Birmingham & Manchester
Back to my motherland we go! This time we were headed to the UK to see one of our favorite bands, Brand New, play in Manchester. We had seen Brand New play a few times back in the 2014–2016 era, and it was one of our favorite bands to see live. After a 10-year hiatus, they played what ended up being a super successful US tour. Ryan was able to see a show on a work trip in the summer (regretfully, I couldn’t go), so when they announced a short UK tour, we had to make it happen. We ended up extending the trip by two nights so we could stop in Birmingham and visit my Auntie Jo and Uncle Andy.
Birmingham was really lovely to go back to visit, especially since it’s only a 50-minute flight from Schiphol! Whenever I fly into Birmingham from Amsterdam (second time now), I’m always amazed at how quick and easy it is. It was also special since Ryan had only been to Birmingham once in the 15 years we’ve been together, and it was a super quick tea stopover at my grandfather’s house when he was still alive, over 10 years ago. It was really nice to share some memories and places that I had grown up with, visiting my aunt and grandad since I was a baby.
My Auntie Jo and Uncle Andy picked us up from the airport and gave us a short car tour of some of Sutton Coldfield’s finest, including where my dad was born and went to high school, and we stopped in a nice old pub for some Guinness. We had a lovely pot pie dinner that Auntie Joanne made and spent some time catching up at their house. Ryan and Andy even had a short jam sesh! We met again for breakfast at the Farmhouse Bistro, which is a nice little restaurant, and I had what I’ve been craving for years… scones, jam, and clotted cream! Yum!
After breakfast, we drove over to the Duck Pond in Sutton Park, a special and nostalgic place for my family, full of memories from my dad and aunt’s childhood, as well as my own, most notably feeding the ducks with my grandfather. After promises of coming to visit us in Amsterdam, we parted ways at the train station as Ryan and I made our way to Manchester.
It was an easy two-hour train ride and a short walk to our hotel, where we got settled in. My buddy Alex put us in touch with his best man, Max, from his wedding earlier in the summer, who lives in Manchester, so we met up with him. Glad we did, because not only was it nice catching up, but he showed us a part of Manchester we likely wouldn’t have walked out to on our own. Manchester is a lively city with textile roots. The buildings are mostly brick and industrial-style, but that doesn’t dampen the college party town vibe one bit. With lively bars and restaurants spilling out into the streets, we had a couple of beers and caught up before parting ways with Max. Ryan and I had a quick burger before walking over to the venue.
We ended up with four tickets (long story… two down in GA and two seated up in the mezzanine section), so we alternated between the two. The show was amazing! They played some of our old-school faves and a few newer ones, but you could tell everyone there was a true Brand New fan, which really set the ambiance. My favorite is always the double drum sets. What a show!
The next morning, we had a nice breakfast at a spot about a 10-minute walk from our hotel and then caught a quick flight out of Manchester back to Amsterdam.











