Historic Birmingham building where Joy Division played their final gig is demolished
The University of Birmingham building where Joy Division played their final gig before Ian Curtis’s suicide in 1980 is to be demolished.
Chamberlain Hall, the venue of the show in May 1980, will now be demolished in favour of a 21-storey student accommodation block which will house more than 700 new bedrooms upon completion. The student building has been empty for six years following its closure on health and safety grounds.
A poster advertising Joy Division’s May 1980 show in Birmingham, which was to be their last The final Joy Division show is famous for frontman Ian Curtis stumbling and having to be helped off stage while the rest of the band continued playing. Curtis was later found hanged on the eve of their upcoming American tour. Audio of the Birmingham show can be found on the band’s 1981 release Still, which features 11 live recordings from the concert.
Founding editor of Counteract. Freelance travel and music journalist.