Phil Gillam: No need for cereal packets with Shrewsbury's entertainment

As a child I hardly ever went to see a live show of any description – although this might have had more to do with the economic circumstances of mum and dad rather than a paucity of available entertainment.

At the risk of sounding like a character out of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, we had to make our own entertainment in those days.

Thus, we created our own television sets out of Cornflakes packets and reels of Izal toilet paper, each sheet depicting a pencil-drawn scene from our own made-up adventures. I’m sure this idea came from Blue Peter in an age when children were perfectly happy to while away the hours drawing pictures on toilet paper.

Almost unbelievable with hindsight … but true!

Moving on to teenage years, yes, there was Tiffany’s nightclub where I saw Ultravox, The Stranglers, the Pan’s People roadshow, and Boomtown Rats.

And at the dear old Music Hall, we went to see bands as diverse as Prelude, Fairport Convention and Be-Bop Deluxe.

In terms of outdoor stuff, I don’t remember too much at all going on around the town apart from the carnival, the Flower Show, and what was then known as the West Mid Show.

These days there seems to be something on all the time in Shrewsbury – outdoor festivals, the full range of shows offered by Theatre Severn and other venues: comedy, music, theatre, dance, ballet, opera, exhibitions, stuff specially for children ...

We now have more of the annual big set pieces each year – The Cartoon Festival, The Fake Festival, Shrewsbury Bookfest, Shrewsbury Regatta, Shropshire Kids Festival, the Shropshire Agricultural Show, the River Festival, Shrewsbury Carnival, the Half-Marathon, and last weekend the Food Festival.

Still to come this year there’s the Dragon Boat Festival, Let’s Rock, the famous Shrewsbury Flower Show, the Folk Festival, the Steam Rally, the Triathlon, Heritage Open Days, The Recovery Walk and the Coracle Race.

Then if you look at Theatre Severn alone – just over the next couple of months – there are tribute shows celebrating the music of The Kinks, Elvis, Simon & Garfunkel and The Eagles, plus appearances from (the real) Jason Donovan, Michael Parkinson, comedian Ross Noble, Joan Armatrading and The Fortunes, to name but a few.

In September, there’s also another chance to see Shrewsbury playwright John Howard’s extremely moving musical, Poppyfields.

Turning our attention for a moment to The Wightman Theatre, a lesser known venue just off The Square, this coming weekend we have Jonathan Byrd and Pickup Cowboy (pictured) on Sunday, Byrd is a highly-respected American singer-songwriter who grew up singing in the Southern Baptist church where his father preached and his mother played piano.

He’s clocked up ten years as a full-time touring songwriter and has released seven acclaimed albums.

He will be accompanied by The Pickup Cowboy - also known as Johnny Waken, and supported by Luke Jackson.

By the way, to find out what else is going on at The Wightman, check out their website: www.thewightman.co.uk.

Another great Shrewsbury venue is The Hive at 5 Belmont (website: www.hiveonline.org.uk).

Here you’ll find jazz, folk, theatre, films and much more.

Just taking a quick look at the jazz on offer, there’s a gig on July 7 featuring four exceptional young musical talents who are building their careers in diverse genres: Ben Muirhead (double bass), Nathan England Jones (drums), Elliott Sansom (piano) and Chris Young (alto sax). The vibe of the band is described as variety, creativity and togetherness with a free-flowing contemporary sound.

If that’s not your thing, The Hive also offers a ‘Pottery for Adults’ course, an animation workshop, top-notch folk, and screenings of strikingly different films.

Or - on the other hand - you could just stay in and make your own television set out of a Cornflakes packet and some toilet paper.