We went along to do an interview with Tony Iommi on Sunday when he was given his walk of stars in Birmingham, and met Ronnie Dio wandering around the ICC- what a lovely man.

The interview with Tony will be up on the site soon.

Here are some more photos taken from our fantastic Open Day at The New Art Gallery Walsall, by Naseem. We all had a blast and met some amazing people with great stories and gathered a treasure trove of Metal related items to add to the archive. Thanks to the team at the gallery and our Home Of Metal volunteers, to all the people that turned up with stuff, the guys from Einstellung/Mistress and last but not least the Walsall Local History Centre.

The crowds begin to gather early evening

Godflesh cabinet with original artwork mock ups + never before seen photos by Dick Short

Judas Priest cabinet of delights including laminates and signed photo

Black Sabbath cabinet including my very own Ozzy jack in the box
Napalm Death cabinet with early photos, art work mock ups and handwritten thank you list

Nicholas Bullen (originator of Napalm Death) brings along early photos to add to the archive

Home Of Metal team hard at work gathering stories

More of the Home Of Metal team photographing items that were brought along

Sue Halford being interviewed by Kerrang Radio presenter Johnny Doom

Members of Einstellung and Mistress pay hommage to Sabbath in their own loud way

Colour Sabbath provided by artist Aye Jay

Sue Halford with one of Robs early leather jackets – what a treat!

Darrens night was made when Sue kindly let him try on one of Rob Halfords jackets

Photo from http://www.guitarmasterclass.net

The Broad Street Business Improvement District is delighted to announce that Heaven and Hell guitarist, founding member of Black Sabbath, Grammy Award winner and king of heavy metal Tony Iommi will be honoured on the Broad Street Walk of Star’s on Sunday 23rd November 2008.

Following an afternoon of live music from local bands on the stage in Centenary Square ‘Kerrang Radio’ presenter Johnny Doom will host the evening, with the presentation of the star taking place at 6.30pm.

Home of Metal encourages fans of  Black Sabbath  to be photographed wearing their prized band t-shirts.
Images will be taken by the Birmingham photographer Steve Gerrard, who has been capturing bands in action for over 20 years, and has photographed some of the biggest names and artists. The photographs will then go on display on the Home Of Metal website and in future exhibitions.

So I realise I haven’t posted for a while so its time to break the habit! I just wanted to give my perspective on the amazing evening that was the Walsall Home of Metal night.  As it was my first, I was abit nervous to say the least but all of that was soon gone.  I was given the task of asking various different people a couple of questions about the evening (and a couple were relatives of volunteers so props to you guys for getting your family down!).  I also got to meet the amazing guy that brought an insane amount of Judas Priest memorabilia and who nearly fainted when he got to try on one of Rob Halford’s jackets.  Then Einstellung played us some tunes, which allowed me to stop asking questions and sample the fine samosas and orange juice.

All in all it was a great evening, full of all sorts awesome memorabilia, great music and brilliant metal heads! So don’t forget the next exibition in February and start digging out your old memorabilia (I know I’m getting my uncle to!).  Well done to all the volunteers who worked like troopers (no Iron Maiden pun intended), because without you this wouldn’t work.

Cheerio

P.s. I even saw myself on TV! How could that evening have got any better!

We had an amazing turn out for our second Open Day at The New Art Gallery Walsall, and clearly the project is starting to snowball as word spreads. A highlight for us all was when Sue Halford and family turned up with a great selection of Rob Halfords (lead singer of Judas Priest) costumes and related treasures.

Sue Halford with Stuart Williams from the Walsall Local History Centre

Jenny with one of Rob’s jackets – preparing it to be photographed for the archive.

Sue in conversation with Kerrang! Radio DJ Johnny Doom

These photos are courtesy of Stuart Williams who has been inspired to start his own blog http://metaldog.vox.com/ and developing the project Walsall Rocks, which we look forward to working with in the future. More photos and interviews from the event coming soon.

The BBC Midlands Today featured The Home Of Metal open day which took place last Thursday at The New Art Gallery Walsall.

Watch here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7722704.stm

Next Open Day at Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery on Saturday 7th of Feb – plenty of time for you to hunt out your photos, programmes, ticket stubs and stories. Or you can upload your own images to the archive and contribute to this project, which aims to celebrate Birmingham & The Black Country as the birth place of Heavy Metal.

A taster interview by Johnny Doom with Matt at Wolverhampton Art Gallery 25/10/08
They discuss the merits of cut n paste aesthetics and early flyer art work.
Listen here

and if you find that interesting have a read of Nic Bullens essay ‘Welcoming Apocalypse – The Aesthetics of Grindcore’. Commissioned for Supersonic 08

Home Of Metal enamel badges for sale for just £3, to help celebrate Birmingham & The Black Country as the birth place of Heavy Metal.
2 inches width x  1/2 inch high
Buy Now

By Steve Gerrard – taken at the Giffard Wolverhampton, Scruffy Murphys Birmingham and Wolverhampton Art Gallery