The Skinny Northwest May 2016

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May 2016 North Issue 38

ART FROM THE UNDERWORLD

Exploring the LightNight commissions

MUSIC IN TRANSITION Immix Ensemble on working with Vessel

EVOLUTIONARY TECH Nature writing in the digital now

THE KAZIMIER REBORN

Enter the Invisible Wind Factory

...AND OTHER DARK MATTER:

Danny Wolfers, Green Room, Évolution, Gold Panda, Minor Victories, Physical Fest, and more...

BOOK NOW: 0161 832 1111 MANchesteracademy.net CHRIS RAMSEY: ALL GROWED UP SATURDAY 7TH MAY

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IN THIS MOMENT

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BRANTLEY GILBERT

KATE VOEGELE & TYLER HILTON

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BAD MANNERS

ANDY JORDAN

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THE BLUETONES

THE HEAVY

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ALL SAINTS

THE JOY FORMIDABLE

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SLEAFORD MODS

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LEVELLERS CELEBRATING 25 YEARS OF LEVELLING THE LAND SATURDAY 26TH NOVEMBER

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THU.26.MAY.16 P.25 Love and Friendship

P.21 Pleasure

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I N D E P E N D E N T

C U LT U R A L

J O U R N A L I S M

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4

Contents

THE SKINNY

Contents Up Front 06 Chat & Opinion: Welcome to this here

magazine. Read last minute news! Have Mystic Mark read your horoscope! And check out what other bits and bobs you can read online at theskinny.co.uk...

08 Heads Up: Take a break from wondering if Jon Snow is still alive to do some of this stuff.

Lifestyle 27

Deviance: Might the mighty ’zine offer an escape for feminist writers with internet-fatigue? Plus, one writer argues we should never mock healthy explorations of sexual pleasure, no matter how ‘strange’ the kink.

28

Fashion: We’re pleased to feature a shoot art-directed by photographer Lucy Ridges, whose shoots of the likes of Mugstar, Jo Rose and BC Camplight have oft-appeared in these pages.

Features 10

12

15

16

18

19

Get set for Liverpool’s LightNight with our guide to the festival’s 13 exciting new art commissions.

Minor Victories don’t want to be known as a supergroup, so we won’t call them that. The new collaborative project by members of Mogwai, Editors and Slowdive introduce their debut.

Listen to some tales from the deep as French filmmaker Lucile Hadžihalilović discusses her mysterious body-horror Évolution.

Reinvigorated comic Seymour Mace chats to The Skinny ahead of the final leg of his Foster's Award-nominated show, Niche as Fuck.

Jeremy Saulnier follows up revenge thriller Blue Ruin with equally nail-biting siege movie Green Room. He talks punk rock, genre and casting Captain Picard as a Nazi.

Daniel Thorne, director of Liverpool's Immix Ensemble, discusses the collective's beginnings, collaborations and current project with Vessel.

21

We get a little intimidated by the precocious talent of award-winning composer Mark Simpson, who is debuting his first opera, Pleasure, at just 27.

22

Intergalactic freak daddy Danny Wolfers muses on myriad subjects, including lycanthropy, alien contact and Dutch folklore.

24

Get a taste of new writing anthology Addiction with these abridged extracts from one of its stories, which plots the points on the life of a rock'n'roll poet crashing into the cliffs.

25

Is it possible to reconcile digital technology with nature writing? Our Books editor considers the relationship between the two ahead of a symposium on the subject at Humanities in Public festival. Plus: Whit Stillman finds the perfect foil for his arch style with his zippy adaptation of a little-known Jane Austen novella.

Gold Panda reckons his talents are

26 "unremarkable". We beg to differ.

May 2016

Showcase: Artist Marie Young shares

30 images from her project OBJECT, a

creative archiving of possessions belonging to her late husband, exploring grief and memory to moving effect.

32

Travel: This month we visit Marrakech, “a medieval Cirque du Soleil that has somehow slipped into the present.”

33

Food & Drink: Kickass pizza parlour Rudy's is this month’s Pioneer; plus all your latest Food News.

35

Review

41

Competitions: Win tickets to Writing on the Wall festival’s Afrofuturism after party, and 32 Rue Vandenbranden at HOME, Manchester.

42

Clubs: Richard Searling is our latest Skinned mix guest, while Matt Chicoine aka Recloose pulls eight incredible Motor City LPs from his crate. Plus, all your clubbing highlights for the month and the pick of festivals abroad.

44

Film: Richard Linklater serves up Everybody Wants Some!!, a ‘spiritual sequel’ to Dazed and Confused, while Christian Bale stumbles dazed and confused through Terrence Malick’s latest, Knight of Cups.

45

DVD & Art: Much-loved US home entertainment imprint Criterion arrives in the UK with Howard Hawks’ Only Angels Have Wings and Akira Kurosawa's Ran gets a Blu-ray upgrade, plus your guide to the month’s most interesting new exhibitions.

Music: We review new records from Gold Panda, Beth Orton, White Lung, Eagulls and more, plus look back at Other Worlds Festival and hear from Fuck Buttons man Andrew Hung in Hong Kong.

46 Books: Thoughts on Zero K, the 17th

novel from literary giant Don DeLillo, and a look at this month’s bookish event highlights, including Writing on the Wall festival.

47

Theatre: Enter the Invisible Wind Factory – the amazing new venue from the folks behind the Kazimier – and their launch show, Omphalos. Plus: Ahead of Physical Fest, we find out more about the fascinating world of physical theatre.

48

Listings: A guide to everything worth seeing in Manchester and Liverpool this month, and it doesn’t even require a wi-fi connection.

Contents

5

Editorial

T

hings get a bit freaky this issue, as you may be able to tell from our rather out-there cover.

The image is a still from a video work by artist David Badger, Love without Sound: Pixophytoflora, one of 13 new art commissions at this year’s Liverpool LightNight festival (13 May). Taking inspiration from the undersea and bioluminescence, the work invites us to reflect on how computer imaging technology can be used to grow and ‘simulate’ simple living creatures, and will be accompanied on the night by a live soundtrack from Badger and Abi Bliss. It’s one of many fascinating-sounding installations at this year’s after-hours event, which our Art editor guides you through across pages 10-11. The tech-meetsnature theme continues on page 25 as our Books editor considers the recent surge in nature writing against a backdrop of digital media: are the two necessarily antagonistic? A symposium as part of Humanities in Public festival – which this article previews – would suggest not...

Also performing as part of LightNight are Immix Ensemble. They’ll be presenting a new composition by Bill Ryder-Jones, No Worst, There Is None, in the Anglican Cathedral on 13 May, but on page 19 ensemble founder Daniel Thorne is here to talk about their collaboration with Bristol electronic artist Vessel, Transition, which they bring to Soup Kitchen basement on 7 May in all its audiovisual glory. Immix have been doing amazing things in Liverpool over the past few years, bringing together musicians of different schools in reworkings and new commissions, and Thorne gives us a history of their projects as well as a sense of their process with Vessel.

Elsewhere, we get to burrow deep into the mind of Danny Wolfers; you may know him as Legowelt, but as our Clubs editor discovers, he writes about everything from lycanthropy to alien contact on his webzine, Order of the Shadow Wolf – and on page 22, lets us in on the secrets of astronomy, Dutch folklore and... trains.

As we go to press learning of the closure of yet another artist space in Liverpool – the

Lantern Theatre, which is looking for new premises but will be leaving its Blundell Street home after this year’s instalment of its new writing festival, Shiny New – we’re relieved at least to be able to speak to Liam Naughton, director of Kazimier Productions, who in May launch their incredible new warehouse space, Invisible Wind Factory, in the Liverpool North docklands. The Kazimier team have long been known for their immersive, theatrical parties, but the new venue’s opening show Omphalos – Energy Eternal promises to take things several steps further: an unfolding promenade performance touching on mythology, space travel and environmental issues, it’s a labour of love involving all kinds of mad technology, drama, set-dressing and costumery. Read more about it on page 47.

There’s oh, so much more: Music checks in with the ever-modest, ever-brilliant Gold Panda; we’re introduced to Minor Victories, a new ‘supergroup’ (though they’d refute the term) from members of Slowdive, Mogwai and Editors; and Fuck Buttons fella Andrew Hung checks in from Hong Kong. Books brings us extracts from a new collection of writing on addiction; Comedy catches up with contemporary clown Seymour Mace as he prepares to retire his Foster’s Awardnominated Fringe show, Niche as Fuck; Film has interviews with Lucile Hadžihalilovi about her strange body horror/mother-son drama Évolution, Jeremy Saulnier about his siege drama Green Room, and Whit Stillman about the adoringly received Love & Friendship; and Food goes gaga, like everyone else right now, for Ancoats pizza bar Rudy’s.

Grab a fork.

[Lauren Strain] ON THE COVER: Still from the visual Love without Sound: Pixophytoflora, a video work by David Badger with live ambient electronic soundtrack, showing at Liverpool LightNight 2016 (5-9pm, 13 May). lightnightliverpool.co.uk

Shot of the Month

Animal Collective, The Ritz, 13 Apr by Aaron McManus

6

Chat

Online Only Eyes to the website

theskinny.co.uk/clubs Check out Richard Searling’s mix in our Skinned series, and your guide to some of the best UK dance music festivals taking place across the country this summer. theskinny.co.uk/comedy Take your laughs on tour with our guide to the UK’s best comedy festivals, and look back on seminal sitcom Nathan Barley with Charlie Condou, who played ridiculous magazine editor Jonatton Yeah? theskinny.co.uk/music Glasgow duo WOMPS look forward to dropping their debut in June, and reflect on their fertile collaboration with Steve Albini.

theskinny.co.uk/film Richard Linklater riffs on his years as a baseball jock in Everybody Wants Some!! – we chat to him about this love letter to his college days. theskinny.co.uk/deviance Our Deviance editor tackles the silent, daily burden of street harassment and catcalling. theskinny.co.uk/travel Our ongoing series on living abroad continues, with guides to life in Sydney, Santiago and Seoul, as well as Portland for those who don’t fancy moving somewhere that starts with the letter ‘S’.

Spot the Difference

TWO RIPLEYS In space, no one can hear you scream, as the crew of the Nostromo found out the hard way in Ridley Scott’s Alien. Still, the delighted screams of Xenomorph-obsessed Skinny readers will be perfectly audible down here on Earth, or something – just look at these two identical pictures of the iconic movie’s righteous hero, Lieutenant Ellen Ripley!

BUT WAIT! Paws for a second, because something’s not right. The two images aren’t quite as

purr-fectly identical as we first thought; albeit merely a whisker away from being completely indistinguishable. If you think you can cat-ch the oh-so-subtle detail that differentiates them, head to theskinny.co.uk/competitions and let us know. The best or funniest answer wins a copy of The Private Lives of Pippa Lee by Rebecca Miller, courtesy of the everlovin’ gang at Canongate.

Competition closes at midnight on Sun 29 May. Winners will be notified via email within two working days of closing and will be required to respond within 48 hours or the prize will be offered to another entrant. Our Ts&Cs can be found at theskinny.co.uk/about/terms

THE SKINNY

Liverpool Hope Fest call-out for musicians Hope Fest, Liverpool’s music festival in aid of the homeless, is back for a third year, running 11-13 November. The fest’s aim is simple: to raise food, clothing and cash for the homeless.

Organisers are currently scouting for music and comedy performers for this year’s event. If you would like to apply, head to hopefest.org.uk and click the ‘PERFORM’ tab.

Manchester After Hours: our highlights Lots to sink those cultural teeth into with this year’s Manchester After Hours, part of the nationwide Museums at Night celebrations.

MAH takes over the city with performances, workshops and more on 12 May, and among our highlights are the Whitworth’s D’Arts Festival (where art meets darts), members of Manchester Camerata playing an intimate gig at Common bar, live literature night Bad Language taking to Manchester Jewish Museum and local promoter Hey! Manchester programming music for the world’s oldest surviving passenger railway‌ Take your pick at manchesterafterhours.co.uk.

Find The Skinny at the Summer Arts Market We’ll have a stall at this year’s Summer Arts Market in Liverpool St George’s Hall, where you’ll

Manchester Animation Festival call-out for filmmakers Emerging toon talent will be keen to hear that submissions for the second Manchester Animation Festival (15-17 Nov, HOME) are now open and free to enter. If you've got a great short animation that you'd like considered, get it in before 29 July. For more info on how to submit your film(s), go to manchesteranimationfestival. co.uk.

Parquet Courts

Africa OyĂŠ festival reveals DJs for 2016 Liverpool’s annual celebration of African and Caribbean music and culture returns to its home on the vibrant green of Sefton Park 18-19 June, and for the third year in a row, the wax-spinners keeping the party going will be DJ Edu and Esa Williams. “I just couldn't turn down the chance to bring them back,â€? said Paul Duhaney, Africa OyÊ’s artistic director. “Edu's selection of afrobeats is always a hit, and Esa's vast knowledge of music from across the globe means we'll get some really varied and interesting tunes.â€? Keep an eye on theskinny.co.uk/festivals and africaoye.com for more announcements.

Street artists come to Manchester Reflecting street art’s unique power to champion the oppressed, the Cities of Hope project will be bringing nine leading street artists to Manchester between 21-29 May, getting together with speakers and cultural icons to raise money for charity through a jam-packed calendar of events – keep those eyes latched onto citiesofhope.global for announcements.

Science in the City festival volunteer call-out Manchester is European City of Science this year (toot toot!), and along with the EuroScience Open Forum, the city’s also playing host to the slightly more approachable Science in the City, a festival of engaging and inspiring events taking place 22-29 July. Fancy getting involved? You can get in on the action as a volunteer – head to manchestersciencecity.com/volunteer before 15 May.

Deftones

In our next issue, Film talks to French director Eve Husson about her racey first feature Bang Gang and Italian auteur Matteo Garrone tells us why he swapped the grit of Gomorrah for the dreamy fantasy of Tale of Tales. Music,

BALLS. with Mystic Mark ARIES Every time you touch your penis it swells up. Makes you think you might have an allergy. Talking to the doctor about possible causes, you tell them you’ve narrowed down the possible allergens to hands, vaginas, bumholes, kitchen worktops and dog’s tongues.

TAURUS SchrĂśdinger is perhaps best known for the double hole experiment he performed in bed with his wife.

Perplexingly, SchrÜdinger’s wife discovered that when she was looking, it would only go in one hole, but at the moment she ceased observing it would go in both holes at the same time.

GEMINI Encrypt all your messages by changing them into Zapf Dingbats before sending.

CANCER Your bad habits have now expanded to include picking your nose and hiding it up your bum so you can eat it later.

LEO Stop putting your toenails in the recycling. That’s not why they grow back.

You’ve got completely the wrong idea of how all of absolutely everything works.

Marvin Gaye Chetwynd, Jesus and Barabbas puppet show, 9 October 2014. Chetwynd will exhibit at Liverpool Biennial 2016

May 2016

meanwhile, chats to Parquet Courts about new full-length Human Performance and catches a few words with Deftones ahead of their busy festival schedule.

VIRGO Think back. If you were on your own without a tracksuit to wrap yourself in at the dawn of time, do you think you would have discovered fire? The answer is no.

LIBRA This month you finally sit down with your popcorn to watch the BBC 6 O’Clock News, a nightmarish dystopian sci-fi set somewhere in the near past..

SCORPIO It’s impolite to listen to podcasts while having sex; at the very least split the earphones so you can both listen romantically together.

SAGITTARIUS Save time in the morning by masturbating as you cycle to work.

CAPRICORN For God so loved the world, He tortured His only Son to death for no discernible reason.

AQUARIUS Your head is attached to a bum.

PISCES The first time you make use of the new Henry the Hoover Fleshlight attachment his smile turns upside down.

twitter.com/themysticmark facebook.com/themysticmark

Chat

7

Photo: Stuart Moulding

Liverpool Biennial programme announced The ninth edition of Liverpool Biennial is on its way, kicking off on 9 July with a 14-week programme on the theme of ‘time travel’, spanning six episodes of Ancient Greece, Chinatown, Children’s Episode, Monuments from the Future, Flashback and Software. In an interview with The Skinny, festival director Sally Tallant said she’s looking forward to installation work and films from CĂŠline Condorelli, Fabien Giraud and RaphaĂŤl Siboni, while Francesco Manacorda, artistic director of Tate Liverpool, is excited to see how artists create fictions that have been “shaped and in some ways generated by the city itself.â€? For the full programme: biennial.com.

The June Issue: Out 31 May

Photo: Vito Andreoni

be able to buy illustrators’ work or, y’know, just come and have a chinwag with us. Across the weekend of 25-26 June, the market will welcome over 100 local artists, designers and makers, who’ll be peddling everything from photography and vintage garms to textiles, screen prints and jewellery. Come say hiya! More info: summerartsmarket.com.

Andrew Bird

Sun 8 May

Mon 9 May

Cycling’s never been a more popular pastime, ticking boxes for commuters, fitness addicts and those who prefer life en plein air, so seize your latest chance to celebrate it with Spin, a major cycling festival promising British and international brands, plus everything from a Flatline BMX competition to yoga for cyclists. Victoria Warehouse, Manchester, Fri 6-Sun 8 May, times and prices vary

Wu-Tang Clan man Ghostface Killah (known less intimidatingly as Dennis Coles) proves he’s still going strong with just a couple of live headline shows here in the UK, playing tracks from his back catalogue along with a few well-known Wu-Tang favourites. Stylus, Leeds, 7.30pm, £16

Pleasure

Spin festival

Ghostface Killah

Sun 15 May

Mon 16 May

Liverpool’s late-night arts festival LightNight is back!

This year comes with a theme of ‘experiment’, and accordingly the programme promises an eclectic assortment of great stuff, including new material from Bill Ryder-Jones, the Afro Supa Hero exhibition, a Bollywood and Ceilidh mash-up and more. Various venues, Liverpool, times and prices vary

Manchester Psych Fest gears up for its fourth bash, bringing together the psychedelic community from Manchester and beyond through the likes of Liverpool’s Clinic, Anglo-Welsh outfit Telegram, raucous Bristolians Spectres and LA psych-rockers Triptides. Night & Day Cafe, Manchester, 3pm, £12.50

Liverpool’s month-long Writing on the Wall festival comes with many highlights, but one of its undeniable corkers is award-winning comedian Isy Suttie. She of Peep Show fame, Suttie will perform The Actual One, her memoir about that moment in your late 20s when you suddenly realise everyone’s growing up without you…

Liverpool Philharmonic Music Room, 2pm, £8-£12

Multi-instrumentalist, producer and longstanding member of Snarky Puppy, Cory Henry and his Hammond B-3 organ make their way to St Phil’s for an evening of gospel, jazz and soul in support of his latest release, The Revival. St Philip’s Church, Salford, 7.30pm, £14

Clinic

Isy Suttie

HEX//Light DiVision at LightNight 2015

Photo: Idil Sukan

Sat 14 May

Photo: Pete Carr

Fri 13 May

Cory Henry

Thu 19 May

Fri 20 May

Sat 21 May

It wasn’t long ago that we were mourning the iconic and very much beloved Kazimier. But dry those eyes, mate! She’s back, kinda, returning with an immersive promenade show entitled Omphalos: Energy Eternal, which will run for four days in the team's new spot in the North docklands. Expect the spectacular. Invisible Wind Factory, Liverpool, 8pm (matinees available), £25

An annual international physical theatre celebration hosted by Tmesis Theatre, Physical Fest takes nine days in late May and fills them with performances such as Spymonkey’s The Complete Deaths, in which Shakespeare’s 75 on-stage deaths are relived, Theatre Re’s Blind Man’s Song and Fest Live, a selection of extracts from new work. Various venues, Liverpool, until Sat 28 May, times and prices vary

Luv Dancin’ swoop in to inject the month with a dose of unadulterated good times, roping in underground disco heroes Crazy P Soundsystem and one of house music’s original innovators, Maurice Fulton, for a stonking good knees-up at Gorilla. Pack thy dancing shoes; this one’s going to require all the moves you’ve got. Gorilla, Manchester, 11pm, £10-£14

Invisible Wind Factory

Moving presence workshop at Physical Fest 2016

Crazy P Soundsystem

Thu 26 May

Fri 27 May

A show about a videotape that once belonged to poet and writer Ross Sutherland’s granddad, Stand By For Tape Back-Up is an Edinburgh Fringe hit that uses found footage to accompany stories about life and profound meditations on death and the circle of life – making for riveting visual poetry. Clever stuff. A Small Cinema, Liverpool, 7.30pm, £7

Did you miss Adam Buxton when he stormed Albert Hall with his Bowiethemed BUG show? Nay bother, for he’s back again as part of Live at the Opera House, The Invisible Dot Ltd’s mixed bill series also featuring cult poet Tim Key and comedy rocker Nick Helm.

Opera House, Manchester, 7.30pm, £20-£35

Multi-city, multi-venue music festival Dot to Dot makes a pit stop in Manchester for another go around, this time with big ’uns Mystery Jets, Augustines and The Temper Trap in tow; plus other rising names like teen Danes LISS, Bristolian singer-songwriter Lauren Aquilina and Brooklyn brooders Cigarettes After Sex. Various venues, Manchester, 2pm, £11

8

Chat

Photo: Murdo Macleod

Wed 25 May

Stand By For Tape Back-Up

Adam Buxton

Photo: Robert Workman

Set in a hedonistic gay club that gives this chamber opera its title, Pleasure follows club toilet attendant Val, whose enigmatic role as confidante to the many is given further mystery when a young man leaves her a gift, and a passionate and violent night ensues. Liverpool Playhouse, 7.30pm, £15-£23

Photo: Ross Gilmore

You’ll find May’s a big ’un, with Manchester After Hours, LightNight and Liverpool Sound City making their anticipated returns, while the folk behind The Kazimier reveal what they’ve been up to...

American folk-pop multiinstrumentalist and songwriter Andrew Bird drops in for his first Manchester date in yonks (nearly seven years, to be a little more precise) – fresh off the release of his latest album, Are You Serious, which features collaborations with Fiona Apple and Blake Mills. Manchester Cathedral, 7.30pm, £22.50

Augustines

THE SKINNY

Photo: Phunkt

Compiled by: Jess Hardiman

Wed 4 May

Photo: John Graham

Heads Up

Tue 3 May

Hidden throws another stellar line-up into the mix, this time with highly anticipated headliners Karenn – aka techno tag-team Blawan and Pariah. They'll be joined by Berlin's Sigha, Divided of Project 13, plus Anton Fitz and Hidden residents. Hidden, Manchester, 11pm, £15

Bristolian electronic composer Vessel has teamed up with Liverpool experimental collective Immix Ensemble for Transition, a four-track suite released on Erased Tapes records and getting the live audio-visual treatment down in the Soup Kitchen basement.

Soup Kitchen, Manchester, 7pm, £10

Louise Wallwein will appear at Flying Solo festival

Vessel & Daniel Thorne

Blawan

Wed 11 May

Thu 12 May

London sludge duo Ghold are Northbound to launch new album PYR, fresh from expanding into a trio with the welcome addition of instrumentalist and guitarist Oliver Martin.

They’ll be joined by fellow Londoners Palehorse, providing ultimate BOGOF vibes for fans of noise.

Islington Mill, Salford, 8pm, £6

It's the first night of Twelfth Night, Filter Theatre's explosive re-working of Shakespeare's famed comedy, which sees the classic tale of romance, satire and mistaken idendity vamped up to accommodate the Bard's longstanding fans and newcomers alike. HOME, Manchester, until 14 May, 7.30pm (matinees available)

As part of Museums at Night, Manchester After Hours returns to help the city celebrate its arts, culture and heritage in a unique nocturnal context, with highlights including a D’Arts Festival featuring specially commissioned oches, Manchester Camerata at Common, a TV Party from Bad Uncle and more. Various venues, Manchester, times and prices vary

Ghold

Twelfth Night

Wed 18 May

Today kicks off the 11day run of Daniel Kitson’s new show, Mouse - The Persistence of an Unlikely Thought. Expect lessons in friendship and loneliness, doubt and hope, a mouse, a phone call and the repercussions of everything that we ever do. Everyman Theatre, Liverpool, 7.30pm (matinees available), £10-£12

Whether alongside his Soul Orchestra, Combo Bárbaro or riding solo, Quantic (aka Will Holland) has proven himself as something of a musical mastermind, whose globetrotting sounds strike a chord with anyone able to appreciate a good, buoyant beat. He's back in Liverpool this month as part of his Tropical Elevation world tour, with full band in tow.

Constellations, Liverpool, 7.30pm, £15

Daniel Kitson

Illustration: IJack Moss

Tue 17 May

Mon 23 May

Tue 24 May

Norwegian trumpet soloist Tine Thing Helseth is joined by principal musicians of the Manchester Camerata as she presents her personal choice of transcribed songs and original works to explore the trumpet’s lyric voice – tying in nicely with her first solo release, Storyteller.

Manchester Cathedral, 2pm, £8-£12

Dreampop pioneers A.R. Kane headline their first non-festival show in more than 20 years, taking to Manchester ahead of their slot at Primavera in June with their ambient, psychedelic and boundary-crossing sound, which was critically acclaimed but often sorely overlooked back in their late-80s heyday. Soup Kitchen, Manchester, 7.30pm, £9

Mr Beach Boy Brian Wilson embarks on his Pet Sounds 50th Anniversary world tour, heading our way for one of over 70 dates (he’ll also be at Liverpool Philharmonic Hall on 31 May, FYI). He’ll perform the iconic album in its entirety, along with top hits from his career.

O2 Apollo, Manchester, 7pm, £returns only

Tine Thing Helseth

Photo: Holger Hage

Sun 22 May

Phoot: Mark Garvin

Tue 10 May

D'Arts Festival

Quantic

A.R. Kane

Brian Wilson

Mon 30 May

Young Fathers, Circa Waves, Sleaford Mods, The Coral and DJ sets from Hot Chip and 2ManyDJs all shine out as what not to miss at Liverpool Sound City this year. Oh, plus Bill Ryder-Jones, Floating Points, Holy Esque and John Talabot. And Palma Violets. And Paddy Considine and Alexei Sayle… Various venues, Liverpool, until Sun 29 May, 12pm, £70

It’s the last day of Chorlton Arts Festival as it bows out with gigs from local post-punk outfit PINS, False Advertising and an afterparty at The Beagle. Elsewhere in the festival you’ll find live performances from Kenyan-British fusion group Owiny Sigoma Band, Ren Harvieu and others, plus workshops, comedy, open studios and more.

Various venues, Fri 20-Sun 29 May, times and prices vary

Witness some seriously impressive slide guitar with a side of eccentricity, as Chicagoan one-man band Bob Log III dons his crash helmet and, most likely, full-body cannonball suit for a trip to the UK’s stages. Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, 7pm, £11

May 2016

PINS

Photo: Daniel Harris

Sun 29 May

Photo: Nick Bojdo

Sat 28 May

Floating Points

Phoot: Andrew Ellis

Spanning a multitude of disciplines including live art, spoken word, theatre and dance, Flying Solo is a festival that gives precedence to solo performers, this year featuring new commissions by Ria Hartley and Jenna Watt alongside performances by Ben Mellor, Cheryl Martin, Kate O’Donnell and many more. Contact Theatre, Manchester, until Sat 14 May, times and prices vary

Bob Log III

Chat

9

Photo: Zorn Orlic

Sat 7 May

Photo: LeMathMath

Fri 6 May

Photo: Rachel Cherry

Thu 5 May

S RE FE

AT U

Trip the Light Fantastic Liverpool’s annual late-night festival LightNight features a bumper number of new commissions this year. Our Art editor explores the 13 interactive art works created especially for 2016, and takes in the highlights of a bigger programme than ever Words: Sacha Waldron

David Badger - Love without Sound: Pixophytoflora

L

iverpool LightNight returns for its annual nocturnal one-night jaunt this year on 13 May, with more than 100 free events across the city centre from 5pm ’til late.

With most museums and galleries keeping their doors open for the evening, LightNight is always a great opportunity to catch exhibitions – but more recently, Liverpool’s late-night offering is becoming known for the quality of its one-off events, from workshops and performances to projections and live music.

This year, under the theme of ‘Experiment’ (wouldn’t it be super if festivals got more specific with their thematics – like ‘Snails’ or ‘Bumper Cars’?), the festival will also play host to 13 new commissions from local and regional artists. So, instead of producing a more general guide, we thought we would use these as beacons to light your way through the evening’s festivities across the city. Makes sense to us…

Illumaphonium by Michael Davis, and OP POP Matrix by Andy McKeown Head to LJMU’s John Lennon Art & Design Building for some large-scale multi-sensory installations from musician and inventor Michael Davis and artist Andy McKeown (whose projections on the ceiling of Liverpool Anglican Cathedral were a particular highlight of last year’s LightNight). Davis’s work, which you may have already seen as part of previous illuminated carnivals for Nottingham Light Night, is entitled Illumaphonium and consists of 250 illuminated chrome bars that respond to touch and create evolving light patterns and rippling sound.

McKeown is also going interactive, with a multiuser projection light installation ‘environment’

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Afterglow by Carlos Bernal Down the hill, and more immersive soundy lighty installation projects can be found at The Black-E, which celebrates LightNight with Afterglow, a new commission from artist Carlos Bernal. Bernal will be presenting a work of mapped light projections over six screens which is intended to create a new dimension, or spacetime tunnel, where the energy of light is transferred and transformed. Runs 5-11pm.

called OP POP Matrix. Apparently the audience will be able to control layers of ‘the Matrix’, which is made up of meshes, grids, discs, spots and shapes in the projections. All sounds quite fun unless it rains (Illumaphonium is outside), and then it sounds less fun, but that is quite possibly true of everything all of the time. Both installations run 5-10pm.

“Use the commissions as beacons to light your way through the evening’s festivities...”

The Cage of Experiments by Katy-Anne Bellis Over at the Bluecoat, from 5-10pm catch The Cage of Experiments, a mix of music, theatre and performance curated by Katy-Anne Bellis

of Caustic Widows, who have been organising eclectic and anarchic performance-type events since 2006. A similar birdcage was actually featured as a new commission for Kendal Calling in 2015; constructed from steel and willow, it contained performances and interventions that changed over the course of the festival. The Bluecoat’s cage will encourage the audience to take part in a mass group waltz, and features acrobatic parrots (who doesn’t like an acrobatic parrot?). While you’re at the Bluecoat, you can also check out...

disSociation by Deep Hedonia Conceived by production group Deep Hedonia, disSociation is a video installation

Neu Collective Consciousness by Logan & Wilcox Nearby at the Everyman Theatre, artists Logan & Wilcox (you may know them for the digital/ audio experiences they design for club night The Warehouse Project in Manchester) are inviting audiences to create a bio-cybernetic system using sensory tech which monitors brain waves and heart rate. They are trying to explore how these technologies create possibilities to co-author new AV environments based on the reactions from human bodies. Runs 5-10pm.

Thom Isom - disSociation

ART

THE SKINNY

Afloat, in Land by Friend or Foe At the Leggate Theatre (part of Victoria Gallery & Museum on Ashton Street), Friend or Foe collective – made up of artists and musicians – have created a new AV performance, Afloat, in Land, which transforms the theatre into a multichannel video and sound environment with new musical works made during the group’s recent residency in remote Iceland. The installation will be open from 6.30pm with performances scheduled for 7, 8 and 9pm (25 minutes in duration).

Love without Sound: Pixophtyoflora by David Badger Over at the Liverpool Medical Institution (Mount Pleasant), catch artist David Badger’s new work, Love without Sound: Pixophtyoflora, which marries experimental video, bioluminescence-inspired visuals and a live ambient electronic soundtrack by Badger and Abi Bliss. Although the exact details were yet to be set at the time of going to print, the installation will be open from 5-9pm, with live performances at certain times over the evening. Nice, mellow trippiness in an interesting location.

Gizzago’s Pop-Up Playground Encouraging visitors to play out will be community enterprise Gizzago, who want audiences to rediscover what it feels like to play outside in the city – and how to play with their city – by way of three pop-up playgrounds. From 5-6.30pm catch their ‘Turtle Wushu’ (had to look this up but apparently it’s a simple type of ninja joust dance fighting game?!?) at the Steble Fountain outside the Walker Art Gallery, then from 8.309.30pm take part in a – the? – Johann Sebastian Joust (no, me neither) at the Anglican Cathedral Plateau... and finally, Gizzago will invite audiences to participate in Maypole Mayhem (10-11pm, also at the Anglican Cathedral Plateau).

No Worst, There Is None by Bill Ryder-Jones While you’re up at the Anglican Cathedral you can also catch No Worst, There Is None, a special one-off performance composed by Bill

May 2016

Flock by Foolsize Theatre Another commission that’s peppered around the city is the tribe of birdlike bikers ‘Flock’, who can be found on Church Street (5pm), at the LJMU Aldham Robarts Library (garden to rear, 6.30pm) and William Brown Street (outside the Walker Art Gallery, 8pm). This is created and performed by Foolsize Theatre and Physical Fest, and the audience will be invited to take part in the bizarre birdy rituals of the flock as they perform in the streets. There is definitely a bit of a bird theme going on as over at the Maritime Museum you can have a go at making your own hybrid Liver bird (5-9pm).

FACT to take part in a ‘smartphone orchestra’ with artists Tim Shaw and Sébastien Piquemal (Murmurate: Performance, 7.30-8pm).

Apparently the tiny speakers of the phones will emit waves of overlapping sound. Cool. It sounds like you should get there early for this one, as The Box is quite small.

- Back up at the Aldham Robarts Library you can play with some of the technologies used in archaeological and forensic research as part of Face Lab (5-10pm). Laser scan your face using their Artec scanner, learn how to morph faces with Fantamorph and use their 3D printer to take a miniature version of your own head away with you for… whatever creepy reason.

- Constellations also have a lot of handson activities with their Experimental Art of Printing event from 5-8pm, where participants can experiment with printing posters, try

mono-printing or take part in drawing and painting workshops that allow you to paint with everything except a paint brush. You can also buy prints from a range of local artists on the night.

So, we’ve established there is a lot on. If you need help figuring out a schedule or route, then head to the Liverpool LightNight website where you can add events or activities to an itinerary and plan your evening. That’s what I’ll be doing.

You can also buy LightNight guides for £1 at certain venues and, if you need to be in two places at once, there is a free LightNight bus which will do a loop of the city every ten minutes from 6-11pm stopping at Pier Head, Jamaica Street, the cathedrals and William Brown Street. Sweet.

LightNight, various venues, Liverpool, 13 May, 5pm-late lightnightliverpool.co.uk

Météo-Dock by TiLT Finally, commissions-wise, just across the way at Tate Liverpool you might encounter MétéoDock, a promenade performance with eight dancers creating a dance and music work that responds to the meteorological conditions at the Albert Dock. Performances are at 7pm (launching from the Kathleen and May schooner, Canning Dock) and 7.40pm (Mermaid Courtyard, Tate Liverpool). While you’re there, visit the Tate Fête, which will feature food and music, and, of course, you can explore the galleries all evening (5-10pm).

“Take part in the bizarre birdy rituals of the flock as they perform in the streets...”

Hex//Light DiVision at LightNight 2015

Further programme highlights Not commissions, but just to take a speedy zoom around some of the other potential highlights of the LightNight evening: - Head to the Picton Reading Room at Central Library for Shush! Silent Disco (811.30pm) with underground house/techno party STATK. Dancing and books, what could be better? If you want to brush up on some moves prior to this, head to St George’s Hall for a Bollywood dancing workshop (7.15-9pm) taught by the profeshs at Movema. You will be taught a whole routine and the evening will end with a live ceilidh band.

- For the non-dancers, head to The Box at

ART

MAPOUT at LightNight 2015

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Photo: Rhian Askins

City Sites by The Mindset Ensemble There are some great, more unusual venues opening up as part of LightNight. Head over to the Nordic Church for a performance by The Mindset Ensemble, founded by composer Mark Jones. The ensemble have created a new piece of music, City Sites, inspired by the recent loss of some of Liverpool’s music venues such as the Kazimier. The performance will be accompanied by a new video from artist Laura Spark and there will also be a performance by Sweet Jam Band at the church following City Sites. Runs 8.30-9.30pm.

Ryder-Jones and featuring a sweeping orchestral response to the Gerard Manley Hopkins poem from which the commission takes its name. It will feature the Anglican Cathedral choir led by Immix Ensemble founder Daniel Thorne and an immersive light and AV environment created by Sam and Damien Wiehl. Runs at 9pm and 10pm.

Photo: Matt Thomas

and discussion space that invites the audience to reflect on the nature of accelerated communication during events like LightNight.

Runs 5.30-9.30pm.

Photo: Adam Lee

Gizzago Pop-Up Playground - Maypole Mayhem

Carlos Bernal - Afterglow

Higher Hopes Famous names, familiar faces; welcome to the world of Minor Victories. Just don’t drop the s bomb in their company…

Interview: Duncan Harman

W

hen it comes to the language of rock and pop there can be few expressions as tedious as supergroup. It suggests stadium shows, bloated egos, rock’n’roll cliché writ large.

“It gives you images of us all coming in on our private jets, or something,” says Stuart Braithwaite, of Mogwai and Minor Victories.

“I’m not entirely comfortable with the term supergroup, personally. It kind of made me cringe the first time that I read it,” adds Rachel Goswell, of Slowdive and Minor Victories.

“Although I’d rather they said we were a ‘super’ group than a shit one,” Braithwaite wisecracks, and everyone laughs. In fact the quartet around the table – Braithwaite, Goswell, Justin Lockey (of Editors, and Minor Victories), and brother James (of Hand Held Cine Club… and Minor Victories) – laugh frequently, naturally, the sense of kinship strong despite not necessarily knowing each other all that well.

Welcome to the strange world of Minor Victories. A super group, definitely not a supergroup (and let’s banish that term for the duration). In fact they’re not even a band in the conventional sense – at least not initially. And while the protagonists may be familiar, that doesn’t mean the music has to be; with the debut, self-titled record about to drop, this is far from a rehash of day job musicality. In fact, the way the band tell it, the album’s formation was more an exercise in remote-distance bricolage; a lost and found record, focused upon grace, nuance, flight.

The origins of the project began with Justin, whose loose ideas around abrasion and texture curled around a soothing, female vocal lead to Rachel. “I’d spoken to you before,” Justin confirms with Ms Goswell. “We met at Latitude for like thirty seconds, and we were talking about sending some stuff backwards and forwards.”

Not that the two could physically work together – geography and respective schedules a barrier.

Instead, ideas were pinged across the ether, and it’s this long-distance collaboration that becomes a recurring theme.

Justin: “I was just about to start another Editors record, Slowdive were out touring, and I sent one track – Out to Sea – and then I went and made an Editors record, which Rach also sings on…”

Rachel: “It all so incestuous, really…”

J: “And we had a few drinks, and she’s like: ‘Why don’t we fackin’ finish that fackin’ stuff?’”

Cue more laughter at Justin’s comedy impersonation. “And I was like: alright! Yeah, let’s do it. We’ll do an EP. And then we didn’t do anything for a while, then Rachel was rehearsing with Slowdive and she texts me about midnight. She said ‘Shall we do this?’ Alright, let’s do it; let’s find a guitarist? And I was like ‘Who do you want to get?’ And she said ‘I’ve bumped into Stuart a few times at festivals.’”

Stuart: “He has a guitar.” More laughter.

J: “The way Out to Sea sounded, there was only one person we could really get. Stuart got back and said he was up for it, but he was in the middle of a soundtrack – you were in the middle of doing Atomic, or something.”

S: “It may have been Les Revenants, but I was quite busy.”

J: “And that was cool; everyone was doing their own thing, and James was going to do some bass on Out to Sea, but he ended up having four or five tracks that he’d already written that ended up being on the record, so then we started working on James’ tracks and then we started working on Stuart’s tracks, then we started working on Rachel’s tracks and it ended up being

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‘Well, this is a band, now.’”

S: “Let’s make a record.”

J: “Let’s make a record. And then that was that, really.”

Yet by this stage the quartet had spent the grand total of zero hours together. Instead, with Justin co-ordinating exchanges of ideas, the themes underpinning Minor Victories began to coalesce in a different fashion.

“Everyone had sent parts in, and I’d put it together and send it back out,” Justin recalls.

“And we all had input; we kept refining and editing, then James went up to Glasgow to record Stuart...”

S: “That was the first time I met James. I knew Rachel and I’d met Justin at a gig.”

J: “In a pub, in Newcastle. A pint at the Tanners Arms. And then he was like: ‘What shall we do? Just crack on?’

“It kind of just fell in between what everyone else was doing,” he continues. “No-one was forced to do anything. We weren’t waiting on anybody, it happened at its own pace. And then, when the record was mixed, it sounded incredible when it came back from where it was to where it landed in the end; it’s quite a big jump. Everyone carried on in-between doing their own stuff, and then it naturally formed into an actual, proper band. I think that side projects usually scream of a throwaway nature or an experiment that can go horribly wrong...”

S: “Or a situation where you’re not willing to put yourself in front of people. Even though we’d never all played literally together, it definitely felt like a solid band with a solid album, and we’re going to do everything we can this year to get it all out there.”

All this cohesion, but the foursome still hadn’t physically had a full band meeting yet.

J: “The first time we were in the same room together was March this year. The record was finished mixing and we’d already started doing stuff by that point.”

R: “We were all on email every single bloody

day. Every day – certainly for the last six months, the last year, there were multiple emails going round.”

S: “It’s like these people that fall in love with people in prison.”

R: “I’m still waiting to find out what the convictions are.”

J: “We didn’t have any time pressure to worry about, though. It was just literally all of us working at our own pace.”

S: “But if it hadn’t had been good enough we’d either have stopped or waited until it was.”

J: “It was very fun. Not that other bands aren’t fun, but it’s different working with people in other bands and how they deal with stuff.”

R: “And you are a workhorse. You really are a workhorse.”

“The way that we’ve been in the limelight is different to other bands,” Justin adds. “Mogwai occupy their own genre, their own space, and Slowdive are mythical.”

“I’d rather they said we were a ‘super’ group than a shit one” Stuart Braithwaite

Rachel issues a comedy snort at this, which doesn’t put him off.

“Editors are probably the most conventional thing to come from to come in to this, so the pressure of a conventional large band is such that you’re always under the spotlight. But in some ways it’s kind of similar; with the last Editors record, we just went into the middle of Scotland and spent four months making a record. It wasn’t very conventional, and it wasn’t

MUSIC

a studio; it was just in a room. And in some ways this record was made in a room. My back room.

“I was especially nervous when it came to the first rehearsal in March. Having sat in front of all the parts for so many months putting it together, I asked myself how we were going to do it live. But it just sounded great.”

Ah, yes – live; Minor Victories can’t be accused of taking the easy route. A hectic summer of gigs lined up, including festivals and a jaunt around the US, there’s the additional challenge provided by the fact that Editors, Mogwai and Slowdive are all on the road at the same time.

Cue shared itineraries and logistical headaches.

S: “Right at the start there was a chance of there being a Minor Victories gig in the afternoon and a Mogwai gig at night, two hours away.

And I’d have done it, but I knew that my head was going to be absolute mince.”

R: “There’s some of the diary stuff where it’s literally quite hard. We have a Google diary…”

J: “That magically gets updated…”

R: “By other people.”

“I always know where Stuart is,” Justin admits. “It’s like having a Where’s Stuart Braithwaite? app.” A true sign of being in a band.

“Once the record’s out there it has its own life, people will make of it what they will,” Justin continues. “Some people will take it to their hearts, and some people will fucking hate it – it’s up to them. We can only do what we can; to make the best record that we can.”

“I think that hopefully people will just judge the record on its own merits rather than comparing it to our separate bands.” Rachel adds. “There’s obviously going to be a bit of that comparison anyway, but I would kind of hope that the people who write about it have a bit more intelligence about it and don’t go down the supergroup route so much.”

We’re taking notes.

Playing Leeds Brudenell Social Club on 5 May. Their debut is released on 3 Jun via PIAS minor-victories.com

THE SKINNY

A

TUE 19 APR 7pm

R

Thurs 12th May • £7 adv

GAVIN JAMES

Louis Berry

WED 20 APR 7pm

FUTURE OF THE LEFT

Fri 13th May • £16 adv

Foxes

THU 21 APR 7pm

WE WERE PROMISED JETPACKS

Sun 15th May • £15 adv

Laura Mvula

SAT 23 APR 7pm

NEW FACES TOUR 2016 SAT 23 APR 10.30pm - 3am · FREE ENTRY

REVOLUTION POP PUNK SPECIAL - MOOSE BLOOD AFTERSHOW PARTY SAT 23 APR 7pm

Mon 16th May • £6 adv

Fort Hope

Wed 18th May • £15 adv

Hayseed Dixie

Tues 24th May • £15 adv

MOOSE BLOOD

Adam Green

WED 27 APR 7pm

THE BLUETONES

Mon 6th Jun • £15 adv

Wheatus

FRI 29 APR 7pm

DECLAN McKENNA

Fri 10th Jun • £20 adv

Bad Manners

SAT 30 APR 10pm · 18+

MARTIN SOLVEIG PRESENTS MY HOUSE

Tues 14th Jun • £16 adv

MON 2 MAY 7pm

The Brian Jonestown Massacre

WED 4 MAY 7pm

Sun 19th Jun • £17.50 adv

SAT 7 MAY 7pm

Thurs 14th Jul • SOLD OUT

BOY JUMPS SHIP

Blackberry Smoke

SHONEN KNIFE THE SPITFIRES

The Maccabees

SAT 14 MAY 7pm

THE ISRIGHTS + DAEZ + STILLIA + BRICKHOUSE

Sat 30th Jul • £15 adv

WED 18 MAY 7pm

Sat 3rd Sep • £15 adv

SPRING KINGS EMMA POLLOCK

Wed 7th Sep • £28 adv

Barenaked Ladies

SAT 21 MAY 7pm

MICHAEL SUTTAKORN

Fri 9th Sep • £20 adv

The Enemy - Farewell Tour

(IN AID OF TEENAGE CANCER TRUST)

TUE 24 MAY 7pm

WE CAME AS ROMANS & MISS MAY I

Tues 11th Oct • £27.50 adv

All Saints

WED 25 MAY 7pm

Thurs 20th Oct • £29.50 adv

AS IT IS

WED 25 MAY 7pm

BEN WATT BAND FEAT. BERNARD BUTLER THU 26 MAY 7pm

BEN CAPLAN & THE CASUAL SMOKERS SUN 29 MAY 7pm

HANDS LIKE HOUSES

Heaven 17 & British Electric Foundation Fri 4th Nov • £25 adv

TUE 7 JUNE 7pm

MON 20 JUNE 7pm

ESTR O NS I FAC E I F E WS I FO R MAT IO N I G IR L F R IE N D

NEW CARNIVAL I NEW DESERT BLUES I NIMMO I NORTHEAST PARTY HOUSE PALACE WINTER I PLEASURE BEACH I RAPHAELLA I REIGNING DAYS I RIVRS SARAH WALK I SEGO I SKINNY LIVING I STARLING I STEPHEN KELLOGG STEVIE PARKER I SWAY CLARKE I SWMRS I TAMU MASSIF I THE JACQUES TREVOR SENSOR I WHITE ROOM I WILL JOSEPH COOK

PLUS MANY MORE STIL L TO BE ANNOUNCED

Sat 17th Dec • £20 adv

MANCHESTER / FRIDAY 27TH MAY

Cast

BOYSETSFIRE

DANCING YEARS I DAY WAVE I DIET CIG I DRELLER I EERA I EKKAH

Sat 10th Dec • £15 adv

The Icicle Works

NORMA JEAN

B EN CAP L A N & T H E C AS UA L S MO KE R S I BL A E N AVO N B LEEDI NG HEA RT P IG E O N S I C H A P P O I C LOV E S I C R OSA R OSA

JOHN JOSEPH BRILL I LEWIS DEL MAR I LISS I MEADOWLARK I MT WOLF

Electric Six

Levellers

SUNDARA KHARMA

AR DY N I B ABA N AG A I BA BE H E AV E N I BA R N S CO U RT N E Y

Sun 27th Nov • £14 adv

Tues 6th Dec • £25 adv

THU 2 JUNE 7pm

TH E JAPANESE H OUSE LI TTLE GREEN CARS | TH E H UNNA

HANNAH G R AC E I H AU S I H U DS O N S COT T I IN TO T H E A R K

The Lancashire Hotpots

MOON HOOCH

RAT BOY | SUNDARA KARMA THE SHERLOCKS | DUA LIPA SPRIN G KING | LAUREN AQUILINA

The Two Mikes

Fri 2nd Dec • £25 adv

TUE 31 MAY 7pm

T HE TE M P ER TRA P

Keywest

Animal Collective

THU 19 MAY 7pm

MYSTERY JETS I AUGUSTINES

WED 22 JUNE 7pm

UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA FRI 15 JULY 7pm

SPACE & STEPHEN LANDSTAFF + SATIN BEIGE

SEPTEMBER GIRLS LIVERPOOL’S MOST ICONIC STUDENT NIGHT EVERY FRIDAY NIGHT 11pm

Dr. John Cooper Clarke

Sat 16th Jul • £18.50 adv • Mountford Hall

Father John Misty

Sat 23rd Jul • £18 adv • Mountford Hall

LIMF Presents: 76-16 Eric’s to Evol Fri 28th Oct • £15 adv • Mountford Hall LIVERPOOL

SUNDAY 15TH MAY

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Sat 11th Jun • £28.50 adv • Mountford Hall

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Sleaford Mods

Sat 26th Nov • £23 adv • Mountford Hall

Soul II Soul

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May 2016

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THE SKINNY

Tales from the Deep There’s something lurking in the depths in Lucile Hadžihalilović’s Évolution. We sit down with this deeply original French filmmaker to shine a light on some of her film’s mysteries

L

ucile Hadžihalilovi ’s much-anticipated sophomore film, Évolution, follows Nic (Max Brebant), a prepubescent boy living a simple shoreside life in a mysterious, austere village populated by uniform mother-son pairings. In this seemingly idyllic setting, Nic can’t help but indulge his existential curiosity, despite his mother’s warnings to conform. During last year’s London Film Festival, we met with this ingenious director to discuss Évolution’s strange Jungian nightmare.

