Another access review, this time for Mama Roux’s in Birmingham, specifically for Not Safe For Work Rock Night
(Disclaimer: I’m aware “accessibility” means different things to different people, as I said before, these are MY views on my experience of accessibility at this venue as an electric wheelchair user, I obviously can’t speak for others experiences but feel free to add your experiences in the comments!)
Tickets
Tickets buying was a very simple situation as they were simply available to be bought on the door.
Gig update: Gigs at Mama Roux’s are actually deceptively simple to get a ticket for as a wheelchair user. Shout out to Benjy the operations manager who was very responsive to emails and was able to tell me that I could just buy a standard ticket, go straight to the front of the queue and bring a carer for free (no disability proof required!).
Travel
Getting there was…an experience to say the least. The actual distance isn’t the problem as it’s only about a 20 minute walk. However, Digbeth (the area) is sort of notorious for its lack of drop kerbs and for Uber drivers parking on said drop kerbs so I’d get ready to fight for your drop kerb access if I was you. I know I tapped on the windows of several Ubers that night to get them to move off the drop kerb.
Experience
Once I was in the door, it was a mixed experience, although overall a good one. I had to use my chair riser to raise up to bar level to pay since the card readers did not seem to be detachable. However, I did manage to make my way through the dancefloor to the barrier, which is not something that happen often but is the kind of situation I LOVE, so I’m not ashamed to admit that made my night. The accessible toilet wasn’t actually in Mama Roux’s but in another section/building on Lower Trinity Street. They’re all connected but that toilet also wasn’t radar key so I had to wait and get the key from staff which made the simple process of going to the bathroom a long process and quite the mission. I would suggest making the toilet a radar key toilet as I usually do but I think that may be quite pointless because there’s the factor of distance between Mama Roux’s and the actual accessible toilet, so I’m not sure make the toilet a radar key toilet would streamline the process any more.
Gig update: Once in the door it was very simple for me to attend a gig at Mama Roux’s. We were given side of stage seats which meant we had literally the best view in the house. It also meant I was able to grab setlists from 2 of the 3 bands on the bill, and you know I LOVE a set list.
The only improvement I could see here is, as I mentioned before, to build an accessible toilet somewhere within the venue if possible. At the moment the nearest accessible venue is the next building over, which means you have to time bathroom trips to make sure you don’t miss favourite bands/songs. Timing bathroom trips obviously isn’t possible for all disabled people.
I hope this post is useful and helps someone enjoy a great night out at Mama Roux’s.
Stay Invincible!
Em (Invincible Woman On Wheels)
Invincible Woman on Wheels 
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