casablancas
Kaiser Chiefs
Kano
Kasabian
Kassidy
Katy B
Kele
Kevin Devine
Kid British
Kid Harpoon
Kids In Glass Houses
Kill Hannah
Kill It Kid
Kings of Leon
Klaxons
Kowalski
KT Tunstall
Larrikin Love
La Roux
Late of the Pier
Laughing In The Face Of
Laura Marling
Leona Lewis
Less Than Jake
Lethal Bizzle
Let Live
Liars
Lights
Limp Bizkit
Lissie
Little Comets
Little Fish
Local Natives
Los Campesinos!
Lostprophets
Lou Reed
M83
Machinae Supremacy
Machine Head
Madina Lake
Madness
Magazine
Magnetic Man
Mama
Manowar
Manic Street Preachers
Maps
Marina & The Diamonds
Mark Ronson & The Business International
Maroon 5
Maximo Park
Max Raptor
Mcfly
MEN
Metric
Metronomy
Mewithoutyou
Mexicolas
Miike Snow
Milburn
Miles Kane
Minnaars
Mindless Self Indulgence
Mistress
Misty’s Big Adventure
MGMT
Modest Mouse
Mojave 3
Mona
Morrissey
Motion City Soundtrack
Mount Kimbie
Mumford & Sons
Muse
My Chemical Romance
Mychildren Mybride
Mystery Jets
New Found Glory
New Young Pony Club
Neon Asylum
Neon Trees
Noah and the Whale
Niki and the Dove
NOFX
Norma Jean
Ocean Colour Scene
Oasis
O.Children
Octane OK
Odessa
One Night Only
Operahouse
OkGo
Page 44
Pandas and People
Paper Shapes
Paramore
Parkway Drive
Passion Pit
Patrick Wolf
Paul Clark Jr
Pendulum
Pete and the Pirates
Peter Doherty
Peter Hook
Phoenix
Pierce the Veil
Placebo
Pint Shot Riot
Primal Scream
Primary 1
Prince
Professor Green
Pulled Apart By Horses
Pulp
Queens of the Stone Age
Quit Your Dayjob
Radiohead
Rage Against the Machine
Random Conflict
Random Hand
Ratatat
Ray Davies
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Reuben
Reverend and the Makers
Robots In Disguise
Rob Zombie
Rooney
Roots Manuva
Rose Elinor Dougal
Roses Kings Castles
Rugosa Nevada
Rusko
Santogold
Saosin
Sara Bareilles
Savant
SBTRKT
Scarlet Harlots
Scissor Sisters
Scouting For Girls
Sea Fields
Seasick Steve
Senses Fail
Set Your Goals
Sex Beet
Shapes
Sharks
Shaun Ryder
Shoes
Shoes & Socks Off
Silver Souvenirs
Silverstein
Simian Mobile Disco
Skindred
Skunk Anansie
Slow Club
Smith Westerns
Snoop Dogg
Sonic Boom Six
Son Of Dork
Sound of Guns
Sound of Rum
Spark
Sparrow and the Workshop
Spectrals
State of Serenity
Stereophonics
Stick To Your Guns
Stornoway
Sub Focus
Sugababes
Surfer Blood
Swim Deep
Swimming
Tall Ships
Tarrus Riley
Tantrums
Taking Back Sunday
Team Goast
Team Waterpolo
Templeton Pek
Tempting Rosie
The All American Rejects
The Answering Machine
The Arcadian Kicks
The Audition
The Automatic
The Big Pink
The Black Keys
The Blackout
The Book Club
The Boxer Rebellion
The Boy Who Trapped The Sun
The Break In
The Bronx
The Caezars
The Carpels
The Chapman Family
The Chariot
The Cheek
The Coral
The Complete Stone Roses
The Courteeners
The Cribs
The Deceiver
The Devil Wears Prada
The Displacements
The Drums
The Eagles
The Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster
The Enemy
The Explosion
The Features
The Futureheads
The Gaslight Anthem
The Ghost of a Thousand
The Graham Coxon Power Acoustic Ensemble
The Gravity Crisis
The Grogs
The Heebie Jeebies
The Hives
The Hold Steady
The Holloways
The Horrors
The Hot Melts
The Iron Door Club
The Joy Formidable
The King Blues
The Kooks
The Last Shadow Puppets
The Levellers
The Libertines
The Lines
The Maccabees
The Mae Shi
The Magic Numbers
The Naked and Famous
The National
The Neat
The Noisettes
The Offspring
The Ordinary Boys
The Original Rudeboys
The Pogues
The Pierces
The Pigeon Detectives
The Pink Spiders
The Prodigy
The Rascals
The Rakes
The Receiving End Of Sirens
The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus
The Ripps
The Rivers
The Robocop Kraus
The Ruskins
The Scholars
The Sleeping
The Specials
The Stranglers
The Streets
The Strokes
The Subways
The Sunshine Underground
The Temper Trap
The Ting Tings
The Traps
The Twang
The Used
The Vaccines
The View
The Virgins
The Virgin Marys
The Walkmen
The Whigs
The Whip
The Wonder Stuff
The Wonder Years
The Wombats
The Xcerts
The xx
The Young Knives
The Zico Chain
Them Crooked Vultures
Tinie Tempah
Toro Y Moi
Transfer
Trophy Wife
Troumaca
Twisted Wheel
Tubelord
Tunng
Turin Brakes
Two Door Cinema Club
UB40
Underoath
Unkle Sounds
Vampire Weekend
Van Morrison
VETO
Victories at Sea
Villagers
Vincent Vincent and the Villains
Voodoo Johnson
Warpaint
We Are Augustines
We Are Scientists
Weezer
We Have Band
What Would Jesus Drive
Wheatus
White Denim
White Lies
Wild Beasts
Wild Moccasins
Wild Palms
Wolf Gang
Wolf Parade
Wolf People
Wintersleep
Wretch 32
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Yeasayer
Yellowcard
You Me At Six
Young Guns
Your Demise
Youves
Yuck
Zebrahead