Despite the critical and commercial s­ uccess of her 2004 debut, Innocence, Hadžihalilovi­ explains that she found the pre-production of Évolution to be an arduous process. “It was very difficult to get finance,” she recalls, “so that was the reason for this long production time.” The film was ten years in the making.

One of her biggest hurdles was simply getting across to the money people what the project was. “All the time it was, ‘We don’t get it.’ Even if we worked a lot on the script to try to make it more understandable, more acceptable, and in narrative terms, to explain more, it was still very hard. It also took years for producers to understand that we wouldn’t have more money and so sometimes the film seemed impossible to make.”

The public response to Évolution Hadžihalilovi prevailed, and getting the film out in the world is something that clearly excites her. “I’m so surprised that people ­react so well to the film now – people seem to ­understand it and don’t find it so bizarre!” She’s particularly pleased at how well Évolution seems to have gone down with UK audiences. “It is a very big pleasure and honour,” she says of the response at London Film Festival. “A lot of [non-industry] people go to see the films here, so it is not like

May 2016

it’s separate from its intended audience. That’s important to me.”

In fact, Hadžihalilovi reckons the film might be even more resonant with audiences in the UK than in her home nation. “I think that the people here could potentially understand more of the film than the French,” she suggests. “I think metaphorical and imaginary worlds are perhaps not something easily intelligible to a French ­audience – it may be more difficult for them to get it, especially when the imaginary world comes from your own country. When you’re from outside, maybe it is more exotic and ­therefore acceptable. I think that [in the UK] people, ­because of its literature or cinema, can be more familiar with my kind of approach. And also the usage of genre elements aren’t so separate from mainstream and auteur cinema in the UK – like Under the Skin, where Jonathan Glazer did something different. I think people will be more able to, let’s say, ‘get’ Évolution here.”

Hadžihalilovi sees the film as a fairy tale.

“But very profound,” she adds. “It’s a story about children and imagination and growing up.” This description could also fit Innocence, but with girls swapped for boys and Évolution’s sci-fi swapped for the gothic. The new film’s strain of body horror brings to mind an ethereal HP Lovecraft mixed with David Cronenberg; intangible yet grotesque, all tentacles and anxiety surrounding biological heritage and sexual reproduction.

The horrors of female biology are d ­ isplaced onto boys in Évolution – why the switch? “Of course the fears at the heart of the film are based on my own fears as a child, or as a very young teenager,” Hadžihalilovi admits. “But it wouldn’t have been as interesting to have a little girl go through these fears. As a boy, it is

even scarier to have this idea of burying a live creature in your body, so, of course, the horror is stronger, more nightmarish.”

In this uncanny, intensely grotesque way, Évolution explores and interrogates the expectations that society has for both boys and girls.

“In Évolution, it is the reverse because it is the boy who does what girls are supposed to do,” ­explains Hadžihalilovi , “so it was a play with those embodied gender roles, which I think is interesting. Women are the threat for once! They are the strong and active ones, while the boys are the passive element. It was something that I liked to play with.”

Perhaps for this reason, Hadžihalilovi chose unknown 13-year-old Brebant to play Nic. “He has an emotive quality,” she says, “yet we tried to have him act with a neutral expression, so that it’s not like you are looking at him, but more like you are looking through him; he’s the vehicle through whom you can enter into the story, into the space.”

Hadžihalilović on space, sound and storytelling Creating this isolated, coastal communal “space” is central to Évolution’s storytelling. Filmed in Lanzarote, the littoral village seems to be on the cusp of the tropics, yet cool breezes and stark interiors point to an uncanny horror just under the surface of this paradise. Just as Nic is drawn over and over again into the glistening azure ­waters, to dive for another glimpse of a boy’s rotten corpse that he finds under a beautiful blood red starfish, the viewer wants to uncover the rotting, grotesque secrets behind the breathtaking beauty of Évolution’s immersive, sensual world.

Hadžihalilovi reckons her soundscape is

FILM

Interview: Rachel Bowles

central to this quality. “It is a very important element in the film,” she says. “We were unable to use natural sounds from the production, so the sound editor, Laura Díez Mora, really worked hard recreating the waves to give them this quality of strength, and to have them sound interesting and not always the same. We had the sounds of the wind and the little elements, because I thought that the sounds should belong to this place too, it shouldn’t be from ­something outside. We want to give a feeling of birth, ­interiority, an inner feeling, a kind of dreamy mood, something oneiric but at the same time a kind of suspense or pressure, and it shouldn’t be through effects.”

“It’s

a story about children and imagination and growing up” Lucile Hadžihalilović

Wanting to sustain a suspenseful tone throughout, Hadžihalilovi found that traditional horror scores did not work, and instead decided to use the Ondes Martenot, an obscure electronic instrument from the 1920s, known for its eerie sound. “It is very strange but also familiar, and it gives a sense of melancholy.”

Hadžihalilovi nicknames Évolution’s uncanny coastline “Martenot waters.” We strongly recommend you dive in. Évolution is released 6 May by Metrodome

Feature

15

Would You Like to Seymour?

Self-confessed bitter old man Seymour Mace talks to us ahead of the final outing of his Foster’s Award-nominated show, Niche as Fuck Interview: Jon Whiteley looking at a cardboard box and thinking, ‘What could I do with a cardboard box?’ and thinking, ‘Oh, I could do that,’ and eventually you come round to the idea that you present on stage, but it takes a while to get there.” One highlight of the show in Edinburgh was very dependent on the first-floor location and layout of the Stand 2 venue, and it’ll be interesting to see whether Mace has been able to replicate it on tour when those conditions have been taken away.

“I think the show in Liverpool is the last one I’m doing, so I think I’ve got a photo session a couple of days after that where I’m going to be smashing up all my props,” he says. Although constructing props is intrinsic to the process, he’s not sentimental about them. “I should probably give them to the comedy museum, but I’m not sure they’d want to take them. But I don’t mind getting rid of ’em, I think people have too many material things. It’s the memory of the show that’s important, not the cardboard box that was in the middle of it.”

“That’s the job of a comedian, to get up there and knock down those sacred cows” Seymour Mace

L

ast summer, Seymour Mace arrived in Edinburgh with a brand-new show – his 12th in a career spanning 15 years – and a bleak outlook. “I was kind of going up with the impression that it might be my last show for a while,” he says. “Take a bit of time off, do something else with the rest of my life. ’Cause my earnings were kind of gradually going down year-on-year, and I’m fairly lazy, I’m not very good at being my own agent.” That show was called Niche as Fuck and it went on to be nominated for the Foster’s Award – it was a stark contrast to the rest of the shortlist, most of which were big-budget, big-venue shows. Since then, Mace has been touring the show on and off, with appearances at smaller comedy festivals and a short run at the Soho Theatre. The show has its final outing on Thursday 5 May at Liverpool’s 81 Renshaw Street.

Over the phone, the Geordie comic is modest and restrained – a far cry from the big, daft clown you see on stage. “It’s just me being stupid for an hour: there’s ridiculous game shows, there’s some of my fantastic artwork, there’s songs, there’s puppets. There’s even a bit of science thrown in. So yeah, just me in the middle of it, dicking about like an idiot.” Structured around DIY set pieces, such as a cardboard puppet theatre, the show unfolds like a one-man variety show – a Morecambe and Wise Christmas special where they ran out of money and had to dress Vanessa Redgrave in discarded pizza boxes. As the title of the show states, it really is niche as fuck. “It hasn’t changed much really,” Mace says. “I’ve changed little bits because there were certain elements I said in Edinburgh that were specific to Edinburgh Festival, in-jokes and things like that... But otherwise it’s pretty much the same, except all the props are a bit knackered and falling apart.”

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The show couldn’t have come at a better time for Mace. “It kind of reinvigorated my career in a way, I suppose, so suddenly I became a bit more high profile and, like you say, I got the run at the Soho and then I managed to get an agent, so here we go again, at 47.” In an industry that’s always chasing the newest hot young thing, that’s quite an age for a second shot.

The show’s not shy in taking aim at the industry either, with comedy behemoth Avalon bearing the brunt of it. It’s a ballsy move that evidently paid off, which makes you wonder if the bigwigs nominated him just to spite him. “I don’t think being part of the comedy establishment means you’re blind to the fact that there’s things wrong in your world, and if comedians can’t talk about that then nobody can – because that’s the job of a comedian, to get up there and knock down those sacred cows,” he says. This strand of venom could sit awkwardly with the lighter end of his material, but Mace’s comedy is a comedy of extremes. When he’s angry, he’s pointed and spitting with rage, but when he’s being silly, he can really dial that up too. “I tend to write the show around the games and the puppets and that. Then the asides and things come after that: that’s just the way my natural bitterness [comes through] after working in comedy for 15 years.”

Mace’s approach to making comedy is playful and experimental, and a far cry from the writerly, chin-strokey comedy that dominates the modern alternative scene. “The writing process for the kind of stuff that I do really doesn’t involve a lot of writing, in terms of physically sitting down and writing stuff,” he explains. “It’s more kind of playing with ideas and seeing what looks funny and what works, you know. All the Niche as Fuck stuff, all the puppet theatre stuff – that just came over a few months of sitting and

With Niche as Fuck out of the way, Mace is returning to the Fringe this year. “My show is called Shit Title, ’cause I couldn’t think of a decent title. And at least Shit Title is upfront about it being a shit title, isn’t it? Most shit titles are trying to hide under a veil of being a good title, but with Shit Title it’s out there, innit?”

He’s got a real knack for naming shows, with his previous efforts ranging from the punny – 2011’s Happypotamus – to the brochure-unfriendly (2013’s Marmaduke Spatula’s Fuckin’ Spectacular Cabaret of Sunshine Show). Despite his past form in the naming game, he still finds it a struggle.

“The amount of titles I went through this year, so I came up with Shit Title. But that’s something I can talk about, isn’t it? To explain the title.

But yeah, it’s a nightmare coming up with titles.

I just want to be famous enough to call it ‘Seymour Mace.’”

He’ll also be returning to the same venue and the same time slot: half two in the afternoon at Stand 2. For some, it’s a lucky venue: it’s the tiny SNP club room where luminaries such as Tony Law have broken through. After the success Mace had in 2015, many would be tempted to upgrade to somewhere a bit bigger, but he seems more than a little attached to it. “It’s a bitterold-man venue, Stand 2,” he explains. “Every year they put a couple of like, young, you know, bright-eyed, hopeful people in just to make it seem that it’s not a bitter-old-man venue, but it is. There’s me, Michael Legge – although Michael’s not going this year, unfortunately – Gavin Webster, Martin Mor, John Scott, Phil Nichol. It’s just full of bitter old men. But that’s the way we like it.”

Seymour Mace: Niche as Fuck is at 81 Renshaw Street, Liverpool, 5 May seymourmace.co.uk

COMEDY

Carry on Clowning

T

he art of clowning is enjoying a resurgence, with recent shows at the Fringe from acts like Mace, Puddles the clown and New Zealand mime Trygve Wakenshaw proving runaway successes. Here are a couple of acts influenced by the varied strands of clowning and physical comedy to look out for over the coming weeks.

Spencer Jones “Look at this,” says Spencer Jones, picking up a ukulele which he then starts to play with a handheld fan. “There’s something funny there.

I don’t know how I can make it work in a show yet.” As our Scotland Comedy editor wrote last year, it’s Jones’s creative use of props and a lovely child-like silliness in his performance that makes his character distinctive. His brand of physical comedy is in a long tradition, but is most obviously reminiscent of Mr Bean.

Jones has workshopped with renowned master clown Philippe Gaulier, and he reduced The Skinny to neverending floods of tears when he performed for Manchester comedy promoters Sham Bodie in 2015.

Spencer Jones performs at Sham Bodie’s upcoming London show at Bethnal Green Working Men’s Club, 9 Jun, along with Jayne Edwards, Good Bear, That Pair and music from Seán Grant and The Wolfgang: shambodie.com

Trygve Wakenshaw Wakenshaw’s hit Fringe show Nautilus – the follow-up to sell-out runs Squidboy and Kraken – is a clever construction of plot lines which begin and then bleed into different scenes later on; and his physical performance is, our Comedy team says, enough to convert anybody to the art of clowning. On the rare occasions he uses his voice, his vocals become as much a part of the body language as they are verbal. Sometimes, though, it’s simply the stillness and subtlety of his facial expression – like during a mime of (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman – that marks Wakenshaw out as a master of his art.

Trygve Wakenshaw opens Liverpool Physical Fest with Nautilus at Unity Theatre on 20 May, 8pm, £14: physicalfest.com

THE SKINNY

AND WHAT’S BEER FOR IF NOT FOR DRINKING? SO

FOR EVERYTHING WE BREW WILL TAKE YOU ON A THERE’LL BE STORIES TO TELL AND NEW EXPERIENCES TO SAVOUR.

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Nazi Punks Fuck Off Jeremy Saulnier follows up revenge thriller Blue Ruin with Green Room, a nail-biting punks vs Nazis siege movie. He muses on punk rock, genre labels and casting Patrick Stewart as a white supremacist

T

he Skinny is chatting with American director Jeremy Saulnier in a crowded dining area of London’s Mayfair Hotel. His newest film, Green Room, is having its UK premiere later in the evening as part of the London Film Festival.

It’s his follow-up to 2013’s critically acclaimed thriller Blue Ruin and the comparatively underseen Murder Party, from 2007. The three films share actor Macon Blair (Blue Ruin’s hangdog protagonist) and acts of violence instigating considerable turmoil, but Green Room sees some more recognisable stars join Saulnier’s talisman on the cast list.

The leads include Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poots and Alia Shawkat, as well as rising Brit stars Joe Cole and Callum Turner. The bestknown player, however, is Patrick Stewart as Green Room’s antagonistic authority figure, the owner of a far-right club in a secluded part of the Pacific Northwest. Most of those younger actors play the members of a punk band hired to play the venue, only to become witnesses to a crime that subsequently sees them holed up in the club’s green room at the mercy of figures who want to eliminate all loose ends.

“I think it was certainly a nice shift for him to show a different side to his craft,” Saulnier says of Stewart. “I consider [his character] Darcy to be very practical. He’s never sinister in his intentions, he’s just brutally indifferent when it comes to his own interests. He suddenly loses his cool once in a while, but it’s through language or little tics. It’s not through a big monologue, but I think it’s more powerful. And Patrick definitely remarked on set that this is the quietest he’s ever worked in his life. So that was fun.”

The content of Green Room has an element of personal resonance for Saulnier, though it’s thankfully due to the film’s music elements rather than any experience with neo-Nazis terrorising him. “I was making movies ever since I was eight years old,” he says, “and I got

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introduced to punk rock around the same time.

I was into the DC hardcore scene for a while – very much an observer, never really considered myself an OG member of the hardcore scene, but I was there. And all the while I was making movies with my friends. For school we’d convert any kind of book report or big project into some kind of film. And I always thought I could meld the two worlds together. It took a long time for the opportunity to arise, but when it did I leapt at the chance.”

“People have called it a haunted house film, a horror film, a crime thriller.

And they’re all true” Jeremy Saulnier

The soundtrack, therefore, contained some of these formative tracks. “A lot of the music in the movie is stuff I heard in the 90s when I was in the punk scene. Also, some of the music in the movie is from bands [involving] my high school friends. So they were written by my high school friends; bands that performed for me in the 90s. The punk rock show in the basement of the Mexican restaurant – I played that show. It was very personal, in that respect.”

We inquire into any favourite punk movies Saulnier might have, and additionally any highlights when it comes to the siege genre: “Just cool vibe and aesthetic-wise, you have SubUrbia,

Repo Man. I love Straw Dogs; as a reference, that was a big one.” One siege classic he hadn’t seen before embarking on Green Room was John Carpenter’s fat-free Assault on Precinct 13. “I knew that if I’m making a siege movie, I shouldn’t watch that until after I write it,” he says. “So I did finally watch that after I wrote the script, before I shot Green Room. I was aware of the similarities, but I didn’t want to borrow too much, so it was a treat when I finished writing the first draft and finally watched it. That movie was great because it was such a simple movie, and a good old-fashioned exploitation film. So it became an influence after the fact.”

A quality shared by Carpenter’s film and Green Room is their tightness and economic storytelling: so much is said visually through small details; every shot has a clear purpose. “It was hard designing the script, but everything we shot was for a reason,” explains Saulnier. “The biggest thing in editing is where you emphasise things. We had so much coverage because of the nature of the shoot – between four and eight people in a room, the coverage is just so intense.

And it’s all this physical action back and forth, so editorial was key, doing several passes to make it all seem as if it were spontaneous and immediate. It was shot over the course of 32 days and it’s supposed to be one crazy night. It’s funny how we shot on soundstages and really built it from scratch, but it seems like we went somewhere and shot it really fast; all that production value is wasted.”

At another point in our chat, Saulnier also references visual storytelling with regards the way he tends to wrap up his films (no spoilers): “I like to bookend things with montage. It’s a way to visually sew things up. I really don’t like to do that in an expository way as far as characters stating their thesis, or having a Lord of the Rings moment where they all come into the bedroom.

I like to visually re-explore landscapes; that’s

FILM

Interview: Josh Slater-Williams certainly a theme. I think it’s fun to visit characters where they should be natively and not force them into a proper wrap-up. We’ll travel to them. It’s a more emotional coda to bring it altogether.”

If this interview seems a little vague regarding specifics of Green Room’s narrative elements, there’s a good reason. The film thrives on its unpredictable nature, the uncertainty of its character and story directions. Things don’t always go the way you might be expecting based on what’s been set up. One suspects it’s been a hard film to market. “In a perfect world,” Saulnier says, “the trailer would just have an abstract montage of imagery – just to get the tone across.

The pure experience is watching this film thinking it’s one thing and then having it spiral very violently downward. You’re trapped in a room and you’re not getting out. Ideally, the only bare naked exposition you could have in a trailer should be the first act, but then you’ve gotta throw in some one-liners and some cool action montage...”

One thing the director is keen to emphasise regarding how people come to the film is that he’s happy with whatever genre labels they choose to thrust upon it: “People have called it a haunted house film, or a horror film, called it a crime thriller. And they’re all true. I have no problem [with it].

“The reference as we shot it was: it’s a war movie. And that’s how I looked at it. It’s a war film where on one side of the door are professional soldiers, and on the other side of the door are clearly inept protagonists – it’s total amateur night inside that room. I like hybrid genres. I like when there’s a discussion about what it is.

Because that means it’s not that easily placed in a genre. So it’s a welcome discussion for me.”

Green Room is released 13 May by Altitude

THE SKINNY

No Division As Liverpool’s Immix Ensemble bring their collaboration with electronic artist Vessel to Manchester this month, we learn about the collective’s beginnings, collaborations and aims from its founder and director, Daniel Thorne

Interview: Jon Davies

D

Vessel & Daniel Thorne

Working with Vessel As part of Tate Britain’s Made in Transition series in 2014, Thorne answered a call for commissions to create a response to the gallery’s redevelopment period, and with Gainsborough worked on a specific idea of technological development and its impact on society. What the two conjured up, along with video artist Sam Wiehl, was the historical births of sonic textures specific to industry and communication.

“There’s so much nuance to what Vessel is doing” Daniel Thorne

“For instance, [the piece] Battle Cry, musically, is about the changing technology of war, Sam’s video is about the evolution of the textile machinery, but then you look at the physicality of the sewing machine and the industrial nature of war,” Thorne says.

Prior to the event at Tate, Thorne and Gainsborough had developed the piece via Skype and by emailing concepts, demos and manuscript. It was a challenge Thorne had been eagerly anticipating. “I learned loads as most of

my work has been in the acoustic sphere, but I’m absolutely fascinated by electronic music,” he says. “So seeing how [Gainsborough] approaches his gear was great for my understanding.”

Through the collaboration, Thorne began to reach the limits of traditional scoring: “I remember Sebastian sent over an initial sketch as a violin feature, but there was no way for me to notate it for our violinist, Rakhi Singh, so he had to trust me that it could be translated well for the ensemble… There’s an unfortunate thing in notated music, in that in some circles the score is the finished article – but it’s just a way to communicate, and there’s no more value in writing complicated bowing than having a means to show controlling filter sweeps. There’s so much nuance to what [Gainsborough]’s doing.”

Transition in transition The constantly evolving process of a piece is vital to Vessel and Immix Ensemble’s collaboration, and even though the Tate work has since developed into the album Transition, released earlier this year on the much lauded Erased Tapes label, each iteration of its performance has presented a new challenge for Thorne in considering the environment.

“It’s moved each time,” he explains; “we’ve only performed it live twice [in its entirety], so it’s still growing, [we’re still] finding out where we can stretch things. It’s definitely evolving in

Immix Ensemble and Dialect Rehearsal at Metal, Liverpool

May 2016

MUSIC

that sense. It’s notated in a way that allows for growth, for each member of the ensemble to inhabit their parts.”

For the launch of the record, Immix was invited to perform at London’s Cafe Oto, arguably the UK’s home for modern classical and experimental music. With the next show at Soup Kitchen in Manchester, Thorne expects the transition from the gallery to the club space to provide another interesting stage in the evolution of the piece.

“Transition works with a live AV,” he says.

“You need your audience to get on board, particularly if they don’t know what they’re expecting. It’s about making sure we can pace the night so when we play people are ready to sit and listen and watch something, as the AV’s very part of it.”

On Vessel’s part, it will likely be more a matter of tempering expectations against his better-known noise-dub compositions – but with his eclectic background and Immix’s rising reputation, Transition has the potential to inspire many, from both club and academic circles.

Vessel and Immix Ensemble present Transition (live AV show), Soup Kitchen, Manchester, 7 May, and Bristol Colston Hall, 14 May Transition the recording is out now via Erased Tapes immixensemble.co.uk soundcloud.com/vessel

Immix Ensemble - Recording ‘Transition’ at Parr Street Studios, Liverpool

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Photos: Andrew Ellis

The founding of Immix Ensemble Thanks to a ‘Time and Space’ residency at artist hub Metal, Thorne was able to draw together established contacts within the classical and conservatory world and create an ensemble of performers with a broad but unusual palette of instrumentation, ready for deployment.

For Immix’s first season after its founding in late 2013, the conscious decision was to work with low-key, upcoming composers such as Joseph Hillyard and Lucy Pankhurst – along with acts no less experimental, but perhaps with a broader appeal, like Ex-Easter Island Head and glitch-blues guitarist John McGrath.

“I’ve always been really interested in music that sits between styles, and I get a lot out of seeing performers from different styles getting together to collaborate,” Thorne says. “The first season to a degree was a lot about the people who I was aware of; there was some thought to pairing people up, trying to push this idea of pairing people who hadn’t worked together or weren’t aware of each other.”

The foundations set up in the first year of Immix gave steady ground to Thorne’s ambition – not an ambition for fame and recognition, but to create more fluidity in collaboration, and to collaborate for specific occasions. Among those who’ve worked with Immix for new compositions and reimaginations of their repertory are psych-pop auteurs Stealing Sheep, eclectic songwriter Bill Ryder-Jones (whose new composition, No Worst, There Is None, will be performed by Immix at this year’s Liverpool LightNight on 13 May), and Bristolian industrialist Sebastian Gainsborough, aka Vessel.

Photo: Andrew Ellis

aniel Thorne’s transition from the peripheries of the Liverpool music community to working with a selection of the UK’s finest music makers is down not only to his hard work (although that has a lot to do with it). Moving to a city as an outsider allows for an insight that might not be afforded growing up among the foundations – and Thorne has used this to his advantage in creating Immix Ensemble.

“I wasn’t engaged as a performer for the first few years,” he says of moving to Liverpool, “but I went to a lot of gigs. What really struck me was the fact that there are people making some incredible music that is both accessible but so well crafted.” With a background in classical and jazz studies but also a keen ear for the more visible side of Merseyside’s musical landscape, he soon realised that while the city had a wealthy supply of performances, “there was very little cross-talk between the two camps” of indie, electronica and the more orchestral-led ensembles like Ensemble 10/10 and the Liverpool Philharmonic.

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THE SKINNY 26/04/2016 11:28

Pleasures of the Night Millennials, eh? Always tweeting, worrying and... writing operas. At just 27, awardwinning composer Mark Simpson has written his first chamber opera, Pleasure. He tells us why its setting, story and scoring should change your ideas of what opera can be

I

t’s not every day you call a composer to talk about opera. Indeed, it’s not every day said composer is Mark Simpson: a man who, at just 27 years old, is already 12 years into his professional career. A man who, by the time he was sitting his A Levels, had won both the BBC Young Musician and BBC Proms/Guardian Young Composer of the Year competitions and was making waves in the classical world.

Interviewing someone who has achieved so much so young is a little intimidating, to say the least. However, seconds into the conversation and Simpson’s cheery scouse lilt is enough to put anyone at ease; he is humble and down to earth, and speaks about his work with endless enthusiasm.

Perhaps this grounded sense of self comes from Simpson’s background, growing up in Liverpool. As a child, he was given free peripatetic music lessons to learn to play the clarinet, which sparked his interest in classical music.

“This kind of story is what opera needs at the moment” Mark Simpson

“There was a very clearly defined infrastructure in Liverpool at the time which meant that you could, essentially, rise up the ranks and develop for free,” he explains. “But you could do it at a good pace and with a level of teaching

Interview: Jennifer Chamberlain

which was conducive to good learning. On Saturdays the local music support service had a school where everyone would get together and play. So it was just really exciting and fun and I made a lot of friends.”

From there, Simpson’s love of classical music blossomed. The first time he heard Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring was one of the defining moments in his career: “I had no idea what it was, but it just completely blew me away and I had to know more about it. This whole world just opened up to me so I started buying scores, going to concerts and playing more.”

Now a critically acclaimed clarinettist and composer, Simpson has made his first foray into the world of opera, with Pleasure.

The making of Pleasure The idea was initially imagined long before Simpson knew anything about the genre, and he spent years learning about and researching opera before putting his own piece on stage. A chamber opera, this particular type is for small forces; with just four singers and 11 instrumentalists, Pleasure is designed specifically for small spaces – not main opera houses.

“By the time I had a broader sense of what the operatic world was, I’d become increasingly passionate about my own idea and I realised that this kind of story is what opera needs at the moment,” says Simpson of Pleasure, which isn’t exactly your typical opera.

For starters, it’s set in a gay nightclub in Liverpool. Written in English with a libretto by Melanie Challenger, Pleasure tracks the journeys of four central characters: an omniscient toilet attendant, an angry soul searching for answers, a bohemian intellectual and a flamboyant drag queen. The story itself grew out of a real conversation Simpson had with a toilet attendant

in a club in Liverpool, a maternal lady to whom he felt he could open up. Looking around at the people in the club, he became interested in the idea that the pursuit of pleasure can become a means of escape: where is the barrier between just having fun and running away from reality?

“All these ideas presented themselves and I just became really interested in this mad world which I thought would work really well for opera,” he says. “Opera isn’t real. It’s difficult to have realistic situations simply because the singers are always singing. There’s always got to be a reason for the character to be singing in a heightened sense of emotion – otherwise it should just be a play. In this setting, it’s a given that there’s always going to be this heightened sense of emotion, either because people are pissed, emotional or running away from something. There was already the impetus there to have the emotional drive that I was searching for within the piece.”

A new canon: contemporary opera It’s clear that Pleasure pushes the boundaries of what conventional opera is, at least with the story if not the music. But Simpson is not alone in forging a new wave of opera. Inspired by MarkAnthony Turnage’s Greek – a cockney retelling of the Oedipus myth set in 1980s London – and Thomas Adès’ Powder Her Face, he joins a number of composers creating contemporary opera with relatable stories for a modern audience.

Producing a contemporary opera is not without its challenges, however, and Simpson makes no attempt to mask the amount of effort it takes to bring all the elements together.

“Opera is a difficult art form and there are so many disciplines that come into play,” he says. “It’s like a balancing act and you have to keep the music, the words, the drama going at the same time. Some things can go out of kilter sometimes.

“It was always important for me to have a story where there was a dramatic goal, where you could build up a relationship with these characters on stage and empathise with them and feel what they were going through.”

Opera of the North Often viewed as a preserve of the privileged, opera can be alienating as an art form. Acutely aware of this attitude, Simpson is determined to change the landscape by bringing gritty workingclass characters into opera. Though set in Liverpool, Pleasure is not specific to the city but to northern England in general: “It’s a workingclass opera if anything,” he says.

This may be the case, but writing a working-class opera doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll attract a working-class audience. By and large, working-class people don’t think opera is for them and, until recently, they’d be right. So what would the composer say to someone who isn’t convinced?

“Firstly, the storyline is brilliant. Mel and I spent such a long time crafting this so it has a real dramatic arc to it and it feels like a lived experience.”

But it’s his musical approach that is most interesting. With a score that borrows from the lyrical quality of the most successful musical theatre songwriters, such as Stephen Sondheim and Jason Robert Brown, Simpson has set out to make his opera accessible to all. “I’ve tried to find a hybrid version that straddles both the musical theatre world and contemporary opera,” he says. “The musical world isn’t alienating, it’s not avant-garde or abrasive. This is the most accessible piece of work I’ve done but at the same time it’s not so far left-field as to be a typical musical.”

Produced as part of a three-year partnership between Opera North, Aldeburgh Music and the Royal Opera House, Mark Simpson’s Pleasure promises to help open up a form many see as elitist. With his debut piece – hopefully the first of many – this Liverpool-born composer has chosen to do something different, aiming to break down class barriers within the operatic and classical world and make the point that art should be for everyone, not just the privileged.

Pleasure is at Liverpool Playhouse, 4 May; Britten Studio, Aldeburgh, 7 May; and Lyric Hammersmith, London, 12-14 May operanorth.co.uk/productions/pleasure marksimpsonmusic.com

Mark Simpson

May 2016

THEATRE

Feature

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The World According to Shadow Wolf Intergalactic freak daddy Danny Wolfers offers a unique insight into the many strange corners of life as you probably don’t know it

Interview: Daniel Jones

T

he brain of Danny Wolfers is an odd one, no doubt about it. Known best to your mother through his output as Legowelt and predilection for hoarding synthesisers, his website is also a glittering beacon for samplers, astrologists and victims of the occult.

Billed quite accurately as the ‘laundromat of your mind,’ Wolfers’ semi-regular Order of the Shadow Wolf is one of the strangest webzines out there, coughing up bits of knowledge on everything from the psychoactive properties of garlic to ball lightning experiments that you can conduct in the relative safety of your own microwave.

Now on the verge of a fresh 11-track LP on his own Nightwind Records, Guidance for the Puzzled, we call deep into the cave to see what ideas are currently streaking their way through the mind of the Shadow Wolf.

On… lycanthropy

Clinical lycanthropy is an actual psychiatric condition, which must surely add a bit of colour to the world. I’m not at that level but I do exploit my affinity with the Canis lupus genus in different ways, even in music. For instance I remember sampling a real wolf howling in my first Occult Orientated Crime album, on the track Norwegian Raven.

Most of the time I feel more comfortable flying solo but there’s always those times when I enjoy myself and feel comfortable as part of a wolfpack of freaks. But the wolf is probably not my spirit animal. If anything like that exists, I would be a goat or something slightly less vigorous than a wolf. Maybe a fox.

On… blues

You have to go back to the old blues singers to get the real howlers and growlers – Howlin’ Wolf, of course. Another important guy was Blind Willie Johnson, he sounded like an old worn-out wolf. His song Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground was actually included on the Golden Record taken by Voyager probes that went into interstellar space.

The song is just him humming a lament over some really sad blues slide guitar chords... and that’s currently floating around somewhere in the vast nothingness of deep space. Long after human civilisation is gone it will still be floating around, waiting to be picked up by alien beings as one of the only remaining relics of human life. It’s a really sad, terrifying and incredibly beautiful idea.

On a side note, I’m learning to play the slide guitar too. Not to make some kind of Moby blues album; it’s going to be more of a dusty Americana tumbleweed desert thing. Brian Eno Apollo style.

On… alien contact

If aliens did land on Earth I don’t think they’d be too bothered with welcome messages. They would probably just see us as a completely unimportant form of life and wouldn’t even bother to say hello.

Thinking about it, they would just bring in the galactic shovels and start digging for whatever they need. Maybe there would be some environmentally friendly aliens in that culture who would protest. Like, we would be their dolphins.

On… dark matter and astronomy

Dark matter is a nice theory for the 85% of our

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universe that is invisible and unknown. Makes you think that we don’t know anything about anything, which gives us the freedom to devise all these beautiful hypotheses that become so strange that they’re way more mystical than any new-age occult theories.

There’s too much light pollution where I live so I can’t really dabble in astronomy myself. I tried it a few times but didn’t go further than being part of the SETI Institute’s ‘at home’ network, but I always like to read about that stuff. And yes I’m also a Trekkie, in case you were wondering.

On… Dutch folklore

I read a lot into cultures and folklore from around the world. The Frisian mythology is interesting. Around 8,000 years ago when sea levels were still low from the Ice Age there were two huge islands in the North Sea – Doggerland and Viking-Bergen. When the islands flooded the people fled, and some claim it’s linked to Atlantis. Probably not true.

This brings up the later legend of Lugdunum Batavorum, which is actually pretty historically accurate. This was a Roman border fortress during the time of Emperor Caligula on the coast of Katwijk, a small fishing village a few miles north of Den Haag (The Hague). The fortress was eventually completely submerged, but even up until a few centuries ago it would occasionally surface and could be sometimes seen during bad storms. Caligula was a crazy guy and apparently ordered an entire Roman legion to fight the North Sea in revenge, declaring war on the Roman god Neptune.

On… language

I speak Dutch, English and Iyaric – that’s the Rastafarian dialect of English. It’s very interesting from a linguistic point of view and, even

beyond that, goes into neuroscience, deep psychology and magic. Kind of like programming your own reality.

Iyaric uses ‘wordsound,’ where the sound of a word or how it is written is thought to have powers and hidden meaning. The power of words can also be changed, so that negative-sounding words become more positive within their meaning, and vice versa.

For example, in Iyaric you say ‘livication’ instead of ‘dedication’ because ‘ded’ is the same sound as ‘dead’ and therefore doesn’t seem to fit the meaning. It’s an interesting way of looking at the world.

On… musical scales

I love the Ethiopian scales known as Kiñits.

This scale makes things sounds ancient. Music from forgotten civilisations at the dawn of man, almost sacred. It touches your brain in strange places.

Two of the most well-known Kiñits are Ambassel and Tizita, both are quite mysterious sounding and very melancholic. I always seem to use these scales in one way or another. In a simplified minor-scale version you could use these notes: C, D, Eb, G, Ab.

On… Walt J

Just take a track like Feel What I Feel – you don’t hear techno music like that anymore.

This is what real techno is for me, not all that mundane, soulless shit for larval people that is everywhere now. It’s about jamming the drum machines and synth with a simple honest personal message that’s straight out of the heart. Poetry in music is more important than the hardest bass drum...

Guys like Nate Krafft who did the colacoloured Man and Machine EP on Infra Records

CLUBS

are connected to all of this. It was, and still is, a real cult record in The Hague scene.

The remix version is the real jam but hard to find online. This is still really good. Nate Krafft now does music under the name Naquil, some super-cool space funk that’s a bit like Dam Funk with some Model 500 sauce on top. Check out Cosmography, a great album.

“And yes I’m also a Trekkie, in case you were wondering” Danny Wolfers

On… trains

I am really into trains lately. It started because I have to travel in them a lot and it got kind of boring. I thought why not check out this whole trainspotter world and make travelling in trains more exciting by knowing what train type you are in, and all about its history.

My favourite train is the NS Mat ’64, which I included in my drawing of the artwork for the new Satomi Taniyama album, which will be out in May or June on Nightwind Records after my own LP as Ufocus. It’s good music to listen to while travelling on a train and looking out of the window. Way better than spending your time on a phone or iPad watching some form of mindless entertainment or another.

Wolfers’ latest LP as Ufocus, Guidance for the Puzzled, is out now on his own Nightwind Records

THE SKINNY

The Skinny_April 2016.qxp_Layout 1 26/04/2016 16:19 Page 1

Underneath the

Stars Festival “A family friendly festival of music and arts in the heart of Yorkshire”

NEW GIGS Liverpool Philharmonic BEN FOLDS WITH YMUSIC Support from Lera Lynn Wednesday 15 June 7.30pm –

KAREN MATHESON Thursday 16 June 8pm –

CHINA CRISIS

ATE AD OUT D SOL

XTR

Friday 17 June 8pm E Saturday 18 June 8pm –

GEORGE BENSON IN CONCERT Monday 20 June 7.30pm –

BURT BACHARACH

Wednesday 29 June 7.30pm –

ELVIS COSTELLO AND THE IMPOSTERS Monday 11 July 7.30pm – Liverpool International Music Festival

FROM THE SOUL WITH GILLES PETERSON Thursday 21 July 7pm –

MARY CHAPIN CARPENTER

Wednesday 27 July 7.30pm –

22 - 24 July Cannon Hall Farm, Barnsley underthestarsfest.co.uk festunderstars

May 2016

underthestarsfestival

MAWKIN

Sunday 11 September 8pm

Box Office liverpoolphil.com 0151 709 3789 Image Elvis Costello

23

On the Rocks Addiction: Notes from the Belly of the Beast is a collection of writing that looks across the spectrum of addiction: highs and lows, revelry and regret; acceptance, treatment and recovery. The Skinny introduces abridged extracts, plotting points on the life of a rock’n’roll poet crashing into the cliffs

T

he editors of Addicted: Notes from the Belly of the Beast dedicate this collection of writing to ‘Our companions in recovery.’ From this you might imagine needles hanging from arms and bottles held to lips. Shooting and snorting and tipping back the glass. But an addict can just as easily be strung on the end of a cigarette, or the control pad of a games console; perhaps, they’re looking into a full-length mirror at perceived curves they feel just do not belong to their body.

Addiction can be to a substance or activity; it is a habit enveloped in ceremony. In Addicted, Lorna Crozier and Patrick Lane have collected brutally honest and brave essays from writers who have struggled with dependencies on everything from gambling and gaming to sex, food and pharmaceuticals.

And why writers specifically? There’s always been a myth around artists and mind-altering substances – that they’re fuel for creativity, kicking open those doors of perception for boozy bards and the like. We feel we know and understand those hip bacchanalian artists like Bukowski or Burroughs, who drank or dug drugs.

But the truth generally is that talent shines despite, rather than due to, dependency. This collection does much to debunk the dangerous romantic bullshit, showing the soaring highs – because to ignore them is deceitful – and then, of course, the crashing lows. The shame and embarrassment, burned-out friendships amid pools of vomit, damaging memories and a terrifying lack thereof. Thankfully, these pieces show that while the fight is long and hard, the war is winnable. Light pierces through, into the dark places that life can sometimes inhabit. Below, we look at one such story in an abridged extract from Blackout, poet Sheri-D Wilson’s contribution to Addicted.

I wasn’t going to be the goody-goody bunhead from Calgary, Alberta, who married, had kids, and dreamed of all the things she might have seen and done. Oh no. I was going to go out into the world and do something different. I would be the outspoken girl who said and did everything. I would be the one who smoked and drank

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and swore and did drugs and had wild sex and wrote poetry and made jazz till dawn like the women I had read about. My behaviour would not be limited by my gender. Somehow, I was going to reinvent myself from a sweet, starryeyed, working-class small-town innocent into an irreverent, well-travelled, well-read, exotic, freespirited jazz poet. I’d be the dame who’d outdo any man. Drink them under the table in a rally of hilarity, vulgarity and intellect of light-speed and bullwhip slash. The only question was how.

My transition from bunhead to bard began when a friend suggested I attend acting school. Since I had no money, university entrance or other modus operandi, that is what I did. At acting school, the excitement of literature entered the skeleton of my being, making me vibrate with tintinnabulations of euphoric discovery. It was as if all the acting students were coming to life together, and the world stood before us like a big ripe Bing cherry. I would attend classes dressed as Mata Hari or Patti Smith or Virginia Woolf and deliver long diatribes of invented bravado. ...One Saturday night I walked across the 10th Street bridge en route to Ten Foot Henry’s, the hip hot spot for Calgary’s late-seventies alternative art crowd, with the elongated stride of my nineteen years. The Mistress of Wintriness snapped her subzero fingers and the river steamed in hoarer on the verge of shape-shifting into a standstill. My feet moved in sync with my impatience to party, almost percolating a permafreeze tap dance along the glass-glaze runner of the sidewalk. When the secret door to Henry’s opened, a blast of warm air and loud music came cascading out onto the street, sweet as a long swoon. I paid my cover, and I was off to the rampage. Postdisco inferno on a Dionysian night.

Nothing could stop my strut. I drank shooters from my body flask for the feeling of contraband inebriation. Smoked Cheech and Chong spliff, and snorted lines as long as Molly Bloom’s soliloquy from oversized purse mirrors in toilet stalls. Bodies snaked sensual as a belly dancer’s undulation around the curves of beatitude, free love, passionate poetry and R’n’B loud enough to

boom through my bones like a Goliath timpani.

There were madcap projections of art on the walls, couches downstairs for the greenroomcool and me and the band. Everyone seemed to have a flair for the unacceptable. This was the scene. I was in it – and I was out of it. Totally.

I remember someone handing me a joint, and then there was... a Cat on a Hot Tin Roof click, and then there was... spinning, and then there was... nothing. I don’t remember the river that took me home that night, but somehow that’s where I ended up.

“Smoked Cheech and Chong spliff, and snorted lines as long as Molly Bloom’s soliloquy” The next afternoon I was in the bathtub dreaming of the South Seas, looking deeply into the postcard of the Cook Islands taped, with curling corners, beside the four-legged tub.

Every hue of tropical blue was trying to distract me from a metal-bending headache when my roommate knocked. “There’s someone here for dinner.” “Okay, I’ll be right out,” I bellowed, before whooshing underwater. I didn’t have any idea who was coming for dinner. Blub, blub, blub.

I hadn’t invited anyone. But the doorbell kept ringing and ringing. When I finally dressed and entered the living room there it was, an octopus with a bottle in each arm—eight men and eight bottles of wine. Not bad for a girl who couldn’t get a date in high school. A scene from Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea, happening in my own living room. May the best sucker win, I remember thinking, may the best sucker win. …I knew by now that my drinking was out of my air-traffic control, but I didn’t know how to put

BOOKS

Words: Alan Bett Illustration: Sarah Kirk myself out of my misery. I knew I wanted the noise to stop, but I couldn’t locate the stereo.

There had been a time when I had control over the alcohol, and then there was a turning point when alcohol took control over me, completely.

Initially the blackouts had happened only when I was drinking. But I had started having gaps in consciousness even when I was sober. Everything had become muted and distorted, as if I were living underwater. One of my last full-on drinkathons occurred in Montreal. All I remember of that trip is arriving with several thousand dollars and leaving with none. After I quit drinking I ran into several people who saw me at that time, but I have no recollection of them or of the events.

One of those people, a poet friend, was still horrified when I bumped into him a year later. He said he’d had to leave the party during my bingefest in Montreal because he couldn’t watch me any more. He told me he’d actually wept.

He couldn’t bring himself to tell me what he’d witnessed and, to tell the truth, I didn’t want to know. When you’re playing blackout roulette, it’s difficult to remember how many clicks there’ve been. How many blanks does the gun hold? …I knew I was in big trouble, and I felt ugly to the core. My life no longer seemed humorous or intriguing. I was utterly sick of being sick: sick of puking my guts out into a pail beside my bed every second night; sick of crawling up the front stairs of my building and sleeping on the landing ’cause I couldn’t make it to my door; sick of apologizing for things I couldn’t remember I’d said and done; sick of the massive phone bills for late-night drunk-o-logues; sick of the excuses and the accidents and the ambulances. But most of all, I felt sick of being someone I wasn’t. I was sick of the Sheri-D Show.

Addicted is out now, published by Greystone Books, RRP £12.99 Sheri-D Wilson has published six collections of poetry. Her most recent, Re:Zoom (Frontenac House), won the 2006 Stephan G. Stephansson Award for Poetry. Wilson is the founder and artistic director of the Calgary International Spoken Word Festival. sheridwilson.com

THE SKINNY

Digital Native As the Humanities in Public festival explores the ways that technology might enhance our connection with place and environment, we look at the surge in nature writing Words: Holly Rimmer-Tagoe Illustration: Emma Brown Owl

T

he revival of literary fiction about nature, and its current commercial and critical success, has been linked to a plethora of crises dominating modern debate. The 2008 financial crash, impending ecological catastrophe as a result of global warming, stubborn levels of global inequality, and the danger of a lost generation as young people are loaded with debt and poor future prospects, have all been connected with a need to return to a more meaningful, simpler way of life represented (perhaps incorrectly) by the natural world.

“The best nature writing sees the natural world in complex terms” Beyond this cheery list, though, one reason for the resurgence of nature writing seems to reappear again and again: a dependence on technology, which has rapidly changed our lives over the last 20 years. The seeming intangibility of clicking on shifting images through a screen, insubstantial relationships sustained by likes,

and algorithms limiting our purview to an evernarrowing lens, is continually contrasted with a desire to return to a reality rooted in place, where we are forced to abdicate control to the elements and interact with animals and wild landscapes. The most powerful parts of Helen Macdonald’s 2014 book, H Is for Hawk, are the moments when her voice shifts and becomes imbued with a sense of the hawk’s vision, when her descriptions are forced to see the natural world anew through the eyes of an untamed, feral bird.

Is it impossible, then, to reconcile the expanse of digital technology with that of nature writing, and thereby enrich our relationship with the natural environment? While a connection with nature and the nihilist freefall of the online world seem poles apart, the mental mapping of the virtual and natural world isn’t as divided as it may first appear. In The Country and the City, Raymond Williams tracks the ways in which the countryside has been falsely depicted by metropolitan readers and writers as an idyllic, untainted literary space, and has come to represent an escape to Eden. Images of heroines roaming about on windswept moors in Emily Brontë’s Wuthering Heights and farmers bathing in waterfalls in Thomas Hardy’s Far from the Madding Crowd are psychologically comparable to robbing a fictional thrift shop on a gaming

app, or watching a nine-minute video on the benefits of eating pistachios. The literary natural world often offers a similar retreat into falsity, to an imagined time of innocence and purity, just as technology provides a temporary distraction and escape from the mundanity of everyday life.

The current trend in nature writing – in books like Richard Mabey’s Nature Cure and Amy Liptrot’s The Outrun – is to combine the genre with memoir, in a journey of self-discovery and reinvention. Mabey’s and Liptrot’s books deal with mental health and addiction, depicting how nature aids their personal renewal. There is a risk that by combining a tale of individual transformation with an exploration of the natural world, these books once again depict nature as a subtext, a vehicle for human improvement, a haven that is different from Williams’ analysis but equally seen as a retreat for restoration.

It’s easy to view the natural world as a nostalgic, romanticised fetish, disparate from

the alienating firestorm of the modern online world, but the best nature writing sees the natural world in complex terms – nature is as multifaceted as technology, with positive and negative elements existing together. The first step in trying to find a way of using technology as a means to resolve our ecological detachment is to reject the simplistic, binary idea of nature and technology as restorative or anxietycreating respectively. After all, nature won’t look so pretty and harmless if we fail to correct our environmental mismanagement quickly.

Digital Re-enchantment: Place, Writing & Technology, Nightingale Centre, Stockport, 11 Jun, 10.30am-5pm, £20, digital-reenchantment.eventbrite.com This informal symposium brings together a range of speakers to explore whether digital technologies can, for writers and readers, facilitate a re-enchantment with the world. It will be followed by an evening of poetry at the Old Hall, Buxton, 6-9pm, free mmu.ac.uk/hip

Jane Austen - with added Whit After years making period pieces in modern dress, Whit Stillman bites the bullet and makes a costume drama based on a forgotten Jane Austen novella. The results are as caustic and uproarious as any of his urban comedies of manners

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icture the scene: Glasgow Film Theatre, 24 February. A packed audience sits in the darkened cinema auditorium waiting for their film to start, a frisson in the air. Then the words ‘based on Lady Susan by Jane Austen’ pop up on screen, and without missing a beat someone near the back row lets fly with that familiar Glaswegian lament: “Aw, fur fuck sake.”

This is no normal screening, but Glasgow Film Festival’s annual surprise movie. The theory behind such screenings is that audience members come along with an open mind, ready to let whatever film the programmer has chosen wash over them. But clearly some of tonight’s prejudice-free film fans hadn’t braced themselves for a Regency-era drama from the writer of Pride & Prejudice; audible groans, shuffling in seats and a few people already heading for the door.

Early on, however, several factors alert us that this movie, called Love & Friendship, is no stuffy frocks and bonnets picture. First, it moves like a whip, with no scene wasted over its lean 90 minutes following the social brinkmanship of Lady Susan (Kate Beckinsale), a recently widowed schemer who’s trying to get her clutches into a young, handsome and filthy rich in-law.

Second, it’s a riot. And third, it’s directed by Whit Stillman, our premier chronicler of the romantic endeavours and behaviour codes of bright young things.

“I did that once before,” says Stillman down the phone when we mention seeing the film at Glasgow’s surprise screening, “with Damsels in

May 2016

Interview: Jamie Dunn

Distress, at the London Film Festival. The reaction was... very mixed.” He’s clearly mellowed since this incident. When we spoke to him back in 2012, a few months after that screening, he describe the reaction as being “like the English civil war all over again.”

