Reflection of Ten Years of The Rainbow and What's Next with Lee McDonald

Through legendary nights such as Below and Face, The Rainbow Pub and a whole host of offshoot spaces have hosted pretty much anyone who's anyone in the world of credible dance music. It seems that every weekend there's something going on at Rainbow, but how did this come to be?

Frontman Lee McDonald chats to us about ten crazy years, and what the future holds for Rainbow Venues and his own legendary night, Below...

So firstly Lee, what was it that inspired you to enter the game of promoting in Birmingham? I know you were out in Ibiza with Jamie Jones, Matt Tolfrey, Richy Ahmed etc… did you just come back from one summer and think "sod it - Birmingham needs this!"

First off I wanted to share my influences from Circo Loco and Secretsundaze. It was a magical time for me and the guys - almost everyone I met in Ibiza 'in the summer of 1999 I'm still friends with now. Ironically everyone from those crazy hedonistic years are all successful in the industry.

So our education was of experimenting with substances, rolling around to the bass, finding the terrace at DC10, the flamboyance of La Troya and sun rise in Amnesia. When Bora Bora was good with DJ Gee, the Circo Loco after parties were incredible. Then Pin Up was just icing on the cake.

It was all of the friends that were made out on that magical isle, and the visits to East London who I owe the success of Below to. They brought with them an air of flair and a different touch to a tired Birmingham.

When Below was on they would travel from all over the UK. It was always a solid gathering. Jamie Jones played many of the early gigs as did Laura Jones, Richy Ahmed etc, we all came together in Ibiza, it was like a family.

From doing Below at Rainbow, a few years later you then ended up becoming part owner of the whole venue. How did this come about?

There has always been colourful characters working at The Rainbow. Fuzz Townsend was a great host and was a member of Pop Will Eat Itself and Bentley Rhythm Ace, he was a popular guy and lots of bohemian characters would drink at the pub (listen to Bentley Ryhthm Ace's 'Bentley's gonna sort you out' below).

Joe Ward was a well known Irish man. We have a close relationship and he went against the music policy of The Rainbow, allowing a deep house party to take place on a Sunday daytime.

One weekend we rocked up to find the Rainbow courtyard had been condemned - the authorities had shut us down. There were various tip offs from rival promoters in the city that didn't take too kindly to Below’s rising popularity and how a courtyard of a pub can compare to their plush club. They didn't get it or the movement so the coward way was to make the call to the authorities.

But it was that call that changed my life. When Joe / The Rainbow couldn't afford a double fire exit I asked if they would consider selling it, to which they obliged!

When I first went to Rainbow, I found it funny how much it still looked like a pub - that there are all these world class DJs, hot off the plane from Pacha or wherever, essentially playing in a pub cellar or ale yard with a blinder of a sound system in it. Do you think this is part of the charm?

Definitely! DJs turn up and initially think "what the hell is this!?". Then they walk through the pub into the Rainbow courtyard, that is when their head falls off. We have had everyone play from Jamie Jones to Marco Corola, Sven Vath, Laurent Garnier, Loco Dice and Apollonia to a room of 400 people. They all ask to come back.  

The cellar was a guilty pleasure, we converted it in May 2012 and it really increased the capacity and the interest in the venue. Again I think the best clubs are where you can lose your friends, get lost and find them again! It's part of a good night out and the addition of the cellar helped give it more scope.

You've got acts playing at your club now who are absolutely stratospheric, but weren't big names at the beginning. Having worked for a rival venue up the road from Rainbow myself, I know just how difficult it is to book any of those kinds of acts, so you must be pretty chuffed at how loyal people have been to you down the years?

We have always remained professional with acts and agents. A lot of artists we book become close personal friends. I think they can see the passion and work that we as a team put into evolving the Rainbow Venues so it never gets stagnant.

I was never meant to be a venue owner, I just wanted to put on a rave and make people smile. We fell into it by accident and now it's become an addiction to create something magical in a little corner of Digbeth, always putting the punters first. That's my buzz, that's my tick, seeing them have it right off... not money.

If we make any it goes straight back into another space, another experiment, another risk. I think promoters and artists see this and see that we are independent and that we're having a good go at it.

More importantly we have never not paid a supplier, an artist or an employee, even if an event hasn't gone the way we want it.

Obviously there's people like you, Adam Shelton, Scott Bleepz, Subb Ann and more, that people think of when they think of Rainbow and nights at Rainbow, but who are the big local characters that we might not normally read about, but are there week in week out?

There have been so many characters that have made the Rainbow Venues what it is today. They come, they go, but they all leave their stamp. My biggest job is hand picking key people with personality, charisma and confidence to front the parties. That's the biggest challenge.

They can't have an ego or it just won't work. We have a real family feel going on. All our promoters for the different brands get on, they help each other and work together... if there's a break in this rule they won't be promoting at the Rainbow.

I really feel we have a solid team, we have five spaces with multiple rooms to fill every Friday and Saturday with, so it's not just up to the front men but the team in the office to carefully programme each season. It's a fine balancing act not to dilute the next show and to keep everyone happy, but it's something that is possible with Mike Taylor, Liam Roberts and superstar Sarah Higginson.

