Recently by Richard McComb

An intimate gathering at Birmingham's Glee Club was treated to a superlative set by the best singer/songwriter you've probably never heard of.

Toronto's Ron Sexsmith has clocked up nine albums of melody-packed, foot-tapping pop joy and barely registered a ripple on the UK charts.

His current European tour is ostensibly to promote his latest album, "Exit Strategy of the Soul." Put it on your Christmas list and pour yourself a glass of dandelion wine.

A few weeks ago I wrote a column in The Post casting doubt on claims that events in the city actually generate the money which they are purported to generate.

It was claimed, for example, that the Tory conference at the ICC would bring £20 million into the local economy. Still not noticed the boom in sales of Ferraris in the city? No, me neither.

I don't doubt that big events raise a company's/city's/person's media profile but I remain sceptical about the level of economic largesse.

Soul legend Stevie Wonder ended his European tour in Birmingham last night in infectiously good humour.

Wonder returned to the NIA, where he kicked off the tour last month, and turned in another remarkable two-and-half hour show.

As his band gathered around him front of stage before the final number, "As," the 58-year-old was cracking jokes and giggling like a "litte nappy headed boy."

I am sure David Cameron shone at chamber ensemble while studying at Eton but the Tory leader has betrayed an embarrassing lack of scholarly awareness when it comes to soul music.

Cameron's showpiece address to the party lap-dogs at Birmingham Symphony Hall struck a bum note when he referred to himself as being a "man with a plan."

I know Cameron is dogged with the notion that he is out of touch with the common man, by virtue of his minted background, but I find his lack of awareness about the great Stevie Wonder's lyrical output truly shocking.

Aren't we lucky? The Tories are in Brum.

It appears that we have arrived on the political stage, able to hold our collective head high with the mighty conference towns of Blackpool and Bournemouth, two destinations that people respectively go to for binge-drinking and to die.

But a word of caution: Tory leader David Cameron says Birmingham is on trial as a conference destination. If we foul it up, he's naffing 'orf back to the seaside.

The graffiti louts have been at it, leaving their grotty mark on the side of St Philip's Cathedral in Birmingham city centre.

I've probably led a sheltered life, but this is the first time I have seen such a prominent place of worship debased in such a manner and it is abhorrent.

If this was a mosque, the local imams would be all over the local radio station, rightly voicing their indignation.

A paedophile has been targeting schoolgirls in south Birmingham and parents rightly want as much information as possible.
Thank goodness then for clued-up headteachers because if it was left to West Midlands Police we'd all be in the dark.
I happen to have two daughters at schools in the area. I heard about the series of sexual assaults via a third school and, whilst driving home on Wednesday, the first day I became aware of the attacks, saw police patrolling outside a fourth school. Clearly, this was no minor offender on the loose.

What a brilliant idea to carry out engineering works on Birmingham's road tunnel network on the night of the city's biggest gig of the year.
If you were at Stevie Wonder's sell-out opening night at the NIA you may well have been among the 13,500 fans who found their evening's enjoyment somewhat curtailed by the whopper of a traffic jam that ensued.
I am told that tunnels were closed because of maintenance work. I hope Stevie and his sparkling band weren't waylaid, or they may think twice about re-visiting Birmingham in October.

There are two days to go before I take my family to see the greatest, most influential figure in black music and the big question is this: do I wear the Stevie Wonder T-shirt?
The man that is a star that is a legend that is a hero kicks off his European tour at the NIA in Birmingham on Monday and I am tickled pink to be going.
Obviously I'm not tickled pink that the tickets cost £65 and it's setting me back a fair whack for a family of four. (We'll be taking our own Thermos and Battenburg cake.)