“When Quentin Tarantino was in the video store, I was definitely in the library” Whit Stillman

When we ask why he thinks Love & Friendship has been more warmly received he posits a simple theory: the brilliance of Lady Susan, the littleknown, posthumous Austen novella on which the film is based. “This is Austen’s funniest material,” he says in a voice that, like his films, is both gentle and rapid-fire. “It’s really unusual, very wildly comic in the original.” He’s not kidding. We knew Austen was a bone-dry wit. We didn’t realise she could be laugh-out-loud hilarious. “It sort of ties into the history of comedy,” he suggests.

“It feels more like a precursor to an Oscar Wilde play or something.”

It’s a surprise that it’s taken Stillman this long to set a film fully in the past. His arch approach to love and etiquette in his earlier movies already make them feel like period pieces. “I see them more as moral comedies in which the characters are trying to find their place in the group and their identity in life,” says Stillman. We note that that would also make an apt description for Persuasion or Emma. “That’s why my identification with Jane Austen has been total.”

This love for Austen hints at another reason why audiences have taken time to warm to him, and why his films are some of the most original in American independent cinema. While the likes of Quentin Tarantino, David O. Russell and Steven Soderbergh, who all appeared on the scene around the same time as Stillman, grew up movie-mad and show those influences in their own cine-literate films, Stillman’s defining auteurs were literary. They had Godard, Scorsese and Altman, he had the brittle wit of Austen,

BOOKS / FILM

Oscar Wilde and Evelyn Waugh. Might this explain his struggle to find an audience?

“I guess it depends where you’re coming from. We’ve done well among professors and romance language departments,” he laughs.

In terms of cinema-going, not a huge demographic.

“You’re right, maybe that is a factor. When Quentin Tarantino was in the video store, I was definitely in the library, so I only get the library crowd.”

Up until now, for Stillman fans, that famous Austen quote has applied: “One half of the world cannot understand the pleasures of the other.” If the reaction at our screening of Love & Friendship is anything to go by, we might have to start sharing this wonderful filmmaker with more than the library crowd.

Love & Friendship is released 27 May by Curzon/Artifical Eye HOME, Manchester, screen a ‘Whit Weekender’ 3-5 Jun. For details, go to homemcr.org

Feature

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As Luck Would Have It Modest maestro Gold Panda tells The Skinny about his “unremarkable” talents and how his new album explores suburbia, from Chiba to Chelmsford

Photo: Laura Lewis

Interview: Katie Hawthorne

I

t’s all a matter of luck, argues Derwin – the supremely modest man behind the Gold Panda moniker. Over the course of our half-hour chat, the Essex-based electronic producer self-deprecatingly describes other artists as “real” musicians and insists that his creative process is “pretty unremarkable.”

As a case in point, he claims that “there’s no skill” in playing his latest single Time Eater, the newest cut from upcoming third album Good Luck and Do Your Best. The track is carved from dizzying beats and a certain otherworldliness, rooted in the sounds of a hammered dulcimer (a stringed instrument related to the zither, to save you a trip to Wikipedia), which he found, weather-worn and damaged, while visiting Totnes.

Excited by its idiosyncrasies, he took it home: “It was really cheap! And I guess the good thing about it is that it won’t sound like any other dulcimer, so I bought it, and then I got home and made a tune. The notes were already on there, I just put them in an order and hooked up a terrible microphone hanging off the back of a chair, recorded it into a sampler… then I got some old records and found some piano sounds and stuff, and then I put a drum machine over the top.

And that’s how you make a tune.”

Sure, he makes it sound straightforward enough… in theory. But in practice, Time Eater – and Good Luck and Do Your Best in its entirety – betrays Gold Panda’s modesty by ringing with all the hallmarks of careful attention and passionate, wholly remarkable expertise. A combination of market stall serendipity and Derwin’s innovative, nostalgic compositions, the record bears all the trademarks of his first two LPs, Lucky Shiner and Half of Where You Live, which earned international acclaim for his imaginative, cinematic attention to detail. What differentiates this record from his previous

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releases, though, is that it was never intended to become an album at all.

Good Luck and Do Your Best offers no bombastic grandstanding, no explosions or fireworks. Instead, you’ll find a through-the-keyhole perspective on suburban normalities, from the Japanese prefecture of Chiba to Derwin’s home in Chelmsford. With a background in Oriental and African studies, and a penchant for globe-wandering, Gold Panda’s music has always been infused with memories of new streets explored, and a lightness of touch that celebrates small acts and simple rituals. When Derwin set out on a fact-finding mission to re-explore his beloved Japan, he had all those same objectives in mind – but with the intent of creating a book.

“It took me a while to be comfortable with thinking, you know, it’s alright to be positive” Gold Panda

Together with photographer friend Laura Lewis, Derwin decided to collect the sights and sounds of average life, supplemented by field recordings. “The idea was just to have another excuse to go back to Japan,” he laughs. “‘Why don’t we go to Japan, and just film loads of stuff, take loads of photos, and I’ll do some recordings?’ You know, just some recordings of the world.”

“And why not?” Derwin continues. “I mean, there doesn’t really have to be any justification for art, I don’t think. You just do it. A lot of success in art, unfortunately, is based on luck, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it.

Maybe people will like it and buy it, maybe they won’t. I’m very aware that that could be the case with me; that next year, no one will give a fuck.

And I’m cool with that.”

Having decided to pursue the project with the straightforward goal of art for art’s sake, Lewis and Derwin explored places that were “not mind-blowingly beautiful,” looking for a different kind of beauty in the details. They found it: Lewis’s imagery shows a simple, satisfying pleasure in urban hedgerows and bustling metro carriages. “We thought, ‘What’s boring to a Japanese person? What’s the equivalent of Chelmsford?’ We went to Kyoto and stayed right out of the centre, in a place where regular people live. And it was still amazing, because it’s Japan, but those were the things that we enjoyed – the regular things. Things that have beauty in their normality, and in being mundane. Laura’s definitely captured the way I see stuff, as well.”

On returning to Essex, Derwin found that not only had they made a book, but he had the shape of an album in mind. “We’d had such a good time, just really positive, and this taxi driver said, ‘Good luck and do your best.’ Then I had a title! I was really embarrassed about writing a positive, happy record because it’s not very cool, you know?” He teases, “Not like, one that says the world’s shit or something. I mean, which is how I feel… but, it would be nice to do something happy. It took me a while to be comfortable with thinking, you know, it’s alright to be positive.”

In the past, Gold Panda has offered very honest, upfront opinions on the music industry, and the potential impact of the tour/release

MUSIC

cycle on an artist’s mental health. When he describes the making of this book-turned-album, with all of those pressures removed, it sounds as if he’s found a new kind of optimism in the remarkable-yet-unremarkable shade of mint green used in the uniform of Japanese electricians, and in the comfort of realising that simple, little things deserve their own appreciation.

Good Luck and Do Your Best gathers these details and fuses them into a homely, warm picture of average lives, presented with complexity and packed full of love. But rather than using the field recordings he gathered in Japan – which will still accompany his and Lewis’s book, to be released later this year – Derwin used the memories and aesthetics of their trip as catalysts for his songwriting. This knack for translating experience into sound is rooted in his fascination with turning ordinary samples into something stranger: you’ll be hard pushed to identify the root of any one of the samples Derwin’s worked with, or even to identify the moments he uses his own voice on the record.

“I guess when you’re into making electronic music, you’re always trying to find sounds that are not familiar, or sounds that are familiar, but they have something that takes them out of context,” he says. “I’m mainly stealing sounds from records, and then treating them as I guess someone would a keyboard sound, playing them in a melody. And that really throws people! They don’t know what it is, and it sounds completely different to what it was like originally… but that’s just the way I learned to make music.”

He then admits that one field-trip recording did make it onto the record: “It’s on the first track, and it’s the recording of the flight headphone jack – you know, when you watch a film? If you turn it up really loud, it’s like it’s hissing. And that very first sound that you hear, that sounds quite glitchy? That’s just chopped up bits of a British Airways announcement.” Undeniable proof, if you still needed it, that Gold Panda is able to spin straw into gold.

Derwin mixed the record in Norfolk with producer and musician Luke Abbott – “because he’s professional ears… and also he’s a friend” – fuelled by plentiful servings of Abbott’s mum’s banana bread. After that, with the album finished, Gold Panda just needed some videos to accompany his new tracks. For single In My Car, we see him explore his Chelmsford ’burb with his Indian grandmother Lakhi – or Lucky, as she’s known locally – in tow. In a series of almostfreezeframes the two make tea, leave each other post-it notes, hang out in a museum and tend to a family grave – after grabbing some fast food.

Judged on its component parts alone, it has the potential to be the world’s dullest music video… but the result is a comforting, dusky montage of affectionate, everyday normality.

“Maybe it’s boring where I live, but when you actually see it, and you spend a day with your grandmother, it’s actually really nice,” he says.

“I’m really lucky to be able to hang out, and then go home and make music.” And what does Lucky make of Good Luck? “Well, she understands what I’m doing, and she says it’s great and good… but I’m just her grandson. She’ll just say, ‘Did you have a good time?’ I’ll say, ‘Yeah, it was alright.’

Then we’ll watch Take Me Out and eat curry. She’s brilliant. Come over! Come and have curry. She invites everyone.”

Good Luck and Do Your Best is released on 27 May via City Slang. Gold Panda plays Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, on 27 May and Field Day, London, on 11 Jun iamgoldpanda.com

THE SKINNY

LI FE

The Hierarchy of Kink

ST Y LE

Why do we hide our kinks from others unless they’re straight out of an E. L. James book? Deviance investigates Words: Toby Sharpe Illustration: Fran Caballero

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pparently, Eva Longoria is a fan of using silk scarves as bondage apparatus. Ricky Martin loves urination in his bedroom antics. And Jack Black likes feet. A lot.

The kinks listed above were written in their arguable order of ‘acceptability’; bondage is basically passé in a world choked with E. L. James novels, while Martin and Black’s obsessions are thought of as icky and hilarious respectively. Why? It seems we’ve applied a hierarchy to our pleasure-seeking habits. The mainstream is increasingly comfortable with the idea of BDSM. We allow ourselves a chuckle at the person on the bus reading Fifty Shades, but it’s no longer shocking.

Year after year, thousands of dissertations are pumped out on the symbolism of the ripped bodice or the secret passions of Ron Weasley, but they fail to raise eyebrows in the academic world. Even when Oprah enthuses about submissive fantasies, the public barely giggles. Other kinds of fetish, however, are still derided or banished to conventions or online worlds, lingering on the outskirts of mainstream imagination.

Gay culture, or, at least, the gay culture straight people see on TV, happily fetishises roleplay and fantasies. It is not unusual to see hordes of puppies and their owners at Pride parades, where the ‘puppies’ are young, muscled men, not spaniels or terriers, and their owners are older guys with a penchant for shiny leather. Those in the parade don’t question this display of man’s best friend becoming man’s best boyfriend, but passersby on the street stare on agog. It is this kind of tension between niche cultures that leads to bursts of moral panic when the mainstream realises what LGBT have been up to: look at the deluge of thinkpieces that emerged surrounding chemsex (drugfuelled sexual parties) and poppers when journalists caught on to what gay people were up to.

Even within gay culture, though, there are still structures which enforce taboos and deride the sexual behaviours of others. Heterosexual porn sites list increasingly niche interests further down the page, with ‘College’ porn at the top of the list, and ‘woman laughs alone with salad’ porn hidden a few scrolls below. Sites aimed at gay men do the same, playing into our internalised cultural biases. This kind of tension contributes to what is called homonationalism, where gay communities thrive around regurgitating neoliberal ideas.

“It’s easier to advertise leather corsets than it is to market stainrepellent shower curtains” In the mainstream gay community, what is seen as kinky and rebellious is acceptable as long as one looks a certain way; like a muscled, Aryan frat-guy in leather and spandex. A schlubby guy or person of colour exploring their sexual fantasies is derided, just as straight people finally exploring their taboos are.

This is not surprising in a capitalistic and heteronormative patriarchal society. Much of what makes fetishes seem acceptable is how they play into existing structures and narratives of power, or how well they can be monetised. It’s

easier to advertise leather corsets than it is to market stain-repellent shower curtains. One can argue that bondage (or pup-play or age-play in gay culture, which explore similar taboos) feeds into games of consent and strength which may subvert patriarchal norms, but still rely on acknowledging them, and recognising that, post-coitus, one must slink back into the mainstream world.

We piss ourselves laughing at the idea of Ricky Martin awkwardly inviting his loved one into the bathroom, but we live in a world where he’s forced to awkwardly retract those claims in inter-

views, when he shouldn’t have to. We judge people for their expression, particularly when it can’t easily be stuck on a billboard.

I need to teach myself to not chuckle at the idea of Jack Black sniffing a foot. The arguments gay men like myself use to defend ourselves from homophobes can be re-tooled to deflect mockery away from people healthily exploring their sexual pleasure and romantic desire. Just because we haven’t found out if we have a fetish for something deemed strange yet – that doesn’t give us the right to snort at those who have.

You Ain’t Zine Nothing Yet Don’t think feminism has anything to gain from newsletters and zines? Maybe you’re missing the point

I

don’t know what it was like to be a feminist before the internet. I accumulated most of my feminist ideas via pixels and digital arguments; forums, YouTube videos and the early days of online journalism. Sadly, I’ve never experienced that one cinematic moment of having a rally organiser hand me a cerise, sweary flier, giving me a sisterly nod.

The closest we come to this in 2016 is viciously liking one another’s feminist Facebook comments, commenting on articles, digitally inviting each other to events and using hashtags like #everydaysexism, #freethenipple and #blacklivesmatter.

It’s all online, and it’s for the taking. And that’s absolutely fine. We no longer have to justify our feminist thought by penning canon-friendly prose, po-faced from our window seats. It just doesn’t make sense when a tweet, Facebook status or blog post would have far greater reach and relatability to those with the time on their hands to enact change.

May 2016

However, as any blogger, journalist or ‘internet feminist’ (sigh) will know, these digital tools aren’t without their flaws. Authors of feminist thought often feel the strain of pandering to patriarchal sensitivities. Unless certain statements are carefully hedged, tiresomely justified and exhaustively explained, many readers feel alienated at best, and filled with the urge to ejaculate vitriolic hate speech and threats at worst.

But written feminism shouldn’t always have to angle towards and armour itself from its opposers. Sometimes we simply want to share thoughts and bug-check one another’s theories before they’re laid spread-eagled for the criticism, fury and upset of a world unready to hear them. And, when the authors are of colour, queer, less able or working class, this is even more likely to be true.

Safe space groups and the offline world facilitate this sort of conversation, but we truly need a bridge for the gulf between ephemeral feminist

chit-chat and the troll-magnet environment of feminist journalism.

And that’s where newsletters and zines come in. Last year, Lena Dunham teamed up with Jenni Konner to create Lenny Letter, a twice-weekly newsletter dropped straight into the inboxes of its subscribers. Though Dunham can hardly be credited with reviving this format of publication – people have been engaging in newsletter selfpublishing using TinyLetter, a sister company of MailChimp, for yonks – there’s something to be said for the rebirth of the newsletter. The format provides a one-directional relationship where writers may write what they truly think, rather than an approximation of what they wish to say.

Another burgeoning form of feminist publication is the mighty zine (short for magazine or fanzine). These sorts of publications have played a role in fuelling and facilitating feminism for decades, but zines have a lot to offer feminists with internet-fatigue in 2016. The philosophy of zines,

DEVIANCE

Words: Kate Pasola

feminist or otherwise, has never prioritised profit, and this is reflected in the bounty of originality, courage and anarchy to be found in these papery little packages of thought. Glasgowbased collective TYCI (Tuck Your Cunt In), founded by CHVRCHES frontwoman Lauren Mayberry, publishes a quarterly zine which perfectly exemplifies this; and although TYCI is now published online, each issue is consumed as a whole; not interrupted, not treated as a sparring ground, just read.

Discussion, debate and feedback are vital parts of feminist development, but back-chat does not and should not overwhelm feminist writing, art and philosophy, and this is where newsletters and zines can help. Because sometimes, feminist writers, thinkers and speakers don’t want to talk to the enemy.

Sometimes they simply want to talk to each other.

Lifestyle

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Annabelle Shoot Credits

Garments

Photography and Art Direction: Lucy Ridges, lucyridges.com

Left: Bra - Stylist’s own Outerwear - Private White V.C. Trousers - Joseph Socks - Tabio Shoes - Vans

Styling: Lauren Reyhani, laurenreyhani.format.com Make Up: Sarah Morten, sarahmorten.co.uk Model: Annabelle, BOSS Models

Above: Rings - H&M Outerwear - Stylist’s own Top - Diesel Trousers - Marni Shoes - Vans Right: Bra - Stylist’s own Top - Margaret Howell Trousers - Roxy Threads

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FASHION

THE SKINNY

April 2015

FASHION

Lifestyle

29

Marie Young

K

ochi kochi is Japanese slang for kochira and translates in English as a polite way of saying “This way!” or “Over here!”

Inspired by this after many trips to Tokyo, Marie Young felt it a fitting moniker to sum up her work and style. A multi-disciplinary freelance graphic artist and part-time lecturer, Young explores various forms, from combining computer-generated visuals with more traditional and tactile mediums such as needlework and knitting, to her most recent exploration, OBJECT, which challenges the conventional way of archiving, and our responsibilities around the possessions of loved ones who have passed away.

Originally from Anglesey, Young moved to the Northwest in 2003, completing her BA in Graphic Arts at Liverpool School of Art and Design in 2006, and her MFA in Graphic Design and Art Direction from Manchester School of Art in 2015. Marie has been moving between Liverpool and Manchester throughout, producing work for a wide range of clients across various sectors, and creating design for large-scale, mass-participation art events.

OBJECT was completed while on her MFA and made in collaboration with her close friend Imke Oppenkamp, a Liverpool-based photographer. German-born, Oppenkamp is inspired by pop art and British culture, with a particular fascination for football cultures, especially Liverpool FC. “The images featured on these pages form part of an archive of a music equipment collection left to me by my husband, John Young, when he passed away in 2013. Through making this archive I have not only made a record of each item in the collection, but I now also feel more comfortable in letting go of these treasured objects that I am unable to use.

“Each image distils a moment of our time together; they are a combination of items from the collection and shared memories of ours as a couple. The more you knew us, the more likely you are to understand what each image may be about; if you didn’t know us at all then I still hope that the images communicate our sense of humour to you!

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SHOWCASE

“By sharing this personal archive, I hope to make people feel more comfortable and open to discuss such issues as death, loss and responsibility. It is also my hope that perhaps one day OBJECT may help someone else in a similar situation who might find this way of working creatively with sentimental objects helpful to them also.

“Place holds as much power and memory as sentimental objects do. When on a trip to Berlin, I came out from an underground station which happened to be where John and I had once got lost together. I remembered the moment instantly and wanted to shout it out to everyone there.

“After this, I decided to transfer the images from the archive onto flags, to take them to these places of significance and to fly them for the whole world to see. I chose the places and set off on my journey around the globe to fly the flags for John. I hoped that it might also encourage people to start conversations with me and suggest questions around subjects that too often remain taboo.

“Once I began to fly the flags, it felt too forced, I felt uncomfortable doing this in such public spaces and it felt as if I had taken what I was doing a step too far for myself. Although I have not continued with this journey, I feel that it is just as important that I share it with you.

“OBJECT has been a healthy way for me to work creatively with grief, yet it is also important that I realised when to stop. By sharing, I may also help someone else who perhaps needs to take a step back, or maybe even feels that flying their own flag would help them in some way too.” o-b-j-e-c-t.com Marie Young: kochi-kochi.co.uk Imke Oppenkamp: contactimke.myportfolio.com

THE SKINNY

May 2016

SHOWCASE

31

Where Medieval Gets Modern

It’s a city that has seen the traditional tarnished by the excesses of Western-style consumerism, yet Marrakech remains an exhaustingly vivid cultural destination

T

he drivers of the Grand Taxis, a knot of ancient, cream-coloured Mercedes-Benz in various states of disrepair, wait to whisk us into the centre of Marrakech. Only the roar of a jet engine or the guttural singsong of heated Arabic argument punctuate the air-conditioned calm of the airport as the impatient cabbies create a pile-up of their saloon cars at the pick-up point.

The calm is fleeting. A six-lane highway, fringed by neat rows of olive and palm trees, arrows into the Centre Ville before suddenly merging traffic into a single chaotic lane at an unmarked junction. Dust and horns and handcarts destroy order. A lone, red-faced policeman futilely flags and blows his whistle in the midst of it all. Morocco in microcosm: a dichotomy of the traditional and modern, jarring against each other yet somehow still functioning. In Marrakech however, the authenticity has been tarnished by an ever-increasing wave of tourists. Thankfully, despite this influx, many vestiges of the city’s ancient architecture remain unscathed.

The minaret of the Koutoubia Mosque soars above, a towering spear marking the centre of Marrakech. Now 900 years old, the mosque remains the most prominent landmark in a city that now has its fair share of towering modern architecture. We take a right, muscling through traffic, with liberal use of hand gestures and the constant blaring of horns. The gateway to the Vieille Ville: the medina.

This is the ancient old city of Marrakech, a near-thousand-year-old Berber trading post that once put the great cities of Europe to shame.

The rhettara, an ingenious underground irrigation system that pumps water from rivers 30 miles distant, turning the once-parched gardens of the city green, dates back to this time. The ramparts and walls that encircle the medina have withstood nearly a millennium of wear and tear and conflict. Architectural wonders, built while Europe was still mired in the depression of the Dark Ages.

The medina. A manic headfuck, it brings a concurrent assault on all of the senses. The smell of goat shit and spice and petrol intertwine. Narrow streets are clogged with donkey carts as motorcycles and mopeds plough through the crowds belligerently. The fly-encrusted shanks of meat, the butcher’s condemned grin and his blood-and-entrails-flecked djellaba; the February coolness of the shade in these sun-starved alleys as you inevitably lose yourself, bemusedly circling for hours. Walking

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the souks exhilarates and exasperates in equal measure. We twist and turn through endless terracotta tunnels that culminate at Jemaa el Fna, the main square.

Jemaa el Fna, “the assembly of trespassers”: it’s evening and the air is filled with pine and juniper smoke as one hundred barbecues roast one thousand chickens in the small marquees dotted about the dusty square. It’s a riotous spectacle of entranced cobras, dancing monkeys and wild-eyed acrobatic rascals; a medieval Cirque del Soleil that has somehow slipped into the present. Each stall offers a tenuously slight variation on the same tasty theme: tagines of chicken, goat or lamb, mountains of raisin- and almond-flecked couscous, and cockney wide-boy English accents from cheerful pushy peddlers.

The heaving old square is one of the busiest plazas in Africa. It’s tiring, but magic.

And it’s all one mega-manifestation of hypercapitalism. Boundless stacked trinkets of wood, leather and silk, bound to gather dust on a forgotten shelf, are piled before tourists with eyes bigger than their luggage allowances on the flight home. Wipe-clean menus in English and Japanese; tours of the pigeon-shit-filled ammonia pits of the tanneries; gagging behind a handful of fresh mint as you are funnelled into yet another leather emporium. There are few stalls catering for the needs of the locals, and those that do exist are hidden far from the tourist trails of the main arteries of the medina.

It’s hard to discern the genuine, commonplace friendliness from an attempt to relieve us of the contents of our wallets. The medina is a cartoon image of Morocco forged by the supply-anddemand culture of the souks.

The history of Marrakech, the seasonal influx of Berbers from the Atlas and the Sahara to trade and to work, has been subverted to cater for the constant stream of visitors pouring into the souks. Once it was ostentatious Moroccans that dominated the wealth of the medina.

But, it remains the raucous beating heart of Marrakech, and home to many of its poorest residents, those most in need of the tourist dollars that flood the city. But, the cash is spread thinly among a large number of workers, and the desperation of these people imbues the souks with an air of melancholy. The pursuit of happiness here is seemingly tied to the pursuit of the buck. Traders denigrate each other’s wares as “fake” or “made in China.” Amid the clamour, and the flood of produce, it is impossible to

tell real craftsmanship from cheap imports.

To those willing and able to chuck cash at the market stalls, there is a joy to be found, but it is fleeting and synonymous with the quick fix of consumerism.

“It’s a riotous spectacle of entranced cobras, dancing monkeys and wild-eyed acrobatic rascals.

A medieval Cirque du Soleil that has somehow slipped into the present” Thankfully there are numerous boltholes to provide a welcome escape from the harumscarum economy of the souks. Within the walls of the medina, we tentatively re-enter the labyrinth to locate one of a number of palaces demonstrating a near forgotten era of Moroccan prosperity. The 19th-century Bahia Palace in particular – a network of calm, shady enclosures, interlinked by stucco doorways and zellij-tiled passages – displays how life was for the 1% in times past. The racket of the streets is replaced by the soft tinkle of water fountains and the rustle of orange trees in the light breeze that slips through the courtyards. The muffled beep of the traffic jam is all that reminds us that a city bustles by beyond the walls. Returning to the outside world is an ordeal after this sanctuary.

The antique mansions of the medina, the riads, provide other handy quiet zones for those who can’t handle the pace of souk life. These buildings, modelled on Roman villas, consist of a small sheltered courtyardsurrounded by high walls to block out sound and sunlight. It is one of the great pleasures of Marrakech, stepping into

TRAVEL

Words: Pete Ballantine these often beautiful oases of tranquillity.

Sadly, during the 1960s hippification of Marrakech, many of these spaces were bought up and transformed into second homes for hashsmoking, new-age types whose idea of embracing a culture was to hug it so tight that it could no longer breathe. Some riads are still available as accommodation for those seeking the ‘authentic’ Marrakech experience at a not-soauthentic price.

Beyond the medina lies the other Marrakech. It’s shiny and modern and gridshaped. Women stroll, sans headscarfs, licking ice creams, and convertibles cruise past, pumping out the hits. In short, it’s Europe. It’s the Ville Nouvelle, a product of the French occupiers’ desire to create a home from home. The streets here are quiet and clean, but stuffy and soulless.

The only sign here of the poverty that pervades the souks is the army of Berber gardeners watering the dusty orange trees that line the wide boulevards.

But we ventured into this parallel world for a reason; to sample a beautiful piece of nouvelle Marrakech, a legacy of the artist Jacques Majorelle and designer Yves Saint-Laurent: the Majorelle Garden. Designed and built in the 1920s and 30s, the garden is a glorious kitschy hotchpotch of styles and plant life, all underlined with Majorelle’s own shade of electric blue and the ever-present terracotta. It’s on the coach-tour radar, but still worth a wander.

After a day patrolling the souks, there really is no place like home. Home being a riad with a relaxing cushion-filled courtyard, endless cups of mint tea, and Wi-Fi for those looking to plan an escape from the fascinating yet infuriating grasp of a dissonant city.

Up a rickety wooden staircase, where you really don’t want to encounter a rotund American tourist on the prowl for breakfast coming in the opposite direction, the terrace opens out revealing the city skyline. From this rooftop retreat of pot plants, the clutter of roofs and spires sprawls to the green belt of palms that fringe the city. When the sun breaks through the morning shroud of clouds, the white wall of the Atlas 20 miles distant splits the horizon between city and sky. The crackle of loudspeakers all around signals the incoming wail of the muezzins, calling us to the sanctuary of the mountains beyond. theskinny.co.uk/travel

THE SKINNY

Slice World As part of our ongoing ‘Pioneers’ series that looks to champion the doers, thinkers and makers behind the Northwest’s burgeoning food and drink scene, we talk to the duo behind Rudy’s Neapolitan Pizza, the eatery that has foodies flocking to Ancoats

Interview: Tom Ingham

Food News May already?! We know, we know. Luckily, this one is jampacked with new openings, supper clubs, a meat-free celebration and the launch of a new coffee table book on, well… coffee Words: Lauren Phillips and Jess Hardiman

Trove puts down roots in Altrincham Market Levenshulme’s Trove unveil their brand-new unit at Altrincham Market’s New Market Square this month, teaming up with neighbours National 7 and Güd Vegan to launch with an evening of food, music, coffee and alcohol. New Market Square, Altrincham, 7 May, 7pm-late, @trovefoods ‘Free From’ menu at 1847 Meat, dairy or gluten free? To celebrate National Vegetarian Week (16-22 May), vegetarian chain 1847 are launching a one-off ‘Free From’ menu that seeks to highlight just how good life with a dietary requirement can be. Highlights include a wild garlic gnocchi with nettle pesto, and an Earl Grey tea crème caramel with biscotti. 58 Mosley Street, Manchester, 16-22 May, @By1847 Fil Fil Falafel x North Tea Power Vegan-friendly street foodies Fil Fil Falafel and North Tea Power are back at it this month, with Fil Fil curating a menu of Middle Eastern-inspired small plates that diners can choose from. 36 Tib Street, Manchester, 6 May, 7-10.30pm, @northteapower, @filfilfalafel

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izza. Once the food of peasants and now a staple of modern diets. Whether it’s comfort eating, festival bingeing or fine dining, pizza has found its way onto our menus.

Alas, not all calzones are created equal and our choices are often limited to paying over the odds for a half-decent slice in trendy bars, or eating the stodge they serve at the place that begins with D… To make good pizza you have to live it, breathe it and be prepared to take on the endless pursuit for perfection – it’s the golf of food.

“We [in the UK] don’t make it very well because it’s nearly sent Jim insane trying to master it; other people can’t be arsed to put in that effort,” says Kate Wilson, who along with her partner Jim Morgan, owns Rudy’s Neapolitan Pizza – a shining example of the ongoing resurgence of Manchester’s Ancoats neighbourhood. “It takes up too much of my life,” says Morgan. “Our pizza is nowhere near finished, which is why I’m losing my pizza sanity. I can make something that I don’t think is up to scratch but then customers will tell me it’s the ‘best they’ve ever had’ – it’s a weird dynamic.”

Despite its now cult-like following, Rudy’s came from humble beginnings.

“We always knew we wanted to work together but we weren’t sure on what exactly,” Wilson explains. “When we were 20 we just started saving for ‘something’ and this was it.”

After years of home experimentation, Morgan attempted to take his pizza to a larger audience. “We did the street food thing and then nine months after that I worked at Honest Crust.

It was such an amazing experience; I learned enough there to feel more confident about opening our own place.”

May 2016

Rudy’s – named after their adorable French bulldog – moved into a quiet area of the city centre, put one item of food on the menu and paid for no press. Presumably they’ve just been twiddling their thumbs? “It’s been overwhelming,” says Wilson. “We never envisaged we’d have to turn people away because we’d run out of dough.”

Through word of mouth and respect from their peers, the two secured a place in the Sunday Times list of the top 25 pizza places in the UK after just six months of trading. “You can’t ask a normal chef to put pizza on the menu,” says Morgan. “An interest in pizza is not enough to make it well. It’s the skill of baking – I’m not a chef, I’m a baker.”

So, what makes Rudy’s pizzas so damn good? “Some people get freaked out when they see that the pizza base isn’t crispy, but to us this is the original and best form of pizza, purely because it’s so easy to digest.” Morgan isn’t lying: many customers tackle two 14” pizzas in one sitting, and they can do so without reaching for the Alka-Seltzer thanks to the time taken in preparing the dough.

“Intolerance to gluten comes from quickly made bread in supermarkets,” Morgan explains.

“We try to explain to people about the slow bread movement and how, after a day or two, the glutens break down and give the dough a sugary flavour.”

Unsurprisingly, good Neapolitan pizza ingredients aren’t readily available in Manchester, but Rudy’s are insistent on using only the very best.

“The flour comes from Naples and for us it’s the only flour to use,” says Morgan. “The tomatoes aren’t anything mysterious: they’re San Marzano and you can buy a tin from our

expanding deli section.” While importing Italy’s finest seems relatively simple, the cheese is still a sticky issue. “The mozzarella stresses me out.

We’re thinking about making our own but we’re still putting the feelers out to see how good a product we can create in-house.”

Rudy’s try to keep toppings minimal and let the dough speak for itself, but as Wilson explains, there have to be some compromises: “If you look at some of our early pictures there was even less cheese on the pizza, and that’s what it’s like in Naples, but we’ve had to adapt that slightly for Manchester’s palates.”

Despite being one of only a few businesses open in the area, they have high expectations for the future of Ancoats. “It’s in the centre but it also feels like a suburban area; come the summer, this square will come into its own.”

“I’m not a chef, I’m a baker” Jim Morgan

In just six months, Rudy’s dedication to the dough has seen them rightfully garner a name as one of the best spots for a quality, informal dining experience in Manchester, and as Ancoats welcomes new businesses, they can only see the area go from strength to strength. “We don’t worry about anything on the other side of Great Ancoats Street.” And why would they? @RudysPizzaMCR rudyspizza.co.uk

FOOD AND DRINK

Coffee Shop: North book launch Featuring essays, insights and browse-worthy photography, Dan Saul Pilgrim’s Coffee Shop: North seeks to explore the stories of shops, roasters and baristas across eight northern cities and towns. The launch will be accompanied with an exhibition of portraits by Justin Slee of some of the scene’s most well-known faces, plus some spreads from the book. Colours May Vary, Leeds. 26 May, 6-9pm, @CoffeeShopNorth New openings in Manchester Northern Quarter institution Cuba Café is reincarnated this month as Stage and Radio, a three-floor 1950s-inspired drinking, dining and dancing venue (Port Street, due to open early May), just as Spinningfields’ pop-up sports bar The Club House settles down for its summer residency with its own mini golf course out front (Hardman Square, Spinningfields, open now). Sweet-toothed supergroup Ginger’s Comfort Emporium, Bake-O-Rama and Lushbrownies also hope to open their dessertonly cafe Milk Jam this month (city centre) – as do Tapeo, the latest Deansgate tapas joint to join the area’s army of Spanish small plates.

New openings in Liverpool Epicured have now launched pop-up FU Baijiu, the UK’s first bar dedicated to Chinese spirit baijiu, also serving up a selection of dim sum dishes to soak up the 40-60%-strength liquor (Gradwell Street, open now). Meanwhile, Bold Street’s much-loved spit-roast chicken hotspot Chez Le Coq re-opens this month under the new guise of Coop (Bold Street, due to open early May).

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COUNTY TOWN BREWERY

THE SKINNY

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26 May with the lunar splendour of new record Strangers. It’ll have only just come out a couple of days beforehand, so this should be a celebratory affair.

Last but not least, a great alternative in Leeds is a show at Brudenell Social Club on 26 May, where you can catch local alt pop outfit and champions of DIY Esper Scout, supported by ZoZo and Nervous Twitch, for the grand price of nada.

Young Fathers

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Do Not Miss Tim Hecker Manchester Academy 2, 16 May

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he box-like environs of Academy 2 aren’t where you’d most expect to find Tim Hecker; previous Manchester shows have paid witness to his titanic, drone-influenced soundscapes in the portentous surrounds of St Philip’s Church and the pin-drop perfect RNCM Theatre. But what’s important for any Hecker show – this one’s in support of new album Love Streams – is the soundsystem; and we reckon his excoriating melodics will sound just fine in here. Recorded in Reykjavík with contributions from Icelandic composer Jóhann Jóhannsson, Love Streams is, Hecker has said, inspired by “liturgical aesthetics after Yeezus” and the “transcendental voice in the age of auto-tune” – and its tracklist is an early contender for our coveted smirk of the year award, for the song title Up Red Bull Creek. Not that these are songs: a choreographer of sonic extremes, Hecker has spent his 15-year career at once circling the depths of noise and scaling the dizziest, prettiest highs. Expect complete immersion. [Laura Swift]

MUSIC

iverpool and Manchester come alive under cover of dark this month as each city takes part in the national ‘Museums At Night’ celebrations. Things kick off in Manchester on 12 May with Manchester After Hours, a programme of art, music, live literature and interactive events across the city. Tuneful highlights include Sarsaparilla Sounds, a series of spoken word and music performances celebrating Salford in some of its more unusual spaces. After a collection of poetry and short story readings at the Working Class Movement Library will be music from Bernard + Edith, Guy Blakeslee and Be To Get Her in Salford Museum and Art Gallery.

In Common bar, members of Manchester Camerata will give two performances, while some of Hey! Manchester’s favourite musicians will perform acoustic sets on the station platforms of a new steam train experience at MoSI. For times and the full programme: manchesterafterhours.com.

The following evening in Liverpool is LightNight, with more than 100 free events taking place across the city; among the musical offerings is the world premiere of a new composition by Bill Ryder-Jones, No Worst, There Is None, performed by Immix Ensemble and members of the Anglican Cathedral Choir in that grand setting.

Head to lightnightliverpool.com for details.

If you fancy carrying on the night after, Manchester Psych Fest occupies the Night & Day and Aatma on 14 May with seminal Liverpool band Clinic, Mark Riley faves Telegram, Leeds’ top noisemakers Cowtown and more: facebook. com/manchesterpsychedelicfest.

The end of the month is dominated in Liverpool by conference/festival Sound City (28-29 May, liverpoolsoundcity.co.uk), with a bigger and arguably brasher lineup than ever taking over the Bramley-Moore Docks (look well past Catfish & The Bottlemen, Pete Doherty et al to dig out Young Fathers, False Advertising and a live set from Floating Points) – and in Manchester by Dot to Dot festival (27 May, dottodotfestival.co.uk), which fills Northern Quarter venues with suitably springy indie pop from the likes of Mystery Jets, Augustines and many more.

The bank holiday weekend in Yorkshire welcomes Bradford’s festival of independent music and art, Threadfest (27-29 May, bradfordthreadfest.com) – Cowtown are there again, alongside a nicely international bill including Kenyan folk singer Ogoya Nengo and Poland’s Ela Orleans – and if you’re looking for some escapism, you could try Crewe’s The Lost Carnival (28-30 May), an immersive theatre experience created by producers Wild Rumpus, So It Is and LASTheatre.

In a combination of circus, physical theatre, music, visuals and sideshows, two rival ‘carnival families’ will battle it out in a story that began in Burrs Country Park in 2015, and will move to a different location every year. Fun, family-friendly and probably a bit weird. thelostcarnival.org.uk.

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Photo: Gabriela Zigova

Words: Elle Rockwell

Photo: Priti Shikotra

and the Deep Hedonia crew present their first showcase at 24 Kitchen Street in more than a year. Originating in Manchester, Video Jam has become a wildly successful night, pairing work by local filmmakers with scores composed especially for them by contemporaries on the music scene. The Video Jam crew have toured the concept around the country and now come to FACT on 20 May with a special show, formulated in response to the gallery’s current exhibition by Japanese sensory artist Ryoichi Kurokawa.

The Deep Hedonia team are similarly renowned for thoughtful combinations and contrasts, having been presenting some of Liverpool’s most adventurous gigs and experiments in sound for the last few years – most recently a series of intimate concerts in the Everyman Bistro. On 25 May at 24 Kitchen Street they bring together a clutch of artists fudging the boundaries of house and techno composition, all of whom use tape recording and analogue decay within their distinctive sounds: Perfume Advert, Best Available Technology, and, all the way from Lisbon, Ondness – plus Dialect on DJ duties.

Liverpool also has a chance to see the chameleonic Will Holland, bringing his full live band as Quantic to Constellations on 18 May. Among the heavy-hitting roll call for his Tropical Elevation tour are Colombian drummer/percussionist Wilson Viveros and frequent Quantic collaborator Sylvester Onyejiaka on horns and keys; the Manchester date is sold out, so this is your one chance to ascend.

Elsewhere, there’s an interesting return from pop prince Patrick Wolf, who brings his first new material since 2011’s Lupercalia album to The Deaf Institute on 11 May – and finally, rounding off the month in the smoothest way possible is Marissa Nadler, at Soup Kitchen on

Ratking

May 2016

IE

All kinds of civilised goings-on this month, from contemporary classical as part of Manchester After Hours and LightNight to a circus-themed carnival in Crewe

Words: Laura Swift

udos to the region’s gig promoters that, despite some monster bills at (the almost diametrically opposite) Sounds from the Other City and Liverpool Sound City festivals, there’s still a luxury lucky dip of shows to dive into the rest of this month.

You’ll want to get in quick for the peachiest picks: incendiary Harlem rap trio Ratking are at 24 Kitchen Street, Liverpool, on 3 May, while loose-cannon art-jazz collective Melt Yourself Down are at the same venue a couple of nights later on the 5th, piping hot off the back of their latest LP, Last Evenings on Earth, released at the end of April via Leeds-based label Leaf. Also on 5 May, reigning queen of net-savvy, contemporary R’n’B Tinashe is at Manchester’s Ritz. Too good.

If you’ve missed your chance there, not to worry: a live presentation of the remarkable project from Liverpool’s Immix Ensemble and Bristol’s Vessel, Transitions, should see you right. Led by director Daniel Thorne, Immix formed a couple of years ago in order to bring different schools of music in Liverpool – the indie/alternative and the classical – together in collaboration. Thorne has since encouraged pairings between the likes of Stealing Sheep and Bill Ryder-Jones with his line-up of classically trained, contemporary-minded instrumentalists, and their latest outing is a four-track suite with electronic producer Vessel – perhaps best known for his dark compositions on the Tri Angle label, alma mater of sonic brethren Holy Other and The Haxan Cloak. Transitions was released through the excellent Erased Tapes (home to Nils Frahm, Ólafur Arnalds and others) earlier in the year, and comes to life with visuals at Soup Kitchen in Manchester on 7 May. In fact, it’s a month of treats for fans of the audiovisual, as lauded experimental film and music night Video Jam sets up in Liverpool,

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Festival Watch

‘Gigs’ feels like an insufficient term for the sensory treats in store this May: from Immix Ensemble’s collaboration with Vessel to the return of sonic demigod Tim Hecker

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Gig Highlights

Review

Heather Leigh

Animal Collective The Ritz, 13 Apr

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Coming away from an Animal Collective show and complaining about their self-indulgence probably places you among the ranks of comedy fans who go to see a notably offensive standup and walk out because they didn’t like something they heard.

This is a band that has never paid much heed to the opinions of anybody outside their own little bubble, instead spending the best part of the past couple of decades very much ploughing their own furrow. They seemed charmingly bemused by the critical acclaim (for the likes of Strawberry Jam and Merriweather Post Pavilion); if the setlist tonight is anything to go by, they appear similarly unmoved by the marmite response to February’s Painting With.

Upgraded to the 1500-capacity Ritz, their return to Manchester is a sell-out, suggesting they’ve sustained the crossover appeal that Merriweather lent them back in 2009, and the

otherworldsfestival.co.uk

Mrs Cakehead

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Richard Dawson

MUSIC

Photo: Chris Thompsonton

It’s easy to sneer at Blackpool. A funny wee place; wander along the prom, and you’re assaulted with adjectives. Kitsch. Garish. Tacky. Kiss me kwik; dress up as a ballerina, meat and two veg none-too-discreetly fettered, and you’re hardly likely to stand out from the stag-do crowd.

So thank heavens for Other Worlds. Bijou a festival it may be, hidden up a couple of side streets as if a little self-conscious, but such is the sensual breadth on offer, the nuance behind the celebration is apparent. Taking an audio-visual approach to putting on a show, Other Worlds offers the opportunity to think. To breathe. To enjoy art on its terms, not yours.

Laura Cannell has a way with a violin that’s quite uncanny, her performance at the Grundy gallery speaking of intrigue. Inspired by folklore and stringent acoustics, alternating between fiddle and two recorders played concurrently, her compositions have a remote, brooding quality that has the audience rapt.

In fact, we’re treated with quite the range of strings. And while live playing against a looped sampler isn’t an especially novel way of taking to the stage, there is something very much special in the way Manchester’s Elizabeth Preston wields her cello, her clear and linear sense of songcraft illustrated with impromptu percussion and vocal yelps.

Preston’s embracing set takes place amid knowledgeable punters at the Bootleg Social Club, the hub for four nights of entertainment ranging from fluid to quirky and back again.

Heather Leigh, seated at her pedal steel guitar, represents an acerbic honesty that stands in contrast to much of the hi-jinks featured elsewhere on the line-up, be it the incendiary electronica of Platemaker – his beats forsaken for white noise, and a gravity well of incendiary dimensions – or the agit-camp of Bristol’s The Perverts (whose cover of I Will Survive is onepart Hazel O’Connor to two-parts headbutt).

Also (as the ballerinas on the seafront would attest), Blackpool certainly likes dressing

Photo: Manon Bajart

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up. Saturday’s fizzy cocktail includes the challenging and exotically monikered Filthy Turd, whose box-of-tricks gimp rock (with papier-mâché balaclava) is uncompromising (if not exactly successful), followed by Anglo-Korean trio Tirikilatops, all shaman masks and bubblegum yee-hah, front woman Bom Carrot dressed as an extra-huggable Godzilla. Yes, there’re backing tapes involved, but such is the sense of fun they engineer that they really are endearing, tracks exalting the importance of happiness and serenading UFOs demanding of giant smiles.

The Bongoleeros wear masks (of course), their grinding soundscapes rattling fillings… while Paddy Steer manages to go one better, fashioned as if a Mesopotamian interpretation of a kitsch sci-fi baddie behind banks of equipment both analogue and digital.

It’s all a little noisy – in a good way. Richard Dawson and Gum Takes Tooth take different routes through sound, both equally rewarding. But perhaps the most buzzing offering from the Bootleg’s basement features Newcastle’s Fret! Compared to much else on the bill they’re somewhat conventional – guitar, bass, drums, few vocals, and no masks. Instead: bass-driven, amplified maths, material from the recent Killing Susan EP resplendent, reminiscent of Robert Hampson.

“It’s great to have something so different happening in Blackpool,” one guest tells us between sets. And she’s right; the swing between cerebral and the caustic adds to experience. It’s not often you can dip your toes in bleeding, thoughtful acoustics one minute (such as the Breathing Space exhibition at the Central Library, a quorum of speakers in each corner of the room filling the space with warmth and data), then the next enjoy something as blatantly silly as Mrs Cakehead, whose trombone and Lancastrian toasting represents the rail-replacement bus service of DIY ska. But that’s the attraction of Other Worlds; a blend of the weird and the wonderful that triggers grins-aplenty.

[Duncan Harman]

pre-show atmosphere is palpably playful – this is a crowd that’s there for the taking.

The opportunity goes begging, though.

The set is based heavily around Painting With, and with the odd exception – the gleefully daft FloriDada goes down a storm – the reception is lukewarm, suggesting either apathy or unfamiliarity with the new material from the audience.

The psychedelic backdrop and visuals seem bythe-numbers, interaction beyond performance is non-existent, and the smattering of older cuts – Daily Routine, Loch Raven, Bees – feel as if they’ve been homogenised to fit Painting With’s mould.

As a result, the only painting Animal Collective have done tonight is to themselves, into a corner; the set is so carefully constructed around their latest work, with measured segues from song to song, that flexibility and spontaneity are shown the door – surely anathema for a group that has presented itself as experimental standard-bearers for so long. [Joe Goggins] myanimalhome.net

Animal Collective

THE SKINNY

Photo: Aaron McManus

Blackpool, 7-10 Apr

Photo: Chris Thompson

Other Worlds

On the Money As Puscifer set sail for their European debut, founder Maynard James Keenan meditates on the influence of surrealist British comedy and America’s Trumpian dystopia

Interview: Dave Kerr

one before. I don’t want to call it choreographed, but we’re definitely conscious of what we have to do and where we have to be because of the show.

There’s a lot of attack and a few very literal lyrical blows on Money $hot [‘You speak like someone who has never been knocked the fuck onout’ – The Remedy]. Are you striving more to make direct contact with the listener on this occasion, rather than simply keep them entertained?

That’s an hour conversation we could be having right here. In general, I live in a much quieter space now than when I did when I lived in Los Angeles, so I feel like a lot more of the music has less to do with being angry about driving in traffic than it does to just look into the future. Y’know, you have to have the rub. Part of good literature is that there has to be some kind of rub and then some kind of hope for a resolve, right? I think this album has that.

“Idiocracy is no longer a comedy, it’s a documentary” Maynard James Keenan

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he rock pages have firmly established one guaranteed way to draw Maynard James Keenan’s ire over the last decade: ask about every other group he’s in besides the one at hand. It’s at a point where you could picture the man struggling to navigate the Aldi toiletry aisle without some joker derailing his quest for bog roll by enquiring as to the whereabouts of the next Tool record.

The writing and recording of the Los Angeles’ post-metallers’ long-anticipated sixth LP is a subject perhaps best left exclusively to its authors until it’s ready; Keenan’s current focus is Puscifer, a shape-shifting multimedia project that started life as a sketch in David Cross and Bob Odenkirk’s mid-90s comedy serial Mr Show.

An inside joke, first pitched as “a premiere improvisational hardcore band” that morphed into a clothing range and a series of surrealist collages torn from the Terry Gilliam playbook, Puscifer was finally made flesh by 2007 album V is for Vagina. Latest (and third) release Money $hot has lent the project a more serious status, acutely aware of the very present threats of climate change, rampant egomania and a Trumpled America. Still, let’s keep a sense of humour.

The Skinny: Puscifer has been around in one form or another for two decades now. This is your first European excursion – what held you up?

May 2016

Every project you do and every challenge you accept, that’s part of the contract; you’re trying to figure out how to make that work. Every time you do it again, you’re hoping to do it better. Sometimes you take risks – take a right or a left turn – to experiment in some way. I don’t ever think that those experiments are failures, they’re all a learning experience where you build. You’re correct in assuming that there’s a little bit more of a focused vision on this compared to the earlier records; we’re always finding our way.

Maynard James Keenan: We started messing around with it in ’96. But as far as an actual fulllength album being released, that didn’t come until 2007, after ten years going. So yeah, Europe – finally! It’s an independent project, travelling overseas. We knew we’d lose money coming over there, especially because people don’t really buy albums anymore. So we had to wait for the audience to convince the promoters to bring us over. We’ve always had an audience over there but until you can get the promoter to foot the bill, we couldn’t risk losing our ass. I’d probably just come for a lovely vacation, honestly.

One of your recent gigs in Vegas was described as ‘comedy cabaret show meets guerrilla theatre.’ Is that a fair summary of what we can expect over here?

