The Hare & Hounds

The Hare & Hounds (also written as the Hare and Hounds, and formally recorded as The Hare And Hounds Public House) is a public house and live music venue on the High Street in the Kings Heath area of Birmingham, England. It was originally built in 1820 and remodelled to its current form in 1907. The building is Grade II listed, a status it holds partly because it retains many original Art Nouveau internal fixtures. It operates as a pub with a food offering and a dedicated live entertainment programme, and it is one of the better-known grassroots music venues in the West Midlands. The venue's reputation rests heavily on its role in popular music history. It hosted many up-and-coming artists early in their careers, including Ed Sheeran, Ellie Goulding and Basement Jaxx. It is best known, however, as the location of reggae and pop band UB40's first gig in 1979. In 2011, to commemorate that occasion, a PRS For Music Heritage Award plaque was unveiled at the pub. In 2016, the Hare & Hounds won the Best Live Entertainment award at the Great British Pub Awards, recognising the strength of its ongoing live music programme. Commercially, the Hare & Hounds functions as a hospitality business: it sells drinks and food to the public and monetises its music programme through ticketed shows. Its official website promotes the pub's Kings Heath High Street address and offers a show-day incentive in which customers who present an event ticket to bar staff receive 20% off their food bill, with Sunday roasts excluded from the offer. The site also carries event listings, including cancelled shows, indicating an active and regularly updated schedule. As a heritage-listed building and a working music venue, the Hare & Hounds occupies a dual identity: a historic Birmingham pub and a small-capacity stage that has become a recognised stepping stone for emerging acts. Its combination of architectural significance, music heritage and continuing live programming gives it a profile well beyond that of a typical neighbourhood public house.

The Hare & Hounds was originally built in 1820 on the High Street in Kings Heath, then a settlement to the south of Birmingham, England. It was remodelled to its current form in 1907. That remodelling left the building with many original Art Nouveau internal fixtures, and it is this surviving decorative scheme, together with its architectural character, that underpins its Grade II listed status. Over the twentieth century the pub became a fixture of Kings Heath life, but its national significance comes from its role as a music venue. The Hare & Hounds hosted many up-and-coming artists early in their careers, including Ed Sheeran, Ellie Goulding and Basement Jaxx. Most famously, it was the location of reggae and pop band UB40's first gig in 1979 — an event that ties the pub directly to the story of one of Birmingham's best-known musical exports. Recognition of that heritage followed in the 2010s. In 2011, to commemorate UB40's first performance, a PRS For Music Heritage Award plaque was unveiled at the pub. In 2016, the Hare & Hounds won the Best Live Entertainment award at the Great British Pub Awards, a national accolade that reflected the continuing strength of its live programme rather than its past alone. In the present day the Hare & Hounds operates as a working public house and music venue at Kings Heath High Street, Birmingham, B14 7JZ. Its official website promotes the pub's address and a show-day offer: customers who show their event ticket to bar staff receive 20% off their food bill on the day of the show, with Sunday roasts excluded. The site also carries event listings, including cancelled tickets, indicating an active and regularly updated schedule of performances.

• 2016

  The Hare & Hounds wins the Best Live Entertainment award at the Great British Pub Awards.

• 2011

  A PRS For Music Heritage Award plaque is unveiled at the pub to commemorate UB40's first gig.

• 1979

  Reggae and pop band UB40 play their first gig at the Hare & Hounds.

• 1907

  The pub is remodelled to its current form, retaining many original Art Nouveau internal fixtures.

• 1820

  The Hare & Hounds is originally built on the High Street in Kings Heath, Birmingham.

A heritage-listed Birmingham pub that doubles as a grassroots live music venue with a nationally recognised music history.

• Pub drinks and bar service

  The venue operates as a public house serving drinks at the bar.

• Pub food, including Sunday roasts

  Food is served, with Sunday roasts specifically referenced in the venue's show-day discount terms.

• Ticketed live music shows

  The venue stages live music performances for which event tickets are issued.

1. 1Home | Hare and Houndshareandhoundskingsheath.co.uk
2. 2The Hare And Hounds Public House — Wikidatawikidata.org
3. 3Hare & Hounds, Kings Heath — Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org