What a success! On Saturday 26th March Home of Metal filled The Public with Metal lovers in celebration of the region as the Home of Metal.

The mix of people was very eclectic, from old

To young! 

Juneau Projects’ offering of letting people create their own guitar from cardboard, which were then made PLAYABLE went down an absolute treat and many incredible creations were made.

The Public’s Saturday Art Club had to remain open past it’s 1 o’clock deadline due to such high demand! People of all ages enjoyed colouring in Black Sabbath and adding those special finishing touches to their guitars.

It was the same busy story with our memorabillia desk. We were (thankfully) over run with fantastic artefacts that will be gradually added to our online Archive, so keep your eyes peeled for some amazing new additions!

Johnny Doom compered the event interviewing both Rock Photographer Ian Harvey and the legend that is Krusher.

Other activities of the day included a blow up igloo in which Johnny Doom would give you a very metal interview, an amazing large display, which I can only describe using a picture:

This was courtesy of The Public’s education department. Finally, the ‘Animo’ where you could have your picture magically taken with giant bats, wolves, Ozzy and other Heavy Metal Images!

Renowned Photographer Steve Gerrard delivered an incredble fully booked up masterclass on the day as well as photographing our Band Photoshoot competition winners Action Replay. Take a look at Steve’s blog at some amazing pictures from the day.

We would like to thank all of you that attented and those that took part in creating the day for making it such a success!

…than with Home of Metal?

If you’re around the Black Country, you may have seen Home of Metal splashed all over your buses, metro stations and more, all promoting our Heavy Metal dedicated day on Saturday 26th March.

We’re starting off at The Public, West Brom where we’re inviting Heavy Metal fans to bring along their memorabilia to add to our digital archive, anything from t-shirts, ticket stubs, fanzines and records are all invaluable to the project!

Johnny Doom will be hosting the event, interviewing cult metal hero Krusher (former ‘Raw Power’ presenter and Kerrang! art director) who will be talking about some of the Black Sabbath and Monsters of Rock artwork he has created.

Steve Gerrard will be giving a masterlass in music photography, showing you how to get the perfect live shot. Please note that this class is now full.

Steve has been an accredited photographer for bands such as Radiohead, Metallica, Kiss, Muse, Nine Inch Nails, Iron Maiden, The Sex Pistols, Bon Jovi and Melvins. As part of the Home of Metal open day he will be giving one lucky unsigned band a free photoshoot!

We’ll also be screening the first and only Led Zeppelin feature film  ‘Song Remains the Same’ – along with (sometimes bizarre) dream sequences the film sees the band storm through ‘Stairway to Heaven’, ‘Black Dog’, ‘Heartbreaker’ and the rest, to thunderous effect.

Birmingham based artists Juneau Projects will be in attendance on the day to help you create your very own  electronic cardboard instrument. Use cardboard to build your own Telecaster or Flying V, drumkit, keyboard or invent your own instrument. Then add some simple electronics to trigger sound samples, take to the stage, dress up and play!

It’ll be a great day, and it’s all FREE – Home of Metal Open Day, The Public, 11am-4pm

And that’s not all as in the evening we’re hooking up with Flatpack Festival and The Quietus to bring you a very exciting screening of ‘In Bed with Chris Needham’ at IKON Eastside

“The plot: Chris Needham, a 17 year-old Thrash Metal fan from Loughbrough who has been absolutely lacerated by the puberty stick, is about to play his first gig with his band, Manslaughter. The problem is, they’re complete rammel. Between their first painful attempts to stand musically upright and their debut gig, Chris takes the time to defend Metal and Youth, unleashes torrents of adolescent venom upon the Green movement, ‘old bastards’, vegetarians, ‘Chart Music’, organised religion, teachers, and Neighbours, conducts a relationship with his girlfriend in excruciating silence, gets hassled by Mr Taggart and His Amazing Shirt, and goes fishing.”
– Al Needham, Leftlion

‘In Bed with Chris Needham’, IKON Eastside, 8.30pm, tickets from HERE

For up to date news and to contribute to the archive go to http://www.homeofmetal.com/