We change it up quite a bit, but as far as this particular tour goes, we’re probably going to stick with what we’ve been doing in the States recently.

We’re on a roll with it, there’s no reason to change it up right now, but I can guarantee that if we circle back to the UK again it’ll be a different thing.

That’s just the nature of Puscifer; it’s a show, not just a band regurgitating its songs at you.

There’s definitely adjustments we make night to night – like any band, I’d hope – but when you have the vision of what we have in mind, it’s almost like a play in a way. There’s a lot of things that can’t change because every moment hinges on the

You’re dealing with lofty themes but a sense of humour has been one of Puscifer’s defining characteristics from the start. Is it a fine line to walk without becoming the guy shaking his fist at the sky?

My favourite films and TV shows are always the ones that have a little bit of a message or there’s a little bit of tearjerk in there somewhere, but it’s basically comedy. The social commentary made by projects like League of Gentlemen, Little Britain, Monty Python, there’s always some kind of poking fun at humanity in general, but in a way they can be constructive in that they’re shining a light on our idiocy. I think it’s an important balance to have the humour in there too.

Social responsibility has been a recurrent theme throughout the lyrics of both Puscifer and Tool over the years. What fed your muse for this particular album?

I just think – I don’t know if you agree – but there’s a sense of entitlement that’s actually amplified by social media and the access people have to expressing their shit, uninformed opinions on everything. Then they’re leaning on those opinions as if their opinions have foundation. Like, ‘I won that debate because my opinion is there.’ Well no, that’s not a debate. Anyone who has ever been involved

MUSIC

in any kind of a debating class or course will tell you that you’re not allowed to be up on that stage unless you actually have an educated or informed foundation. Your opinion alone does not cut it.

Puscifer has involved a rotating cast of terrific musicians over the years that must be hard to keep hold of – whether it’s Danny Lohner, Alain Johannes, or Gil Sharone. Is it fair to say you’ve found a permanence with the current band?

Yeah, I think we’ve all somehow found our rhythm between working on other projects and the availability to work on this. If Jeff Friedl, the drummer, were to call me in six months and say, ‘I’m going to be working with this band for the next 18 months; I won’t be available,’ he’s totally OK with me and Matt having somebody else come in and play drums in his place because he understands that’s the flexibility we’re affording him as an indepen-dent musician. We’ve settled into a particular core group of people that work well.

We can have guests come on for the recordings rather than necessarily become a part of the live group.

Paul Barker [Industrial metal don, formerly of Ministry] has recently joined for this tour.

I imagine you must have a lot of shared history; how’s that working out?

He’s great – he’s kind of like the Godfather. He’s the new guy and yet he’s the old guy. It’s fun to have him out here with us because his personality’s awesome – he doesn’t take any shit. I mean, you wouldn’t – the dude was in Ministry! So we love having him.

What do you get out of Puscifer that you perhaps haven’t from your other outlets?

I think in general, once you’ve established yourself in what used to be the record industry, you’re kind of locked in to what people’s perceptions are of you in those projects. I’m a big fan of AC/ DC, and you know what to expect from AC/DC. If they suddenly came out with a jazz record, you’d probably fuckin’ shoot yourself. With Puscifer, there’s a lot more flexibility, We’re not just a band, we’re a multimedia project. We could take a right turn completely into animation, and nothing you see from us is anything but a show on Adult Swim. We have that flexibility.

Finally, what’s your prediction for the US Presidential race?

Here’s the thing, I’m Italian and I’m Irish. The Italian side of me is the wine and food making family man; the Irish side is the shit-talking, ‘comedy first, always’ side. So I’m very divided.

Because all the fuckin’ awesome jokes that are gonna come out if Trump leads the US – the humour, the tragedy and the awful stuff that’s gonna happen – is gonna be fodder for comedians for decades. And the end of the United States. Of course, the practical side of me thinks, ‘I’ve seen this before; I think it’s called ‘Germany, 1931 to 1938.’ Idiocracy is no longer a comedy, it’s a documentary. Idiocracy is where we are.

Puscifer play Manchester Bridgewater Hall on 30 May. Money $hot is out now puscifer.com

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Album of the Month Gold Panda

Good Luck and Do Your Best [City Slang, 27 May]

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When you look beyond life’s gauntlet of insufferable bullshit, sometimes we do live in a bright, wonderful world; Derwin Panda has decided it’s time to draw back the curtains and take a good look at it. Good Luck and Do Your Best is imbued with shiny-eyed, openhearted optimism, and built with all the sensitivity and care that we’ve come to expect from anything Gold Panda touches. Evocative of Derwin’s most recent travels through his beloved Japan, it’s also

Mutual Benefit

As We Make Our Way (Unknown Harbours) [The Flower Shop Recordings, 13 May]

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Slipping effortlessly between wispy, lo-fi gospel and warm trails of orchestration, the second album from Mutual Benefit (aka Jordan Lee) doesn’t want for scope, the prevailing mood coy, lithe and appealing. A little reminiscent of late-period Spiritualized or a mariachi-weaned Beirut, Lee weaves delicate patterns, minor keys reflecting off the major, Wayne Coyne-esque vocals floating gently on the tides of reminiscence.

Skip A Sinking Stone isn’t an immediate record, and neither is there anything particularly novel in its utilisation of imagery, but that’s picking holes for the sake of it; tracks such as Getting Gone and the titular Skipping Stones balance naturally, the harmonies gentle, the acoustic guitar, piano and strings positioned with grace (even Nocturne, the brief, mid-point instrumental – is beautifully phased and elegantly phrased).

“We can see stars from here; why would we go back anywhere?” sings Lee on Lost Dreamers. And like a starry night, the view from here is something to treasure. [Duncan Harman]

Robin Proper-Sheppard has always had a way with love. Of viewing it at odd angles, teasing out the strands of heartbreak almost before hearts have been broken. No more so than on As We Make Our Way (Unknown Harbours), his sixth studio album as Sophia; it may have been seven years since the last LP, but he’s lost none of that frisson. “I don’t know why we’re always resisting,” he sings on the sonic bruise of Resisting, guitars wailing wraith-like in the background.

A record full of patterns, playing restraint (The Drifter) against intensity (St Tropez/The Hustle) to create something deliciously slow-burning and tender. And while conforming to indie rock trope through its guitar-driven posture, there are enough strands of discordance and electronic noodles to make this an enticing listen musically as well as lyrically. The sound of being all grown-up yet still lost and confused; it’s a grand return.

[Duncan Harman]

mutualbenef.it

sophiamusic.net

Misha

Yoni & Geti

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In its original conception, Testarossa comprised the soundtrack to a script formulated by Why? mainman Yoni Wolf and fellow alt rapper Serengeti. Essentially, it concerned a young couple whose lives go into freefall: Davy jets off with his band while Maddy’s left at home to raise their kids, and the album itself presents us with snapshots of their relationship’s dying embers.

Serengeti in particular is darkly captivating when portraying the self-obsessed Davy; his fried, matter-of-fact mutterings alternate between outlandish tales of bedhopping across Europe and flashes of grim self-awareness. ‘I’m a poltergeist,’ he regretfully exclaims in one of the record’s recurring themes, suddenly mindful of both his invisibility and his culpability.

Wolf ’s typically lush backdrop meanwhile takes in sun-blurred psychedelicism and Pinback indie groove, all cut to a deft hiphop pulse that’s both brightly hopeful and mournfully direct. Davy is very far from sympathetic, but there’s a raw tenderness here that keeps the tale under Yoni and Geti’s redoubtable spell.

[Will Fitzpatrick]

mishatheband.com

joyfulnoiserecordings.com

MEANS [Play It Again Sam, 20 May]

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Swedish/American four-piece Fews finally let loose over ten full tracks, after teasing music bloggers last year with tracks The Zoo and Ill. On debut record Means, both songs emerge present and correct from the gloom, making good on their promises to cause deep-seated, shattering damage: Industrial echoes ring out from behind tense, terse lyrics pronouncing that ‘time is on my side,’ as sprawls of icy feedback open up and raze the earth.

Means is shadowed and dizzying, sour and fleeting. The album captures the essence of an indie sound that’s almost universally considered to be jaded, and proves that its framework is ripe for a renovation. So while there’s a touch of Bloc Party’s heyday in the jittering hedonism of single 100 Goosebumps, Fews leave no stone unturned. Careful details like the post-dub inflected fadeout to 10 Things and the chilling, swinging hand-clap in Drinking Games ensure that MEANS retains all of the mystery and enigma that made this record so anticipated. [Katie Hawthorne] Playing Dot to Dot festival, Manchester on 27 May fewsmusic.com

38

Review

White Lung

Paradise [Domino, 6 May]

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2014’s sterling Deep Fantasy saw White Lung thrashing away under a mushroom cloud of eardrum-rattling guitar effects – a triumphant honing of everything they’d done before. This fourth album feels like a further refinement; the melodies bigger, the textures more cryptic. For instance, Below wrenches a soaring chorus from soft, reverb-drenched beginnings, while Hungry’s wracked, refracted riffs are somehow both woozy and full of purpose.

There’s certainly an air of transition – White Lung seem caught between their desire to rock noisily and at pace, and their fast-developing melodic sensibilities – meaning that Paradise is a better pop record but less immediately fun than previous offerings. Still, with Mish Way’s storytelling abilities in finer fettle than ever, and the title track’s explosive, arms-aloft romanticism delivered as the kiss-off (“I’m all about you / You’re all about me too”), there’s more than enough to ensure their journey is still worth tagging along for. [Will Fitzpatrick] Playing The Star & Garter, Manchester on 29 May whitelung.tumblr.com

Kate Jackson

Testarossa [Joyful Noise, 6 May]

Misha’s All We Will Become is apparently inspired by themes of “reincarnation and renewal”, and you can see why the idea of a fresh start might appeal. Following 2007 debut Teardrop Sweetheart, the New York-based duo went ominously quiet; since then, break-ups both personal and professional have cleaved the act in two, leaving multi-instrumentalist John Chao to mount a belated second act alone.

Well, almost alone: former foil Ashley Yao may have departed, but guest vocalists permit Chao to revisit the gentle boy-girl harmonies of calling card Summersend – a dynamic that’s particularly effective on billowy pop number Limelight and the sweeping dramatics of In Reverse.

The latter’s elegant strings contribute towards an impressively diverse sound, making Misha a one-man band with real depth and breadth – though also something of a confused identity, at times jumping between styles a little too readily. The next incarnation should set that right; hopefully we won’t have to wait another nine years to know for sure. [Chris Buckle]

FEWS

iamgoldpanda.com

Sophia

Skip A Sinking Stone [Transgressive, 20 May]

All We Will Become [Tomlab, 20 May]

an exploration of life’s little things. You can almost hear the dust on the vinyl he’s sampling from; as Gold Panda’s deceptively simple repetitions start to unfurl, you realise that his technical wizardry refuses to reveal its component parts.

Instead, Good Luck and Do Your Best is more easily deciphered through visuals and nostalgia, memories of making tea or of splashing in a puddle. Pink and Green journeys slowly, almost imperceptibly, from day into dusk; the dulcimer on Time Eater is quietly, woozily bizarre; closer Your Good Times Are Just Beginning gives you a big hug with loungey, warm brass. So pretty, so welcoming, so ridiculously clever. [Katie Hawthorne]

British Road Movies [Hoo Ha Records, 20 May]

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The equal – at least – of the two dazzling artworks she delivered with The Long Blondes, Jackson’s solo debut comes eight years after guitarist Dorian Cox’s unexpected stroke caused the Sheffield band to split. No fear: Jackson’s “big pop record” is worth the wait and then some. Produced by Bernard Butler, its ten tracks hum with greedy ambition.

From pulsing dance beats (six-minute opener The End of Reason), barrelling, breakneck funk (Metropolis, Stranded) or blissed-out guitar pop (Homeward Bound, where Butler’s Les Paul and Jackson’s rarely heard higher register combine to dizzying effect), British Road Movies showcases a clear-sighted and absorbing vision.

By the time the spoken word 16 Years unravels a memory haze, filmic in its detail (‘Your house was bright with dirty patterned carpets / I wish I’d said how much I’d wanted to be ordinary…like you’), all bets are off. Jackson’s return is a wonder of creative design and timeless, classic style. [Gary Kaill] katejackson.co.uk

Holy Fuck

Malcolm Middleton

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Congrats [Innovative Leisure, 27 May] Holy... shit. Chimes Broken, the opening track to the saintly, sweary Canadians’ surprise new album will smack you in the teeth, twice. Three times, even. Holy Fuck have crammed a fistful of heart-racing, adrenaline-pumping club bangers into a blender, and smashed the result through a sieve (with a hammer). If you’re still hanging on, white-knuckled, by the mid-track EDM build that evaporates into a full-frontal assault, then you know you’ve got the guts for the rest of the record; Congrats.

Holy Fuck are back, and they sound lean, mean and punk as... y’know, fuck. Congrats isn’t all hell for leather, though. Neon Dad transcends its surroundings to become a mirage of shimmering melody and angelic, choral voices. But the peace doesn’t last long; House of Glass is built on shards of funk, only to be ritually demolished by a sound which can only be described as lasers. From massive, bashy beginnings, Congrats opens out into an album of very real, rippedrule-book excitement; it’s exhausting and exhilarating and wonderful. Roll out the red carpet, Holy Fuck deserve it. [Katie Hawthorne] holyholyfuckfuck.tumblr.com

RECORDS

Summer of ’13 [Nude Records, 27 May] Malcolm has never shied away from the innate joy of the great pop record, and by engaging the production services of Miaoux Miaoux (alongside input from Lone Pigeon, De Rosa’s Martin John Henry and Scott Simpson of First Aid Kit), Summer of ’13 would very much be Middelton’s Pet Shop Boys moment – were it not for his lyrical candour. It's unashamedly primarycoloured, flaunting its 80s influences, yet the juxtaposition of cathartic, downbeat lyrics and dance-inclined electronica doesn’t always work. The highlights – Steps, You & I, Like John Lennon Said - are led astray by synth-pop patterns ill-suited to his voice (the title track's a slowed down/sped-up vocal sits awkwardly in the narrative).

He’s to be commended for trying something beyond his comfort zone; the production is pristine, the nostalgic references both witty and elegant. But for any listener beholden to the folk-aligned contemplation behind much of the rest of Middleton’s canon, Summer of ’13 remains an anomalous curio. [Duncan Harman] Playing Leaf, Liverpool on 3 Jun and The Deaf Institute, Manchester on 4 Jun malcolmmiddleton.com

THE SKINNY

Ghold

Marissa Nadler

Summer Cannibals

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Pyr [Ritual Productions, 6 May]

Strangers [Bella Union, 20 May]

Full of It [Kill Rock Stars, 27 May]

OWCH. You know that feeling when someone repeatedly bashes your skull with a meat tenderiser until it caves and the bone splinters and the pain goes fuzzy at the edges and your brain begins to swell and gradually the sensation dawns on you that you’ve transcended existence and you can see through time and space and meanwhile the hammering just DOES NOT STOP? Pyr is a pretty good approximation of that, with its brutally heavy riffs played at a creeped-out crawl, and fleshed out at length by spacious blasts of tonal, teeth-shattering texture.

The opening three tracks feel pretty overpowering, but midpoint monolith Despert Thrang is where the album really does the business: 30 minutes of their remit writ large, making for one exhausting thrill ride. Admittedly, so much doom und drang gets exhausting – it’s certainly not for the faint-hearted – but Ghold will blow minds even while beating them into oblivion. [Will Fitzpatrick]

Seven albums in, Boston native Marissa Nadler reunites with producer Randall Dunn, who recorded 2014’s July, and continues in much the same vein. That clean mezzo-soprano (and it is, as ever, quite beautiful) is framed by a backing austere but full; processed guitars amid an ocean of reverb.

Atmosphere is everything in Nadler’s oeuvre. The dynamics of her songs and their careful arrangements are sketched with subtlety: there are few ‘big’ moments. With that in mind, it’s the beefier, fuller tunes that stand out. Katie I Know and Janie In Love are gripping full band realisations of Nadler’s delicate compositions.

Nothing Feels the Same has the same haunted, shadesdrawn languor of Lana Del Rey’s Ultraviolence, and there’s a clue to the problem. Both artists favour style style over substance, but Nadler’s work is ultimately less storied than Del Rey’s and too under-dramatised to really connect, to really hurt. [Gary Kaill]

The Portland band arrive on this, their third album. A ferocious – and ferociously cerebral – collection, these 11 songs rattle your sternum while messing with your mind. This time around, singer Jessica Boudreaux’s songs retain the garage tradition and filthy grooves of her band’s earlier work but amid the bombast – and Summer Cannibals are a genuinely threatening force – lies a thoughtful and intelligent lyrical profile.

If you’re the subject of the likes of Talk Over Me (‘It’s not just how you talk over me, it’s… everything’) or Go Home, which spits and snarls like prime Babes in Toyland, heaven help you. Every one of these songs is a rough-hewn diamond but the sweet-sour nugrunge of Fallen is a dizzying stand-out. No wonder Kill Rock Stars were so keen to land them: Summer Cannibals’ hard-rocking but politically astute manifesto was made for that most savvy of labels.

They deserve to be stars: let’s help them with that. [Gary Kaill]

ghold.bandcamp.com

marissanadler.com

summercannibals.com

Christine Ott

Only Silence Remains [Gizeh Records, 20 May]

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Methyl Ethel

Eagulls

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Oh Inhuman Spectacle [4AD, 20 May]

Ullages [Partisan Records , 13 May]

A studied enactment of both vision and virtuosity, Only Silence Remains is Christine Ott’s latest solo work, following on from her 2009 debut Solitude Nomade. Surprising, perhaps, for an artist with such a deep musical history, but her collaborative instincts have largely taken priority and contributed to the work of Radiohead, Yann Tiersen and Tindersticks over the past two decades.

Here, her singular methodology manifests itself as a lyrical chamber gothic, detailed by piano, strings, minimal percussion and the infamous ondes Martenot: the theramin-like instrument used extensively in recent years by Jonny Greenwood. Ott’s compositions are shadowy and minimal, the melodies subtly sketched, and arrangements given space and light. It makes for a set that rewards repeated listens. From the haunting solo piano piece No Memories to the delicate Danse Avec La Neige, Only Silence Remains toys with mood and tone with practiced ease. [Gary Kaill]

Australian multi-instrumentalist Jake Webb explores a fascination with texture, arrangement and mood on his debut album. 4AD’s patronage makes perfect sense: Webb’s songs straddle the line between electro-pop and screwy psychedelia, and he’d find a welcoming crowd, you suspect, at both Reading and Creamfields. Even though Rogues, with its clean guitar lines that recall 80s alt-pop, and Twilight Driving (a hint of NZCA Lines) are not identikit dance-pop, they benefit from a feel and a groove that’s smarter than your average indie kid tinkerer.

Hopefully, now that Webb has seen fit to expand Methyl Ethel into a touring three-piece, he’ll be able to retain the clean lines on display here because when he really sets his vison free, it’s hugely appealing: Depth Perception, in particular, is a woozy wonder.

Ulltimately, Oh Inhuman Spectacle relies on its construction and craft at the expense of killer tunes, but it’s never less than likeable.

[Gary Kaill]

So angry and vitriolic was Eagulls’ 2014 self-titled debut that there was a temptation to head for Leeds, make them a cup of tea and suggest maybe they take up a nicer hobby. A reputation for offstage antics and lurid ‘open letters’ only increased the perception that here were a group of lads who need to, well, calm down a bit.

In truth, while that debut did move at breakneck speed, it was driven by a sweetly melodic post-punk bent; a course Eagulls continue to steer in here. As a result there’s a beautiful shimmer that covers this record in a pleasingly shoegaze haze that recalls kindred spirits The Horrors on magnificently echoey opener Heads or Tails. Elsewhere the dark sonic palette of The Cure and Echo and the Bunnymen seems to have been adopted on the chiming Euphoria which could sit comfortably on either Pornography or Heaven Up Here. Both blissful and bloody-minded, Ullages is raincoat-clad gift from goth heaven. [Jamie Bowman]

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methylethel.com

eagulls.co.uk

Beth Orton

Julianna Barwick

Arbor Labor Union

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Kidsticks [Anti, 27 May]

Will [Dead Oceans, 6 May]

More layers than your average onion, frenetic drumbeats, looped to high heaven, reverb-heavy and driven by flickering guitar and synths: Snow is a blistering introduction to what is a blistering return from Beth Orton. This is album number seven, and while the middle three were pleasant (there were moments of real beauty on 2012’s Sugaring Season), they didn’t excite the listener in the manner of Trailer Park or Central Reservation.

Now, teaming up with Fuck Button Andrew Hung, it’s easy to remember Orton as the enfant terrible who popped Es into William Orbit’s mouth and produced some of the finest records of the late 90s. Orton’s vocals are simple, often mantra-like, chopped and stratified to coalesce beautifully with the fine bed of electronica, and it works a treat. Lead single Moon cries out to be remixed, while 1973 – perhaps the straightest song here – is disco-tinged gold. This is an album swimming with inventiveness, quality and variety: it’s good to have her back. [Finbarr Bermingham]

The latest from the Brooklyn-based composer offers further fascination for those hypnotised by the ambient soundscapes of 2013’s breakthrough Nepenthe.

Barwick has spoken of her desire to flesh out her instrumentation this time around but the encroachment of synthesised sounds is a reassuringly underplayed tweak of her methodology. As such, the closing See, Know, crafted around a pulsing synth figure and building to a crashing euphoria, helps distinguish Will from Barwick’s earlier work. Its coda/comedown is a heady, exultant exit.

Diversions aside, Barwick’s compositions are largely built around her familiar choral loops and string backing. On Same, keys and cello soar in glorious uplift: an ersatz fanfare. St Appalonia is a glorious mini-symphony where her vocals rise and fall like lapping waves. Will is a deeply dramatic showcase throughout – Barwick’s vision might have its foundation in traditional forms but the way in which she deconstructs and rebuilds is a distinctly renegade act.

[Gary Kaill]

bethortonofficial.com

juliannabarwick.com

Outblinker

JC Flowers

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The Remains of Water Peck [Stabbed In The Back Records, 7 May]

Driving Excitement and the Pleasure of Ownership [ATP Recordings, 6 May]

A three-track sneak peek of the album due out later in the year, the latest EP from the Glasgow five-piece balances precariously between the ecumenical and the heretical, as if having spirited themselves away to Orkney, and a medieval church with evil Fuck Buttons/Blanck Mass mastermind Ben Power in the High Priest role, has tilted the mood towards M.R. James territory.There’s something intrinsically unsettling to The Remains of Water Peck; a triptych of slyly dramatic electropsych motifs pulled through a series of ever tighter apertures, track titles referencing Ghostbusters and Freddie Mercury’s birth name pepper proceedings with the slightest of pop cultural winks. Bulky chords drift inand out, the percussion subtle, Power’s production offering a neatcounterpoint to the momentum – by the time 11-minute closer Ernest Becker (named after the American anthropologist) expires, there’s a genuine sheen of perspiration in the listening; if only attending church was always this enlightening.

[Duncan Harman]

Londoners JC Flowers are certainly full of ideas. Baudrillard is loftily cited on the press release, suggesting a knowing angle to their classicist psych-pop, and they’re skilled alchemists when it comes to arrangement, whether suffocating or shimmering. The slow-burning Dust Planet comes layered with lush acoustics, gentle atmospherics and a thoroughly pretty approach to melody, while abstract electronic sketches punctuate the album, lending an ethereal otherness to their pastoral charms.

Where Driving Excitement… falls down isn’t so much the music or its execution, merely its staying power. As eminently lovely as it all feels, there’s little of their artful understatement that actually lingers in the memory (a breezy cover of Bowie’s China Girl aside), much less that cuts directly through to the heart. You suspect there’ll be more and possibly even better to come. It’s just a shame their debut feels muddied, rather than fuelled, by glimpses of their potential. [Will Fitzpatrick]

facebook.com/outblinker

facebook.com/JCFlowersgiveup

May 2016

RECORDS

I Hear You [Sub Pop, 13 May] Grizzled riffs that – across nine sprawling tracks – deliberately shun any hint of sophistication, the debut from Georgia-based four-piece Arbor Labor Union is a curious beast (over and beyond the fact that they’ve previously released a long player under former name Pinecones).

As an exercise in grinding, guitar-driven repetition, I Hear You pootles along under its own steam, less concerned with melody as occupying the space, vocalist Bo Orr singing (or rather ‘singing’) with a monotone burr suggesting he’s suffering from stomach cramps.

Yet however much interest the band either attempt to whip up or consciously ignore (and moments such as I Am You do foster a psychedelic undercurrent, just as Volume Peaks swims against fret-based interplay that’s never fully explored), as a whole the experience lacks the nuance and multiple textures required to make such guitar-centric endeavours a real delight. [Duncan Harman] subpop.com/artists/arbor_labor_union

The Top Five 1 2 3 4 5

Gold Panda

Good Luck and Do Your Best

Yoni & Geti Testarossa

Beth Orton

Kidsticks

FEWS

MEANS

Sophia

As We Make Our Way (Unknown Harbours)

Review

39

Bright Tomorrow The Skinny interrupts Andrew Hung’s holiday in Hong Kong to find out what makes the prolific Fuck Buttons man tick

Photo: Yn Dali

Interview: Finbarr Bermingham

I

n a city that consists only of crowds, the one gathered to see Andrew Hung play his first solo gig in Hong Kong can be considered modest.

Nonetheless, the occasion is one of personal significance for the artist, best known as one half of Fuck Buttons. Hung is of Hong Kong descent and visits the city almost annually. He’s got his folks in tow and has been spending the time bulking up on dim sum and street food. “Usually, I just come here to holiday and get fat,” he confesses over a beer a few days later.

This time, though, he was coerced into performing and – shorn of his partner Ben Power (Fuck Buttons, Blanck Mass) – had slight jitters, wondering how to turn the music he’d coaxed from a Gameboy onto two fine EPs last year into a live performance. “I was Googling: ‘What’s the difference between playing live and DJing?’”

But he needn’t have worried. The set, enlivened by a kaleidoscopic and occasionally disturbing visual show by Scotsman Mike Middleton, was a lot of fun. The 8-bit stylings are fleshed out by moments of chipper dub. It’s a world away from the beautiful noise he creates on the day job, to which ‘fun’ is not normally an adjective freely prescribed.

It’s his solo work, Hung says, which has finally given him the answer to an interview question journalists never tire of asking. “I guess looking at my work and comparing it to Ben’s, it shows that he’s probably ‘fuck’ and I’m ‘buttons,’” he volunteers, unprompted. At the bar at the Social Room – a tiny venue hidden away on an obscure floor number amid the myriad skyscrapers that make up Hong Kong island – he is approached by a girl claiming to have had “an epiphany” during his set. This seems to be music to Hung’s ears, as he delves in for further information. Throughout conversations he reveals that for him, music is all about emotional attachment. The epiphany?

Both parties politely declined to reveal.

A few days later, we’re sat in Club 71 nursing glasses of Tsingtao. The bar, a favourite for artists and their clingers-on, was named for an annual protest march held on 1 July in Hong Kong in memory of the Tiananmen Square massacre, and demanding democracy, universal suffrage and other basic human rights. In the square outside the door, it’s said that revolutionaries plotted to overthrow the Qing dynasty

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Review

a century ago. On this balmy Wednesday in Asia, the results of America’s Super Tuesday are rolling in and it looks increasingly likely that Donald Trump will secure the Republican nomination. It seems appropriate to talk politics.

Hung, in a porkpie hat and a t-shirt emblazoned with tigers, thinks the prospect is equal parts terrifying and fascinating. “He’s gonna do it, isn’t he? He’s gonna become the next president. I don’t know how to feel about it,” he says, but part of him thinks that it’s a process America and the world must go through: a cleanser, perhaps, of the ‘political class’ and a sign that we’ve reached rock bottom. He compares Trump to Nigel Farage and Rupert Murdoch, all the while questioning the very concept of democracy. “These politicians don’t actually have the power, do they?” he postulates, suggesting that the aforementioned Trump and Murdoch have been pulling the strings for so long, they may as well do it from the White House.

US politics aside, today is of significance for Hung, too. Earlier this afternoon, Beth Orton’s new single dropped, a precursor to an album he’s spent months producing with her in Los Angeles. Like many a teenager of the late 90s, Hung fell in love with Orton’s first two records, and when he got the call to work with her on Kidsticks, he jumped at the chance.

“We just wrote it together,” he explains. “I didn’t do any lyrics, but musically we worked on loops. I loved that on her early stuff and this is a return to that electronic sound,” he says, clearly excited. Orton is notoriously shy, but Hung says that as the pair worked together more, he was able to tap into what she really wanted to get from this record. Moon, the single, is superb – a real evolution for Orton, but one which is also impossible not to compare to the salad days of Central Reservation. His real talent, he says, is drawing out emotional intelligence: capturing a feeling through sounds.

Many artists wheel out such vagaries, only to leave the recipient tittering at the thought.

This reporter once held back sniggers as George Lewis Jr of Twin Shadow lambasted those who ignored the lyrics on hit single Five Seconds, preferring instead to wax about the eightiesness of the sound (extract: “Five seconds in your heart

/ Straight to your heart / I can’t get to your heart / She said, five seconds in your heart / Straight to your heart / I can’t get to your heart”, and so on).

But as the beer flows and the conversation continues, it’s clear that Hung is not bullshitting.

The labels cast on Fuck Buttons (noise, postrock, experimental, drone) don’t ever seem to capture the fact that their work is entirely visceral. Revisiting Street Horrrsing eight years after its release, the goosebumps appear on cue: it sounds positively primal (Bright Tomorrow and the segue into Colours Move, in particular). His conversation, too, is perceptive and inquisitive.

By the time we part, it’s unclear who has interviewed whom. It’s an intangible concept, though, emotional intelligence, and one which Hung admits he has struggled with in the past.

“Looking at my work and comparing it to Ben’s, it shows that he’s probably ‘fuck’ and I’m ‘buttons’” Andrew Hung

“I used to be really self-conscious about that question,” he says when asked what he brings to Fuck Buttons. “I can play any instrument for 30 seconds, over and over. Give me a keyboard, a guitar, an accordion, but 30 seconds is my limit.”

His perceived lack of musical precocity, he says, looks all the more withering when he’s sat next to Ben – a multi-instrumentalist of some repute.

“Over the last few years I’ve become more confident in what I bring to the studio, though.”

Case in point: late last year Jim Hosking approached Hung to produce the soundtrack for his new movie, The Greasy Strangler – a

MUSIC

bizarre, twisted and highly entertaining film.

After initially offering him free rein over the project, Hung pushed him for some parameters.

“I asked him how he wanted it to sound. What sorts of feelings he wanted to convey.” He got his answers, and bunkered down in his new home in rural Norfolk to devote himself entirely to the project. “It was the most intensely I’ve ever worked on something,” he says. But it worked: he captured exactly what Hosking had been looking for. The film went on to be named one of the finest at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and most recently brought down the house at SxSW in Austin.

He’s been a busy man, Hung. Fuck Buttons were commissioned to write a track for Jean Michel Jarre’s Electronica 1: The Time Machine project last year, appearing alongside the likes of Moby, M83, John Carpenter and Pete Townshend.

The overall compilation is patchy, but there are a few gems on there, of which Immortals is one.

“We just got the call saying that he wanted to work with us and to be honest, you don’t really turn down Jean-Michel Jarre,” Hung says. Jarre sent the band a load of “noodling” on a synth via Dropbox and dared them to do their worst. The process continued, Postal Service-style, until they landed on something they liked.

Over the next few months, Fuck Buttons will reconvene to start work on album number four. The band’s dynamic couldn’t be any more different than the work done with JMJ. Nothing is pre-planned, nor ever has been. “We just go into a studio and jam, like we always have,” says Hung, excited once more at the prospect. He seems, in fact, quite excited about most things and it’s refreshing to speak with someone who loves what they do so much. Perhaps it’s because he’s on holiday.

As for the immediate future, in two days he’ll fly to Singapore for the second part of his solo Asian mini-tour. “I’m half thinking of just playing a set of Fuck Buttons songs, not mixed, one after another. I tried it once and it went down a storm,” he says. And why not? After all, they are fucking excellent.

Andrew Hung’s Rave Cave EPs are out now. His collaboration with Beth Orton, Kidsticks, is released on 27 May soundcloud.com/andrew_hung

THE SKINNY

Win a pair of tickets to Writing on the Wall’s after party!

This year, Liverpool’s Writing on the Wall festival is delving into the wonderful world of Afrofuturism with Future|Journeys, and The Specials’ Jerry Dammers is providing the DJ set at the after party at District on Saturday 21 May. Jerry Dammers is a founder member and principal songwriter of The Specials, one of the most significant bands in UK ska/punk history. As well as establishing 2 Tone Records, which helped develop the 70s/80s ska revival, he also became an anti-apartheid campaigner, helping to create Artists Against Apartheid in the US and writing the song Free Nelson Mandela in 1984.

We’ve got a pair of tickets to give away to join Dammers for the Afrofutures party, where he’ll be DJing from his extensive repertoire of skapunk-dub fusion through to the wilder edges of jazz, avant-garde and Sun Ra inspired Afrofuture tunes.

May 2016

Win a pair of tickets to 32 Rue Vandenbranden at HOME!

To be in with a chance of winning, simply head to theskinny.co.uk/competitions and correctly answer this question: In which UK city did The Specials form? a) Birmingham b) Wolverhampton c) Coventry Competition closes midnight Wed 18 May. Entrants must be 18 or over. Winners will be notified via email within two working days of closing and will be required to respond within 24 hours or the prize will be offered to another entrant. Our Ts&Cs can be found at theskinny.co.uk/about/ terms More info: festival.writingonthewall.org.uk @nextstopnewyork | @afrofutures_UK | @wowfest

One of our favourite places in Manchester, HOME, is giving you the chance to win one of three pairs of tickets to the Olivier awardwinning 32 Rue Vandenbranden (Mon 23-Wed 25 May).

With cinematic set design, jaw-dropping physicality and a soundtrack featuring Stravinsky and Pink Floyd, 32 Rue Vandenbranden is a mesmerising, darkly comic show from Belgian dance company Peeping Tom. For your chance to win a pair of tickets, simply head to theskinny.co.uk/competitions and correctly answer this question:

COMPETITIONS

Where is the dance company Peeping Tom from? a) France b) Coventry c) Belgium Competition closes midnight Tue 17 May. Entrants must be 12 or over. Winners will be notified via email within two working days of closing and will be required to respond within 24 hours or the prize will be offered to another entrant. Our Ts&Cs can be found at theskinny.co.uk/about/ terms More info: homemcr.org/32-rue-vandenbranden

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Guest Selector: Recloose

Skinned #13: Richard Searling

Detroit native Matt Chicoine uncovers eight incredible LPs from the Motor City ahead of his latest, long-awaited Recloose record

The soul connoisseur delivers a batch of hot northern soul numbers for our Skinned mix series

Photo: Dave Walker

Interview: Daniel Jones

I

was unbelievably lucky to live in Detroit as a young DJ/producer in the 1990s, soaking up the city’s musical energy at spots like Three Floors of Fun (St Andrew’s Hall), Record Time’s dance room, and Carl Craig’s EMLAS studio. That time had an indelible impact on what I do musically so it seems appropriate to make an oddball mix of (just a few) favourite records also made in or influenced by Detroit.

Joe Henderson – Power to the People [Milestone, 1969] So Joe Henderson was from Lima, Ohio, originally, and this was recorded in New York City, but there’s little doubt his early jazz pedigree owed a lot to his time in Detroit playing alongside locals Donald Byrd, Yusef Lateef and Barry Harris. There are so many great Joe Henderson records but Power to the People is a favourite, the go-to cool-out record I had on repeat when I lived in Detroit. Featuring fellow Detroiter Ron Carter, not to mention Herbie Hancock and Jack DeJohnette.

Bohannon – Stop & Go [Brunswick, 1973] Another Detroit transplant, Hamilton Bohannon migrated to the city from Georgia at the behest of Little Stevie Wonder in the mid-1960s. While this album, Bohannon’s first, was recorded in Chicago, I’d argue it’s still very much a Detroit record, as most of the band came from the post-Motown talent pool (e.g. The Counts’ Mose Davis and Leroy Emmanuel, ‘Wah Wah’ Watson, Ray Parker Jr, Travis Biggs). Hands down Bohannon’s deepest full-length, with early disco funk cuts like Stop and Go juxtaposing Alice Coltrane-esque It’s Time for Peace and my favourite cut, Save Their Souls.

Harold McKinney – Voice and Rhythms of the Creative Profile [Tribe, 1974] Harold McKinney was a cornerstone of the city’s jazz scene and one of its most important music educators (Amp Fiddler and Jeremy Ellis both took lessons from him). This album, on the seminal Tribe label, showcased his considerable vision via cuts like In the Moog and his cover of Freedom Jazz Dance. Detroit-styled spaced-out jazz funk at its best.

Parliament – Motor Booty Affair [Casablanca, 1978] Parliament-Funkadelic recorded the majority of their material in Detroit at the legendary United Sound System Studios and were a major part of the city’s musical fabric throughout the 1970s. This aqua-themed masterpiece is one of my favourites – so many bombs from the chart-topping Aqua Boogie to the infectious

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Review

Rumpofsteelskin… So funky. And I’d speculate the water narrative had a lot to do with Drexciya’s later H2O-themed sci-fi output.

One Way feat. Al Hudson – One Way feat. Al Hudson [MCA, 1979] I befriended One Way songwriter/bassist Kevin McCord a few years ago and as a result really dug into how many amazing songs he wrote. This is probably the best known One Way record, with Kevin penning the unstoppable Music and smash hit You Can Do It. But this is only the surface. Check Alicia Myers (I Wanna Thank You, Say Say Say), Oliver Cheatham (Get Down Saturday Night), many of the standout Soul Partners/One Way joints, as well as his under-sung self-released output from the 80s (see Presents and Chance Records). I put the needle to Kevin’s records when I need a lift...

Cybotron – Enter [Fantasy, 1983] Not exactly Detroit’s techno blueprint, but Juan Atkins’ new wave/electro futurist outfit (with Richard Davis and Jon 5) signalled the sound shift that was about to come (catalysed in large part by P-Funk and radio DJ Electrifying Mojo). Skip the rock joints and go straight for Juan’s songs – Alleys of Your Mind, Clear, Cosmic Raindance and Cosmic Cars are the bona fide jams here. I can’t hear these cuts and not be transported back to listening to Detroit radio in the 80s.

Psyche/BFC – Elements 19891990 [Planet E, 1996] Carl Craig’s earliest output probably had the most direct influence on my own start as a producer. This material really captivated me, bridging the emotional edge at the forefront of a lot of Detroit-based electronic music with more funk and sample-based syncopation that I was also digging in hip-hop production. Essential C2…

Derrick May – Innovator [Transmat, 1998] Derrick never released an album, instead dropping a series of brilliant 12”s through the mid-80s and early 90s and this compilation assembles most (but not all) of his most important cuts. While I’m sure he had his reasons I’d always wished Derrick hadn’t put producing on the back burner – he had so much to say (with words and music) and inspired a new direction for techno music. There is a scarcity of dance music now that captures the same energy, emotion and spontaneity that Derrick was able to with these songs.

Recloose’s forthcoming Honey Rocks EP is available via Aus Music at the end of May. Keep your ears peeled at recloose.com

The Skinny: Listening to your radio show on BBC Manchester is often like a lesson in the history of so many great soul artists. How do you keep up to date with all the info of these people?

Richard Searling: The time I spend planning the content of the BBC Stoke and Manchester programmes (both are different each week) far outweighs the actual broadcasting time, but I think it gives me a point of difference versus other shows. I’m also learning all the time as we discover together just how the music and the people behind it moved through their careers. I want my next show to always be my best show.

The tale of Dean Parrish goes down in northern folklore... what other great tales of artists have you come across in your time?

Finding Gerri Granger last year has to be right up there – and to then be able to persuade her to come and sing for us at the forthcoming Blackpool International Soul Festival. Other highlights would include getting Barbara Lynn over for the first time ever, bringing Willie Hutch to perform his 60s repertoire and also flying in the northern legend that is Frank Wilson.

How do you hunt down records these days?

To be honest the days of hunting down records are limited to the months I spend in America and the odd record fair here and there in the UK. However, I am still discovering plenty of great music from within my own collection.

You originally started DJing at VaVas in Bolton; how did you first get the gig?

I received a call out of the blue one day by a friend who knew I had been to the States and had a few rare records. I also lived in Bolton which probably helped.

How did VaVas compare to the Casino?

A totally different set-up. VaVas was very modern and with such a small dancefloor and, on the face of it, it should not have worked. However, there was nowhere else, so the timing was perfect!

From those days I have fond memories of titles like Laws of Love (The Volcanos), Easy Baby (The Adventurers), Tainted Love (Gloria Jones) and those fabulous adverts that the management used to place in Blues and Soul magazine!

CLUBS

What were your most and least favourite Wigan records?

Most favourite: Country Girl by Vickie Baines, and I Don’t Like to Lose by The Group featuring Cecil Washington.

Least favourite: Papa-Oom-Mow-Mow, and Footsee!

The northern scene is known predominantly for 45s, but what great soul LPs have stood the test of time for you personally?

Willie Hutch – Soul Portrait [RCA].

Larry Williams and Johnny Watson – Two for the Price of One [Okeh].

Darrell Banks – Darrell Banks Is Here [Atco].

Linda Jones – Hypnotized [Loma].

A potentially difficult one: if you had to choose your favourite male and female vocalist out of them all...?

It’s not, actually! Marvin Gaye and Gladys Knight.

We spoke to Kev Roberts last year and he said that the greatest soul venue in his opinion was the Torch, would you agree?

No, I would go for the Twisted Wheel in Manchester, but only the 1966-71 period. Before that it was a blues club.

What projects are you currently working on?

Plenty of projects, with the BBC shows being my main priority. It’s an honour to work for such a prestigious and professional organisation. Venue-wise then it’s undoubtedly the first Blackpool International Soul Festival, which takes place at the Winter Gardens over the weekend of 17-19 June. We are bringing in Bettye Lavette, Bobby Hutton, Dee Dee Sharp and, for the first time ever, Gerri Granger. We are also more than delighted to have Motown’s first A&R man, Mickey Stevenson, flying in to host a prestigious Q&A session at the event.

You can also catch my weekly Sunday afternoon soul programme for Solar Radio (Sky channel 0129). This year I’m confident I will be releasing more limited edition 7” vinyl box sets with Universal Music. The Motown and the Capitol ones flew out!

Listen to Richard Searling’s Skinned mix at theskinny.co.uk/ clubs richardsearling.co.uk

THE SKINNY

Come Fly with Me Get out of the country. No, seriously – here’s our Clubs editor’s pick of the best festivals abroad

Dimensions Festival

Weather (3-5 Jun, Paris, France)

Weather returns to the wide open tarmac of Le Bourget airport (just north of Paris) this year, following last year’s mammoth expansion to a nearby national park. Whatever reason behind the return, the quality of the lineup remains – Soulphiction, Pender Street Steppers, Blawan and a rare hip-hop set from Robert Hood. There’s also the handy addition of a campsite this year, a good excuse to stock up on croissants.

Meadows in the Mountains (1013 Jun, Rhodopes Mountains, Bulgaria)

May brings sunshine, outdoor parties and even sweatier basement dancefloors to the North

The misty mountaintop setting of Meadows in the Mountains is the stuff of hedonist mythology, particularly at sunrise. As well as the carefully curated artists on display – this year’s first batch includes co-founder of Uncanny Valley, Albrecht Wassersleben, Henry Wu and the Yussef Kamal Trio – this one’s all about an other-worldly feel that few festivals can match. Not to mention the infamous Death Slide…

Words: Jess Hardiman Illustration: Nick Cocozza

Sónar (16-18 Jun, Barcelona, Spain)

Clubbing Highlights Manchester

Hidden continues to prove itself as one of our favourite clubbing dens on Fri 6 May, as we get a visit from techno superduo Karenn, aka the collaborative efforts of Blawan & Pariah (£15).

Joined by Berlin’s Sigha and Project 13’s Divided, it’s looking to be a good ’un.

The next day it’s another corker from the Banana Hill stable, who’ll be blessing us with the Manchester debut of Dutch production duo Umoja down in the Soup Kitchen basement (£7).

Known for their experimentation with beats from Africa, South America and beyond, expect a mashup of sturdy grooves and lifting, sunny world sounds.

Speaking of which, on Fri 13 May it’s time for another instalment of Awesome Tapes from Africa at The Deaf Institute (£10), where everyone’s favourite cassette collector will be celebrating his special tenth anniversary – as always, via the untrodden avenue of the finest hidden gems that the African music network has for us.

Two equally viable shouts on Sat 14 May, with trustworthy party-starters Selective Hearing throwing Ilian Tape’s Zenker Brothers into the mix at Hidden for an extended set alongside residents Cleric and Reflec (£13.50), while Ruf Dug’s Dancers Wanted returns to Soup Kitchen on the same night for an undulating, underground and sweaty good time – on this occasion with added Antinote Records boss, Zaltan (£7), who’ll no doubt come armed with his usual bounty of unearthed rarities.

It’s back to Hidden again on Fri 20 May, where Levon Vincent heads a lineup also

May 2016

featuring DJ Deeon, Anton Fitz, Bobby Ganoush and others (£15), before the month begins to bow out on Sat 21 May with the So Flute boys, who’ll be bringing Garth Be (£6) along with them to The Whiskey Jar.

Liverpool

303 celebrate their third birthday on Sat 7 May, taking to their spiritual home at Williamson Tunnels with groovemeister Daniel Avery in tow, who’ll be playing all night long to keep those celebratory vibes riding high into the small hours (£13).

On Sat 21 May, it’s time, surely, to mark the onset of summer out in the Constellations garden with the first of three MODU:LAR Open Air sessions, kicking things off with tINI, Julietta, Funk E and Piticu (£22.50).

And because the good people of Liverpool also deserve a fix of Awesome Tapes from Africa just as much as their Mancunian brethren, the afro-centric DJ and global hero will be popping down to 24 Kitchen Street for an appearance on 28 May (£12).

Leeds

Meanwhile, we’re looking forward to the return of The Garden Party after its first iteration at The Faversham at the beginning of the month.

For round two on Sun 29 May, the party branches out to Canal Mills for a one-off special at the venue, enlisting the likes of DJ Koze, Ame, Bicep and more for an all-dayer of tunes, food, drink and art (£30).

One of the bigger beasts in this list, Sónar’s lineup spans all forms of electronic music. As well as the wealth of safe bets on display, it’s one of the largest festivals in Spain that remains dedicated to showcasing new talent, ranging from the playful to the avant garde. There’s also a whole programme of showcases, workshops and intended meeting points for likeminded creatives, if you’re into that sort of thing. Acts so far: The Black Madonna, Ata Kak, DVS1 & Rødhåd, Magic Mountain High.

Norbergfestival (28-30 Jul, Norberg, Sweden)

The main stage at Norbergfestival is a towering industrial column once used for iron ore extraction – pretty odd, right? So’s much of the music.

Catering to the more experimental, drone-y scope of techno, Norbergfestival is an AV assault of the highest calibre. The music’s serious, there’s plenty of workshops and trading going on and, if nothing else, it’s a wonderful insight into how the Swedes like to get down.

Into the Valley (29-30 Jul, Rättvik, Sweden) Our Scandinavian brethren really are spoilt for choice at the end of July, what with this two-day knees up in a former limestone quarry. Although previously hosting a number of classical opera and rock concerts, it’s only recently that this spectacular background has been coupled up with dance music. The lineup is no mean feat either, already featuring Omar S, Move D and KiNK among a wealth of big names.

CLUBS

Dekmantel (4-7 Aug, Amsterdam, Netherlands)

Set once again in the leafy surroundings of Amsterdamse Bos, Dekmantel brings in yet another huge batch of top quality electronic artists. The lineup remains largely unchanged from the previous couple; but then there’s really no need to alter anything. Different passes will get you into different parts of the programme, particularly day and night, so read into your options carefully. Acts so far: ESG, Shackleton, Moodymann, Moritz von Oswald and many more.

Nachtdigital (5-7 Aug, Leipzig, Germany)

A very hot ticket. General sale always sells out within minutes for this intimate little shindig not too far from Leipzig. If you missed out first time around, follow the instructions provided by the festival for people looking to resell tickets – they curb the prices so if you find a ticket then you don’t have to pay way over the odds.

Tauron Nowa Muzyka (18-21 Aug, Katowice, Poland)

The words ‘nowa muzyka’ translate to ‘new music’ in Polish, giving you some idea of this festival’s intentions, though surely the main thing here is that the heart of the festival is located in an abandoned coal mine. Not a surprise that Tauron is considered one of the best small events in Central Europe. Acts so far: Deadbeat, Kassem Mosse, The Orb, Roni Size’s Full Cycle Sound.

Festival Forte (25-27 Aug, Montemor-o-Velho, Portugal)

Incoming bargain alert! A one-stage setup in an 800-year old castle, playing host to a technoheavy lineup that already includes Apparat, Rødhåd and Ben Klock. This time around marks Festival Forte’s third instalment, and the offering diverts a little further from that solid techno core every time. If you’re looking to plan a few extra days into the trip, the castle site sits spitting distance (depending on propulsion) from nearby tourist hub Figueira da Foz. Acts so far: Marcel Dettmann, Ben Klock, Apparat, Helena Hauff.

Dimensions (25-28 Aug, Fort Punta Christo, Croatia)

Still the most likely jewel in Croatia’s everexpanding crown, Dimensions has the lot. The regular opening concert in the town’s old Roman ampitheatre cuts the tape in the most memorable of ways – this year it’s Massive Attack on first. As for the main lineup, what can you say; it’s more a question of who’s not on it. The organisers have also recently announced a pretty major coup: an exclusive live performance from Larry ‘Mr Fingers’ Heard – now that’s a headliner.