That's the office. The logistics, the social media and the diplomats! But then you've got security which is so important to any venue. Freedom Security and in particular Lenny Coppage and Josh really do a fantastic job of keeping the venues safe and comfortable to party in. This for me is as important as the programming.

My cleaner Aimen is the longest serving member of the team... he has been with me from the start and he is as important as everyone else and a legend.

Apart from people in your own crew, what DJ do you think sums up the ethos of Rainbow?

I'm sorry. I have got to say Adam Shelton. He gets it. He was my original partner and has obviously gone onto be an international DJ with his own successful label One Records. He is the man hands down. Then of course the Frenchies Dyed Soundorom, Shonky, Dan Ghenacia, John Dimas, D’Julz... we have booked them so many times and every time they get it... there's always an air of excitement when they come to town. Lola ED agency for me is the one. Always on point too, Tristan Da Cunha, Alex Arnout, James Cotterill, Tom Craven... my God I could go on forever! If you want to see the boys that get it? Go to Below...

At what point did you think, "yes! this venue's gonna work"?

The first Below in the Rainbow Courtyard we had to deal with a baby on the dance floor! It was open to the general public we didn't know if we could turn the music up. The baby wasn't crying so I guess he was feeling the beats!

The baby and family completed the burger and left, then we cranked it up. It was magical. I knew from the minute I set foot in the courtyard that this was going to be the start of a magical journey (ten years and counting - check the video below).

Do you think there is a Digbeth scene developing around the Rainbow? The area seems to tick a lot of the boxes of places like Dalston or Hackney in London in the early days… are we beginning to see the area fulfill its potential?

For sure there's more people taking a punt in Digbeth now and it's flattering when people say the Rainbow has been an inspiration to them. This is why we do it! It's great that more venues are popping up around the Rainbow - it only helps cement our mission to make this a creative cool hub. Digbeth is really developing now, there are some new hotel developments and more student accommodation is popping up. It's a real exciting time. It's starting to happen!

Also I think the addition of Spotlight and Next Door has really opened us up to some positive press. James Swinburne is a cool head who runs uber cool party Cloak n Dagger - when I heard he wanted to open a bar we got together with Adam Shelton and made Spotlight, our bar that sits under an old Victorian railway arch. It was a breath of fresh air and had a real different feel to the Rainbow pub.

Along with that came Digbeth Dining Club which takes place in the car park of Spotlight with the back drop of an 18th century viaduct accommodating street food vendors from all over the world. We won best British Street Food event last year at the awards and Digbeth Dining Club even featured in the New York Times review - it's reached the masses.

We have had some of the best traders serving delicious food every Friday with an eclectic mix of music from some of Birmingham's best selectors... Friday 22nd from 5pm we celebrate our 2nd birthday with BBC Midlands Today broadcasting live at 6pm. Big up Jack Brabant that has been the face and the character behind the Spotlight street food movement.

Then we got excited and took on unit 3, 'Next Door', and created a venue with all of the elements that make a solid space. For me sound is so important - we installed a Martin Audio system and acoustically treated the room. We created tiered floors so there is different levels and lots of little corners to lose your mates in. Visually we created a cube structure to project 3D mapping on to - it really sets the room alight.

It's such an incredible intimate space with only 350 people. We only put house and techno on a Friday. Everyone said Fridays couldn't work but we're enjoying some real quality sell out shows, so much so we are even having to open Spotlight for the spill over.

More licensing applications are going in, there's hotels getting built all over and more students landing. We have plans in to convert upstairs of the Rainbow to a motel too so it's a real exciting time.

Am I right in saying that Below is going to stop this year? How are you going to fill the void of something that has been established for ten years, and that was essentially the heart and soul of the venue?

No, not this year - there are three parties left. Everyone will be emotional. The final party is when Below is ten in May 2015... we are actually taking the roof off like the old days to close the magical journey on a high. Nothing will replace Below, it wont... what we do will be different, not better.

Beyond different spaces and beyond Below, what else are you going to do to develop the operation in future? It must be quite difficult to innovate after having built it up to such a level.

I'm looking into all sorts... pop-up restaurants, developing the pub, creating a village in the arena for next summer with bars, clubs, restaurants, boutique shops and chill areas.

Also, because we have such strong brands there may be an opportunity for merchandise. We have toyed with this idea for years though - we wont do it if it doesn’t feel right and I think it’s really difficult getting the balance right with tacky and cool.

Tom Shortez, recently signed to NGE, a top DJ, character, promoter and long time Rainbow resident, recently threw at me the idea of a ice rink in the arena over Christmas! Of course I love the idea, so watch this space.

As I mentioned earlier, the exciting project for 2015 is creating twelve rooms above the Rainbow for 'The Rainbow Motel', and I have been in talks with developing a disused Victorian viaduct line that connects the Rainbow to The Arena, with breathtaking views of the city. We want to go a step further than The High Line in New York and have art installations, meeting rooms and of course some kind of bar, and... mmmm.. maybe a sound system.

For all events and tickets for the Rainbow Venues head to the venue page.

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