The Sanctuary – Birmingham
After the Milton Keynes Sanctuary closed in 2004, some people carried on at a club in Digbeth that used the same name. It was the old Digbeth Institute building at 78 Digbeth High Street — a multi-room place that had been around for years under different names.
It wasn’t on the same scale as the MK Sanctuary. Capacity was around 1,500–1,700 and by the mid-2000s it was getting a bit tatty, but it still put on nights. Sundissential, Atomic Jam and early Godskitchen had been based there, and in November 2005 Uproar held a hardcore event called Energize with Sy, Scott Brown, Seduction, Darren Styles, Dougal and others.
Some who went after the MK venue closed said it felt smaller and more local, but it kept the name going for a while. The building later became The Institute again under Barfly / MAMA.
Were you at the Birmingham Sanctuary? Drop a message on the board if you remember it.