And if you’re feeling less adventurous, we’ve a guide to some of the best fests for a boogie in the UK, too – check theskinny.co.uk/clubs

Review

43

Photo: Dan Medhurst

Words: Daniel Jones

Film Event Highlights This month we’ve two new festivals (one celebrating TV, the other sci-fi), some audiovisual shenanigans at FACT and an opportunity to see a 13-hour epic by a French New Wave master Words: Simon Bland

Mustang

F

irst up this month is a once-in-a-generation cinephile event. HOME, in Manchester, pay tribute to the late, great Jacques Rivette with a screening of his grandest experiment: epic Out 1. This Paris-set odyssey follows two theatre troupes, two conspiracy nuts and a shady organisation called the Thirteen over 13 head-scratching hours. Don’t worry, HOME aren’t showing it in one go, but over two days split into episodes (2829 May). Basically: if you can binge on a season of Breaking Bad in a weekend, this’ll be a doddle.

Talking of TV, the guys behind Grimm Up North host Pilot Light TV Festival (5-8 May), which celebrates the golden age of television we’re currently enjoying with a selection of episode-binge sessions and guest panels. Don’t miss their Nathan Barley retrospective with postscreening discussion (6 May, HOME), queer dating web series Her Story (7 May, HOME) or Matt Berry presenting a tenth anniversary showing of black comedy Snuff Box (8 May, HOME).

If you’ve come here looking for cinema recommendations that are feature length, then Liverpool’s Small Cinema have some crackers: you’ll find little-seen Jodie Foster thriller The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (12 May), a selection of super-short short films screening on LightNight (13 May), a retro VHS re-run of Friday the 13th (13 May), ace black comedy Nebraska (15 May) and South Korean love story 3-Iron (22 May).

Out 1

Liverpool’s FACT serve up a mini-Studio Ghibli season leading up to the June release of the new one, When Marnie Was There. The studio’s staggering debut Laputa: Castle in the Sky warms us up (11 May), with childhood gem My Neighbour Totoro (18 May) and the war-torn Grave of the Fireflies (25 May) following shortly after.

FACT also play host to the mighty Video Jam (20 May), who’ve curated a night of experimental film and live music in response to FACT’s current stunning exhibition, untold, from artist Ryoichi Kurokawa, with several of the audiovisual pieces specially commissioned for the night. The films and performers are still to be announced at the time of writing – keep an eye on theskinny.co.uk/ film for more info.

Grimm Up North also launch Supernova International Film Festival (27-30 May) at Manchester’s Odeon Printworks, a sci-fi counterpoint to their October horror-fest. Moonwalkers, starring Rupert Grint and Ron Perlman, kicks things off (27 May), with choice cuts including 2001: A Space Odyssey (date TBC) and a special extended ‘Assembly Cut’ screening of the underrated Alien 3 (date TBC), complete with critic, cast and crew Q&A. This tireless lot have even got a Grimm Up North screening of Day of the Dead at Gorilla (11 May) scheduled, with a live soundtrack score by Goblin. That’s right, in Manchester, everyone can hear your screams of excitement.

44

Review

Everybody Wants Some!!

Mustang

Everybody Wants Some!!

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Director: Deniz Gamze Ergüven Starring: Güneş Nezihe Şensoy, Doğa Zeynep Doğuşlu Released: 13 May Certificate: 15

Director: Richard Linklater Starring: Blake Jenner, Ryan Guzman, Tyler Hoechlin Released: 13 May Certificate: 15

There’s an image in Deniz Gamze Ergüven’s self-assured first feature that could have been plucked from Sofia Coppola’s own auspicious debut, The Virgin Suicides: five sisters, abruptly shut off from the outside world due to overbearing guardians, luxuriate on the floor of their bedroom, draped across one another as if posing for a pre-Raphaelite portrait. Unlike Coppola’s languorous film, however, there is little resignation here; the girls brim with youthful verve and joyful defiance.

Set in a gorgeous Turkish landscape, Mustang follows the girls through their imprisonment, training for wifely duties (including “virginity checks”), and their subsequent marrying off one by one. Through it all, their spirits remain largely unbroken (aside from an abrupt, somewhat ill-advised plot twist).

The Ankara-born, France-raised Ergüven plants anti-Turkish government Easter eggs throughout the film, but it’s also a raised middle finger to conservative ideas of female propriety in a more universal sense. The girls eventually manage to turn the very system of oppression against itself, striking a note of fantasy wish-fulfilment that feels as earned as it does invigorating. [Michelle Devereaux]

Richard Linklater’s ‘spiritual sequel’ to Dazed and Confused is a seemingly aimless comedy but it has hidden depths.

At his best, Linklater’s films feel so casual and effortless, it’s only later that you realise how deep they go. Everybody Wants Some!! is a lively ensemble comedy following a group of college baseball players as they pursue their dreams and (more pressingly) girls. Linklater’s typically fluid, relaxed direction makes it a pleasure to spend time in the company of these characters.

It might seem aimless at times, and nothing more than a good time at the movies, but, in reaching into his own past to make this film, Linklater is also trying to capture the mixed emotions of a key transition point in his life, and the film feels considerably weightier as it drifts towards its climax with the focus shifting to a burgeoning relationship between Jake (Jenner) and Beverly (Zoey Deutch), promising broadening horizons and new possibilities.

It’s a shame that Beverly is the only female character of note, though, and (along with the clunky title) Linklater’s thin and surprisingly crass depiction of women throughout the film is his only real misstep.

[Philip Concannon]

Green Room

Évolution

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Director: Jeremy Saulnier Starring: Anton Yelchin, Patrick Stewart, Imogen Poots Released: 13 May Certificate: 18

Director: Lucile Hadžihalilović Starring: Roxane Duran, Julie-Marie Parmentier, Max Brebant Released: 6 May Certificate: 15

Green Room, Jeremy Saulnier’s follow-up to Blue Ruin, trades the latter’s revenge-thriller territory for the mode of siege movie – albeit one with a twist along the lines of Blue Ruin’s architect of revenge being an inept, hangdog vagrant. Here the besieged party is a young punk band trapped in the green room of a backwoods club they’ve begrudgingly agreed to play.

The party keeping them from leaving? The club’s very far-right staff, including proprietor Darcy (Stewart, in a wonderful piece of stunt casting), after the band witness a crime the neo-Nazi group is extremely keen to cover up.

The specifics of Green Room are best left unspoiled beyond that basic set-up, for Saulnier has crafted a nerve-shredding exercise in tension, and occasional outright horror, with a mean streak that never comes across like shallow excess. It may not aim for profundity regarding violence in the way Blue Ruin does, but with its tight, economic storytelling ( Assault on Precinct 13 is a worthy comparison), it’s arguably better for keeping things simple and scary. [Josh Slater-Williams]

Ever since writer-director Lucile Hadžihalilovi teased that she was working on an original feature over a decade ago, fans of unsettling Gallic cinema have been waiting with bated breath. The resulting Évolution makes for a fittingly uneasy diptych with her debut, Innocence (2004). Where that earlier film brought the uncertainty of postmodern cinematography and storytelling to a traditional gothic, female-centred tale, Évolution is a queer science fiction body horror in the vein of Lovecraft and Cronenberg.

Nic (Brebant), a young boy on the cusp of adolescence, lives a simplistic, littoral life in a mysterious, austere village populated by other uniform mother-son pairings. Haunted by the visceral sight of a dead boy’s decomposing body that Nic discovers while diving, his mother tries to comfort him. “The sea makes you think horrible things,” she says. This consolation is prophetic: as Nic’s mère and la mer blur, a most disturbing vision of conception, birth and child-rearing unfurls. [Rachel Bowles]

Knight of Cups

Love & Friendship

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Director: Terrence Malick Starring: Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, Natalie Portman Released: 6 May Certificate: 15 “You don’t want love, you want a love experience,” proclaims Delia (Imogen Poots) while talking to Rick (Bale), the tormented screenwriter at the centre of Terrence Malick’s Knight of Cups. It’s as if she’s addressing the audience directly, yet those familiar with Malick’s distinct blend of poetic visuals and philosophical ideas have come to expect nothing less than euphoria. With Knight of Cups, Malick completes a triptych (which includes The Tree of Life and To the Wonder) of personal studies into the purpose of existence, the majesty of nature and the shortcomings of man. Part auteurconfessional, part industry critique, we follow Rick as he navigates, almost comatose, through a succession of Hollywood parties, strip clubs and minimalist apartments in an apathetic assault on apathy.

The film’s title refers to a tarot card and each scene is presented like a pictogram for the viewer to assign their own meaning. Occasionally this leads to profound moments of personal enlightenment, yet more often than not Malick’s pursuit of beauty feels like self-parody, culminating in a frustrating experience where meaning is as elusive as plot.

[Patrick Gamble]

FILM

Director: Whit Stillman Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Chloë Sevigny, Xavier Samuel Released: 27 May Certificate: U

In a perfect marriage of artists, Love & Friendship sees Jane Austen’s early novella Lady Susan adapted by writer-director Whit Stillman. The result is his most commercially accessible work to date, but fans will be pleased to hear he’s not lost any of the precision or punch of his previously divisive, ironic-romantic comedies (Metropolitan, Barcelona, Damsels in Distress).

Alongside a uniformly strong international ensemble, Stillman reunites Beckinsale and Sevigny, his leading ladies from 1998’s The Last Days of Disco.

The former astonishes, delivering her best performance since that film, as a Machiavellian matchmaker. Both subtly and unsubtly wreaking havoc among various groups across 1790s England, her character is blissfully unaware of her self-absorption and its ludicrousness (“facts are horrid things”).

Speaking of the blissfully unaware, while the more pointed social satire delights, a consistent scene-stealer is Tom Bennett as a doltish suitor, who’s slow catching on to basically everything. He provides some of the most riotous scenes of any recent film. Indeed, with its immaculate balancing of wit both broad and droll, this is one of the funniest comedies of manners since the heyday of Ernst Lubitsch. [Josh Slater-Williams]

THE SKINNY

The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant

Ran

Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder Starring: Margit Carstensen, Hanna Schygulla, Katrin Schaake Released: Out now Certificate: 15

DVD Extras: In Life Stories: A Conversation with RW Fassbinder, we find the dishevelled, chain-smoking director in contemplative mood as he discusses his life and career up to that point in 1978.

One subject discussed is his relationship with his actresses, a theme picked up in the 1992 documentary Role Play: Women on RW Fassbinder, wherein Margit Carstensen, Hanna Schygulla, Irm Hermann and Rosel Zech recall their often difficult experiences working with Fassbinder. It’s nice to have a female perspective on the commentary track too, with Diane Charleson offering a thoughtful exploration of the film’s themes. [Philip Concannon]

Director: Howard Hawks Starring: Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Rita Hayworth, Richard Barthelmess, Thomas Mitchell Released: Out now Certificate: U

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When you consider that Rainer Werner Fassbinder is known primarily for producing films at a ridiculous rate, most of which were fuelled by copious amounts of drugs, one of the most revelatory aspects of his work is how formally accomplished and beautifully composed it constantly is. The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant is a masterclass in mise-en-scène. Fassbinder and his cinematographer, Michael Ballhaus, utilise the single location in which the drama unfolds with astounding ingenuity, maximising the space available to them and arranging the actors in a way that speaks volumes about their characters and their relationships.

Material that could easily have felt stuffy and stagebound in the hands of a lesser filmmaker is crafted into something thrillingly cinematic here, and Fassbinder’s acute understanding of human desire and pain ensures the film sustains a strange, haunting tension throughout. Like Sirk and Losey, Fassbinder had a way of establishing a sense of distance and artifice in his work while simultaneously drawing emotionally rich performances from his actors, and the work done by Margit Carstensen and Hanna Schygulla – two very different actresses engaged in a slow dance of lust, manipulation and obsession that can only end in despair – is wondrous.

Only Angels Have Wings

Director: Akira Kurosawa Starring: Tatsuya Nakadai, Mieko Harada, Daisuke Ryu Released: 2 May Certificate: 12A

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A battle rages and the screen is filled with flying arrows, flames and bloodied corpses. Everything here is familiar but in any given moment there’s a glimpse of unplaceable beauty. It’s only when the action slows right down and there’s time to sweep the screen slowly and take in every piece independently that you really see how perfectly Kurosawa has composed each scene. The placement of everything, the pace of everything, the crimson of each splash of blood and the mist that rolls across the mountains – everything has been arranged exactly so.

Ran was the historical epic that crowned Kurosawa’s illustrious career, a dazzling, boldly coloured return to form following a period of personal distress and professional inertia.

Rereleased by StudioCanal to mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, his breathtaking adaptation of King Lear proves, so far at least, to be as immune to the effects of time as the original. They might have been divided by centuries and continents but through pure mastery of their craft, Sensei and the Bard now occupy the same position of total reverence within their medium.

Hollywood giant Howard Hawks’ Only Angels Have Wings charts a week in the lives of a bunch of American pilots running a dangerous airmail service out of the fictional South American port town of Barranca. Jean Arthur stars as a lively performer who arrives in time to witness a fatal air crash and fall for chief-flyer Geoff (Cary Grant). Despite some intricate plotting, Hawks keeps things loose as he explores love, life and professionalism in the wake of trauma.

The ensemble, which includes an early role for a knockout Rita Hayworth alongside Grant, Arthur and a terrific Thomas Mitchell (who won an Oscar later that same year for John Ford’s Stagecoach), fire on all cylinders. Hawks films them in wide shots, often including three or more characters in the frame at once, as he expertly allows the onscreen relationships to develop as much through the interplay of loaded glances and physical gesture as through the zippy dialogue.

Only Angels Have Wings deftly expresses its director’s pragmatic existentialism with a tale of wit, adventure and tragic melodrama. As he did with the New York newsroom in His Girl Friday and the Caribbean hotel in To Have and Have Not, Hawks conjures a rich, fully functioning world and fits it into just a few DVD Extras: The second disk of the new edition offers interviews sets. It’s a film thick with fog, bourbon and cigarette smoke that with various members of the cast and crew, all of whom shed a lit- will leave you with a lump in your throat, a smile on your face and tle light from another angle on to the mythos of Kurosawa. Taken in the roar of aircraft ringing in your ears. tandem with the naturalistic documentary AK, the extras provide not only anecdotes and factoids to supplement the film, but actu- DVD Extras: American home-video titan Criterion thunders into ally offer a deeper appreciation of the meditative methods by the UK market with a handsome 4K restoration of one of the great which it was made, a sense of which is imbued in every frame of the Hollywood movies. Extras include a short but insightful interfinished film. For example: in one moonlit scene in which the grass view with critic David Thomson and an enthralling audio interview glistens gold against the black of the night, the moon wasn’t sitting in which critic and filmmaker Peter Bogdanovich coaxes a gruff where Kurosawa wanted it to be. So he drew his own and hung it in Howard Hawks into discussing style and technique. [Tom Grieve] the sky. [Ross McIndoe]

For more DVD reviews, go to theskinny.co.uk/film/dvd-reviews

Art Highlights

So many exhibitions, so little time... Here's our Art editor’s selection of the most interesting new exhibitions in Liverpool, Manchester and beyond this May. Contains Bacon, biennials and buildings. All the Bs Words: Sacha Waldron

C

ould it be? Is that summer gently rapping, tapping at our chamber door? It would seem so, judging by the amount of flesh on view these last few weeks across the region. We seem to have gone very rapidly from two jackets and a scarf to flip-flops and exposed midriffs. Moving swiftly on...

Liverpool Biennial approaches...

All art chatter seems to be about whether you went up to Glasgow International and what’s coming up for the Liverpool Biennial, which opens on 9 July.

A lot of the artists on the Biennial menu are unfamiliar (to me at least), which is exciting, but you will see some familiar UK faces including Marvin Gaye Chetwynd, Lucy Beech and Birkenhead’s own Mark Leckey.

The full programme was announced just as we went to press and is to be split into six ‘episodes’, with 42 artists from 15 countries exhibiting existing work and new commissions – for more info, and personal highlights selected by festival director Sally Tallant, head to theskinny. co.uk/art. There is still time to apply to have your work featured as part of the Biennial Fringe (deadline 6 May) - head to biennial.com for more details on that.

May 2016

Women Artists: From 1861 to 2015

New exhibitions in Liverpool Tate Liverpool close their Matisse exhibition on 2 May and then on 18 May open a large retrospective of Francis Bacon and the first UK retrospective of Austrian painter Maria Lassnig.

If you are around on 7 May, Tate artistic director Francesco Manacorda will be leading a tour of their new(ish) permanent display, Constellations, which draws together works from the Tate collections and is often easy to overlook when you are visiting for a particular show.

New work by Hayley Tompkins at Touchstones Rochdale A new exhibition at Touchstones Rochdale celebrates the rather grating subject of ‘women artists’ from 1861-2015 and, more encouragingly, commemorates the gallery’s history of collecting art by women. Alongside work from bigger names such as Gillian Ayres and Cornelia Parker, the show will include newly acquired work from Hayley Tompkins. It will be interesting to see how Touchstones tackle the very broad subject matter, but it is good to see important sections of their collection – and story as a gallery/museum – come to light. Aside from the historical narratives, Touchstones will also be examining the challenges and limitations

faced by women working in the art world today, including mention of recent initiatives such as those from the Contemporary Art Society.

The exhibition runs for a year and will apparently keep being changed and re-hung. It would be so great, and seems important, if over this year Touchstones could make their research and collection interests more visible online.

Harness an enthusiastic member of staff and start a Touchstones blog at the very least...?

New exhibitions in Manchester Castlefield Gallery opens a new Launch Pad exhibition on 6 May called THE POWERHOUSE LIBERATION MOVEMENT, which includes Manchester Left Writers (Natalie Bradbury, Bob Dickinson, Steve Hanson and David Wilkinson) and selected submissions from the Castlefield Associates members. It’s all about what could be seen as ‘free’ spaces in the city – how might we identify them? Are their qualities just symbolic or are they real and practical? This obviously also has particular relevance to Manchester with the issues of rising homelessness in the city.

Head to the public opening launch night on 5 May (5pm) as there will be performances of poetry from Manchester Left Writers to accompany the work in the show and, rather amusingly, the quintet Vocal Harum will perform

DVD / ART

a collection of a cappella songs about buildings.

The performance will be repeated on 12 May as part of Manchester After Hours (7.30-9pm).

Briefly noted: Art in Leeds, Preston, Sheffield, Birmingham and the Lake District!

There’s so much more going on that there isn’t space to detail, but make sure you check out: - The Super Slow Way project, which launched in April and explores the creative possibilities of the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. superslowway.org.uk - The last month of Nathaniel Mellors at the Harris Museum, Preston (ends 4 Jun). harrismuseum.org.uk - Manchester’s Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art celebrating its 30th birthday with an exhibition by Lee Mingwei (ends 29 May). cfcca.org.uk - And, if you’re up for a jolly, the citywide art festival Art Sheffield (ends 8 May); the Lake District’s contemporary art programme Lakes Ignite (until 22 May); or the two excellent exhibitions currently on in Birmingham, Dan Flavin at IKON (until 26 Jun) and Prem Sahib at Grand Union (until 3 Jun).

Get out there and explore.

Find more previews and exhibition reviews at theskinny.co.uk/art

Review

45

Book Highlights This month we mark the 400th anniversary of Shakespeare’s death, and the region plays host to a whole load of festivals, including Manchester After Hours, LightNight and Writing on the Wall

Words: Jennifer Tsai

by Manchester Literature Festival, James will be reading and discussing his work, which includes his impressive third novel, A Brief History of Seven Killings, winner of the 2015 Man Booker Prize. Through a cacophony of multiple narrators, it gives a fictional account of the assassination of Bob Marley. Reminiscent of Tarantino in its use of stylised violence, the novel captures the political, cultural and historical context of Jamaica in the 70s and 80s.

Events in Liverpool

Joshua Hubbard - Physical at the Portico

Events in Manchester

To mark the 400th anniversary of the death of William Shakespeare, and to celebrate his life and work, the beautiful surroundings of the John Rylands Library will be illuminated, with lights, sounds and movement, as evening falls on 12 May. Neon Sonnets will see musicians from the Royal Northern College of Music perform compositions inspired by the Bard’s work, with one-hour performances starting on the hour at 6, 7 and 8pm.

The event is part of Manchester After Hours, which also welcomes live literature night Bad Language to the Manchester Jewish Museum for Voices of the City: a collection of short

stories and poems inspired by rare archival footage of Manchester from the North West Film Archive. Expect to hear from writers including Rodge Glass and Marli Roode.

Also part of MAH, the Portico Library hosts poet Andrew McMillan and choreographer Joshua Hubbard for Physical at the Portico, an imaginative mix of poetry and dance, and Manchester Left Writers bring live poetry and songs to Castlefield Gallery in their ongoing quest to find ‘free’ space in a constantly regenerating urban metropolis.

Jamaican novelist Marlon James’s appearance at HOME on 27 May promises to be an unmissable occasion. In an event promoted

BOOK OF THE MONTH

The Bones of Grace

Zero K

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By Don DeLillo

Liverpool’s eclectic Writing on the Wall festival kicks off with a series of literary events throughout the month. The theme of WoWFest 2016 is past, present and future explorations through various artistic mediums, including science fiction, comics and graphic novels. On 6 May the Bluecoat and Comma Press celebrate and remember the life and work of author Dinesh Allirajah at the launch of his collected works, Scent, on his birthday; and comedian and writer Francesca Martinez will grapple with the question 'What the **** is normal?' at the Liverpool Philharmonic, discussing her new book and talking about her own story of personal fortitude.

Elsewhere, the iconic dub poet and reggae artist Linton Kwesi Johnson returns for a hugely anticipated event on 7 May at the Black-E, this time appearing with Hollie McNish, the first poet to record at Abbey Road Studios and one already highly esteemed by fellow poets such as Kate Tempest and Benjamin Zephaniah.

On 13 May at the Casa, Irish writer Kevin

Lunatics, Lovers and Poets: Twelve Stories after Cervantes and Shakespeare

By Tahmima Anam

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Barry reads from his latest novel, Beatlebone, which surreally combines fantasy and reality in imagining John Lennon’s magical mystery tour in 1978. The novel sees Lennon go to the west coast of Ireland to try to find the island he bought 11 years before for £1550.

Finally, on the same evening, Liverpool’s one-night arts and culture festival, LightNight, brings the Scottie Road Writers to Central Library. Pop along to enjoy tales about growing up in Liverpool and some experimental takes on the sci-fi and crime genres.

Neon Sonnets, John Rylands Library, Manchester, 12 May, 6pm, free, library.manchester.ac.uk/rylands/whats-on/ shakespeare Manchester After Hours, 12 May, times vary, creativetourist.com/festivals-and-events/manchesterafter-hours Marlon James, HOME, Manchester, 27 May, 7pm, £8.50 (£6.50), manchesterliteraturefestival.co.uk/events/marlonjames-37092

Scent: The Collected Works of Dinesh Allirajah, The Bluecoat, Liverpool, 6 May, 7pm, free (booking required), festival.writingonthewall.org.uk Francesca Martinez, Liverpool Philharmonic Music Room, 20 May, 8pm, £12 (£8), festival.writingonthewall.org.uk Linton Kwesi Johnson and Hollie McNish, The Black-E, Liverpool, 7 May, 8pm, £10 (£8), festival.writingonthewall. org.uk Kevin Barry, The Casa, Liverpool, 13 May, 8pm, £6 (£4), festival.writingonthewall.org.uk Scottie Road Writers, Liverpool Central Library, 13 May, 8pm, free, lightnightliverpool.co.uk

Noon In Paris, Eight In Chicago

By Douglas Cowie

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By Daniel Hahn and Margarita Valencia

rrrrr ‘What’s the point of living if we don’t die at the end if it?’ observes a nameless monk in Don DeLillo’s 17th novel. It’s a question we find ourselves posing repeatedly in the first half: Jeffrey, our guide, arrives at a mysterious compound where his father’s ailing wife, Artis, is preparing for cryogenic freezing, until a future time where improved medical science can give her new life.

Relationships are strained and disconnected – particularly between Jeffrey and father Ross – and occasionally that transmits from the page to the reader, making for an uncomfortable experience in the opening stages.

Things settle down before the second act, however, and gradually the novel reveals itself to be more than a simple exercise in speculative, lightly philosophical what-iffery. It explores notions of control; how we flail at even the slightest sense of purpose or authority when they seem to be slipping from our grasp. How we seek to establish or relinquish them across relationships, identities and public personae. Most importantly, it’s an incredibly well-written work whose emotional punch sneaks up softly, DeLillo remaining an undisputed master of the stirring emotional précis.

That title, incidentally, refers to the unit of temperature known as absolute zero from which the compound takes its name, although ‘the temperature employed in cryostorage does not actually approach zero K.’ Despite its chilly beginnings, the novel never quite loses its warmth either. [Will Fitzpatrick]

Tahmima Anam first declared herself with the award-winning 2007 novel A Golden Age, soon followed by its equally acclaimed sequel The Good Muslim. These books explore the birth of Bangladesh, first through the eyes of Rehana Haque, then those of her daughter, Maya. Now returning with The Bones of Grace, Anam completes her trilogy with a story related by Maya’s daughter, Zubaida.

Splitting herself between her comfortable if mundane university life in the States and her comfortable if mundane fiancé in Dhaka, time for Zubaida seems almost to have stood still – until she meets Elijah, just days before leaving for a palaeontological dig in Pakistan. This brief encounter impels Zubaida to begin piecing together the fragments of her past.

Though superficially the least political of the triptych, the story poses the question of how individuals create meaning for themselves in a world where systemic exploitation is globalised and national borders increasingly hypothetical.

To articulate this very modern problem, Anam utilises that very old form of the epistolary novel.

Writing to Elijah, Zubaida explains that people fall in love by ‘narrating themselves into the sort of connection that they will later refer to as fated,’ and it’s through narrating the buried traces into connection that she attempts to make a cogent whole of herself. In contrast to the protagonist’s anxieties, this complex and elegant end to the trilogy easily lives up to its forbears.

[Rory Edgington]

Out 19 May, published by Picador, RRP £16.99

Out 19 May, published by Canongate, RRP £14.99

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Review

This collection gracefully exhibits 12 previously unpublished pieces inspired by two literary giants: Cervantes and Shakespeare. With six English-language authors (including Deborah Levy) writing with inspiration from the former, and six Spanish-language authors (including Yuri Herrera) writing with a similar nod to the latter, this collection is a celebration of literary ancestry, a family tree on an international level.

The voices of Shakespeare and Cervantes, fittingly claimed as the ‘two fathers of modern literature’ by Salman Rushdie in the introduction, can be heard echoing through their modernday children. Even if you aren’t an enthusiast of either, the short stories captured in the collection provide a broad range of style and energy, building an artistic bridge that brings new life to their legacies while celebrating the 400th anniversary of their deaths.

A strikingly crafted requiem, this anthology stylishly weaves together past and present, Spanish and English, the living and the dead. As the narrator of Ben Okri’s meta-modern, Don Quixote-inspired story comments, ‘When a person is touched by greatness might it not be because they are resonating with this subtle energy that runs through spiders’ webs and the intricate motion of the stars?’ This too can perhaps be said for Shakespeare and Cervantes, whose artistic resonance is beautifully repositioned within a modern and multi-lingual context in Lunatics, Lovers and Poets. [Rosie Barron] Out now, published by & Other Stories, RRP £10

Love: the greatest adventure; a high-stakes, perilous undertaking; a long-odds gamble, for the greatest reward. Its possibilities so often flail under its fated idealism: a fire doused by time, experience and – most crushingly – familiarity.

Hearts a-shudder becalmed by grey realities.

American post-war novelist Nelson Agren and French writer and intellectual Simone de Beauvoir were unlikely to ever allow love’s cruel vagaries to cloud their ardour. As they begin their lengthy on-off affair, flying between their respective home towns of Chicago and Paris, Douglas Cowie’s second novel unveils with documentary precision the impossible depth of their passion. Though their sexual connection is intense and real, Cowie favours understatement and suggestion over bedroom fireworks. As de Beauvoir arrives at Algren’s apartment building after months apart, words left unsaid heat the page: ‘She didn’t need to ring the bell.’

Cowie opts to show rather than tell, so as the couple’s relationship twists and sours with the years, he utilises a strong supporting cast (including de Beauvoir’s lover Jean-Paul Sartre) to flesh out a series of quietly devastating sequences. Their early playfulness (Algren sends her a telegram that says: ‘LOCAL YOUTH AWAITS ADVERTISED ARRIVAL OF CRAZY FROG’) is all but erased by the time de Beauvoir reveals aspects of their affair in her book The Mandarins. Love among the ruins and, as ever, nobody to blame but themselves. A classic story brought to life by classic storytelling. [Gary Kaill] Out 26 May, published by Myriad Editions, RRP £8.99

BOOKS

THE SKINNY

Ready to Dock

We go behind the scenes at the Invisible Wind Factory, Liverpool’s new arts venue from the team behind the Kazimier, and enter the world of spectacular opening show Omphalos – Energy Eternal...

Interview: Chris Ogden

W

hen Liverpool club the Kazimier closed on New Year’s Eve 2015, it celebrated with the spectacular sci-fi-themed party Escape to Planet Kronos. True to the venue’s inventive ethos, we waved goodbye to the Kaz as a giant spaceship flew off from the club’s home in Wolstenholme Square – a symbolic departure away from the old and into the unknown new.

Now the ship has landed in Liverpool’s desolate North Docklands, with the team behind the Kazimier rejuvenating a formerly derelict warehouse to create a spacious new arts venue, the Invisible Wind Factory. The venue will open with the immersive promenade experience Omphalos – Energy Eternal on 19 May.

“We want this to be completely unique” Liam Naughton

The Bauhaus-like art collective have owned a workshop in North Docklands for the last two years, making shows from their very beginnings: coming up with ideas, manufacturing sets and developing technology, all while running the Kazimier in Liverpool city centre. However, they quickly found their ambitions outgrowing the club’s size.

The Invisible Wind Factory now offers the group the space to create experiences that fit their visions, and to collaborate with other producers to amplify theirs. Managing director Liam Naughton emphasises that the Invisible Wind Factory will not be the usual warehouse venue, with the group’s eventual aim for it to include studios for artists, a coffee shop/bar and an outdoor garden.

“We’re making lots of our own things happen in this building and they’ll range from things people know us for, such as big party spectaculars, to really quite meditative immersive experiences,” says Naughton, speaking from the Factory’s new music editing suite. “We want to create a venue that’s more than a venue, more of an attraction: somewhere you can come for an experience. We want this to be completely unique in that it’s our home stadium, in that this is where we can make shows. They can happen for the first time here in Liverpool and then they’ll have a life beyond the building.”

The trailer for opening event Omphalos certainly makes it look incredible in its scale, chockfull of pseudo-scientific delights reminiscent of Ken Adam’s James Bond sets or Lost’s Dharma Initiative. Far from its origins in the first Invisible Wind Factory show in December 2014 – a party extravaganza with giant fans, dry ice and techno band Dogshow in a 360-degree levitating pod – Omphalos seems to have developed a mythology of its own, casually touching upon issues like fracking and renewable energy.

Omphalos (running 19-22 May) will be a fully immersive experience that is “part science museum visitors centre, part ritual and part operatic theatre,” Naughton explains. The event on Saturday 21 May will even be prefaced by a standalone dining session, a modular eight-course meal created by high-level chefs under the guise of an ‘operative training programme.’

“I think the best way to describe it is a bit like an astronaut’s dinner,” Naughton teases.

Tickets for Omphalos are priced at £25, and Naughton is keen to emphasise that Omphalos is a labour of love; not a party, but a unique one-off experience. “If we were going to reveal everything that’s happening, I think it wouldn’t be hard to sell it,” he says. “That’s the Catch-22: we can’t reveal all that’s in the show

and it’s important to keep all this a mystery, and somehow rely on the goodwill and trust of the audience.”

With more and more creatives fleeing the trappings of London, and events already planned for the summer, Naughton hopes that the Invisible Wind Factory will, in its small way, encourage revitalisation in the North Docklands area.

“We really care about this area and jobs happening, creating development, making an old zone come back to life again,” he says. “I think it’s important for any regeneration that happens that culture should be at its heart.”

Omphalos – Energy Eternal, Invisible Wind Factory, Liverpool, 19-22 May, 8pm (Saturday 21 May 2pm) thekazimier.co.uk

Stage School

Ahead of Liverpool’s Physical Fest, we ask the question: What is physical theatre?

Come on then, what is it?

Physical theatre is a genre that provokes mixed reactions. You either love it or you hate it – or maybe you just don’t get it. Something of a catchall phrase, physical theatre has become an umbrella term for any type of theatre that tests the boundaries of conventional, literary storytelling, and even the most well-known practitioners and companies are reluctant to offer a definition.

Simply put, physical theatre is any type of theatrical performance that focuses on movement and where the primary form of expression is physical. In other words, unlike in naturalistic theatre, physical theatre does not give the text primacy but rather sees it as a component part – or leaves it out altogether.

Perhaps it’s useful to first consider some of the common elements of physical theatre rather than try to force a succinct definition.

For starters, physical theatre is nearly always devised. Rather than using a pre-existing script, a piece will often develop from a concept or emotion and there is an emphasis on group collaboration and ensemble rather than direction.

More often than not, physical theatre is interdisciplinary, and combines many different art forms including music, visual arts and dance.

Furthermore, physical theatre is particularly concerned with, and relies upon, audience interpretation. Often provoking a visceral reaction from spectators, it ‘breaks the fourth wall’, so to speak, and in this way extends beyond the boundaries of all theatrical convention.

May 2016

Words: Jennifer Chamberlain

What are physical theatre’s origins?

Given its interdisciplinary nature, it comes as no surprise that physical theatre emerged later than other forms, though its roots can be traced back to ancient practices, such as the Commedia dell’arte. One of the most significant contributors to the development of modern physical theatre was Jacques Lecoq, a French actor and mime artist.

In 1956, in Paris, Lecoq founded L’École Internationale de Théâtre Jacques Lecoq, which is now one of the most famous and renowned theatre schools in the world, and has produced some of our greatest physical performers.

Offering a two-year programme, the school teaches Lecoq’s theories of neutral mask as well as mime, buffoon and clowning.

Interesting fact: Sacha Baron Cohen and Emma Thompson both underwent clowning training at École Philippe Gaulier, a theatre workshop set up by Philippe Gaulier, who was a former student of the Lecoq school.

Who are the UK’s leading physical theatre troupes?

Since the mid-20th century, countless contemporary companies have developed their own theories to add to the patchwork quilt collaborative effort of physical theatre. Like all theatre in the UK, national and fringe companies alike are flying the flag for interdisciplinary performance focused on physical expression.

Combining movement, design, music and text, Frantic Assembly is one of the UK’s

Hilary Chaplain appears at Liverpool Physical Fest 2016

leading physical theatre companies with a reputation for delivering exciting, high energy performances. Led by artistic director Scott Graham, who formed the company in 1994, Frantic Assembly focuses on ensemble performance and has collaborated with companies in 30 countries across the world.

One of its most recent and impressive collaborations was in conjunction with the National Theatre for its groundbreaking production of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

Telling the story of a teenage boy with autism, physical techniques are used in creating the worldview of a protagonist for whom verbal communication is so difficult. In 2015, Frantic Assembly was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Choreography for this piece.

DV8 Physical Theatre is a London-based company that straddles the worlds of contemporary dance and physical theatre, and in doing so represents how these two forms intertwine.

Artistic director Lloyd Newson finds the banner of physical theatre liberating, allowing DV8 to create performances beyond the limitations of

THEATRE

dance and giving the company the freedom to incorporate many different artforms simultaneously. Their performances take risks and dare to tackle socio-political issues through the medium of physical theatre.

Where can I see some great physical theatre?

Physical theatre festivals are an important platform for existing and emerging companies to showcase their skills and gain momentum.

Liverpool’s physical theatre festival Physical Fest, hosted by Tmesis Theatre, is the only festival in Europe that focuses solely on physical performance. Hosted annually in May, the nine-day festival includes workshops and performances from the world’s most talented physical theatre practitioners. It’s a celebration of the human body as our most exciting mode of expression, and a tribute to a style that is integral to the wider theatrical landscape.

Physical Fest takes place 20-28 May at various venues across Liverpool physicalfest.com

Review

47

Spotlight: Chris Cantrill The Delightful Sausage founder braves a grilling

Interview: John Stansfield Comedian final was a highlight and the opening night of The Delightful Sausage made me feel a tight, stabbing feeling in my heart, which was probably pride.”

Worst gig: “I was once the brains behind a comedy gig/ dining mash-up that was so excruciating it ruined great food and my self-confidence. And once I performed on a windswept houseboat, which was so much more surreal than anything I could have written.”

Favourite venue: “There are so many good shows knocking around that I’ve had the pleasure of performing on. But, for my money, you can’t get much better than doing a spot at The Stand in Newcastle. The crowd was 200 people all there for a laugh and I didn’t apologise.”

I

t’s a preconceived notion that alternative comedians hailing from the North have to move to London to ply their trade. There, they’ll thrive in a supposedly livelier scene that’s more welcoming than the one found in the mainstream comedy clubs back home, where ‘club comedy’ is often used as a pejorative. Chris Cantrill has kicked this thinking right in the face. After a successful couple of years in the capital, he’s set up shop in Manchester (admittedly still a little further south than his native Bradford), where he’s been wowing in support slots for Nick Thune earlier this year and creating an active and friendly hub in his regular night The Delightful Sausage, which takes place every month in The

Castle Hotel. An old soul with a very youthful mind, Cantrill blends his surreal thoughts with a likeability that’s synonymous with northern comedians, and is helping to change the perception of what it is to be a club comic north of the Watford gap.

First gig: “It was London, downstairs at the King’s Head back in the early days of Cameron’s reign. How did it go? Well, nobody makes the first jump but it did give me a heightened sense of anxiety and self-doubt that I was keen to feel again.”

Best gig: “Performing at the Leicester Square New

Best heckle: “Once I had ‘Your fly’s undone, you sick pervert’ and we all learned that it is possible for a microphone to pick up the sound of tears.”

What would you be doing if you weren’t doing standup?

“Full-time hacktivist, part-time surfer.”

If you could be haunted by anyone, who would it be and why?

“Nikola Tesla. His contributions to engineering and science helped to put electricity in our homes and usher in the modern age. I’d probably

take him to Bella Italia for a fixed-price set menu.

That’s if ghosts can eat authentic Italian cuisine.

Any ideas? Send a tweet.”

If you were on death row, what would your last meal be? And why are you on death row?

“You’re saying I can enjoy a delicious, freshcaught plate of salmon with seasonal green vegetables – steamed to perfection – and all I have to do is hammer my family to death? Sign me up!

(Chill out, Ruth – don’t write me out of the will.)”

What’s the largest animal you think you could beat in a fight? No weapons.

“I think I could take down a moose and I’d do it by using my charm and non-threatening facial features to lure it into a heavily populated shopping district. I’d hide in Accessorize while the authorities surround and exterminate it.”

If you lived in medieval times what would you do for a living?

“For but a turnip and thr’penny groat I’d clean out yer moat, m’lord.”

Question from past Spotlighter Chris Kehoe: What is the best Christmas present you have ever received?

“Ghostbusters fire station, circa ’90. Best and also still the biggest to date.”

Chris Cantrill plays Group Therapy at Gorilla, Manchester, 7 May (supporting Sam Simmons!) and Quippodrome at Gullivers, Manchester, 9 May The Delightful Sausage takes place monthly at The Castle Hotel, Manchester. The next one is on 18 May christopher-cantrill.com

A Tribute to Victoria Wood

Comedian Victoria Wood has died at the age of 62. Her career started before the modern comedy era – we explain why she leaves an important legacy

T

he thing about Victoria Wood is that she was always there; I never expected her to die, so I never thought that I would have to write these words. Growing up, she was the lady behind the grand piano, the one who always made my mum laugh, the one with a perfect blonde helmet of hair stuck to her bobbing head. It was only as I got older that I recognised her brilliance; the sheer perfection of her songs, how they reflected the kind of characters seldom seen on television, but often talked about.

She was a trailblazer in comedy. Not only was she one of the first female comedians on an all male dominated scene, supporting Jasper Carrott on tour a few years before the 1980s alternative comedy boom, she also gleefully kicked the door off its hinges for a new generation to follow. One of many paying tribute to Wood was Susan Calman, writing: ‘She was the reason I got into comedy.’

Wood was unapologetically northern, and happy to create wonderfully subversive characters to mock the status quo. Susie Blake, her snooty TV announcer character, once announced, “We’d like to apologise to our viewers in the North. It must be awful for you.”

Born and raised in Bury, she decided at the age of four that she wanted to be famous. She loved to watch comedy shows on TV (so much so, that one day her father wrapped the family TV in a mackintosh in an attempt to make her stop) and she also taught herself how to play the piano.

After school, she studied drama at the

48

Review

Words: Amy Taylor

University of Birmingham, singing songs in folk clubs before auditioning for the TV talent show New Faces in 1974. Although she won the first round, she was eliminated in the second, narrowly missing out on the final.

However, New Faces led to several highprofile gigs, and the 70s and 80s marked a hugely productive and popular period for her as she wrote and appeared in shows like Wood and Walters, As Seen on TV (which spawned the cult hit Acorn Antiques, a pastiche of the popular and ropey soap opera Crossroads) and An Audience with Victoria Wood.

The 90s and beyond saw Wood turn her hand to comedy drama, writing her first sitcom, Dinnerladies, before delving into full-on drama with the WWII TV movie Housewife, 49, for which she won a Bafta for Best Actress and Best Single Drama.

It’s a very human thing, to assume that the people that you grew up watching on TV will always be there, because in some ways they always have been there. You hear their songs in your head, and you can quote entire sketches without thinking. And you lose track of time, of their work, of them.

So, when they die, you dig out that old DVD, you spend an hour or more on YouTube watching badly edited clips of their best moments, and you just relive it all. This is where I found myself this morning, laughing at her tales of pregnancy and childbirth and looking, one last time, for the lady behind the grand piano to tell me what to do with my copy of Women’s Weekly.

COMEDY

THE SKINNY 48

Manchester Music Tue 03 May ANDREW BIRD

MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL, 19:30–22:30, £22.50

The Chicago-based multiinstrumentalist and lyricist brings his kit-bag our way, touring on the back of his new album, Are You Serious.

LEWIS WATSON

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:30, £10

Fledgling young Oxford singer/ songwriter, best known for his stripped-down YouTube take on Tracy Chapman’s Fast Car. THE LEWIS HAMILTON BAND

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:30, FREE

Family trio playing a mix of rock covers and original material.

PELICAN (MUGSTAR)

GORILLA, 19:30–23:00, £14.50

Post-metal group from Illinois, with support from former Skinny coverboys Mugstar.

BENJAMIN FRANCIS LEFTWICH

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:00, £12

Citing Arcade Fire, Ryan Adams, and Bruce Springsteen as his inspirations, BFL’s known for his hearty, wistful acoustics and rounded melancholy, stopping by with new material.

WE ARE SCIENTISTS

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:30–22:30, £15.50

California-based indie-rockers with a penchant for big riffs, on the road showcasing a selection of new songs.

RADIATION CITY

EAGLE INN, 19:30–22:30, £7

American indie rock from Portland, back with a third album, Synesthetica.

Wed 04 May

STUART MCCALLUM RESIDENCY

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:00, FREE

Monthly experimental improv compositions from The Cinematic Orchestra’s Stuart McCallum.

NIGHT & DAY’S LOCAL SHOWCASE (DRIFTWOOD + FICTICIOUS + HORSECLOCK + ASHLEY O’TOOLE) NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:00, £6

Live music showcase, giving a stage to local up-and-coming performers.

MILK TEETH

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:00, £8

Garage punk group hailing from Stroud, who released their debut album, Vile Child, earlier this year via Hopeless.

Thu 05 May MOULETTES

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:30–22:30, £14

Moulettes are a British band of multi-instrumentalists influenced

by Björk, Frank Zappa and Gentle Giant.

9BACH

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–22:30, £14

The Welsh folk songstress brings a tour of her new album to The Belle for one night only.

HOT CLUB OF CLOWNTOWN

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:00, FREE

Traditional gypsy jazz from the Sheffield-based band.

PHIL COOK AND THE GUITARHEELS

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:00–22:00, £12

In support of latest album, Southland Mission.

RINSE (JACKALS ROSE + MARCADIA + THE RED BLOCKS) THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–22:30, £5

Scruff of the Neck presents Stokeon-Trent’s dream rock four-piece Rinse.

SOUND AND SPACE (THE BRIGHT BLACK + THE NIX + DJ NOTCHE)

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 19:30–00:00, £2

Manchester School of Architecture presents an evening of live music.

TINASHE

O2 RITZ MANCHESTER, 19:00–22:00, £15

Tinashe tours in support of her debut LP Aquarius, a blend of R’n’B, roots and hip-hop.

THE DIRTY NIL

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:30, £8

Loud and distorted rock ‘n’ roll from Ontario.

THE HALLÉ

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–22:30, £5 - £39

Another great concert with Manchester’s inimitable symphony orchestra, The Hallé.

May 2016

ANASTACIA

BAD MANNERS

ALBERT HALL, 19:00–23:00, £35

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:30–22:30, £20

American singer-songwriter with a mighty pair of lungs on ‘er.

Fri 06 May

VANESSA CARLTON (JERRY WILLIAMS)

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:00–22:00, £16

Once claimed she’d walk a thousand miles just to see someone for a night. We’re dubious.

LUH

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 18:30–22:15, £12.50

Duo comprising WU LYF’s former frontman Ellery Roberts and Ebony Hoorn.

THE LAZY RIVER JAZZ BAND

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:30–01:00, £5

Dixieland swing music influenced by the sounds of the 20s, 30s and 40s.

SHOBALEADER ONE

GORILLA, 19:00–22:00, £16

The brand new project from Squarepusher.

NIGHT & DAY’S LOCAL SHOWCASE (THE BLINDERS + IN PIXELS + HUNGDRAWN) NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 19:30–22:30, £6

Live music showcase, giving a stage to local up-and-coming performers.

THE BEAT CHICS

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 23:00–03:00, £3

Spinning the best records of the 60s.

LETHAL BIZZLE

O2 RITZ MANCHESTER, 18:30–22:00, £16.50

Rapper and forerunner of the British grime scene, who first rose to prominence with 2004’s Pow (Forward).

FORT HOPE

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:00, £6

New band rising from the ashes of former UK rock darlings My Passion.

BRANTLEY GILBERT

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:30–22:30, £16

Bringing raw, emotive country and southern rock, all the way from Jefferson, Georgia.

IAIN DIXON AND LES CHISNALL DUO

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 12:30–14:00, FREE

Playing pieces by Olivier Messian, Gerald Finzi, William Walton and others, along with some of their own original compositions.

BRYAN ADAMS

MANCHESTER ARENA, 18:30–22:00, £35 - £42.50

Bryan Adamsembarks on his Get Up Tour ahead of the release of his new LP, Get Up. JONNY AND THE BAPTISTS

THE DOCK AT THE LOWRY, 21:00–00:00, £10

The musical comedians return with an apocalyptic brand new show, The End is Nigh.

Sat 07 May LIAM MCCLAIR

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–23:00, £6

The increasingly ubiquitous Cheshire-based singer songwriter (also the son of Brian McClair, Manchester United fans) headlines.

DANA ALI BAND

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:30–00:30, £5

Neo-soul band based in Honley, formed by hubbie and wife Dave Hewitt and Dana Ali. VESSEL AND IMMIX ENSEMBLE PRESENT TRANSITION

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:00–22:15, £10

An evening of live A/V in celebration of Transition, the collaborative release of Vessel and Immix Ensemble on Erased Tapes.

SHADOW PALACE

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–22:30, £4

Newly formed band inspired by Joy Division, Echo and The Bunnymen and the like, playing their first headline gig in Manchester.

FAIRCHILD (BAYONET + BROKEN FLAGS + GODA TUNGL)

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 19:30–22:30, £7

Indie rockers from Gold Coast, Australia, now based in the considerably less golden climate of Manchester.

YUNG LEAN

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:00, £13.50

Young Swedish rapper drawing on pop culture.

More in the way of party ska hits, with the larger-than-life Buster Bloodvessel still gurning away at the helm.

THE HALLÉ: BEYOND THE SCORE

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:00–22:00, £5 - £34

Combining music, actors, singers and film to tell the story behind one of classical music’s most famous scores, Dvorak’s Dvorák’s Symphony No.9 ‘From the New World’.

TRAVIS

ALBERT HALL, 19:00–22:00, £25

Wed 11 May PATRICK WOLF

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–23:00, £16

Special outing from the experimental London singer/songwriter and his kit-bag of electro-pop gems, based around the usual gamut of piano, tenor guitar, harp, viola, kantale, Theremin and electronics.

MOTION COMPLEX

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:00, FREE

Contemporary jazz ensemble using strong melodic motifs and textures as part of their compositions.

GOBLIN

GORILLA, 19:00–23:00, £22.50

Claudio Simonetti’s Goblin return to the UK to live-score classic zombie flick, Dawn of the Dead.

NGOD

The Glasgow-formed 90s mainstays make their live return, marking the release of their new release, Everything At Once.

Experimental rock from the Bradford five-piece.

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:30–22:30, £18.50

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:00, £5

KATE VOEGELE AND TYLER HILTON

One for the One Tree Hill fans.

Or fans of its uber-emotive soundtrack.

THE LONG RYDERS

MANCHESTER CLUB ACADEMY, 19:30–22:30, £17.50

The alt-country group embark on their Final Wild Songs tour.

Sun 08 May THE VIRGINMARYS

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–23:00, £SOLD OUT

Macclesfield-born rock trio with their sights set on America, drawing on influences including Nirvana, Mudhoney and Screaming Trees.

