Diverted Sound presents…
The Very Things + Mighty Mighty
The Castle & Falcon, Birmingham
Sunday 31st May 2026 – 7.00pm
Four decades on, The Very Things return to the stage. Re-emerging in 2026 under the banner of The Very Things GXL, this marks their first live performance in 40 years, following the release of the acclaimed Mr. Arc-Eye (under a cellophane sky).
Led by principal songwriter RR Dallaway and joined by original members Disney Time (drums) and Steven Burrows (bass/guitar), the group now expands with Tony Sherrard (bass/keys). Together, they rekindle the band’s unmistakable collision of art-damaged post-punk, skewed funk and off-kilter pop. For these shows, they’ll be joined by special guests Svor Naan (The Cravats), Allan Murphy (Midwich Youth Club) and Julia Wilcox, drawing from both the new record and the band’s cult back catalogue.
Formed in the West Midlands in 1983, The Very Things carved out a singular space with releases like The Bushes Scream While My Daddy Prunes and This Is Motortown—records defined by jagged rhythms, cinematic textures and a sharply surreal sense of humour. Their sound remains as distinctive now as it was then: part nostalgia, part reinvention.
With Mr. Arc-Eye (under a cellophane sky), The Very Things GXL return not as a heritage act but as a restless, shape-shifting force—experimental, melodic and unpredictably alive.
Birmingham’s Mighty Mighty first formed in 1983, locking into the line-up they still carry today by 1985. That same year saw the recording of their debut Everybody Knows The Monkey, released independently on their own Girlie Records in 1986.
After a run of indie chart singles and a lone album, the band dissolved in 1988. Now, decades later, they’re back—writing, recording and picking up where they left off.
Advance tickets are available via skiddle or seetickets