SKATERS

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 19:00–22:00, £8

Plasma punk brilliance from NYC sitting somewhere between Ariel Pink and The Libertines.

CHRIS LEONARD

SOUND CONTROL, 16:00–20:00, £10

The ex-Stereo member nips into Glasgae while he discovers himself on his ‘Roots’ toor.

KARL JENKINS

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 15:00–00:00, £16.50 - £39.50

Conducting his highly acclaimed Requiem, plus Palladio and The Healer.

Mon 09 May MARDUK

SOUND CONTROL, 18:30–22:00, £18

Death metal from Norrköping, Sweden.

CAMP STAG (KIDSMOKE + COMMUNITY + FIGHTING CARAVANS)

GULLIVERS, 19:30–22:30, £5

Stoke-on-Trent purveyors of melodramtic indie rock.

Tue 10 May GHOLD + PALEHORSE

ISLINGTON MILL, 19:30–23:00, £6 - £8

The London sludge duo take to the road in support of new album, PYR, joined by Palehorse.

TOURIST

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:15, £9

London-based electronic chappie with a passion for field recordings and analog wizardry.

SAMUEL C LEES

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:00, FREE

Gypsy guitar playing, emerging as one of the leaders in the UK scene, playing a blend of originals and covers of modern classics.

NIGHT & DAY’S LOCAL SHOWCASE (JEREMY PEREZ + MIASMA + TUSCAN SUN) NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:00, £6

Live music showcase, giving a stage to local up-and-coming performers.

INTO IT. OVER IT (THE HOTELIER)

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:30, £11

American indie rock from Evan Thomas Weiss and pals.

THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT (THE OVERTONES)

OPERA HOUSE, 19:30–22:00, £17.90 - £57.40

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–22:30, £5

THE KOBAHS (THE CRADLES + ARBOURDECKS)

New indie outfit based in North Wales and Manchester, drawing inspiration from the usual suspects of Oasis, The Libertines and The Strokes.

90 YEARS OF BIG BAND (RNCM JAZZ COLLECTIVE)

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC RNCM, 19:30–21:30, £10

The RNCM Jazz Collective charts the evolution of the big band, from the heady days of seedy Harlem clubs, through mass popularity of the 30s, near extinction in the 60s to the cutting edge of today’s art music.

THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT (THE OVERTONES)

OPERA HOUSE, 19:30–22:00, £17.90 - £57.40

Celebrating the biggest hits of the 30s, 40s and 50s.

Thu 12 May

BROTHER STRUT (DJ JAMIE TAYLOR)

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:30–22:30, £15

Funk and soul band, who’ve played with the likes of Stevie Wonder, Herbie Hancock and Amy Winehouse.

THE TRAVELLING BAND

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–23:00, £12

Manchester alternative folkies, all shimmering and harmonic in their understated psychedelia kind of way.

SARA DOWLING

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:00, FREE

The female vocalist returns to her hometown, after spending the last few years penning songs for major names like EMI, Sony, ATV, Warner and ITV. QUILT

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:00–22:00, £8

Mexican Summer signing, touring to promote the brilliant pop-psych of their third record, Plaza.

CHASTITY BELT (TUFF LOVE + HORSEBEACH)

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:00, £8

Seattle rock’n’roll foursome made up of guitarists Julia Shapiro and Lydia Lund, bassist Annie Truscott and drummer Gretchen Grimm.

DELAMERE

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–23:00, £6

Anthemic Stoke four-piece.

CHRIS WOOD

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC RNCM, 19:30–21:30, £15

The songwriter showcases his new album, which incorporates his reflections on minor league football, empty nest syndrome, learning to swim, cook-in sauce and not least, the gecko as a metaphor for contemporary society.

THE HALLÉ

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–22:30, £5 - £38

Another great concert with Manchester’s inimitable symphony orchestra, The Hallé.

THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT (THE OVERTONES)

OPERA HOUSE, 19:30–22:00, £17.90 - £57.40

Celebrating the biggest hits of the 30s, 40s and 50s.

Celebrating the biggest hits of the 30s, 40s and 50s.

EAGLE INN, 19:30–22:30, £TBC

THE PLAZA STOCKPORT, 19:30–22:30, £24.75 - £25.85

ELIZA NEALS AND THE NARCOTICS

An award-winning blues-rock’n’roll artist, composer, publisher, and producer. Often compared to Etta James, Janis Joplin, and Ricki Lee Jones.

THE MAGIC OF MOTOWN

In praise of the finest sounds to come out of Detroit and beyond in the Motown period.

ANDY JORDAN MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:30–22:30, £11

The Made In Chelsea star embarks on his UK mini tour, we’ll do the hiding.

KING KING

MANCHESTER CLUB ACADEMY, 19:00–22:00, £20

Sat 14 May LAURA CANTRELL

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:00–23:00, £18

New York City-residing country singer/songwriter, crafting a sound awash with her Nashville roots.

YAK

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 18:30–22:15, £8

British bluesbreakers and multiaward winners at the British Blues Awards.

Psych pop types, one of whom used to play in Peace for a bit.

THE KING’S ARMS, 20:30–22:00, FREE

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:30–01:00, £5

EUGENE RIPPER

Discover one of Canada’s seminal fast folk artists and punk-rock guitarists in an intimate solo acoustic performance.

Fri 13 May

BITTY MCLEAN (DJ MIKEY DON)

BAND ON THE WALL, 20:00–23:00, £20

British-Jamaican musician, whose smooth vocals helped off-set the gangster ragga style prevalent in reggae and dancehall music.

FRANCES

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 18:30–22:15, £9

Critics Choice Award nominee Frances brings her silky vocals to our way after a stint of songwriting with Disclosure in his garden studio.

SPEAKEASY BOOTLEG BAND

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:30–01:00, £5

A heady combo of jazz, jive, Harlem swing and more.

EMMA POLLOCK

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:00–22:00, £10

Scottish songstress formerly of The Delgados fame, out launching her third LP, In Search of Harperfield.

LITTLE DEATH MACHINE (POSSUM)

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–22:30, £5

London-based electro-noise outfit.

FUTURE OF THE LEFT (ST PIERRE SNAKE INVASION + RIGHT HAND LEFT HAND)

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:00, £11

The Welsh alternative rockers tour their new album.

HANNAH TRIGWELL (KELVIN JONES + COREY FOX FARDELL) SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:00, £7

CALIENTE

Eight-pronged Latin dance band based in North Wales, playing their own take on South American styles and jazz music.

CHRIS WISE AND THE HIDDEN REVOLUTION (LARKINS + SCOTT LLOYD)

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:00–22:00, £6

Manchester’s experimental indie rockers return to the stage, following their sell-out gig at The Castle last month.

SPACE MONKEYS

GORILLA, 19:00–22:00, £10

The last band that Tony Wilson signed to Factory Records heads to Gorilla for a one-off special hometown show, marking exactly 20 years since the release of their debut single,Keep on Tripping on.

DOUBLE DENIM PRESENTS… (DIRTY STERLING + THE BRIGHT BLACK + YOUNG JACK)

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–22:30, £5

Double Denim welcome headliners Louie Louie and others.

REND COLLECTIVE (URBAN RESCUE)

O2 RITZ MANCHESTER, 18:30–22:00, £SOLD OUT

The religious collective of musicians and artists tread the boards.

THE JOY FORMIDABLE

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:30–22:30, £15

Alty punk-folk hailing from Bath.

JASON DONOVAN (MON AMIE)

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 20:00–23:00, £28.50 - £32.50

The cult Aussie star (so cult he has a kebab van in Bristol named after him - we’ll let you work out the pun) embarks on a solo tour, playing his 1989 album, Ten Good Reasons, in its entirety alongside other hits.

THAT’S ENTERTAINMENT (THE OVERTONES)

OPERA HOUSE, 19:30–22:00, £17.90 - £57.40

Celebrating the biggest hits of the 30s, 40s and 50s.

CALE TYSON

GULLIVERS, 19:30–22:30, £10

Nashville singer-songwriter raised in Fort Worth, channelling small town American nostalgia into country melodies.

JAMES

MANCHESTER ARENA, 19:30–22:30, £36 - £45

Hometown show for the 80s/90s rockers, celebrating the release of their new album, Girl at the End of the World.

NOVUSTORY (MAISETTO + CRIMSON + THE PETRA FLOWERS + JACK CURLEY)

EAGLE INN, 19:30–22:30, £8

Raw garage sounds formed by Rob Symmons and Rob Green back in 2004.

KRONOS QUARTET

Arizona-based five-piece making breezy pop rock – often seen touring with the likes of Yellowcard and Hey Monday, but heading out on their own for a UK-wide tour.

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC RNCM, 19:30–22:00, £25

Wed 18 May

San Francisco’s Grammy Awardwinning Kronos Quartet return to Usher Hall.

THE HALLÉ

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–22:30, £5 - £38

Another great concert with Manchester’s inimitable symphony orchestra, The Hallé.

THE SOLID SILVER 60S SHOW

OPERA HOUSE, 19:30–22:30, £28.40 - £48.90

The UK’s first show of its kind, still going 30 years strong as a tribute night crammed full of 60s hits.

THE DUBLIN LEGENDS

THE LOWRY: QUAYS THEATRE, 20:00–23:00, £21

Longstanding Irish folk ensemble The Dubliners live and regrouped, following the passing of founding member Barney McKenna.

SCOOPS

EAGLE INN, 19:30–22:30, £7

Dublin band playing original Irish music.

Mon 16 May

BLACK DELTA MOVEMENT (HEY BULLDOG)

ST. LUCIA

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–23:00, £10

Returning with new album, Matter.

SG LEWIS

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:00–22:00, £8

Electronic music producer based in Liverpool.

LAURA MVULA

GORILLA, 19:30–23:00, £15

Former Mercury Award nominated soul singer returning with a new studio album, The Dreaming Room.

NIGHT & DAY’S LOCAL SHOWCASE (THE VENGALIS + THE ROSCOES + LVPO + JONNY TURNER BAND) NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:00, £6

Live music showcase, giving a stage to local up-and-coming performers.

BLIND GUARDIAN

O2 RITZ MANCHESTER, 18:00–23:00, £23

German power metal.

WILLIAM SINGE

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:00, £SOLD OUT

Australian singer, songwriter and producer with silly hair. One Direction are fans, we’re told.

THE HALLÉ

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 14:15–00:00, £5 - £38

DANIEL KEMISH

O2 RITZ MANCHESTER, 19:00–23:00, £18

American outlaw country at its best.

IL DIVO

MANCHESTER ARENA, 19:30–22:30, £35 - £125

The classical crossover quartet celebrate their latest album, Amor & Pasion.

SPACE (ALEX JAMES AND THE SOUND)

WATERSIDE ARTS CENTRE, 19:30–22:30, £15 - £17

Expect the likes of Female of the Species, Neighbourhood and Me & You Against the World and tracks from their new album.

RICHARD ASHCROFT

ALBERT HALL, 19:00–23:00, £SOLD OUT

Former frontman of The Verve, continuing to ride the solo wave with forthcoming album, These People.

THE OFFSET

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:30–22:30, £7

Dusty Pop present The Offset, Fex and special guests.

THE BURNING HELL

EAGLE INN, 19:30–22:30, £8

Canadian folk artist Mathias Kom returns to the UK with a full band in tow for this latest round of Burning Hell shows.

ERIN BENNETT AND THE EB BAND

THE KING’S ARMS, 19:30–22:00, £6

Power-pop singer-songwriter from Texas, whose powerful vocal range and haunting lyrics set the tone for the driving drum, bass and soul-rattling synth.

VARIOUS VENUES, 15:00–00:00, £10 - £12.50

THE FALLEN LEAVES (PROTO IDIOT)

Ex-Durutti Columnist performing material from his latest solo album, The Appearance of Colour.

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–22:30, £5 - £7

LA-via-NYC quartet, whose debut EP was released last year.

MANCHESTER CLUB ACADEMY, 20:00–23:00, £20

A night of worldly hip hop from Poland and beyond.

JOHN METCALFE

THE SUMMER SET

MANCHESTER CLUB ACADEMY, 19:30–22:30, £13

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–22:30, £5 - £36

MANCHESTER PSYCH FEST (CLINIC + TELEGRAM + TRIPTIDES + PLANK + SPECTRES)

HIP HOP JAM + HEMP GRU

A monthly showcase featuring four to five bands throughout the evening.

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 18:00–21:00, £10

Bury-based indie rock.

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:30–22:30, £7

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 19:00–00:00, £2 - £3

PETE DOHERTY

ALBERT HALL, 19:00–23:00, £25

Purveyor of shoop-de-lang-delangs and sulky faces comes to Barrowlands.

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–23:00, £6.50

BBC PHILHARMONIC

GULLIVERS, 19:30–22:30, £TBC

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:30–22:30, £15

RNCM POPULAR MUSIC DEGREE STUDENTS

Hey! Manchester presents Dead Oceans’ Bleached, the musical project of LA-based sister duo Jennifer and Jessica Clavin.

Another great concert with Manchester’s inimitable symphony orchestra, The Hallé.

FALLOW CAFE, 19:30–22:30, £8

THE HEAVY

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–23:00, £10

London-based garage-pop outfit Yuck return with new album Stranger Things.

BLEACHED GULLIVERS, 19:30–22:30, £7.50

Heavy garage rock 'n' roll outfit from Kingston-Upon-Hull.

Performing Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony.

Gloomy pop music from Laura Kidd launching her third album, Direction of Travel.

YUCK

Hardworking female-fronted Welsh trio and their atmospheric indie rock, heavy on melody but with plenty of driving, sinewy riffs.

Acoustic pop Leeds songstress heading out on her very first UK headline tour.

SHE MAKES WAR (BRYDE)

Sun 15 May

The festival returns to bring together the psychedelic community of Manchester and beyond, celebrating the strange, the far out and the open-minded across two venues this year, Night & Day Cafe and Aatma (formerly Kraak).

FALLOW CAFE, 19:30-23:00, £5

TRANSVIOLET

ANDY BLACK

The alter-ego of Black Veil Brides’ Andy Biersack, who hits the road in support of his debut solo album, The Shadow Side.

TIM HECKER

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:30–22:30, £15

The Montreal-based ambient electronic musician and sound artist returns to our shores, focused on exploring the intersection of noise, dissonance and melody – fostering a physical and emotive approach to his songcraft.

CORY HENRY

ST PHILIP’S CHURCH, 19:30–22:30, £14

Multi-instrumentalist and producer whose primary instrument is the organ.

PEATBOG FAERIES

WATERSIDE ARTS CENTRE, 20:00–23:00, £15

More high octane instrumental contemporary folk from the Isle of Skye crew.

Tue 17 May

THE HALLÉ

Another great concert with Manchester’s inimitable symphony orchestra, The Hallé.

TINY RUINS

GULLIVERS, 19:30–22:30, £7

Tiny Ruins are a band based in Auckland, New Zealand. Conceived in 2009 by songwriter Hollie Fullbrook, the group now includes Cass Basil on bass, Alex Freer on drums and Tom Healy on electric guitar.

Thu 19 May HEATHER PEACE

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:00–22:00, £22.50

The Lip Service actress does that other thing wot she does: setting soaring vocals to jazz-soaked piano and pop guitar riffs, touring on the back of her latest EP, Come Home.

SHIT AND SHINE (QUJAKU + SCHOOLHOUSE)

ISLINGTON MILL, 20:00–23:00, £7 - £9

London-based, percussion-driven noise rockers.

FLAMINGODS

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:30, £7

Rhythm-driven psychedelic pop five-piece.

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:30–22:30, £15

CHRIS TAVENER (ANDREW WARNER + GAVIN GOLIATH CLEGG)

LAURENCE FOX

The satirical singer-songwriter plays a headline show to launch his new EP.

ARILD ANDERSEN TRIO

Trio fronted by the prolific Norwegian jazz musician and composer.

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:30, £12.50

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:00, £4

BABY STRANGE + WHITE

SOUND CONTROL, 18:00–22:00, £8

Actor-turned-musician, bringing his emotive folk-pop ballads our way to celebrate new album, Holding Patterns.

Co-headline show from Glasgow’s Baby Strange and White.

THE JAZZ SINGERS

Fri 20 May

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:00, FREE

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:00–23:00, £10

Bi-monthly gig with backing music from the Dave Luvin Group.

KEN VANDERMARK + NATE WOOLEY

ISLINGTON MILL, 19:30–23:00, £10 - £12

The Chicago saxophonist and composer joins New York trumpeter Nat Wooley.

NELL BRYDEN

GORILLA, 19:00–23:00, £16.50

Singer-songwriter from Brooklyn, New York.

CAUSES

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–22:30, £6

Dutch indie-pop from Utrecht.

WAYNE MARSHALL: ORGAN RHAPSODY!

DOPE D.O.D

Dutch hip-hop phenomenon Dope D.O.D. return, following two successful special guest appearances alongside Wu-Tang and a sold-out show at London Barfly.

QUANTIC (DJ JOE W)

BAND ON THE WALL, 20:00–23:00, £SOLD OUT

Quantic returns to the open road with a full live band as he embarks on his Tropical Elevation world tour.

THE HYENA KILL

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:30, £8

Manchester-based duo, made up of Steven Dobb and Lorna Blundell, fond of riffs and grooves.

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–22:30, £7 - £15

Oldham-born musician, composer and jazz improv whizz.

Listings

49

Manchester Music THE DEVIL’S JUKEBOX MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:30–01:00, £5

Ragtime and vintage jazz sounds from the 1920s and 1930s.

THE FRANKLYS

BRIAN WILSON

BONNIE RAITT

BEVERLEY KNIGHT

GULLIVERS, 19:30–22:30, £6

O2 APOLLO MANCHESTER, 19:00–22:00, £SOLD OUT

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–22:30, £33.50 - £38.50

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:00–22:00, £19.50 - £35

THE NIGHTINGALES

POPPYCOCK (STOOR + KILL PRETTY)

Four piece all girl garage rock ‘n’ roll force hailing from Sweden: “like The Hives but with better hair and make-up”.

BUSTED (WHEATUS + EMMA BLACKERY)

MANCHESTER ARENA, 19:30–22:30, £37.50 - £41

ISLINGTON MILL, 19:30–22:30, £14 - £16

The pop-punk trio embark on a reunion tour, marking a decade after Charlie buggered off.

SON OF DAVE (THE CHURCH)

ALBERT HALL, 19:00–23:00, £35 - £75

BOHREN AND DER CLUB OF GORE (CLEAN WATER)

German ambient/jazz band.

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:00–22:00, £12.50

A modern funky solo, bringing a bluesy, eruption of harmonica and beatboxing to the central belt.

BLACK LIPS

GORILLA, 19:00–22:00, £15

Punk-rock from Atlanta, Georgia.

MIKE BLADEN (CHRIS HAPGOOD + JAMES WYATT)

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–22:30, £5

Singer-songwriter originally from Chester.

CAVAN MORAN

THE WHISKEY JAR, 19:30–22:30, £6

GRAHAM NASH

The classic singer-songwriter, known for his work in The Hollies and Crosby, Stills and Nash, hits the stage in support of new studio album, This Path Tonight.

ROCK ‘N’ ROLL BACK THE YEARS

THE PLAZA STOCKPORT, 19:30–22:30, £20.90

50s and swinging 60s show starring DJ and broadcaster David Hamilton.

FAITALA + FRIENDS ( O>L>A + LUMEN + LYNCH)

DULCIMER BAR, 19:30–23:00, £4 - £5

The Mancunian singer-songwriter launches his debut album, Forever on the Road/Forever at Home.

Alt-pop trio FAITALA host a showcase evening for emerging Northwest acts, as part of Chorlton Arts Festival.

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 19:30–22:30, £6

Sun 22 May

NIGHT & DAY’S LOCAL SHOWCASE

Live music showcase, giving a stage to local up-and-coming performers.

CHARLIE PUTH

O2 RITZ MANCHESTER, 18:30–22:00, £14

Young American singer, songwriter and producer who found fame on that there YouTube.

IODINE SKY (A MOUTH FULL OF MATCHES + MASK OF BEES + TWIN GATES + APEX)

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:30–22:30, £7

Nu-metal from Manchester.

AWKWARD AGENDA (THE LOTUS + KYRIS + MOUTH IN THE SOUTH)

MANCHESTER CLUB ACADEMY, 19:30–22:30, £7

Alt rock group from Manchester, who return to Manchester Academy for their first headline slot there.

THOMAS TRUAX (VINNY PECULIAR)

EAGLE INN, 19:30–22:30, £7

Known for his experimental instrument inventions, Truax crafts rich, poetic songs about everything from insects and trees to technology and the moon.

Sat 21 May

DIRTY FENCES (HIPSHAKES + DUDS)

FALLOW CAFE, 20:00-23:00, £5

Family Tree Presents New York's Dirty Fences from New York, with support from local garage legends Hipshakes and Duds.

A BUNCH OF FIVE

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:30–22:30, £7.50

FAB Radio International presents a showcase of homegrown Manchester talent.

PORCHES (FRANKIE COSMOS)

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–22:15, £9

The alias of singer-songwriter Aaron Maine, who tours new material.

DONA OXFORD

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–01:00, £5

Soulful singer songwriter drawing on the old school of soul singing.

WHITE BOY

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:30, £5

Playing live in support of debut album, Glitoris.

VIEON + DED.PIXEL + MARK CORRIN

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–22:30, £3

AnalogueTrash kicks off its 2016 season with a live showcase of three electronica acts.

LARKIN POE (JARROD DICKENSON)

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:00, £7.50

DAUGHTRY

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–22:00, £22.50

American rockers formed and fronted by Chris Daughtry, a finalist on the fifth season of American Idol.

NOTS (JASON BOARDMAN DJ SET + COWLUNG)

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:00–22:00, £8

Memphis-based garage punk.

COLDRAIN

SOUND CONTROL, FROM 19:00, £10

Japanese metalcore band formed in Nagoya back in 2007.

THOMAS COHEN

GULLIVERS, 19:30–22:30, £5

The former S.C.U.M frontman makes his live debut as a solo artist.

MANCHESTER CAMERATA FEATURING TINE THING HELSETH

MANCHESTER CATHEDRAL, 14:00–16:00, £8 - £12

Manchester Camerata are joined by young Norwegian trumpet virtuoso, Tine Thing Helseth, in celebration of her debut solo release, Storyteller.

Mon 23 May HIGHASAKITE

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–23:00, £9.50

The Norwegian indie pop outfit take to their road with their latest studio album, Camp Echo.

A.R. KANE

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:00–22:00, £9

The dream-pop pioneers play their first non-festival headlining show since 1987 - their first in over two decades.

CATE LE BON

GORILLA, 19:00–23:00, £12.50

The Welsh singer-songwriter returns with her fourth album, Crab Day.

Tue 24 May

ACCESS TO MUSIC MANCHESTER SHOWCASE

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:30–22:30, £2

A showcase of artists and bands currently studying at Access to Music Manchester.

AS IT IS

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:15, £10

Pop punk from a four-piece who’ve just released a new album, Never Happy, Ever After.

NO GOOD BEATNIKS TRIO

Traditional bluegrass-styled offerings from sister duo Rebecca and Megan Lovell, with a selection of original songs and covers sung in the sweetest of vocal harmonies.

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:00, FREE

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:30–22:30, £22.50

The half-Panamanian, half-Italian South Londoner tours his sundrenched reggae sounds.

MAGNUM (VEGA)

The five piece rockers tour in support of their 18th (that’s right) studio album, Escape From the Shadow Garden.

THE HALLÉ

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 18:00–21:00, £5 - £39

Another great concert with Manchester’s inimitable symphony orchestra, The Hallé.

A jam band comprising a collective of like-minded musicians who love dirty grooves and distorted jazz.

KIKO BUN

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:00–22:00, £8

NIGHT & DAY’S LOCAL SHOWCASE (BEWARE BEWARE + SCARLET CASTLES + XMENBTEAM) NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:00, £6

Live music showcase, giving a stage to local up-and-coming performers.

HOMESHAKE (ALDOUS RH + FRUIT BOMB)

FALLOW CAFE, 20:00–23:00, £SOLD OUT

Pseudonym of Edmonton-born, Montreal-based musician Peter Sagar.

50

Listings

Beach Boys head honcho Brian Wilson heads out on a world tour to celebrate and perform their iconic album, Pet Sounds, joined by former bandmates Al Jardine and Blondie Chaplin.

American blues and singer/songwriter, returning to UK shores with her Dig in Deep.

GULLIVERS, 19:30–22:30, £10

Wed 25 May

Post-punk outfit originally formed by former members of The Prefects.

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–23:00, £14

Fri 27 May

MORTIIS

Industrial rock from Norway fronted by Håvard Ellefsen, whose pseudonym is the namesake of the band.

THE ANSWER

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–23:00, £13

Geordie/Northern Ireland foursome sounding pretty much like what you get when you cross classic, hard and blues rock together.

KYLA BROX

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:00, FREE

The daughter of blues singer Victor Brox, with several albums to her name.

ADAM GREEN

GORILLA, 19:30–23:00, £15

Adam Green is renowned around the globe as one of music’s most unique and prolific songwriting talents. As a solo artist, Green has recorded nine albums, many of which have become cult hits.

DOOMSQUAD

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:00, £7

DOOMSQUAD is a Toronto-based art project made up of siblings Trevor, Jaclyn, and Allie Blumas who released their latest album ‘Pageantry Suite’ on Bella Union.

The trio create experimental dance music that’s heavily indebted to trance and psychedelia.

JOSH GROBAN

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 20:00–23:00, £40 - £50

Josh Groban swings by the Hyrdo with his trove of musical theatre favourites.

MOTHERS

GULLIVERS, 19:30–22:30, £TBC

TYCI and the H&P welcome Athensborn band Mothers to Glasgow for their Scottish debut.

HANDS LIKE HOUSES

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:00–22:00, £10

Australian six-piece utilising an array of tecnhical effects, post-hardcore charm and lively stage antics.

Thu 26 May EPSEN ERIKSEN TRIO

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:30–22:30, £12

Norwegian jazz threesome with Epsen Eriksen on piano, Lars Tormod Jenset on double bass and Andreas Bye on drums.

NO ZU (AFICIONADO DJS)

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–23:00, £6

IN THIS MOMENT

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–22:00, £12.50

LA-based metalcore ensemble formed by singer Maria Brink and guitarist Chris Howorth back in 2005.

BIS (BIG ZERO)

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:30, £10

Infrequent visitors on the live circuit, Bis revive their finest hyper-pop moments for a rare show in Manchester.

THE JUGGERNAUT LOVE BAND

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:30–01:00, £5

Aiming to bring love to a nation under the control of some seriously unfunky dudes, The Juggernaut Love Band have been tearing up the North East music scene since 2009 and bring the love to Manc.

SELVHENTER (LAKES OF SNAKES)

ISLINGTON MILL, 20:00–01:00, £10 - £12

Noise rock from Copenhagen’s underground.

LUKAS GRAHAM

O2 RITZ MANCHESTER, 18:00–22:00, £12.50

Danish ghetto-pop group with Lukas Graham Forchhammer at the helm.

MISS MAY I + WE CAME AS ROMANS (THE ONE HUNDRED + SHVPES) SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:00, £13

Double header of American metalcore music.

KINGS KALEIDOSCOPE (RIVERS AND ROBOTS)

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:30–22:30, £10

Faith-based rock band from Seattle, with strong hip hop influences.

LOS FASTIDIOS

THE KING’S ARMS, 19:30–23:00, £9

After a storming set last year at 0161 Festival and another at AWOD North recently, Italian Oi! group Los Fastidios return to tour England.

DOT TO DOT FESTIVAL

VARIOUS VENUES, 14:00–00:00, £11 - £25

The multi-venue, multi-city music festival returns, this year with Mystery Jets co-headlining with Temper Trap and straddling venues around the Northern Quarter.

More info: dottodotfestival.co.uk

Sat 28 May

CRAIG CHARLES FUNK AND SOUL CLUB (LACK OF AFRO)

BAND ON THE WALL, 21:00–03:00, £16

Eight-piece body-music extravaganza fresh from Melbourne’s underground scene, peddling no wave, boogie, dub, disco and salsa sounds.

DJ and actor Craig Charles will be manning the decks until 3am, playing his picks of funk and soul, with an array of guest spinners and live acts joining him.

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:30, FREE

FALLOW CAFE, 20:00-23:00, £4

JAMIE BROWNFIELD QUARTET

Jazz four-piece headed by British Jazz Awards rising star, Jamie Brownfield.

FÖLLAKZOID (WERK + CAVALIER SONG)

ISLINGTON MILL, 19:00–22:30, £10

Chilean cosmic music band.

MARISSA NADLER

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:00–22:00, £10

Singer, songwriter, guitarist and painter based in Boston.

JAGWAR MA

GORILLA, 19:00–22:00, £12.50

Often two-piece, occasional three-piece, hailing from Sydney and making alternative indie music that’s thoroughly danceable.

SUPERHEROES OF KOREAN ROCK (DEAD BUTTONS + PATIENTS + 57 OH CHILL) NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 19:30–22:30, £6

Showcase of three of Korea’s top indie rock bands.

ISSUES

O2 RITZ MANCHESTER, 19:00–23:00, £15

American metalcore outfit from Atlanta.

ANIMA MUNDI

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:30, £15

A Cuban symphonic prog-rock band which came to life in the spring of 1996.

BEACH SKILLS (FRUIT TONES + OS NOCTAMBULOS)

Beach Skulls launch their new album, Slow Grind, via PNKSLM.

GIGANTIC INDIE ALL DAYER (THE WONDER STUFF + THE HOUSE OF LOVE + JESUS JONES + THE DARLING BUDS + MORE)

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 13:30–00:00, £29

Three stages, 15 bands, 10 hours of live music, real ale and cider and an indie cinema take over the Manchester Academy venues.

SAMM HENSHAW

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 18:30–22:15, £8

Tremendous soulful vocals from Londoner Samm Henshaw, fresh from the release of his Sound Experiment EP. THE BOOM YEH

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:30–01:00, £5

Rootsy jazz-funk with a nod to Fela Kuti.

TEDDY THOMPSON WITH KELLY JONES + SUNNY OZELL

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC RNCM, 19:30–22:00, £20

On their debut album, Little Windows, Teddy Thompson and American singer Kelly Jones give audiences engaging views of the joys and sorrows of love and the vagaries of the human heart.

Contemporary soul singer returning with a brand new album set for a spring release this year.

GULLIVERS, 19:30–22:30, £TBC

Collective of musicians and artists from Manchester.

PENTATONIX

ALBERT HALL, 19:00–22:00, £22.50

Vocal quintet from Arlington, Texas, presenting a instrumentfree brand of electronic pop.

Liverpool Music JOHN MCCUSKER (ANDY CUTTING + ADAM HOLMES + INNES WHITE + TOBY SHARER) LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC MUSIC ROOM, 20:00–23:00, £16

25th anniversary tour for the multi-instrumentalist, producer and composer.

Thu 05 May

VAUGHAN WILLIAMS’ FANTASIA

Sun 29 May

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 19:30–22:30, £14 - £40

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 20:00–00:00, FREE

MELT YOURSELF DOWN

MATT AND PHRED’S BANK HOLIDAY SPECIAL WITH THE NIGHTCREATURES

May bank holiday special with New Orleans band The Nightcreatures.

CABBAGE

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:00–22:00, £6

Manchester-based five-piece serving up discordant post-punk.

NIGHT & DAY’S BANK HOLIDAY SHOWCASE (VALVE + ALEX JAMES AND THE SOUND + MADA CRAM)

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 19:30–22:30, £TBC

Live music showcase, giving a stage to local up-and-coming performers.

RNCM YOUNG EXPLORERS CONCERT SERIES: MUSIC FROM DISTANT GALAXIES

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC RNCM, 14:00–16:00, £12

Conductor Andrew Manze takes the audience on a journey through the many worlds of the British master.

24 KITCHEN STREET, 19:30–00:00, £10

Afrobeat jazz futurists Melt Yourself Down return to Liverpool after an almighty appearance at The Kazimier back in 2013.

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–22:00, £15

Florida’s ska-pop pioneers SUGGS: MY LIFE STORY

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 19:30–22:30, £28.50 - £34.50

The Madness frontman takes to the stage with tales accompanised by music.

RATKING

24 KITCHEN STREET, 19:30–00:00, £10

Wiki and Sporting Life of experimental Harlem hip hop crew Ratking make a much anticipated return to Liverpool.

ANNA COROCRAN

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC MUSIC ROOM, 20:00–23:00, £10

Liverpool singer-songwriter launches her debut album, Easier Than Falling.

Wed 04 May SHONEN KNIFE

ARTS CLUB, 19:00–23:00, £12

A fully female, fuzzy pop-punk rock band hailing from Osaka, with support from Bruja and Teen Canteen.

END OF THE TRAIL RECORDS PRESENTS (RIVAL BONES + AZTEX + INDIGO SKY + NISH GOYAL + VEYU)

MAGUIRE’S PIZZA BAR, 19:00–23:00, £5 - £6

The indie label scouts for new bands.

MEAN MARY

THE ATKINSON, 19:30–00:00, £9 - £11

The vocalist of Amen Corner and Eric Clapton and George Harrison collaborator takes his current band on tour.

CHAMELEONS VOX

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–22:00, £15

ALLERTON BRASS

CATRIN FINCH

ST GEORGE’S HALL, 19:30–22:30, £25

Wed 11 May LIAM MCCLAIR

LEAF, 20:00–23:00, FREE

BRYAN ADAMS

ECHO ARENA, 20:00–23:00, £39 - £47.50

SPEAKEASY PRESENTS BOOMTOWN GATHERINGS

CONSTELLATIONS, 20:00–00:00, £8

Fans of Boomtown Festival congregate for a a night of live music and more in Liverpool.

SOUTHPORT FESTIVAL OPEN MIC

THE ATKINSON, 12:00–17:00, FREE

Join The Atkinson for the sounds of Southbound Attic Band, Pete Rimmer and Bill Hackney, Two Blank Pages, The Huers and The Rag Tag Misfits.

VUOSAAREN MUSIIKKIKOULU HELSINKI SOUTHPORT STRING ENSEMBLE (VUOSAAREN MUSIIKKIKOULU HELSINKI AND SOUTHPORT STRING ENSEMBLE)

THE ATKINSON, 16:00–00:00, FREE

Young String Players from Southport and Helsinki come together to bring you an exciting programme of classical and folk music from Finland and the UK. DERVISH

THE ATKINSON, 19:30–00:00, £16

The Irish traditional music veterans return to the stage having recently celebrated their 25th anniversary.

THE PRODUCERS

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC MUSIC ROOM, 20:00–23:00, £14

Reformed version of the UK bluesloving fraternity, including original frontman Harry Skinner and bass player Dave Saunders.

SEPTEMBER GIRLS (SCARLET)

ARTS CLUB, 19:00–23:00, £7

Dublin noise-pop quintet formed back in 2011.

Mon 16 May FORT HOPE

MAGUIRE’S PIZZA BAR, 19:00–22:00, £6

Tue 17 May

THE FAIRPORT CONVENTION

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 19:30–22:30, £34.50 - £60

WALLEATER

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC MUSIC ROOM, 20:00–23:00, £27

THE SPITFIRES (THE HAVOCS)

One for the royalists among us.

Anyone? No?

New band rising from the ashes of former UK rock darlings My Passion.

ARTS CLUB, 19:00–23:00, £10

The Walford-based trio do their fiery and anthemic thing.

A GALA CONCERT TO CELEBRATE H.M THE QUEEN’S 90TH BIRTHDAY

The increasingly ubiquitous Cheshire-based singer songwriter (also the son of Brian McClair, Manchester United fans) headlines.

Indie outfit from that there Leeds way.

The longtime British folk-rockers draw on classic songs old and new, on the go now for nearly 50 years.

Thu 12 May LOUIS BERRY

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–22:00, £7

Young local singer songwriter whose lyrics cut through politics and crime, love and loss.

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–22:00, £6

NIGEL KENNEDY

The spiky-haired British violinist performs his groundbreaking Four Seasons - with a few twists.

Wed 18 May HAYSEED DIXIE

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–22:00, £15

US novelty metal legends playing a mixture of hard rock cover versions and original compositions.

SPRING KING

ARTS CLUB, 19:30–22:00, £7.50

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 19:30–22:30, £14 - £40

Tarek Musa-fronted lo-fi poppunk outfit, riding an increasingly big wave of hype after sets at SXSW and a great deal of airplay.

HERS (THE VELVET ROOM + BROOM)

CONSTELLATIONS, 19:30–00:00, £15

FLUTE AND HARP

With Catrin Finch on the former and Cormac Henry on the latter.

QUANTIC

THE BALTIC SOCIAL, 21:00–01:00, FREE

Quantic returns to the open road with a full live band as he embarks on his Tropical Elevation world tour.

Fri 13 May

THE ATKINSON, 20:00–23:00, £10 - £12

The Woodland Social brings exciting local prodigies Hers, The Velvet Room and Broom to the stage MANIC STREET PREACHERS

ECHO ARENA, 19:30–22:30, £39 - £52.50

The veteran Welsh art-punk trio celebrate the 20th anniversary of their fourth album, Everything Must Go. FLUTE AND HARP

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 19:30–22:30, £14 - £40

With Catrin Finch on the former and Cormac Henry on the latter.

FALLS + I CRIED WOLF (RIVAL BONES + SUMMUS PEAK + MORE)

RURA

Scottish five-piece who won Live Act of the Year at the 2015 Scots Trad Music awards for their unique blend of fiddle, Highland pipes, whistle, flute, bodhran, guitar and voice.

Thu 19 May EMMA POLLOCK

ARTS CLUB, 19:00–23:00, £8

Scottish songstress formerly of The Delgados fame, out launching her third LP, In Search of Harperfield.

MAGUIRE’S PIZZA BAR, 20:00–23:00, £TBC

NO MORE IDOLS (BITTER YOUTH + STUCK IN A RUT + MANIFEST + PURE RAGE)

BUYERS CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £5

Sat 14 May

Celebrate the return of No More Idols to Liverpool with a night of hardcore sounds.

Sun 08 May

A springtime serenade spanning works by Mozart, Elgar, Beethoven, Vaughan Williams and others.

ELEVANT + FALSE ADVERTISING + BATHYMETRY + LILIUM

Lots of tasty sounds from the Northwest’s up-and-comers.

INDOLORE

LEAF, 20:00–23:00, FREE

Indie folk musician who’s opened for Sia and Morcheeba as part of the band Shine, playing a special acoustic set.

CROSBY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AND CHORUS RESURRECTION

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 14:30–17:30, £5 - £18

THE ATKINSON, 20:00–00:00, £20 - £22

CAVES + DOE + PERSONAL BEST + SHIT PRESENT + PARDON US

Mixing eclectic classical and pop songs with rich harmony vocals, harmony singers Blake head to The Atkinson.

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 14:00–17:00, £10.45

Performing a lively programme of popular music from the big band era.

TV host, program-maker, novelist, banjo, fiddle and guitar player and a great songwriter BLAKE

LEAGUE OF WELLDOERS BENEFIT SHOW

THE URBAN VOODOO MACHINE

LEAF, 19:30–22:30, £14

‘Shadowy ne’er do wells’ hailing from London, led by Norwegian born songwriter and frontman Paul-Ronney Angel.

The harpist is joined by members of the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra.

THE CAPSTONE, 19:30–22:30, £6 - £8

LESS THAN JAKE

Mon 09 May

Former Mercury Award nominated soul singer returning with a new studio album, The Dreaming Room.

ST GEORGE’S HALL, 19:30–22:30, £20

ANDY FAIRWEATHER LOW AND THE LOW RIDERS

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:30, FREE

Tue 03 May

Longstanding Irish folk ensemble The Dubliners live and regrouped, following the passing of founding member Barney McKenna.

LAURA MVULA

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–22:00, £15

ST GEORGE’S HALL, 13:30–16:00, £15

Farewell tour for the cult Manchester band led by Mark Burgess.

Liverpool Music

ST HELENS THEATRE ROYAL, 19:30–22:30, £23

Sun 15 May

Tue 10 May

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–22:00, £7

GYPSY JAM

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:00–22:00, £38.50

THE DUBLIN LEGENDS

Traditional folk gets a few contemporary twists with the introduction of different musical influences.

Melodic rock from Liverpool.

CLOUDBURST (WASTED LIGHTS + NO SUCH THING)

Mon 30 May

Bringing their The Money $hot Heard Around The World tour to Manchester.

Part of the Southport Festival, this event combines music from The John Hallam Trio with an afternoon tea, with all products made from fresh and on premises in our Bakery.

SPIRO LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC MUSIC ROOM, 20:00–23:00, £14

The man who put (Everything I Do) I Do It For You at number one for 16 bloody weeks. Say no more.

Fri 06 May

Sat 07 May

PUSCIFER

THE ATKINSON, 13:30–00:00, £17

Three-hour benefit concert featuring compere Tony Ravel, Asa Murphy, Rachael Russell and others.

RNCM launch their new Young Explorers Concert Series for children.

An evening of gypsy jazz - the acoustic jazz styles first popularised in the 1930s by Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli - led by violinist Matt Holborn and his quartet.

AFTERNOON TEA IN THE GALLERY (THE JOHN HALLAM TRIO)

Featuring music by Mozart and Mahler.

MAGUIRE’S PIZZA BAR, 18:00–22:30, £5

Pop punk and indie bands from across the UK.

Rawkus and Jump on Demand present a Friday 13th special of murky rock sounds.

LIVERPOOL MOZART ORCHESTRA

THE CAPSTONE, 19:30–22:30, £0 - £16.50

MICA PARIS

MAGUIRE’S PIZZA BAR, 19:00–23:00, £5

Fri 20 May DAVID STARR

THE LANTERN THEATRE, 19:45–22:30, £8 - £10

The soul singer (and Celebrity Come Dine With Me Winner, lest we forget) hits the road.

Singer-songwriter who’s shared the stage with the likes of John Oates, Dan Fogelberg, John McEuan and others.

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 20:00–23:00, £28.50 - £37.50

BUYERS CLUB, 19:30–23:30, £7

ST GEORGE’S HALL, 19:00–22:00, £25 - £45

JASON DONOVAN

The cult Aussie star (so cult he has a kebab van in Bristol named after him - we’ll let you work out the pun) embarks on a solo tour, playing his 1989 album, Ten Good Reasons, in its entirety alongside other hits.

THE PROCLAIMERS

SOUTHPORT THEATRE, 19:00–22:00, £28.50

Expect to hear the classics Sunshine on Leith, I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) and Letter From America.

DIZRAELI

Following on from a jam-packed gig at The Blade Factory in 2014, the lyrical mastermind Dizraeli finally returns to Liverpool after a brief hiatus.

Sat 21 May SOUL LEGENDS

LIVERPOOL EMPIRE THEATRE , 19:30–22:00, £27.65 - £29.65

A night of classics from yesteryear, including Aretha Franklin, James Brown, Sam and Dave, Tina Turner and others.

THE SKINNY

LONDON CONCERTANTE PERFORM VIVALDI FOUR SEASONS ST GEORGE’S HALL, 18:30–22:00, £19 - £26

What is says on the tin.

SONGS OF LAMENTATION

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 19:30–22:30, £14 - £40

With works by Strauss, Mahler and Shostakovich.

MICHAEL SUTTHAKORN (GABZ + CALLUM JACKSON + CARA FITZPATRICK + PAUL SILVE + FRASER MORGAN + ALEKSG + LEWIS MAXWELL + TABITHA JADE) ARTS CLUB, 14:00–17:00, £12

Afternoon gig in aid of Teenage Cancer Trust.

PINK PUNK PARTY (PEANESS + THE FRANCEENS + QUEEN ZEE AND THE SASSTONES + MYSTIFIED + SEAWITCHES + THE EXXXORCISMS)

MAGUIRE’S PIZZA BAR, 19:00–23:00, £4

Bitchism host another night of ‘pink, punk and party’ featuring Chester pea-punk tio Peaness and more.

THE HUT PEOPLE

THE ATKINSON, 19:30–22:30, £10 - £12

DAPHNIS ET CHLOÉ LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 19:30–22:30, £14 - £40

Ravel’s masterpiece is performed alongside works by Messiaen, Chausson and a UK premiere from Qigang Chen.

BEN CAPLAN AND THE CASUAL SMOKERS

ARTS CLUB, 19:00–23:00, £7

The Canadian folk musician from Nova Scotia is joined by his band.

Fri 27 May

B.Y.O.B (BRING YOUR OWN BEAT) WITH ONUR ORKUT

THE BLUECOAT, 17:30–18:30, FREE

An experiment on the effect of music on our everyday lives bring along a 12-minute playlist (music of any kind or spoken word), your personal music player devise and your headphones, and watch with your own soundtrack.

LUKA BLOOM

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC MUSIC ROOM, 20:00–23:00, £16

Irish contemporary folk artist.

English instrumental duo peddling worldly folk sounds.

Sat 28 May

Sun 22 May

THE CAPSTONE, 13:00–00:00, FREE

BUSTED

ECHO ARENA, 19:30–22:30, £37.50 £41.50

The pop-punk trio embark on a reunion tour, marking a decade after Charlie buggered off.

SACHA RATTLE

ST GEORGE’S HALL, 15:00–17:00, £10

Playing the Second Concerto for Clarinet by Weber.

Mon 23 May

MANCHESTER CAMERATA FEATURING TINE THING HELSETH

ST GEORGE’S HALL, 19:30–22:30, £26

Manchester Camerata are joined by young Norwegian trumpet virtuoso, Tine Thing Helseth, in celebration of her debut solo release, Storyteller.

Tue 24 May ADAM GREEN

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–22:00, £15

Adam Green is renowned around the globe as one of music’s most unique and prolific songwriting talents. As a solo artist, Green has recorded nine albums, many of which have become cult hits.

MISS MAY I + WE CAME AS ROMANS

ARTS CLUB, 19:00–23:00, £13

Double header of American metalcore music.

Wed 25 May AS IT IS

ARTS CLUB, 19:00–23:00, £10

Pop punk from a four-piece who’ve just released a new album, Never Happy, Ever After.

BENN WATT BAND FT. BERNARD BUTLER

ARTS CLUB, 19:00–23:00, £16.50

The former Tracey Thorn sidekick from alt-pop duo Everything But the Girl tours his latest solo stuff, taking to the road with third album, Fever Dream, alongside a special band.

KEITH JAMES

THE LANTERN THEATRE, 19:30–22:30, £12

Performing the music of Cat Stevens to raise money for UNICEF UK Syrian Children’s appeal.

DEEP HEDONIA (PERFUME ADVERT + BEST AVAILABLE TECHNOLOGY + ONDESS + DIALECT) 24 KITCHEN STREET, 19:00–23:00, £6.50

Music-led events, design and production group Deep Hedonia return to 24 Kitchen Street for the first time in over a year to unearth talent from the electronic and experimental underground.

BLAIR DUNLOP

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC MUSIC ROOM, 20:00–23:00, £12

Award-winning songwriter and guitarist, performing songs from his acclaimed albums and previewing songs from his forthcoming third album.

Thu 26 May

B.Y.O.B (BRING YOUR OWN BEAT) WITH ONUR ORKUT

THE BLUECOAT, 17:30–18:30, FREE

An experiment on the effect of music on our everyday lives bring along a 12-minute playlist (music of any kind or spoken word), your personal music player devise and your headphones, and watch with your own soundtrack.

May 2016

MITA NAG

Mita Nag continues the legacy of her grandfather and father’s unique style, known as the Vishnupur gharana, in an improvised concert.

THE TROGGS

ST GEORGE’S HALL, 18:30–22:00, £17.50

One of Britain’s original punk rock bands, still boasting original founder member Chris Britton on lead guitar.

LIVERPOOL SOUND CITY (THE CORAL + CATFISH AND THE BOTTLEMEN + LEFTFIELD + CIRCA WAVES + PETE DOHERTY) VARIOUS VENUES, 12:00–00:00, £70

Brace yourself for another weekend of music and visual arts, with a Floating Points DJ set, Bill Ryder Jones and False Advertising just a few highlights alongside the bigger names.

Sun 29 May BEVERLEY KNIGHT

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 19:30–22:30, £19.50 - £85

Contemporary soul singer returning with a brand new album set for a spring release this year.

HANDS LIKE HOUSES (I THE MIGHTY + THE GOSPEL YOUTH) ARTS CLUB, 19:00–23:00, £10

Australian six-piece utilising an array of tecnhical effects, post-hardcore charm and lively stage antics.

LIVERPOOL SOUND CITY (THE CORAL + CATFISH AND THE BOTTLEMEN + LEFTFIELD + CIRCA WAVES + PETE DOHERTY) VARIOUS VENUES, 12:00–00:00, £70

Brace yourself for another weekend of music and visual arts, with a Floating Points DJ set, Bill Ryder-Jones and False Advertising just a few highlights alongside the bigger names.

Mon 30 May ERIC BIBB AND BAND

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 19:30–22:30, £22.50 - £28.50

Progressive blues musician, touring in the wake of his late 2015 release of latest album, Lead Belly’s Gold.

Manchester Clubs Tue 03 May GOLD TEETH

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 22:00–03:00, £4.50 - £5

Legendary weekly mixed-bag night, often invites use of the term ‘carnage’.

C.U NEXT TUESDAY

THE LIAR’S CLUB, 22:00–04:00, FREE

Weekly party of 80s anthems, 80s prices, lycra and disco drinks, with drinks deals for anyone in era-appropriate garms.

Wed 04 May JUICY

JOSHUA BROOKS, 23:00–03:00, £1.50 - £3

All party, no bullshit night of everything from classic hip-hop to disco and funk.

HUMANS AGAINST HOMELESSNESS

ANTWERP MANSION, 20:00–03:00, £3.50 - £5

An evening of music and poetry followed by DJs and MCs playing into the small hours, raising money for homeless charity Feed.

Thu 05 May F//CK

FACTORY 251, 22:30–05:00, £0.99 - £5

Student Thursday-nighter, with resident DJs Steve Davies, Bill Murray’s Rock n Soul club, and Nicola Bear serving up anything from retro classics to electro mash ups across three rooms.

STUART RICHARDS

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NWS, 22:00–04:00, FREE BEFORE 11PM

High Jinx resident Stuart Richards brings his trademark style to the bar, offering a night of disco, funk and house.

SOLARDO SECRET CELLAR SESSIONS

TOP OF THE POPS

THE WHISKEY JAR, 22:00–04:00, £6

MINT LOUNGE, 22:30–04:00, £3 - £4

Returning for a second instalment of cutting edge house and techno.

Sat 07 May

MR SCRUFF: KEEP IT UNREAL

BAND ON THE WALL, 22:00–03:00, £12

No less than a DJ mastermind, known for playing marathon sets, mixing a junk-shop bag of sounds and bringing his beats to life with squiggly, scribbled animations.

GIRLS ON FILM

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 22:00–03:00, £0 - £6

Pink lady cocktails, disco balls, glitz and glamour – a club night where you’re free to let your inner 80s child loose.

FUNKADEMIA

MINT LOUNGE, 22:30–04:00, £5 - £6

Mancunian nightclub institution – delivering a chronological history of soul on a weekly basis, courtesy of their DJ collective.

HOUSE PARTY

THE LOWRY, 22:00–02:00, £15

An immersive party with DJ sets from Juicy and Howling Rhythm, beds to jump on, a kitchen for late-nght snacking and more. Part of Week 53 Festival.

SO FLUTE (CONTOURS + WERKHA + DANUKA + YADAVA + BALOO)

THE WHISKEY JAR, 23:00–04:00, £6

The So Flute crew return with their globe-trotting, soul-infused beats.

STUART RICHARDS

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NWS, 22:00–04:00, FREE BEFORE 11PM

JACOB COID

High Jinx resident Stuart Richards brings his trademark style to the bar, offering a night of disco, funk and house.

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NQ, 22:00–04:00, FREE BEFORE 11PM

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 23:00–03:00, £1

Everything from Dylan to Dre, the Strokes to Snoop, Bowie to the Beastie Boys - and everything in between.

DIGITAL WITNESS

AATMA, 23:00–03:00, £4

Indie, electro and art rock sounds, spanning the likes of Animal Collective, Hot Chip, Deerhunter and more.

Fri 06 May YOU DIG?

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 23:00–03:00, £4

Funky music for funky people.

TOP OF THE POPS

MINT LOUNGE, 22:30–04:00, £3 - £4

Get your weekend off to a great start with this healthy mix of dancefloor fillers and guilty pleasures served up by residents and guest DJs.

ETHER E

Local resident Ether E plays a mix of funk, soul and disco.

BANANA HILL (UMOJA + SNO + CERVO + JVC)

SOUP KITCHEN, 23:00–04:00, £3 - £7

Open-minded party starters Banana Hill bring Dutch production duo Ujoma to the Soup Kitchen basement for their Manchester debut.

RIVA STARR

GORILLA, 23:00–04:00, £8 - £15

The Snatch! Records label boss heads to Manchester to help Unfazed Events launch with a bang.

TIM WRIGHT

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NQ, 22:00–04:00, FREE BEFORE 11PM

Feel-good music via the avenues of house, garage, hip-hop, R ‘n’ B, funk, disco, soul and pop.

STRAIGHT OUTTA ANTWERP

Get your weekend off to a great start with this healthy mix of dancefloor fillers and guilty pleasures served up by residents and guest DJs. AWESOME TAPES FROM AFRICA (MOGA DISCO + SERVO) THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 23:00–03:00, £8 - £10

Having shared a wealth of music from Africa via his Awesome Tapes blog, Brian Shimkovitz brings his passion for the continent to a club setting.

ETHER E

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Local resident Ether E plays a mix of funk, soul and disco.

FIZZ FACE FRIDAY (DJ CLINT BOON)

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NQ, 17:00–04:00, FREE BEFORE 11PM

Black Dog’s new weekly club night, which sees the end-of week thirst of Manchester’s 9-5ers quenched by £12 bottles/£3 glasses of Prosecco.

FIZZ FACE FRIDAY

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NWS, 17:00–04:00, FREE BEFORE 11PM

Black Dog’s new weekly club night, which sees the end-of week thirst of Manchester’s 9-5ers quenched by £12 bottles/£3 glasses of Prosecco.

LESBOX

ANTWERP MANSION, 22:30–03:00, £5

A brand new queer night for girls (and boys), promising everything from old school pop to house, techno, disco and r’n’b.

DISTINCT MANCHESTER (DAN FARSERELLI + WINTER SON + DR AND MONDE + FLUX GROOVE AND JAMES MARSLAND + JAMES HOBSON + BILLY OLIVER) THE WHISKEY JAR, 22:00–04:00, £8 - £12

Distinct Manchester bring you the first of their house and techno parties down in the Whiskey Jar basement.

Sat 14 May GIRLS ON FILM

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 22:00–03:00, £0 - £6

Pink lady cocktails, disco balls, glitz and glamour – a club night where you’re free to let your inner 80s child loose.

FUNKADEMIA

MINT LOUNGE, 22:30–04:00, £5 - £6

Mancunian nightclub institution – delivering a chronological history of soul on a weekly basis, courtesy of their DJ collective.

SELECTIVE HEARING (ZENKER BROTHERS + CLERIC + REFLEC)

HIDDEN, 22:00–04:00, £10 - £12

ANTWERP MANSION, 22:00–03:00, £4 - £10

Another tempting line-up from the Selective Hearing crew.

Student Friday-nighter, with mashups in room one, indie, funk and Motown in room two, and electro house in room three.

BOX ENERGY (CLASS ENEMY + SCURRILOUS + MASON COLLECTIVE + JAMAL H)

One of Manchester’s most consistently brilliant club nights continues.

SOUP KITCHEN, 23:00–04:00, £SOLD OUT

Foreign Language Records present Box Energy.

#FRI251

FACTORY 251, 22:30–05:00, 99P BEFORE MIDNIGHT

ANDREW WEATHERALL

DJ, producer, remixer extraordinaire and bastion of the underground.

FIZZ FACE FRIDAY (DJ CLINT BOON)

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NQ, 17:00–04:00, FREE BEFORE 11PM

Black Dog’s new weekly club night, which sees the end-of week thirst of Manchester’s 9-5ers quenched by £12 bottles/£3 glasses of Prosecco.

FIZZ FACE FRIDAY

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NWS, 17:00–04:00, FREE BEFORE 11PM

A mash-up of hip hop, grime and bass across two rooms.

JOSHUA BROOKS, 23:00–04:00, £5 - £7

Mon 09 May QUIDS IN

FACTORY 251, 23:00–04:00, £1 - £2

Cheap as chips Monday student night, where the price of various drinks match the alluring entry fee (which rises to £2 after midnight, btw.)

Thu 12 May STUART RICHARDS

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NWS, 22:00–04:00, FREE BEFORE 11PM

Black Dog’s new weekly club night, which sees the end-of week thirst of Manchester’s 9-5ers quenched by £12 bottles/£3 glasses of Prosecco.

High Jinx resident Stuart Richards brings his trademark style to the bar, offering a night of disco, funk and house.

ANTWERP MANSION, 23:00–03:00, £3

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NQ, 22:00–04:00, FREE BEFORE 11PM

THE BLIND TIGER

An electroswing extravaganza promising a night of prohibition era debauchery.

HIDDENEVENTS X PROJECT 13 (KARENN + SIGHA + DIVIDED + ANTON FITZ) HIDDEN, 23:00–04:00, £10 - £15

Another ace party at Hidden, this time with UK techno dream team Karenn, aka Blawan and Pariah.

KONNICHIWA

JOSHUA BROOKS, 22:30–04:00, £1 - £6.50

Trap/grime night.

JACOB COID

Everything from Dylan to Dre, the Strokes to Snoop, Bowie to the Beastie Boys - and everything in between.

Fri 13 May JUICY

GORILLA, 23:00–04:00, £3 - £5

All party, no bullshit night of everything from classic hip-hop to disco and funk.

MEAT FREE

HOLD FAST BAR, 21:00–03:00, FREE

HOUSE PARTY (YELLOW + PINS + HOT VESTRY + LUNGS)

SOUND CONTROL, 22:00–03:00, £6

An immersive party with DJ sets from Juicy and Howling Rhythm, beds to jump on, a kitchen for late-nght snacking and more. Part of Week 53 Festival.

ANTICS (TELEGRAM DJ SET)

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 23:00–03:00, £3

Cult indie, electronica, psychedelia, retro anthems and more from the Antics residents and guest DJs. DANCERS WANTED (ZALTAN)

SOUP KITCHEN, 23:00–04:00, £7

Ruf Kutz label head, Ruf Dug branches out on his lonesome to pioneer his Dancers Wanted clubnight, serving up lush Balearic vibes to help y’all get a sweat on.

STUART RICHARDS

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NWS, 22:00–04:00, FREE BEFORE 11PM

High Jinx resident Stuart Richards brings his trademark style to the bar, offering a night of disco, funk and house.

TIM WRIGHT

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NQ, 22:00–04:00, FREE BEFORE 11PM

Feel-good music via the avenues of house, garage, hip-hop, R ‘n’ B, funk, disco, soul and pop.

SATURDAYS AT TWENTY TWENTY TWO TWENTY TWENTY TWO 2022, 21:00–04:00, FREE

Stylus, Klepto and guests take you through the sounds of hip hop, r’n’b, disco, garage and house - and better yet, it’s free entry all night, meaning you can splash out a fiver for some ping pong.

NO HASSLE: MARK KNIGHT

GORILLA, 23:00–04:00, £8 - £12.50

Toolroom bossman Mark Knight plays a three-hour set.

THE ORIGINAL 90S SOUL JAM (P.I.C + TINY G + SPLINTA + PROFILE)

BAND ON THE WALL, 23:00–03:00, £5

A night of soul and r'n'b.

SILENT TREATMENT X POOKU

JOSHUA BROOKS, 23:00–04:00, £0 - £5

Silent Treatment team up with Pooku for a free party at Joshua Brooks (£5 after 11.45pm).

REBOOT HOUSE PARTY (MELANIE WILLIAMS + MC KWASI + BEATPHREAK + ALISON BETHUNE AND KODENAME + KYLER NIKO + ROGER AND OSCAR LE MONS + PAUL THORNTON + SHAUN ‘FUNKYGINGER’ FORAN)

TEXTURE, 21:00–03:00, £4.50 - £7.50

The Reboot Project, which has been celebrating funky music since 1996, return to launch new material.

LACUNA (STEPHEN CORRIE + PSTW + RYAN CROFT + MATTY BAILEY + JOSH MURPHY) 1 PRIMROSE STREET, 22:00–04:00, £0 - £3

Brand new night from Stephen Corrie and PSTW.

Tue 17 May GOLD TEETH

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 22:00–03:00, £4.50 - £5

Legendary weekly mixed-bag night, often invites use of the term ‘carnage’.

Wed 18 May JUICY

JOSHUA BROOKS, 23:00–03:00, £1.50 - £3

All party, no bullshit night of everything from classic hip-hop to disco and funk.

Thu 19 May STUART RICHARDS

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NWS, 22:00–04:00, FREE BEFORE 11PM

Sat 21 May

SUMMER BANK HOLIDAY GARDEN PARTY

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 22:00–03:00, £0 - £6

A day and night of music, a BBQ, a paddling pool, games and summer cocktails come together for the late May bank holiday.

GIRLS ON FILM

Pink lady cocktails, disco balls, glitz and glamour – a club night where you’re free to let your inner 80s child loose.

FUNKADEMIA

MINT LOUNGE, 22:30–04:00, £5 - £6

Mancunian nightclub institution – delivering a chronological history of soul on a weekly basis, courtesy of their DJ collective.

SO FLUTE (GARTH BE + BOLTS + DANUKA + YADAVA + BALOO)

THE WHISKEY JAR, 23:00–04:00, £5

The So Flute crew return with their globe-trotting, soul-infused beats.

STUART RICHARDS

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NWS, 22:00–04:00, FREE BEFORE 11PM

High Jinx resident Stuart Richards brings his trademark style to the bar, offering a night of disco, funk and house.

ETHER E

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 23:00–03:00, FREE

Local resident Ether E plays a mix of funk, soul and disco.

SOLDIERS OF CORE

ANTWERP MANSION, 20:00–04:00, £TBC

Marking their 1st birthday with a huge bash, joined by Oblivion Underground.

TIM WRIGHT

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NQ, 22:00–04:00, FREE BEFORE 11PM

Feel-good music via the avenues of house, garage, hip-hop, R ‘n’ B, funk, disco, soul and pop.

SOUND VISIONARIES

ISLINGTON MILL, 21:00–00:00, £3 - £5

GOO

Monthly club night tribute to 90s indie – expect Pulp, Nirvana, Suede, Smashing Pumpkins, Pixies and more.

TOP OF THE POPS

MINT LOUNGE, 22:30–04:00, £3 - £4

Get your weekend off to a great start with this healthy mix of dancefloor fillers and guilty pleasures served up by residents and guest DJs. ELECTRIC JUG

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 23:00–03:00, £3

Serving up the best of the 60s, ranging from psych and rock ‘n’ roll to britpop and soul.

FIZZ FACE FRIDAY (DJ CLINT BOON)

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NQ, 17:00–04:00, FREE BEFORE 11PM

Black Dog’s new weekly club night, which sees the end-of week thirst of Manchester’s 9-5ers quenched by £12 bottles/£3 glasses of Prosecco.

FIZZ FACE FRIDAY

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NWS, 17:00–04:00, FREE BEFORE 11PM

Black Dog’s new weekly club night, which sees the end-of week thirst of Manchester’s 9-5ers quenched by £12 bottles/£3 glasses of Prosecco.

HIDDENEVENTS X LOVE DOSE (LEVON VINCENT + DJ DEEON) HIDDEN, 22:00–04:00, £10 - £15

HiddenEvents and Love Dose team up once more ahead of Odyssia Festival.

LAY-FAR + MAD MATS

AATMA, 23:00-4:00, £10-£15

Doodle and Better Days team up for a Local Talk label showcase.

Magic Waves (Ali Renault + Moot + Jax Dax + Iron Blu + Tommy Walker+ Funsize Jonny + Starion + Ian Harry Hill) ISLINGTON MILL, 22:00–06:00, £8 - £10

Label showcase from Magic Waves.

GIRLS ON FILM

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 22:00–03:00, £0 - £6

Pink lady cocktails, disco balls, glitz and glamour – a club night where you’re free to let your inner 80s child loose.

FUNKADEMIA

MINT LOUNGE, 22:30–04:00, £5 - £6

Mancunian nightclub institution – delivering a chronological history of soul on a weekly basis, courtesy of their DJ collective.

HOMOELECTRIC (MR TIES)

HIDDEN, 22:00–04:00, £12

Offering up a melting pot of disco, house, techno, garage with a sprinkling of rock’n’roll attitude and a dash of glamour.

STUART RICHARDS

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NWS, 22:00–04:00, FREE BEFORE 11PM

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NQ, 22:00–04:00, FREE BEFORE 11PM

GOLD TEETH

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 22:00–03:00, £4.50 - £5

Legendary weekly mixed-bag night, often invites use of the term ‘carnage’.

Wed 25 May CHOW DOWN X JAMZ

SOUP KITCHEN, 22:00–04:00, £6

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NWS, 22:00–04:00, FREE BEFORE 11PM

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 22:00–03:00, £0 - £5

Sat 28 May

Tue 24 May

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NQ, 22:00–04:00, FREE BEFORE 11PM

Fri 20 May

Movement return with Christian Loffler playing live.

High Jinx resident Stuart Richards brings his trademark style to the bar, offering a night of disco, funk and house.

Chow Down party into spring with JAMZ

Everything from Dylan to Dre, the Strokes to Snoop, Bowie to the Beastie Boys - and everything in between.

MOVEMENT (CHRISTIAN LOFFLER)

1 PRIMROSE STREET, 23:00–04:00, £6 - £8

A collaborative project of creative minds, currently working under the motto of ‘Making Music Visible’, whose electronic art is at the heart of what they do.

High Jinx resident Stuart Richards brings his trademark style to the bar, offering a night of disco, funk and house.

JACOB COID

ANTWERP MANSION, 14:00–03:00, £TBC

Thu 26 May STUART RICHARDS

High Jinx resident Stuart Richards brings his trademark style to the bar, offering a night of disco, funk and house.

JACOB COID

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NQ, 22:00–04:00, FREE BEFORE 11PM

Everything from Dylan to Dre, the Strokes to Snoop, Bowie to the Beastie Boys - and everything in between.

Fri 27 May UPTOWN

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 23:00–03:00, £3 - £5

The best in disco, funk, boogie and party classics.

TOP OF THE POPS

MINT LOUNGE, 22:30–04:00, £3 - £4

Get your weekend off to a great start with this healthy mix of dancefloor fillers and guilty pleasures served up by residents and guest DJs.

TRANSMISSION FUNK (PANGAEA + Ø [PHASE] + MATRIXXMAN + BATU AND FACTA)

HIDDEN, 22:00–04:00, £8 - £12.50

Transmission Funk hit up Hidden with their biggest line-up to date.

PERCOLATE

TIM WRIGHT

Feel-good music via the avenues of house, garage, hip-hop, R ‘n’ B, funk, disco, soul and pop.

Sun 29 May

SAUCE (DAVE MONOLITH + DEFEKT + RICK NICHOLLS + BRADFORD DAVE + ASHER + PETE MANGALORE)

AATMA, 20:00–04:00, £6 - £8

A bank holiday party with Dave Monolith, Defekt and others.

THE HIDDEN FOREST (CABANNE + SEB ZITO + ANTON FITZ + MARTIN LOOSE CUTS + CLASS EMERY + MARK TURNPENNY)

HIDDEN, 16:00–04:00, £8 - £18

The second party of the Hidden Forest series.

MY DISCO

ISLINGTON MILL, 20:00–02:00, £9 - £11

Bank holiday party with the Melbourne-based band.

BLUE DISCO

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 23:00–03:00, £3

Special bank holiday night dedicated to the music of Blur, spanning their back catalogue alongside Gorillaz hits, Coxon’s solo work and other Britpop classics.

BOLLOX

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 22:00–03:00, £5 - £6

One of Manchester’s favourite queer alt-club nights hits up Deaf Institute for the bank holiday.

Liverpool Clubs Tue 03 May DIRTY ANTICS

BUMPER, 22:00–04:00, £0 - £3

Messy Tuesday-nighter, bring your dirty shoes.

ANTWERP MANSION, 16:00–04:00, £7.50 - £15

Fri 06 May

FIZZ FACE FRIDAY (DJ CLINT BOON)

High profile guest DJs spin their favourite tunes for a free, laidback night that takes you into the small hours.

12-hour party celebrating 10 years of Hypercolour.

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NQ, 17:00–04:00, FREE BEFORE 11PM

Black Dog’s new weekly club night, which sees the end-of week thirst of Manchester’s 9-5ers quenched by £12 bottles/£3 glasses of Prosecco.

FIZZ FACE FRIDAY

BLACK DOG BALLROOM NWS, 17:00–04:00, FREE BEFORE 11PM

Black Dog’s new weekly club night, which sees the end-of week thirst of Manchester’s 9-5ers quenched by £12 bottles/£3 glasses of Prosecco.

LOBBY SESSIONS (BILL BREWSTER + POOKY) CAMP AND FURNACE, 21:00–03:00, FREE

CATFACE

BUMPER, 22:00–05:00, FREE

Playful, feline night at the notorious Bumper, where drawing whiskers on your face gets you free entry.

MEDICATION

ARTS CLUB, 23:00–04:00, £6

3 rooms of confetti, lasers, balloons and other such treats for Liverpool’s hyper student community.

Listings

51

Liverpool Clubs MEDICATION ARTS CLUB, 23:00–04:00, £6

3 rooms of confetti, lasers, balloons and other such treats for Liverpool’s hyper student community.

COSMIC DISCO

24 KITCHEN STREET, 22:00–04:00, £0 - £5

Otherworldly, hypnotic dancefloor selections.

Sat 07 May

LOBBY SESSIONS (THE CORAL + JOE FEARON)

CAMP AND FURNACE, 21:00–03:00, FREE

High profile guest DJs spin their favourite tunes for a free, laidback night that takes you into the small hours.

4MATION

THE ATTIC, 22:00–03:00, FREE

CHANNEL ONE SOUND SYSTEM 24 KITCHEN STREET, 20:00–02:00, £8 - £12

One of Europe’s leading reggae sound systems comes to Liverpool, as Channel One camp out in 24 Kitchen Street for the night with their legendary, hand-built custom speaker system in tow.

MEINE NACHT

TBC, 22:00–03:00, £7 - £10

It’ll be the BYOB (yep!) policy that’ll get you down there, but Meine Nacht’s rep as one of the world’s best club nights that’ll make you stay.

Tue 17 May DIRTY ANTICS

BUMPER, 22:00–04:00, £0 - £3

Messy Tuesday-nighter, bring your dirty shoes.

Fri 20 May

LOBBY SESSIONS (CRAZY P’S RON BASEJAM + DOWN TO FUNK DJS)

CAMP AND FURNACE, 21:00–03:00, FREE

4Mation returns with a free night of underground house and tech house.

High profile guest DJs spin their favourite tunes for a free, laidback night that takes you into the small hours.

BUMPER, 23:00–05:00, £TBC

BUMPER, 22:00–05:00, FREE

PULL UP TO THE BUMPER

Weekly Saturday party packed with pop and synth classics.

CHOCOLATE PUMA (SCISSORS + GERALD LE FUNK + KAYO + CONNOR JONES + DEEJAY DFM + DJ J.C.)

THE GARAGE, 22:00–06:00, £15 - £20

Promising a night of EDM, electro, prog-house and more.

DANIEL AVERY

WILLIAMSON TUNNELS, 21:00–04:00, £8 - £13

The second instalment of 303’s All Night Long series and 3rd birthday.

SUBSOUND PRESENTS: KOAN SOUND + CULPRATE 24 KITCHEN STREET, 22:00–04:00, £10 - £12

A night of funk-infused bass, from dubstep to full-on glitch hop, as Bristol’s KOAN Sound return to Liverpool backed by Culprate.

KOAN SOUND (CULPRATE)

24 KITCHEN STREET, 22:00–04:00, £8 - £10

Tasty funk-infused bass, from dubstep to glitch-hop.

Tue 10 May DIRTY ANTICS

BUMPER, 22:00–04:00, £0 - £3

Messy Tuesday-nighter, bring your dirty shoes.

Fri 13 May

LOBBY SESSIONS (HORSE MEAT DISCO + SEAN HUGHES)

CAMP AND FURNACE, 21:00–03:00, FREE

High profile guest DJs spin their favourite tunes for a free, laidback night that takes you into the small hours.

CATFACE

BUMPER, 22:00–05:00, FREE

Playful, feline night at the notorious Bumper, where drawing whiskers on your face gets you free entry.

MEDICATION

ARTS CLUB, 23:00–04:00, £6

3 rooms of confetti, lasers, balloons and other such treats for Liverpool’s hyper student community.

MEDICATION

ARTS CLUB, 23:00–04:00, £6

3 rooms of confetti, lasers, balloons and other such treats for Liverpool’s hyper student community.

TRIBE (TOM PAGE + GED LEVER + BOB GUEST + THOMAS WOLF)

BUYERS CLUB, 21:00–04:00, £3 - £5

A gathering of tribal, house and techno sounds and a visual show inspired by the raves of Carl Cox, Robert Hood, Seth Troxler and co.

Sat 14 May

TWISTED FUSION AND GET DOWN (JACKY + APOLLO84 + CDC + JACK SWAFFER + TOM DAVIES + SAM RICE) THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 22:00–03:00, £6 - £8

Twisted Fuision label showcase.

PULL UP TO THE BUMPER

BUMPER, 23:00–05:00, £TBC

Weekly Saturday party packed with pop and synth classics.

LUIS FLORES

DISTRICT, 22:00–04:00, £8 - £10

Trommel welcomes Luis Flores for a four-hour live set.

MODE (RAFFA FL)

THE GARAGE, 22:00–05:00, £8 - £10

Underground house and techno experience with Raffa FL (aka Raffaele Calza) headlining.

52

Listings

CATFACE

Playful, feline night at the notorious Bumper, where drawing whiskers on your face gets you free entry.

MEDICATION

ARTS CLUB, 23:00–04:00, £6

3 rooms of confetti, lasers, balloons and other such treats for Liverpool’s hyper student community.

MEDICATION

ARTS CLUB, 23:00–04:00, £6

3 rooms of confetti, lasers, balloons and other such treats for Liverpool’s hyper student community.

Sat 21 May

LOBBY SESSIONS (MARCEL VOGEL + LDF DJS) CAMP AND FURNACE, 21:00–03:00, FREE

High profile guest DJs spin their favourite tunes for a free, laidback night that takes you into the small hours.

PULL UP TO THE BUMPER

BUMPER, 23:00–05:00, £TBC

Weekly Saturday party packed with pop and synth classics.

MODU:LAR OPEN AIR

CONSTELLATIONS, 14:00–06:00, £8 £22.50

The return of the Modu:lar Open Air programme, as the first of three specially-curated summer events in the Baltic Triangle.

FUTURE|JOURNEYS AFTER PARTY

DISTRICT, 20:00–02:00, £10 - £15

The Specials’ Jerry Dammers DJs his repertoire of ska, punk and dub fusion.

VINTAGE

THE GARAGE, 22:00–04:00, £15 - £27.50

A night of house classics, themed on the funky house era in Liverpool.

INSOMNIA

24 KITCHEN STREET, 22:00–04:00, £10

Underground house and techno party.

Tue 24 May DIRTY ANTICS

BUMPER, 22:00–04:00, £0 - £3

Messy Tuesday-nighter, bring your dirty shoes.

Fri 27 May

LOBBY SESSIONS (ANDY SMITH + NO FAKIN DJS + ROBIN JACKSON + POOKY) CAMP AND FURNACE, 21:00–03:00, FREE

High profile guest DJs spin their favourite tunes for a free, laidback night that takes you into the small hours.

4MATION

THE ATTIC, 22:00–03:00, FREE

4Mation returns with a free night of underground house and tech house.

CATFACE

BUMPER, 22:00–05:00, FREE

Playful, feline night at the notorious Bumper, where drawing whiskers on your face gets you free entry.

MEDICATION

ARTS CLUB, 23:00–04:00, £6

3 rooms of confetti, lasers, balloons and other such treats for Liverpool’s hyper student community.

Sat 28 May

CIRCUS PRESENT ELROW

CAMP AND FURNACE, 14:00–23:00, £27.50

The Spanish spectacle of colour and exuberance makes its way to the Northwest, this time with a Bollyood theme.

PULL UP TO THE BUMPER

BUMPER, 23:00–05:00, £TBC

Weekly Saturday party packed with pop and synth classics.

AWESOME TAPES FROM AFRICA

24 KITCHEN STREET, 19:00–02:00, £8 - £12

24 Kitchen Street and Bam!Bam!Bam! team up with Africa Oyé Festival to bring Awesome Tapes From Africa, a leading exponent of African music, over for a Liverpool debut.

Manchester Theatre Contact Theatre FLYING SOLO FESTIVAL: CLIMATE OF FEAR

5 MAY, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £6 - £11

Exploring the emotion of anger through a series of original monologues, Climate of Fear asks what our anger can teach us about our connection to ourselves and each other.

FLYING SOLO FESTIVAL: STICKING

7 MAY, 7:00PM – 8:00PM, £6 - £11

A spoken word show about moving away from home for the first time, combining poetry, music and storytelling to create a show that will strike a chord with anyone who’s ever felt lost in a new place.

FLYING SOLO FESTIVAL: SHE WAS PROBABLY NOT A ROBOT

7 MAY, 8:30PM – 9:30PM, £7 - £13

An uplifting tale of loneliness, grief, hope and silliness, in which the world ends in flood and fire and a man floats out of his bedroom window and out to sea as sole survivor and last hope for humanity.

FLYING SOLO FESTIVAL: UNTOUCHABLE

10 MAY, 7:00PM – 9:00PM, £6 - £11

A piece about hope, endurance and survival, the hidden realities of everyday life behind closed doors and finding the courage to speak up. It’s about real people, family, and scars that haven’t healed.

FLYING SOLO FESTIVAL: FASLANE

10 MAY, 8:30PM – 10:00PM, £6 - £11

Award-winning artist Jenna Watt presents Faslane, a hugely powerful and timely insight into the UK’s current nuclear debate. Jenna endeavours to understand her relationship to Trident, the wider nuclear debate and activism.

FLYING SOLO FESTIVAL: GLUE

10 MAY, 7:00PM – 9:00PM, £6 - £11

Glue tells the true story of Louise Wallwein’s reunion with her birth mother 30 years after being put up for adoption, where the audience is invited to share a private first reunion, and the subsequent more public second meeting.

FLYING SOLO FESTIVAL: MY FATHER WAS A TERRORIST

12 MAY, 4:00PM – 6:00PM, £6 - £11

Amsterdam-based artist Igor Vrebac uses physical theatre to ask how much pain can one man endure without losing his dignity, or his sanity? How does pain transform you and your thoughts on religion, peace and love?

FLYING SOLO FESTIVAL: KISS IT BETTER

13 MAY, 7:00PM – 8:00PM, £5 - £7

Award-winning poet and performer Ben Mellor’s new solo show is a playful yet powerful exploration of the placebo effect, informed by current scientific research, medical history, anthropology and an intimate personal response to the subject.

FLYING SOLO FESTIVAL: ALASKA

13 MAY, 4:30PM – 5:30PM, £6 - £11

One woman’s extraordinary story of how she survived growing up with severe depression, Alaska is a raw and powerful performance with humour, heart and soul.

Theatre Manchester

FLYING SOLO FESTIVAL: BIG GIRL’S BLOUSE 13 MAY, 8:30PM – 10:00PM, £10 - £20

Who knew what being transgender was in the 1970s? Not Kate O’Donnell’s family. The path to becoming a woman isn’t always smooth, and with a lifetime of coming out, Kate has had to use every trick - theatrical and otherwise - to get by.

ONE MIC STAND

20 MAY, 7:00PM – 10:00PM, £4 - £7

A night of poetry, music and visual art from Young Identity Manchester, featuring a line-up of the city’s young spoken word elite.

LONGING LASTS LONGER

26 MAY, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £10 - £15

The Edinburgh Fringe’s double award-winning show from New York’s undisputed queen of the underground, Penny Arcade, which turns contemporary stand-up on its head to create a crack in the post-gentrified landscape.

HOME

TWELFTH NIGHT

11-14 MAY, 7:30PM – 9:00PM, £10 - £23

Filter Theatre’s explosive take on the Shakespearean tale of romance, satire and mistaken idendity.

STOWAWAY

5-7 MAY, 7:30PM – 9:00PM, £10 - £18

Opera House JACKIE THE MUSICAL

17-21 MAY, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £12.90 - £56.40

All singing, all dancing seventies nostalgia fest Jackie The Musical continues its UK tour.

END OF THE RAINBOW

30 APR-7 MAY, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Lisa Maxwell plays Judy Garland in an emotionally charged and humorous piece of biographic musical theatre, studded with classic numbers like The Man That Got Away and Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

MENOPAUSE: THE MUSICAL

30 APR-28 MAY, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

One of the Nolan sisters, someone off Casualty and the woman who played Heather Trott on Eastenders do a musical about ‘the change’. Apparently it’s hysterical!

Apparently.

A specially-selected collection of short one-act plays, featuring some of Tennessee Williams’ best characters. Matinee performance also available.

GUTTED AND LATE NIGHT LOVE

19-21 MAY, 7:45PM – 12:00AM, £12

A double bill of The Conker Group’s Gutted and Late Night Love from Eggs Collective.

32 RUE VANDENBRANDEN

23 - 25 MAY, 7:30PM – 9:00PM, £10 - £18

Six performers contort, bend, jerk and levitate to an unsettling soundtrack that spans everything from Bellini and Stravinsky to Pink Floyd.

100 TESTIMONIES: LISTENING TO THE VOICES OF MANCHESTER 25 MAY, 7:30PM – 12:00AM, FREE

A special one-off performance from the cast of June’s On Corporation Street, inspired by memories and experiences of Mancunian people as we mark the 20th anniversary if the IRA bombing.

Hope Mill Theatre THE ODDITY

5-7 MAY, 8PM, £10-£12

Homer’s classic Greek myth is turned on its head, telling the tale from a contemporary female perspective via central character Tilly, a girl lost between ancient fiction and modern reality.

PARADE

13 MAY-5 JUN, 7:30PM – 9:30PM, £14 - £20

SCRIPTS ALOUD

MAMMA MIA

10 MAY-4 JUN, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £15 - £54.50

HANDLE WITH CARE

5-8 MAY, TIMES VARY, £10

World premiere of a site-specific journey of one woman and her stuff, performed in a self-storage unit in Worsley. Part of Week 53 Festival at The Lowry.

Royal Exchange Theatre THE NIGHT WATCH

19 MAY-18 JUN, 7:30PM – 9:30PM, £8 - £16

Olivier-nominated playwright Hattie Naylor brings to life Sarah Waters’ story of illicit love and everyday heroism set in the late 1940s. Matinee performances also available.

KING LEAR

2-7 MAY, 7:00PM – 10:00PM, £8.50 - £16

For theatre company Talawa’s 30th anniversary year, director Michael Buffong returns to the Royal Exchange with Don Warrington, who stars in Shakespeare’s brutal portrait of power struggles, family feuding and, above all else, sanity unravelling.

GET YOURSELF TOGETHER

6-7 MAY, 7:00PM – 9:00PM, £10 - £12

This new show from Royal Exchange-supported artist Josh Coates is part stand up, part spoken word and part teenager in his room pretending he’s in a punk band, exploring the thin line between mental health as a clinical and political issue.

The Dock at The Lowry STAR BOY PRODUCTIONS

5-7 MAY, TIMES VARY, £10

An over-the-top comedy from the company behind the critically acclaimed sell-out plays Ascension, Porno Chic, Last Dance, Watching Goldfish Suffocate, M, Mysterious Skin and many others.

UNTAPPED 2016

19-20 MAY, 2:00PM – 9:00PM, £5

Annual festival for Theatre and Performance students at Salford University, with performances from students of all levels.

IOLANTHE

The Sale Gilbert and Sullivan Society present Gilbert and Sullivan’s seventh work together.

GIVE ME A REASON TO LIVE

4-10 MAY, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Performer Claire Cunningham uses dance to delve into the work of medieval painter Hieronymous Bosch, exploring religion, religious art and the judgement of souls and bodies.

CHILCOT

26-28 MAY, 8:00PM – 11:00PM, £10 - £12

Documentary theatre drawing together testimonies from leading political players and voices of Iraqi refugees, veterans and military families against war.

The Lowry: Lyric Theatre AN INSPECTOR CALLS

17-21 MAY, 7:30PM – 9:30PM, £19 - £27

Stephen Daldry’s multi awardwinning production of J.B. Priestley’s classic thriller. Matinee performances also available.

TOM

25-28 MAY, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, £22 - £32

A musical charting the life of the perma-tan Welshman, Mr Tom Jones. Matinee performances also available.

100% SALFORD

7-8 MAY, TIMES VARY, £8

A Lowry commission exploring how your life experience differs based on where you live, how much money you make and if you’re white and divorced or black and widowed.

CARLOS ACOSTA: A CLASSICAL FAREWELL

13-15 MAY, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, £61

One of the world’s most iconic male ballet stars presents his final classical ballet programme.

The Lowry: Quays Theatre DINOSAUR PARK

8-17 MAY, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

The award-winning parody of Spielberg’s classic dino-caper, Jurassic Park.

FAGIN’S TWIST

20-27 MAY, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

The Dickensian classic is given a hip-hop renovation. Matinee performance aso available.

CHOTTO DESH

CENTURY SONG

International Anthony Burgess Foundation

6-7 MAY, TIMES VARY, £10

2Magpies Theatre turn their attention to Guantanamo Ba, exploring the imagined future of a deeply troubling past, performed in an area between the Lowry’s Quays and Lyric theatre spaces.

Part of Week 53 Festival.

The violence, hatred and starcrossed romance of Bellini’s classic bel-canto opera come to life in an intense chamber production by Pop-Up Opera, sung in Italian with English captions.

RAZ

16 MAY, 8:00PM – 12:00AM, £15

A Fringe First award-winning new play by Jim Cartwright about a night out in modern Britain.

18 MAY, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £10 - £12

MURDER SHE WRITES

Tony Award-winning musical featuring a rousing score by Jason Robert Brown, offering a moral lesson about the dangers of prejudice and ignorance by exploring the darkest corners of America’s history.

I CAPULETI E I MONTECCHI

Celebrating great new writing from talented young theatremakers.

4 MAY, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £11

3-4 MAY, 7:30PM – 12:00AM, £5 - £10

7 MAY, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, £15 - £17.50

13-18 MAY, TIMES VARY, £1 - £3

Waterside Arts Centre

3 African migrants invite an audience into their world of clandestine survival tactics, performed in an area between the Lowry’s Quays and Lyric theatre spaces. Part of Week 53 Festival.

LAST RESORT

THE LOWRY NATIONAL THEATRE CONNECTIONS FESTIVAL

An evening of new short plays performed with script in hand.

30 MAY, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £5

23-25 MAY, 7:30PM – 9:30PM, £12 - £14

Triple Tony Award-winning musical which tells the tales of life on a downtown New York Street through the medium of puppetry, musical theatre and a particularly cheeky libretto.

Ready, Steady Store, Worsley

12-14 MAY, 7:45PM – 12:00AM, £6 - £10

Mancunian writer David Howell pens a 40-minute dark comedy about five phobia sufferers at their weekly support group meeting, where laughter and sadness ensue as they all begin to describe their phobias.

3-14 MAY, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

AVENUE Q

22 MAY, 8:00PM – 9:00PM, £BY DONATION

PARADISE DREAMS

12 MAY, 7:30PM – 9:00PM, £4

The Lowry Studio

One of the biggest grossing musicals of ever comes to the Northwest, featuring the songs of everyone’s favourite Swedish pop group, Abba.

Première of this (ir)reverent remake of a Mancunian classic. Starring Eggs Collective, introduced by auteur DeDomenici

TIPPING POINT

Palace Theatre Manchester

The story of an extraordinary journey in search of an impossible future from two-time Fringe First winners Hannah Barker and Lewis Hetherington.

QUEER AS YOLK: REDUX

The King’s Arms

A dance theatre production for families about a young man’s dreams and memories from Britain to Bangladesh. Part of Week 53 Festival. Matinee performance also available.

6-8 MAY, 8:00PM – 12:00AM, £10

A live performance hybrid created by soprano Neema Bickersteth, Ross Manson and Kate Alton, featuring projections by Germany’s fettFilm. Part of Week 53 Festiva.

COMPANIA OLGA PERICET, SIN TITULO

11-12 MAY, 8:00PM – 11:00PM, £16 - £20

One of today’s most celebrated flamenco dancers takes the audience through two contrasting emotions using different styles, or ‘palos’.

THE MAIDS

Square Peg Theatre’s re-telling of Jean Genet’s seminal play.

INTO THIN AIR

6 MAY, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £8 - £10

Exploring the increasing pressure on everyone to succeed at everything, through tight ensemble performance and magical realism.

THE MIDNIGHT SOUP

19 MAY, 8:00PM – 10:00PM, £10 - £12

An intimate performance meal by Leo Burtin, starting as monologue before opening out as conversation.

GREAT SCOTT

21 MAY, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £8 - £10

An epic, anarchic comedy from Gonzo Moose following Captain Scott and invaders from outer space.

BLAST FROM THE PAST

26 MAY, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, £10 - £12

Spiltmilk Dance combine dance, sketch show and TV gameshow for a asoundtrack from chart-toppers from 1952 to the present day.

Liverpool Theatre Epstein Theatre

BUDDY HOLLY AND THE CRICKETERS

7 MAY, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, £17

Show dedicated to the music of Buddy Holly.

Liverpool Empire Theatre FOOTLOOSE

9-14 MAY, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £12 £56.40

Crowd-pleaser of a musical, complete with singalong pop-rock score and nifty dance moves a-plenty.

THE BODYGUARD

2-7 MAY, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, £10 - £64.50

Musical based on the blockbuster film of the same name, with XFactor winner Alexandra Burke taking on warbling Whitney duties. Matinee performances also available.

TELL ME ON A SUNDAY

9-23 MAY, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

An Andrew Lloyd Webber number which charts the romantic woes of an English woman in 1980s New York.

MENOPAUSE: THE MUSICAL

30 APR-28 MAY, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

One of the Nolan sisters, someone off Casualty and the woman who played Heather Trott on Eastenders do a musical about ‘the change’. Apparently it’s hysterical!

Apparently.

Liverpool John Moores University

LIVERPOOL SCREEN SCHOOL DEGREE SHOW

27 MAY, 6:00PM – 12:00AM, FREE

An evening of live drama performances, film screenings, readings and more showcasing the work of final year students at Liverpool John Moores University studying Creative Writing, Drama, Film Studie and Journalism.

Liverpool Playhouse THE MERRY WIVES

24-28 MAY, 7:30PM – 9:30PM, £10 - £28

Northern Broadsides presents a light-hearted, comedic take on the Shakespearean world, following one of his recurring characters, old-timer Sir John Falstaff, as his attempts to seduce backfire. ­Matinee performances also available.

PLEASURE 4 MAY, 7:30PM – 9:00PM, £15 - £25

Liverpool-born composer Mark Simpson makes his operatic debut with this thriller, set in a hedonistic nightclub in the North of England.

THE COMPLETE DEATHS

20-21 MAY, 7:30PM – 9:30PM, £9.50 - £22

A gory mash-up of all of Shakespeare’s death scenes performed by four clowns from Brightonbased physical comedy company.

Royal Court Theatre THE GOLDEN OLDIES

3-14 MAY, 8:00PM, £13 - £26

Heartwarming new comedy by Dave Simpson (The Naked Truth, Raving Beauties) about music, romance and aging rock and rollers, packed with 50s and 60s tunes. Matinee performances also available.

St George’s Hall

THINK NO EVIL OF US: MY LIFE WITH KENNETH WILLIAMS

25 MAY, 6:30PM – 10:00PM, £18

One-man show unlocking the character of one of Britain’s most well-loved entertainers.

DINOSAUR PARK

8-17 MAY, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

The award-winning parody of Spielberg’s classic dino-caper, Jurassic Park.

ENGLISH ECCENTRICS WITH ROBERT POWELL AND LIZA GODDARD

18 MAY, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, £19

Powell and Goddard introduce some of the colourful characters from the UK’s past, including William Cope, William Buckland, Oscar Wilde, Lewis Carroll, Lord Byron and others.

St Helens Theatre Royal THE DOLLY PARTON STORY

7 MAY, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £18 - £19.50

Paying tribute to the buxom blonde queen of country-tinged pop.

The Atkinson HANGMEN

12 MAY, 7:00PM – 12:00AM, £10

The Royal Court Theatre’s critically acclaimed production, broadcast live from the West End.

The Capstone

SOMETHING THEN SOMETHING NOW

16 MAY, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, £10

An intimate evening of choreography starring the promising dancer Seeta Patel.

The Lantern Theatre

THE STARS ARE MADE OF CONCRETE

12 MAY-16 MAY 21, TIMES VARY, £8 - £10

Confronting that contentious issue of benefits, exploring the people behind the statistics.

JOHN & JEN

3-8 MAY, 7:30PM – 9:30PM, £8 - £10

A musical exploring the complexities of relationships between brothers and sisters, and parents and children, in America between 1950 and 1990.

THE LIFE WE LIVED

14 MAY, 7:30PM – 9:30PM, £8 - £10

A morbid but comic love story about a funeral director and the woman that becomes one of his corpses.

FAMILY PLAY

28 MAY, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, £8 - £12

Told through the eyes of an eight-year-old, Family Play reveals the comedy and tragedy that’s inevitable with all human relationships.

The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts 3 WINTERS

17-21 MAY, 7:30PM – 9:30PM, £4.50 - £9

Tena Štivicic’s play takes us from the remnants of the Balkan monarchy, through Communism and the horrors of the Balkan Civil War in the early 1990s.

ROUGE

26-28 MAY, 7:30PM – 9:30PM, £3 - £6

A play inspired by Baz Luhrman’s film, Moulin Rouge, following young, idealistic poet Christian as he arrives in the bohemian capital of 1900s Paris.

THE SKINNY

Ullet Road Unitarian Church LAST SUPPER

5-7 MAY, 8:00PM – 10:30PM, £15 - £25

The result of Bearded Child’s collective interest in dining, theatre and the end of the world, Last Supper is a dark satirical cabaret staged around a three course meal, exploring why we give up hope and where we might find it again.

Unity Theatre THE JOKE

3-4 MAY, TIMES VARY, £12 - £14

A new play from Perrier award winner Will Adamsdale and company - exploring jokes and why we tell them, countries and why we need (and despair of) them, and life and why we bother. And tic tacs.

THE ODDITY

5-18 MAY, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Homer’s classic Greek myth is turned on its head, telling the tale from a contemporary female perspective via central character Tilly, a girl lost between ancient fiction and modern reality.

THE ART OF SILENCING

7 MAY, 8:00PM – 9:30PM, £5 - £8

Breaking down ideas of ‘over here’ and ‘over there’, this cabaret of comedy, discussion, music and a new short play by Caryl Churchill takes a look at things censored and supressed.

PHYSICAL FEST: NAUTILUS

20 MAY, 8:00PM – 9:30PM, £14

High-octane mime comedy, which is the follow-up to the sell-out physical comedies Kraken and Squidboy.

PHYSICAL FEST: BLIND MAN’S SONG

23 MAY, 8:00PM – 9:30PM, £12

Theatre Re presents a wordless tale about the power of imagination, told through physical theatre, mime, illusions and a live musical score.

PHYSICAL FEST: FEST LIVE

25 MAY, 8:00PM – 9:30PM, £10

A selection of extracts from new work by national and international artists including Sean Kempton, Hilary Chapman, Mary Pearson and Conflux.

PHYSICAL FEST: ORIGINS

26 MAY, 8:00PM – 9:30PM, £8

A psychological thriller created and performed by Aminiki Theatre.

PHYSICAL FEST: DOUBLE BILL

27 MAY, 8:00PM – 9:30PM, £12

A double bill featuring a dancetheatre piece from performer and director Al Seed, Oog, and international ensemble of clowning artists, Cabaret in the Shadows.

PHYSICAL FEST: STUPID WOMEN

28 MAY, 8:00PM – 9:30PM, £14

An improvisation performance for five women live-directed by Wendy Houstoun, aiming for a nuanced look at the politics of being a women in these intersectional times.

Manchester Comedy Tue 03 May

XS MALARKEY (SALLY-ANNE HAYWARD + IAN SMITH + ESHAAN ACKBAR + THERESA FARLOW)

PUB/ZOO, 19:00–22:00, £3 - £5

The rather ace comedy night continues with the usual Tuesday night shenanigans.

WORST COMEDY NIGHT IN SALFORD

THE KING’S ARMS, 20:00–22:00, £3

Keeping expectations low with this night of open mic stand up, opening up the stage to anyone willing to give it go.

Wed 04 May BARKING TALES

ZOMBIE SHACK, 19:00–22:00, £5

An evening of oddball comedy with compere Harriet Dyer at the helm, this time kicking off an Edinburgh preview season with award-winning Sophie Willan and the Northwest’s Pete Otway.

Thu 05 May

STAND UP THURSDAY (PAUL THORNE + THE NOISE NEXT DOOR + MC ROB ROUSE) THE COMEDY STORE, 20:00–22:30, £8 - £12

Cheat life and get that Friday feeling one day early with a night of comedic delight from some circuit funny folk.

May 2016

Comedy Manchester

THURSDAY NIGHT LIVE (WILL DUGGAN + JIM SMALLMAN + HARRIET KELMSLEY + STEPHEN BAILEY + ALEX BOARDMAN) THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–23:00, £7 - £13

Watch four top class comics, sat comfortably at a table while enjoying your comedy with food and drinks.

Fri 06 May

THE BEST IN STAND UP (PAUL THORNE + THE NOISE NEXT DOOR + JO CAULFIELD + CHRIS KENT + MC ROB ROUSE)

THE COMEDY STORE, 20:00–22:30, £12 - £18

Regular night of stand up with a line-up of five top circuit comedians.

BARREL OF LAUGHS (JIM SMALLMAN + WILL DUGGAN + ALEX BOARDMAN) THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–23:00, £13 - £19

Pepper your weekend with laughs from four top class comics, sat comfortably at a table while enjoying your comedy with food and drinks, followed by Frog and Bucket’s classic cheesy disco until late.

EDDIE IZZARD

THE LOWRY STUDIO, 19:00–22:00, £15

The admirable comedian performs in Force Majeure show three times in three language over the course of one evening.

COMEDY AT CHORLTON IRISH CLUB (TOM WRIGGLESWORTH + MICK FERRY + LOST VOICE GUY + MC CAIMH MCDONNELL) CHORLTON IRISH CLUB, 20:00–23:00, £10 - £12

Bringing great acts from the UK and International circuit to the suburbs on the first Friday of every month.

Sat 07 May

THE BEST IN STAND UP (PAUL THORNE + THE NOISE NEXT DOOR + JO CAULFIELD + CHRIS KENT + MC ROB ROUSE)

THE COMEDY STORE, 21:30–23:30, £16 - £22

Regular night of stand up with a line-up of five top circuit comedians.

BARREL OF LAUGHS (JIM SMALLMAN + WILL DUGGAN + ALEX BOARDMAN) THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–23:00, £15 - £22

Pepper your weekend with laughs from four top class comics, sat comfortably at a table while enjoying your comedy with food and drinks, followed by Frog and Bucket’s classic cheesy disco until late.

LET’S SEE WHAT HAPPENS

THE KING’S ARMS, 19:30–22:00, £5

Top comedians from ComedySportz base sketches on true stories, using suggestions from the audience to inspire the basis of the improv.

BEST OF BUZZ COMEDY (CHRIS MARTIN + JACK CAMPBELL + LOVDEV BARPAGA)

WATERSIDE ARTS CENTRE, 20:00–23:00, £10 - £12

The Waterside’s regular comedy night, featuring one of the UK comedy circuit’s up and coming stars.

CHRIS RAMSEY

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–22:00, £17.50

The stand-up comedian, Celebrity Juice regular and the man who once got pizza delivered to a moving train returns with a new solo show, All Growed Up. SAM SIMMONS (JOHN HASTINGS + IVO GRAHAM)

GORILLA, 19:00–23:00, £10 - £12

Group Therapy continue their comedic reign on Gorilla, this time for the Manchester debut of Aussie funnyman Sam Simmons, winner of the Best Show accolade at last year’s Edinburgh Festival, among others.

CITIZEN KHAN

O2 APOLLO MANCHESTER, 19:30–22:30, £TBC

Citizen Khan’s Adil Ray takes to the stage with his new live show, They All Know Me.

Sun 08 May

NEW STUFF (MC TOBY HADOKE)

THE COMEDY STORE, 19:30–22:30, £2 - £4

Stand-up from fresh-faced comics trying to break on to the circuit – play nice.

FUNMBI OMOTAYA

THE LOWRY STUDIO, 20:00–23:00, £10

Stand-up comedian who’s appearaed on The John Bishop Show, among others, who tours his Legal Immigrant show.

Mon 09 May BEAT THE FROG

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–23:00, £0 - £3

A ten-act long heckle-fest inviting a handful of amateurs to take to the stage and try to Beat the Frog, and the audience decides who stays – brutal!

SEAN LOCK

THE LOWRY: LYRIC THEATRE, 20:00–23:00, £24

Loved for his wondering, grumbling puzzlement at life, Mr Lock serves up some more deft observations on the world with his new tour, Keep it Light.

Tue 10 May SEAN LOCK

THE LOWRY: LYRIC THEATRE, 20:00–23:00, £24

Loved for his wondering, grumbling puzzlement at life, Mr Lock serves up some more deft observations on the world with his new tour, Keep it Light.

XS MALARKEY (ED GAMBLE + SEAN MCLOUGHLIN + PHIL LUCAS + JULIE OLIVER + LAURA LEXX)

PUB/ZOO, 19:00–22:00, £3 - £5

The rather ace comedy night continues with the usual Tuesday night shenanigans.

GRAEME OF THRONES

THE LOWRY: QUAYS THEATRE, 20:00–23:00, £19

A parody of the global hit that is Game of Thrones, devised by a team of top UK comedy writers.

Wed 11 May SEAN LOCK

THE LOWRY: LYRIC THEATRE, 20:00–23:00, £24

Loved for his wondering, grumbling puzzlement at life, Mr Lock serves up some more deft observations on the world with his new tour, Keep it Light.

CARL HUTCHINSON

THE LOWRY STUDIO, 20:00–23:00, £12

Hutchinson performs his one-man show, Learning the Ropes.

GUINEA PIGS (TOM SHORT EDINBURGH PREVIEW + MATT BONANO + LUKAS KIRBY + MC RED REDMOND)

SANDBAR, 20:00–23:00, £PAY WHAT YOU WANT

The latest venture from the Dead Cat Comedy Cub stable, which sees host Red Redmond at the helm alongside UK circuit regulars and some of Manchester’s rising stars.

Thu 12 May

STAND UP THURSDAY (JEFF INNOCENT + DANNY MCLOUGHLIN + MC ALUN COCHRANE)

THE COMEDY STORE, 20:00–22:30, £8 - £12

Cheat life and get that Friday feeling one day early with a night of comedic delight from some circuit funny folk.

THURSDAY NIGHT LIVE (MARTIN MOR + ROB ROUSE + INGRID DAHLE + DAVID JORDAN + STEVE GRIBBEN)

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–23:00, £7 - £13

Watch four top class comics, sat comfortably at a table while enjoying your comedy with food and drinks.

Fri 13 May

THE BEST IN STAND UP (JEFF INNOCENT + ALUN COCHRANE + JOJO SMITH + SEAN COLLINS + MC DANNY MCLOUGHLIN)

THE COMEDY STORE, 20:00–22:30, £12 - £18

Regular night of stand up with a line-up of five top circuit comedians.

BARREL OF LAUGHS (MARTIN MOR + ROB ROUSE + BRENNAN REECE + STEVE GRIBBEN) THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–23:00, £13 - £19

Pepper your weekend with laughs from four top class comics, sat comfortably at a table while enjoying your comedy with food and drinks, followed by Frog and Bucket’s classic cheesy disco until late.

Sat 14 May

THE BEST IN STAND UP (JEFF INNOCENT + DANNY MCLOUGHLIN + JOJO SMITH + SEAN COLLINS + MC ALUN COCHRANE)

THE COMEDY STORE, 19:00–21:30, £16 - £22

Regular night of stand up with a line-up of five top circuit comedians.

BARREL OF LAUGHS (MARTIN MOR + ROB ROUSE + BRENNAN REECE + STEVE GRIBBEN) THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–23:00, £15 - £22

Pepper your weekend with laughs from four top class comics, sat comfortably at a table while enjoying your comedy with food and drinks, followed by Frog and Bucket’s classic cheesy disco until late.

COMEDYSPORTZ

WATERSIDE ARTS CENTRE, 18:30–22:00, £5 - £7

Comedy improv show with two teams battling it out for the biggest laughs, serving up sketches, songs and scenes with audience participation playing a key role in the development.

Sun 15 May NEW COMEDIANS

THE COMEDY STORE, FROM 19:30, £4

Alex Boardman’s New Comedians series continues.

NEW COMEDIANS

THE COMEDY STORE, 19:30–22:30, £2 - £4

Alex Boardman’s New Comedians series continues.

Mon 16 May BEAT THE FROG

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–23:00, £0 - £3

A ten-act long heckle-fest inviting a handful of amateurs to take to the stage and try to Beat the Frog, and the audience decides who stays – brutal!

MACE (MICHAEL J DOLAN + DAVID STAINER + EDY HURST + MC RED REDMOND)

KOSMONAUT, 20:00–23:00, £3 - £5

Dead Cat Comedy returns to Kosmonaut with Manchester’s Alternative Comedy Emporium, its anarchic evening of alternative entertainment from some of the UK’s best comedians.

Tue 17 May

XS MALARKEY (JOEY PAGE + RED RICHARDSON + DIMITRI BAKINOV)

THE DELIGHTFUL SAUSAGE (MC CHRIS CANTRILL + SUNIL PATEL + BEN CLOVER + AMY GLEDHILL + NICOLA REDMAN + JACK EVANS) THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–22:30, £0 - £3

A surreal evening of free biscuits, alternative comedy, musical interludes, adventure, illustration and meat raffles at The Castle. You had us at free biscuits, let’s face it. #JC4PM (MAXINE PEAKE AND THE ECCENTRONIC RESEARCH COUNCIL + JEREMY HARDY + FRANCESCA MARTINEZ+ STEVE GRIBBIN + JACK CARROLL + GRACE PETRIE + GERRY POTTER + DAVE WARD + BARBARA NICE) THE DANCEHOUSE THEATRE, 19:30–22:30, £15 - £20

THE ALL-STAR STAND-UP TOUR 2016 (GARY DELANEY + PETE FIRMAN + JARRED CHRISTMAS + SEAN HUGHES) THE LOWRY: QUAYS THEATRE, 20:00–23:00, £21

Four heavyweight comics join each other for a comedy tour of impressive proportions.

Thu 19 May

STAND UP THURSDAY (GORDON SOUTHERN + JUSTIN MOORHOUSE + MC MANDY KNIGHT)

THE COMEDY STORE, 20:00–22:30, £8 - £12

Cheat life and get that Friday feeling one day early with a night of comedic delight from some circuit funny folk.

THURSDAY NIGHT LIVE (MIKE WILKINSON + LUKE BENSON + CHRISTOPHER MACARTHUR BOYD + TOM WRIGGLESWORTH)

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–23:00, £7 - £13

Watch four top class comics, sat comfortably at a table while enjoying your comedy with food and drinks.

BRENNAN REECE AND FRIENDS

THE KING’S ARMS, 20:00–22:30, £TBC

Thu 26 May

THE BEST IN STAND UP (GORDON SOUTHERN + JUSTIN MOORHOUSE + PIERRE HOLLINS + FUNMBI OMOTAYO + MC MANDY KNIGHT) THE COMEDY STORE, 20:00–22:30, £12 - £18

Regular night of stand up with a line-up of five top circuit comedians.

BARREL OF LAUGHS (MIKE WILKINSON + FUNMBI OMOTAYO + VINCE ATTA + TOM WRIGGLESWORTH)

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–23:00, £13 - £19

Pepper your weekend with laughs from four top class comics, sat comfortably at a table while enjoying your comedy with food and drinks, followed by Frog and Bucket’s classic cheesy disco until late.

JOE LYCETT: THAT’S THE WAY, A-HA A-HA, JOE LYCETT

THE DANCEHOUSE THEATRE, FROM 20:00, £14

Charming and fresh faced young thing, gaining extra points for the supremely daft show title.

Sat 21 May

THE BEST IN STAND UP (GORDON SOUTHERN + JUSTIN MOORHOUSE + PIERRE HOLLINS + FUNMBI OMOTAYO + MC MANDY KNIGHT) THE COMEDY STORE, 19:00–21:30, £16 - £22

Regular night of stand up with a line-up of five top circuit comedians.

BARREL OF LAUGHS (MIKE WILKINSON + FUNMBI OMOTAYO + VINCE ATTA + TOM WRIGGLESWORTH)

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–23:00, £15 - £22

Pepper your weekend with laughs from four top class comics, sat comfortably at a table while enjoying your comedy with food and drinks, followed by Frog and Bucket’s classic cheesy disco until late.

WORST COMEDY NIGHT IN SALFORD

Wed 18 May

Headline comedians treat us to brand spanking new material. Not for the cupboard-lover comedy fan, this night showcases material which is most definitely a work in progress.

Fri 20 May

Stand-up from fresh-faced comics trying to break on to the circuit – play nice.

Keeping expectations low with this night of open mic stand up, opening up the stage to anyone willing to give it go.

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–23:00, £3 - £5

A special show of comedians, singers and poets come together to show support from ol’ Jezza Corbyn, with compere Barbara Nice.

Sun 22 May

THE KING’S ARMS, 20:00–22:00, £8

WORK IN PROGRESS (ROBIN MORGAN + STEPHEN BAILEY + MIKE NEWALL + RACHEL FAIRBURN + RICHARD MASSARA + DANNY SUTCLIFFE + ALLYSON JUNE SMITH + MC STEVE BUGEJA)

New material from the awardwinning comedian, fresh from a sold-out 90-date Australian tour - with some of his best mates coming along for the ride, too.

PUB/ZOO, 19:00–22:00, £3 - £5

The rather ace comedy night continues with the usual Tuesday night shenanigans.

Wed 25 May

NEW STUFF (MC TOBY HADOKE)

THE COMEDY STORE, 19:30–22:30, £2 - £4

ANTWERP MANSION COMEDY NIGHT (TONY BURGESS + COLIN HARVEY + MC ROLAND GENT) ANTWERP MANSION, 19:30–22:30, FREE

Another evening of fine free comedy at the Mansion.

Mon 23 May BEAT THE FROG

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–23:00, £0 - £3

A ten-act long heckle-fest inviting a handful of amateurs to take to the stage and try to Beat the Frog, and the audience decides who stays – brutal!

Tue 24 May

XS MALARKEY (SIMON KING + LUCY FREDERICK + KELSEY DE ALMEIDA + JOSH MATTHEWS)

PUB/ZOO, 19:00–22:00, £3 - £5

The rather ace comedy night continues with the usual Tuesday night shenanigans.

STAND UP THURSDAY (ANDY ASKINS + JASON COOK) THE COMEDY STORE, 20:00–22:30, £8 - £12

Cheat life and get that Friday feeling one day early with a night of comedic delight from some circuit funny folk.

THURSDAY NIGHT LIVE (JON MAYOR + TOM SHORT + KELSEY DE ALMEIDA + DAN NIGHTINGALE) THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–23:00, £7 - £13

Watch four top class comics, sat comfortably at a table while enjoying your comedy with food and drinks.

THE INVISIBLE DOT (ADAM BUXTON + TIM KEY + NICK HELM) OPERA HOUSE, 19:30–22:30, £22.90 - £32.90

The Invisible Dot’s mixed bill features some of today’s favourite names in comedy.

MARK STEEL

THE LOWRY: QUAYS THEATRE, 20:00–23:00, £16

The frank new show from the political comedian, Who Do I Think I Am? JUST SOME SKETCH NIGHT

THE KING’S ARMS, 19:30–21:00, £5

Hilarious original comedy from up-and-comers, with free popcorn to sway the dubious.

FUNNY WOMEN AWARDS 2016 (MC RUTH E COCKBURN)

CONTACT THEATRE, 19:30–22:00, £5

The Funny Women Awards return, shining a light on the ever-talented female voices of comedy.

Fri 27 May

BARREL OF LAUGHS (JON MAYOR + JOSH HOWIE + KIRI PRITCHARD MCLEAN + DAN NIGHTINGALE) THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–23:00, £15 - £22

Pepper your weekend with laughs from four top class comics, sat comfortably at a table while enjoying your comedy with food and drinks, followed by Frog and Bucket’s classic cheesy disco until late.

Sun 29 May

THE BEST IN STAND UP (JASON COOK + ANDY ASKINS + MC DANNY MCLOUGHLIN + MORE TBC)

THE COMEDY STORE, 19:30–22:30, £8 - £12

Regular night of stand up with a line-up of five top circuit comedians.

LAUGHING COWS (HARRIET DYER + MC KERRY LEIGH)

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–23:00, £7 - £10

All-female line-up of comics from the Laughing Cow bunch; a group that has helped the likes of Sarah Milllican and Jo Brand launch their careers.

BOVI

THE DANCEHOUSE THEATRE, 20:00–23:00, £25

The Nigerian comedian returns to the UK for his first show in Manchester, as he takes to stages with his Man on Fire tour.

GEORGE ZACH

THE LOWRY STUDIO, 20:00–23:00, £10 - £12

The Greek comedian tours his latest show, Greek Tragedy.

Mon 30 May BEAT THE FROG

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–23:00, £0 - £3

A ten-act long heckle-fest inviting a handful of amateurs to take to the stage and try to Beat the Frog, and the audience decides who stays – brutal!

SIDEKICK COMEDY (KATE MCCABE + LIAM PICKFORD + SCOTT LIVERSIDGE + ROSEMARY MACDONALD + HARRIET DYER) VIA, 19:30–22:00, £0 - £2

Your friendly, monthly, neighbourhood comedy gig. All comedians are hero-approved.

Liverpool Comedy

Campbell returns with yet more of his yarn-spinning, full of whimsical personal tales and a unique ability to find humour in, well, anything.

THE BEST IN STAND UP (ANDY ASKINS + MIKE GUNN + PRINCE ABDI + NISH KUMAR + MC JASON COOK)

Tue 03 May ED BYRNE

FLORAL PAVILION, 20:00–23:00, £19

The self-confessed miserable git takes his mid-life crisis of sorts on the road as he embraces middle age with open arms.

THE COMEDY STORE, 20:00–22:30, £12 - £18

Wed 04 May

BARREL OF LAUGHS (JON MAYOR + KIRI PRITCHARD MCLEAN + DAN NIGHTINGALE)

THE JACARANDA, 20:00–23:00, FREE

Regular night of stand up with a line-up of five top circuit comedians.

THE FROG AND BUCKET COMEDY CLUB, 20:30–23:00, £13 - £19

Pepper your weekend with laughs from four top class comics, sat comfortably at a table while enjoying your comedy with food and drinks, followed by Frog and Bucket’s classic cheesy disco until late.

JULIAN CLARY: THE JOY OF MINCING

OPERA HOUSE, 20:00–23:00, £22.90 - £41.90

Julian Clary’s celebrating thirty years as a wonderfully camp comedian. Apparently, he plans to proudly wear his M.B.E (Mincer of the British Empire), so keep an eye out for that.

Sat 28 May

THE BEST IN STAND UP (ANDY ASKINS + MIKE GUNN + PRINCE ABDI + NISH KUMAR + MC JASON COOK) THE COMEDY STORE, 21:30–23:30, £16 - £22

Regular night of stand up with a line-up of five top circuit comedians.

THE BRINDLEY, 19:30–00:00, £20

‘Chubby’ returns with his notoriously outrageous comedy, which leaves no topic off-limits…

THE DUKE (SHÔN DALE-JONES)

EVERYMAN THEATRE, 19:30–21:30, £12.50 - £16

A funny and poignant show playfully mixing fantasy and reality to gently challenge us to consider our priorities in a world full of crisis.

SEYMOUR MACE: NICHE AS F**K

81 RENSHAW STREET, 19:30–22:30, £5

Seymour Mace brings his 2015 Edinburgh Festival show to Liverpool, which was nominated for the Fosters Best Comedy accolade and promises such niche topics as caravans, farts, potatoes, frogs, gravy, ninjas, nipples, toast and more.

Fri 06 May

BOILING POINT (MILO MCCABE + TOM WARD + STEVE ROYLE + MC PAUL SMITH)

HOT WATER COMEDY CLUB, 20:00–23:00, £10 - £15

New and established comics take to the stage, for an evening of chuckles with their resident compere leading the way.

LAUGHTERHOUSE (BRENDAN RILEY + ROGER MONKHOUSE + PIERRE HOLLINS + MC NEIL FITZMAURICE) THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–23:00, £10 - £15

Triple headline show with a delightfully hilarious line-up of circuit funny-folk.

LAUGHTERHOUSE (ROGER MONKHOUSE + PIERRE HOLLINS + BRENDAN RILEY + MC CHRIS CAIRNS)

MATHEW STREET, 20:00–23:00, £10 - £15

Triple headline show with a delightfully hilarious line-up of circuit funny-folk.

LIVERPOOL COMEDY CENTRAL (CHRIS MCCAUSLAND + JULIAN DEANE + MARK SIMMONS + MC CARL HUTCHINSON) COMEDY CENTRAL AT BABY BLUE, 18:00–22:00, £15

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.

THE DUKE (SHÔN DALE-JONES)

EVERYMAN THEATRE, 19:30–21:30, £12.50 - £16

A funny and poignant show playfully mixing fantasy and reality to gently challenge us to consider our priorities in a world full of crisis.

Sat 07 May

CRAIG CAMPBELL

THE LOWRY: QUAYS THEATRE, 20:00–23:00, £16

ROY ‘CHUBBY’ BROWN (ROY CHUBY BROWN)

NEW MATERIAL (KATE TRACEY + MARSHAL B ANDERSON + PIERRE HOLLINS + WILL DUGGAN + MC PAUL SMITH)

Comedians test new stuff out in the Jacaranda basement, from anything that’s crossed their mind that day to the new shows they’ll be showcasing at Edinburgh.

Free, too.

THE LAUGHTER FACTOR (MC PHIL CHAPMAN)

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–23:00, £3 - £5

A monthly event giving comics the chance to try out new material before the weekend shows – it helps if you think of yourself as a comedic guinea pig.

Thu 05 May

LIVERPOOL COMEDY CENTRAL (CHRIS MCCAUSLAND + JULIAN DEANE + JOHN PENDAL + MC CARL HUTCHINSON) COMEDY CENTRAL AT BABY BLUE, 18:00–22:00, £15

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.

JONNY & THE BAPTISTS: THE END IS NIGH

UNITY THEATRE, 20:00–21:30, £10

A new show about family, friendship and environmental disaster - from the five-time award nominated BBC Radio 4 comedy stars.

BOILING POINT (MILO MCCABE + TOM WARD + STEVE ROYLE + MC PAUL SMITH)

HOT WATER COMEDY CLUB, 20:00–23:00, £10 - £15

New and established comics take to the stage, for an evening of chuckles with their resident compere leading the way.

LIVERPOOL COMEDY CELLAR (SEAN MEO + SULLY O’SULLIVAN + MC SAM AVERY)

THE MAGNET , 20:30–23:30, £13.50

The Liverpool Comedy Cellar features the cream of the international comedy circuit “up close and personal” every Saturday and this week is no different.

LAUGH OUT LOUD COMEDY CLUB (MARLON DAVIS + CHRIS MCCAUSLAND + STEPHEN BAILEY)

THE ATKINSON, 20:00–23:00, £15 - £17.50

A triple-header of comedy descends on the Laugh Out Loud Comedy Club.

LAUGHTERHOUSE (PIERRE HOLLINS + ROGER MONKHOUSE + BRENDAN RILEY + MC NEIL FITZMAURICE) THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–23:00, £17.50

Triple headline show with a delightfully hilarious line-up of circuit funny-folk.

LAUGHTERHOUSE (BRENDAN RILEY + ROGER MONKHOUSE + PIERRE HOLLINS + MC CHRIS CAIRNS) MATHEW STREET, 20:00–23:00, £17.50

Triple headline show with a delightfully hilarious line-up of circuit funny-folk.

LIVERPOOL COMEDY CENTRAL (CHRIS MCCAUSLAND + JULIAN DEANE + MARK SIMMONS + MC DAVE TWENTYMAN) COMEDY CENTRAL AT BABY BLUE, 18:00–22:00, £18

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.

Listings

53

Liverpool Comedy THE DUKE (SHÔN DALE-JONES) EVERYMAN THEATRE, 19:30–21:30, £12.50 - £16

A funny and poignant show playfully mixing fantasy and reality to gently challenge us to consider our priorities in a world full of crisis.

Sun 08 May

I’M SORRY I HAVEN’T A CLUE

LIVERPOOL EMPIRE THEATRE , 19:00–22:00, £SOLD OUT

The BBC Radio antidote to panel games starts an all-new touring stage show/evening of inspired nonsense, with host Jack Dee keeping Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Jeremy Hardy on board.

TESTING THE WATER (JAMES ROSS + MARVIN MCCARTHY + JAKE HOWIE + BEN TURNER + KIERAN LAWLESS + MC PAUL SMITH)

HOT WATER COMEDY CLUB, 20:00–23:00, £1.50 - £3

Showcase night for up-andcomers and undiscovered stars, offering a great value night out if you don’t mind being a comedy guinea pig.

CARL HUTCHINSON

COMEDY CENTRAL AT BABY BLUE, 19:00–22:00, £8

Hutchinson performs his one-man show, Learning the Ropes.

Tue 10 May

THE WITTY COMMITTEE (JIM BAYES + HOWARD WALKER + DAWN RIGBY + JACK SHANIK + EDDIE FORTUNE + MATT GRICE + MC RIKKY WILEY) CONSTELLATIONS, 20:00–23:00, £3

New comedy showcase for the circuit’s best up-and-coming names.

Wed 11 May

NEW MATERIAL (GEORGE ZACH + MC PAUL SMITH)

THE JACARANDA, 20:00–23:00, FREE

Comedians test new stuff out in the Jacaranda basement, from anything that’s crossed their mind that day to the new shows they’ll be showcasing at Edinburgh.

Free, too.

Thu 12 May

BOILING POINT (MC PAUL SMITH)

HOT WATER COMEDY CLUB, 20:00–23:00, £5 - £7

New and established comics take to the stage, for an evening of chuckles with their resident compere leading the way.

LIVERPOOL COMEDY CENTRAL (JEFF INNOCENT + MICHAEL LEGGE + MC DAVID LONGLEY)

COMEDY CENTRAL AT BABY BLUE, 18:00–22:00, £15

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.

MANFORD’S COMEDY CLUB (COLIN MANFORD + GAVIN WEBSTER + HARRIET DYER + ROGER MONKHOUSE) THE BRINDLEY, 20:00–23:00, £15

LIVERPOOL COMEDY CENTRAL (JEFF INNOCENT + MICHAEL LEGGE + IAN SMITH + MC DAVID LONGLEY) COMEDY CENTRAL AT BABY BLUE, 18:00–22:00, £15

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.

Sat 14 May TOM STADE

THE ATKINSON, 20:00–00:00, £15 - £17

The free-thinking philosopher ­returns to ponder timeless ­questions and reflect upon life’s choices and decisions, imbued with his usual added mayhem.

BOILING POINT (JAMIE SUTHERLAND + RUSSELL HICKS + RAYMOND MEARNS + MC PAUL SMITH) HOT WATER COMEDY CLUB, 20:00–23:00, £10 - £15

New and established comics take to the stage, for an evening of chuckles with their resident compere leading the way.

LIVERPOOL COMEDY CELLAR

THE MAGNET , 20:30–23:30, £SOLD OUT

The Liverpool Comedy Cellar features the cream of the international comedy circuit “up close and personal” every Saturday and this week is no different.

LAUGHTERHOUSE (ALLYSON JUNE SMITH + SOL BERNSTEIN + JUSTIN MOORHOUSE + MC CHRIS CAIRNS)

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–23:00, £17.50

Triple headline show with a delightfully hilarious line-up of circuit funny-folk.

LAUGHTERHOUSE (SOL BERNSTEIN + JUSTIN MOORHOUSE + ALLYSON JUNE SMITH + MC STE PORTER) MATHEW STREET, 20:00–23:00, £17.50

Triple headline show with a delightfully hilarious line-up of circuit funny-folk.

LIVERPOOL COMEDY CENTRAL (JEFF INNOCENT + MICHAEL LEGGE + IAN SMITH + MC DAVID LONGLEY)

COMEDY CENTRAL AT BABY BLUE, 18:00–22:00, £18

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.

Sun 15 May

TESTING THE WATER (ADAM ROWE + KEITH CALVERT + LORI SUAREZ + PETER THOMAS + DAN MCGUCKIN + LINDSEY WARNER CARROLL + MC PAUL SMITH) HOT WATER COMEDY CLUB, 20:00–23:00, £1.50 - £3

Showcase night for up-andcomers and undiscovered stars, offering a great value night out if you don’t mind being a comedy guinea pig.

Tue 17 May TOM STADE

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–23:00, £15 - £17

The free-thinking philosopher returns to ponder timeless questions and reflect upon life’s choices and decisions, imbued with his usual added mayhem.

DANIEL KITSON

EVERYMAN THEATRE, 19:30–21:30, £10 - £12

Jason Manford has carefully selected some of his favourite comedians to give you the best night out you’ve had for a long time

Daniel Kitson returns to the Everyman with the world premiere of a brand new show, Mouse: The Persistence of an Unlikely Thought.

Fri 13 May

UNITY THEATRE, 20:00–21:30, £12

BOILING POINT (JAMIE SUTHERLAND + RUSSELL HICKS + RAYMOND MEARNS + MC PAUL SMITH) HOT WATER COMEDY CLUB, 20:00–23:00, £10 - £15

New and established comics take to the stage, for an evening of chuckles with their resident compere leading the way.

LAUGHTERHOUSE (SOL BERNSTEIN + JUSTIN MOORHOUSE + ALLYSON JUNE SMITH + MC CHRIS CAIRNS) THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–23:00, £10 - £15

Triple headline show with a delightfully hilarious line-up of circuit funny-folk.

LAUGHTERHOUSE (JUSTIN MOORHOUSE + SOL BERNSTEIN + ALLYSON JUNE SMITH + MC STE PORTER)

MATHEW STREET, 20:00–23:00, £10 - £15

Triple headline show with a delightfully hilarious line-up of circuit funny-folk.

54

Listings

MATT FORDE: LET’S GET THE POLITICAL PARTY STARTED

Hilarious satire from the UK’s leading political comedian as seen on Have I Got News For You and Question Time.

Wed 18 May

NEW MATERIAL (BRENDAN REECE + SAM AVERY + HANNAH SILVESTER + MC PAUL SMITH)

THE JACARANDA, 20:00–23:00, FREE

Comedians test new stuff out in the Jacaranda basement, from anything that’s crossed their mind that day to the new shows they’ll be showcasing at Edinburgh.

Free, too.

TOM STADE

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–23:00, £15 - £17

The free-thinking philosopher returns to ponder timeless questions and reflect upon life’s choices and decisions, imbued with his usual added mayhem.

DANIEL KITSON

PATRICK MONAHAN

DANIEL KITSON

EVERYMAN THEATRE, 19:30–21:30, £10 - £12

THE BRINDLEY, 20:00–00:00, £12

EVERYMAN THEATRE, 19:30–21:30, £10 - £12

Daniel Kitson returns to the Everyman with the world premiere of a brand new show, Mouse: The Persistance of an Unlikely Thought.

Thu 19 May DANIEL KITSON

EVERYMAN THEATRE, 19:30–21:30, £10 - £12

Daniel Kitson returns to the Everyman with the world premiere of a brand new show, Mouse: The Persistance of an Unlikely Thought.

BOILING POINT (MC PAUL SMITH)

THE CROWN HOTEL, 20:00–23:00, £5 - £7

New and established comics take to the stage, for an evening of chuckles with their resident compere leading the way.

LIVERPOOL COMEDY CENTRAL (CHRISTIAN REILLY + DAN NIGHTINGALE + MASAI GRAHAM + MC ANDREW RYAN) COMEDY CENTRAL AT BABY BLUE, 18:00–22:00, £15

High-energy gags of the funnyman’s Irish/Iranian/Teeside heritage.

Sun 22 May DANIEL KITSON

EVERYMAN THEATRE, 19:30–21:30, £10 - £12

Daniel Kitson returns to the Everyman with the world premiere of a brand new show, Mouse: The Persistance of an Unlikely Thought.

TESTING THE WATER (MAXINE WADE + JAMES CHRISTOPHER + PHILIP SMITH + LENNY WOOD + MC PAUL SMITH)

HOT WATER COMEDY CLUB, 20:00–23:00, £1.50 - £3

Showcase night for up-andcomers and undiscovered stars, offering a great value night out if you don’t mind being a comedy guinea pig.

IMPROPRIETY MOVES

THE BLUECOAT, 20:00–21:00, FREE

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.

Liverpool’s own improv theatre company, Impropriety, teams up with Physical Fest to create an hour long performance.

Fri 20 May

Mon 23 May

EVERYMAN THEATRE, 19:30–21:30, £10 - £12

EVERYMAN THEATRE, 19:30–21:30, £10 - £12

DANIEL KITSON

Daniel Kitson returns to the Everyman with the world premiere of a brand new show, Mouse: The Persistance of an Unlikely Thought.

BOILING POINT (JIM SMALLMAN + NEIL MCFARLANE + PAUL MYREHAUG + MC PAUL SMITH) HOT WATER COMEDY CLUB, 20:00–23:00, £10 - £15

New and established comics take to the stage, for an evening of chuckles with their resident compere leading the way.

LAUGHTERHOUSE (JAMIE SUTHERLAND + JOHN FOTHERGILL + MC CHRIS CAIRNS)

MATHEW STREET, 20:00–23:00, £10 - £15

Triple headline show with a delightfully hilarious line-up of circuit funny-folk.

LIVERPOOL COMEDY CENTRAL (CHRISTIAN REILLY + DAN NIGHTINGALE + PETER BRUSH + MC ANDREW RYAN) COMEDY CENTRAL AT BABY BLUE, 18:00–22:00, £15

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.

Sat 21 May DANIEL KITSON

EVERYMAN THEATRE, 19:30–21:30, £10 - £12

Daniel Kitson returns to the Everyman with the world premiere of a brand new show, Mouse: The Persistance of an Unlikely Thought.

BOILING POINT (JIM SMALLMAN + NEIL MCFARLANE + PAUL MYREHAUG + MC PAUL SMITH) HOT WATER COMEDY CLUB, 20:00–23:00, £10 - £15

New and established comics take to the stage, for an evening of chuckles with their resident compere leading the way.

LIVERPOOL COMEDY CELLAR (RICHARD MORTON + TOM WRIGGLESWORTH + MC BRENDAN RILEY) THE MAGNET , 20:30–23:30, £13.50

The Liverpool Comedy Cellar features the cream of the international comedy circuit “up close and personal” every Saturday and this week is no different.

LAUGHTERHOUSE (JOHN FOTHERGILL + JAMIE SUTHERLAND + MC NEIL FITZMAURICE) THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–23:00, £17.50

Triple headline show with a delightfully hilarious line-up of circuit funny-folk.

LAUGHTERHOUSE (JOHN FOTHERGILL + JAMIE SUTHERLAND + MC CHRIS CAIRNS) MATHEW STREET, 20:00–23:00, £17.50

Triple headline show with a delightfully hilarious line-up of circuit funny-folk.

LIVERPOOL COMEDY CENTRAL (DANNY DEEGAN + DAN NIGHTINGALE + PETER BRUSH + MC ANDREW RYAN) COMEDY CENTRAL AT BABY BLUE, 18:00–22:00, £18

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.

DANIEL KITSON

Daniel Kitson returns to the Everyman with the world premiere of a brand new show, Mouse: The Persistance of an Unlikely Thought.

Daniel Kitson returns to the Everyman with the world premiere of a brand new show, Mouse: The Persistance of an Unlikely Thought.

BOILING POINT (ADAM ROWE + IVAN BRACKENBURY + JOSH HOWIE + MC PAUL SMITH)

HOT WATER COMEDY CLUB, 20:00–23:00, £10 - £15

New and established comics take to the stage, for an evening of chuckles with their resident compere leading the way.

LAUGHTERHOUSE (PAUL THORNE + KEITH FARNAN + DALISA CHAPONDA + MC CHRIS CAIRNS) THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–23:00, £10 - £15

Triple headline show with a delightfully hilarious line-up of circuit funny-folk.

LAUGHTERHOUSE (DALISO CHAPONDA + PAUL THORNE + KEITH FARNAN + MC SULLY O’SULLIVAN)

MATHEW STREET, 20:00–23:00, £10 - £15

Triple headline show with a delightfully hilarious line-up of circuit funny-folk.

LIVERPOOL COMEDY CENTRAL (KEITH CARTER PRESENTS NIGE + PAUL MCCAFFREY + PHIL WANG + MC LOU CONRAN) COMEDY CENTRAL AT BABY BLUE, 18:00–22:00, £15

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.

Tue 24 May

Sat 28 May

EVERYMAN THEATRE, 19:30–21:30, £10 - £12

EVERYMAN THEATRE, 19:30–21:30, £10 - £12

DANIEL KITSON

Daniel Kitson returns to the Everyman with the world premiere of a brand new show, Mouse: The Persistance of an Unlikely Thought.

MARK STEEL

ST GEORGE’S HALL, 18:30–22:00, £15

The frank new show from the political comedian, Who Do I Think I Am?

Wed 25 May

NEW MATERIAL (CERYS NELMES + MC PAUL SMITH)

THE JACARANDA, 20:00–23:00, FREE

Comedians test new stuff out in the Jacaranda basement, from anything that’s crossed their mind that day to the new shows they’ll be showcasing at Edinburgh.

Free, too.

DANIEL KITSON

EVERYMAN THEATRE, 19:30–21:30, £10 - £12

Daniel Kitson returns to the Everyman with the world premiere of a brand new show, Mouse: The Persistance of an Unlikely Thought.

Thu 26 May DANIEL KITSON

EVERYMAN THEATRE, 19:30–21:30, £10 - £12

Daniel Kitson returns to the Everyman with the world premiere of a brand new show, Mouse: The Persistance of an Unlikely Thought.

BOILING POINT

THE CROWN HOTEL, 20:00–23:00, £5 - £7

New and established comics take to the stage, for an evening of chuckles with their resident compere leading the way.

GRUMPY OLD WOMEN (JENNY ECLAIR, SUSI BLAKE, KATE ROBBINS)

THE BRINDLEY, 20:00–00:00, £25

Popular grumpy ladies Jenny Eclair, Susie Blake and Kate Robbins air their gripes, complete with a free nagging masterclass and a brief Zumba demonstration.

LIVERPOOL COMEDY CENTRAL (KEITH CARTER PRESENTS NIGE + PAUL MCCAFFREY + JAYDE ADAMS + MC LOU CONRAN) COMEDY CENTRAL AT BABY BLUE, 18:00–22:00, £15

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.

Fri 27 May BILL BAILEY

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 20:00–23:00, £25 - £31

The ever-funny Bill Bailey tours his new show, Limboland, exploring the gap between how we imagine our lives to be and how they really are.

DANIEL KITSON

Daniel Kitson returns to the Everyman with the world premiere of a brand new show, Mouse: The Persistance of an Unlikely Thought.

BOILING POINT (ADAM ROWE + SCOTT BENNETT + JOSH HOWIE + MC WILL DUGGAN)

HOT WATER COMEDY CLUB, 20:00–23:00, £10 - £15

New and established comics take to the stage, for an evening of chuckles with their resident compere leading the way.

LIVERPOOL COMEDY CELLAR (ANDY ASKINS + TANYALEE DAVIS + MC SAM AVERY)

THE MAGNET , 20:30–23:30, £13.50

The Liverpool Comedy Cellar features the cream of the international comedy circuit “up close and personal” every Saturday and this week is no different.

LAUGHTERHOUSE (KEITH FARNAN + PAUL THORNE + DALISO CHAPONDA + MC CHRIS CAIRNS)

Art

Manchester Castlefield Gallery

LAUNCH PAD: THE POWERHOUSE LIBERATION MOVEMENT

6-15 MAY, 1:00PM – 6:00PM, FREE

Combining film, installation, music, performance and a publication

by Manchester Left Writers, this exhibition concentrates on the regionally-relevant subject of urban regeneration.

Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art 30 YEARS OF CFCCA: GORDON CHEUNG

UNTIL-19 JUN, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Gordon Cheung takes over the CFCCA’s Gallery 2 to help them celebrate their 30th anniversary, returning to the centre over a decade since he took part in their artist-in-residence programme Breathe in 2004, along with a 2008 exhibition.

Gallery of Costume

SCHIAPARELLI AND THIRTIES FASHION

UNTIL-23 OCT, TIMES VARY, FREE

One of the most celebrated fashion designers of the middle twentieth century.

HOME

DESIGNS FOR LIVING

UNTIL-12 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

Claire Dorsett and Cherry Tenneson team up for an exhibition of new commissions, which poke at the structures, designs and information that we’re used to navigating daily.

IMITATION OF LIFE

UNTIL-3 JUL, TIMES VARY, FREE

A new exhibition shining a light on racial politics in an evolving world, inspired by the 1959 film of the same name and told through oral histories and verbatim storytelling drawn from theatre and cinema, painting and sculpture.

Islington Mill

GARDENERS & ASTRONOMERS

5-28 MAY, 1:00PM – 5:00PM, FREE

Triple headline show with a delightfully hilarious line-up of circuit funny-folk.

Casutic Coastal re-launch in their new space behind Islington Mill with an exhibition of work by Coco Crampton and Nicole Vinokur, who explore interior and industrial design through the 1900s.

MATHEW STREET, 20:00–23:00, £17.50

Manchester Art Gallery

THE SLAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00–23:00, £17.50

LAUGHTERHOUSE (PAUL THORNE + KEITH FARNAN + DALISA CHAPONDA + MC SULLY O’SULLIVAN)

Triple headline show with a delightfully hilarious line-up of circuit funny-folk.

THE SEA FULL STOP

UNTIL-25 SEP, TIMES VARY, FREE

LIVERPOOL COMEDY CENTRAL (KEITH CARTER PRESENTS NIGE + PAUL MCCAFFREY + PHIL WANG + MC LOU CONRAN)

Hondartza Fraga’s imaginary seascapes explore our understanding of the sea, and give the focus of a seascape back to the sea.

COMEDY CENTRAL AT BABY BLUE, 18:00–22:00, £18

UNTIL-15 JAN 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.

RETURN OF THE GRUMPY OLD WOMEN – FIFTY SHADES OF BEIGE (GRUMPY OLD WOMEN) THE ATKINSON, 20:00–23:00, £25 - £35

Popular grumpy ladies Jenny Eclair, Susie Blake and Kate Robbins air their gripes, complete with a free nagging masterclass and a brief Zumba demonstration.

TRIPLE HEADLINE SPECIAL (DAVE JOHNS + ADAM STAUNTON + IAN COGNITO + MC PAUL SMITH)

GLADSTONE THEATRE, 20:30–23:30, £12

Special triple header in the 424seat theatre.

MODERN JAPANESE DESIGN

Thirty two designers display over one hundred pieces in a dynamic display conveying the essence of the unique Japanese design ethos.

THE IMITATION GAME

UNTIL-5 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

Eight international artists come together to explore machines and the imitation of life, inspired by Alan Turing’s Turing Test (refer to the Cumberbatch film for an easy way in), devised to test a computer’s ability to imitate human thought.

TO BE HUMAN

UNTIL-26 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

A selection of mid-20th-century portraits from Manchester Art Gallery’s permanent collection, exploring what it is to be human.

FASHION AND FREEDOM

13 MAY-27 NOV, TIMES VARY, FREE

Vivienne Westwood, Roksanda, Holly Fulton, J JS Lee, Emilia Wickstead and Sadie Williams unveil new pieces inspired by the impact of WWI on women’s lives and fashion, alongside wartime pieces from MAG’s costume collection and original short films.

Manchester People’s History Craft and Design Museum GRAFTERS: INDUSTRIAL SOCIETY IN Centre IMAGE AND WORD BEHIND CLOSED DOORS

2-28 MAY, 10:00AM – 5:30PM, FREE

An exhibition of ceramics by Verity Howard, whose slab-built ceramic forms are inspired by everyday life and feature monoprinted or stamped glimpses through a window.

Manchester Museum

HUMANS IN ANCIENT BRITAIN: REDISCOVERING NEANDERTHALS

UNTIL-13 JUL, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Exploring how our closest relatives, the Neaderthals, were far from the grunting savages in animal skins that modern stereotype would have us believe.

CLIMATE CONTROL

11 MAY-4 SEP, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

A summer series of exhibitions and events confronting climate change in an engaging, creative way to explore how, while we may not be able to change the past, we can still change the future.

TAKE ME BACK TO MANCHESTER

UNTIL-1 SEP, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Manchester-based artist Oliver East, presents a series of illustrations inspired by the journey that an Asian elephant made in 1872, walking from Edinburgh to his new home in Belle Vue Zoo.

National Football Museum

PITCH TO PIXEL: THE WORLD OF FOOTBALL GAMING

UNTIL-5 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

What happens when computer games, meet the beautiful game.

KICKER CONSPIRACY

UNTIL-4 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

A series of photographic works by photographer John Early, who explores the experiences of LGBT footballers to bring to the fore the issues of homophobia and transphobia in sport.

Nexus Art Café IDNA

UNTIL-22 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

The third exhibition from the Northern Women’s Art Collective, formed back in 2014 to bring together female artists living and working in the North, which sees its ten members showcase artwork exploring the concept of identity.

OBJECT / A THE KÁRMÁN LINE

5-28 MAY, 12:00PM – 6:00PM, FREE

UNTIL-14 AUG, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Photography exhibition curated by leading documentary photographer, Ian Beesley, delving into how the working classes became heroic symbols of industry, before also being able to photograph themselves.

WOODCRAFT FOLK

UNTIL-29 MAY, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Photographic exhibition celebrating the 90th anniversary of grassroots co-operative youth movement, Woodcraft Folk, exploring its early beginnings, its association with the co-operative movement, and its founding principles.

THE LMS-PATRIOT PROJECT: RAIL AND REMEMBRANCE

2 MAY-5 JUN, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

An exhibition exploring the lives of those who worked on railways during WWI, as well as the LMSPatriot Project - the building of a new national memorial engine.

Royal Exchange Theatre MANCHESTER. PROPER.

UNTIL-19 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

An art exhibition about Manchester for Manchester people, inspired by the stereotypes, the Mancunian mentality and the sardonic humour that resonates throughout the city.

Salford Museum and Art Gallery HEART & SOLD

UNTIL-5 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

Touring visual arts exhibition from established and developing artists with Down syndrome, featuring everything from painting to photography to line drawing.

MY LIFE THROUGH MY LENS: GRAHAM NASH

UNTIL-3 JUL, TIMES VARY, FREE

You may know Graham Nash from his Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young fame, but he’s also an internationally renowned photographer and digital imaging whizz. Included in this exhibition are shots of friends such as David Crosby, Joni Mitchell and others.

SWINTON PHOTOGRAPHIC SOCIETY

UNTIL-10 JUL, TIMES VARY, FREE

The annual exhibition from Swinton and District Amateur Photographic Society, whose work captures natural history, pictorial, human life, record, still life studies and portraiture spanning a range of subject matter.

The Kármán Line presents new and recent works by Matthew Denniss, Tom Ireland, and Michael Mulvihill.

The Dock at The Lowry

PS Mirabel

7-8 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

PAINTINGS AS OBJECTS

7 MAY, 11:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Manchester-based Lisa Denyer presents an exhibition of abstract paintings, taking inspiration from modernity and escapism to reflect her interests in materiality and the transportive potential of the medium

Paper Gallery SOUND AND VISION

7-14 MAY, 11:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Group exhibition inspired by the the processes behind, David Bowie’s album Low, spanning painting, drawing, collage, sound, music and performance by Anthony Donovan, Sarah Evans, John Hyatt, Hayley Lock, James Moore, Corrado Morgana David Moss, Ruby Tingle, Neil Webb and Simon Woolham.

CODEWORD

21 MAY-25 JUN, 11:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

The first Manchester solo exhibition by John Moores Painting Prize winner Narbi Price, responding to the 20th anniversary of the bombing of Manchester city centre by depicting two sites of key importantce in the attack as they are today.

30 DAYS OF THE SMITHS

A Lowry commission as part of Week 53 Festival, comprising a new art soundscape devised with poet Jackie Kay and sound artist Oberman Knocks.

The Holden Gallery

–SCAPE: CONSTRUCTING NATURE 2-20 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Artists Fiona Crisp, Hamish Fulton and Laure Prouvost explore notions of the constructed landscape and its diversions, delusions and delights, in order to question the relationship of space to experience.

The Lowry SYZYGY

UNTIL-17 JUL, TIMES VARY, FREE

Young artist Katie Paterson unveils her largest solo exhibition to date, featuring new commissions alongside some of her well-known pieces to explore our place in the universe and Earth’s relationship with other celestial bodies.

A DARK DAY IN SALFORD WITH THE SMITHS

UNTIL-5 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

A new exhibition of pieces by photographer Stephen Wright, who’s famous for that iconic shot of The Smiths outside Salford Lads Club, used for The Queen is Dead.

THE SKINNY

The Penthouse TOO MUCH

UNTIL-8 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Open studio and research project by artist Rosanne Robertson, focusing on mental health and the modern condition of anxiety, and resulting in the development of newly exhibited assemblage, sculpture, performance and sound art work.

Open Fridays 6-9pm with scheduled performance at 7.30pm, and also open Saturday & Sunday 12-6pm.

The Portico Library GROUND

3-28 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

An exhibition of paintings by Susan Gunn, who returns to her Northwest home with new pieces responding to The Portico Library’s collection, marrying historical techniques and materials with contemporary concepts.

Various venues MANCHESTER AFTER HOURS

12 MAY, 4:00PM, MOST EVENTS FREE

Part of Museums at Night, which sees museums and galleries open into the evening for special events and performances. Highlights for this May include Manchester Camerata at Common, Bad Uncle’s TV Party at Manchester Central Library, D’Arts Festival at the Whitworth and much more. For full listings: manchesterafterhours.com

Liverpool Art A Small View GOT WORMS?

6-21 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

The first solo show from Roxy Topia and Paddy Gould, following a year long residency in Roswell, New Mexico.

dot-art Gallery

EXPERIMENTS IN PHOTOGRAPHY

13 MAY-2 JUL, 10:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

Group exhibition of local artists, showcasing a diverse range of experimental photography, from warped light forms to East Asia landscapes.

FACT UNFOLD

UNTIL-12 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

A stunning sensory exhibition by acclaimed Japanese artist Ryoichi Kurokawa, taking visitors on a journey through space using visual and sonic environments to showcase the birth of stars.

Huyton Central Library FACES AND PLACES

2-14 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

A solo exhibition of work by local, self-taught artist Leslie Briggs, who has lived in Kirkby for all of his life, and whose paintings feature a range of the faces and places that are around him.

Waterside Arts Centre

International Slavery Museum

2 MAY-2 JUL, TIMES VARY, FREE

UNTIL-11 DEC, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

WATERSIDE OPEN

Showcasing a range of high quality and contemporary art, craft and design from established and emerging artists, designers and makers from the North West and nationwide.

Whitworth Art Gallery TIBOR REICH

UNTIL-1 AUG, TIMES VARY, FREE

Retrospective celebrating the centenary of Tibor Reich, a pioneering post-war textile designer, who brought modernity into British textiles in the early-to-mid 20th century.

THE TWO EYES ARE NOT BROTHERS

UNTIL-22 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Ben Rivers unveils his most ambitious work to date, merging the stories of Paul Bowles and Mohammad Mrabet through film and video works.

NICO VASCELLARI

UNTIL-18 SEP, TIMES VARY, FREE

An exhibition by Italian artist Nico Vascellari, who takes over the Whitworth’s Landscape Gallery with haunting installations, Bus de la Lum (hole of light) and Darvaza (door to hell), which interconnecto through light, shadow and soundtrack.

BERLIN

UNTIL-3 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

The result of artist and musician Chris Butler and photographer Will Grundy’s four years spent flitting between Berlin and the UK, this exhibition uses musical and visual-based means to reflect on their experiences in the the vibrant German city.

REVOLUTIONARY TEXTILES 1910-1939

UNTIL-29 JAN 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

Exploring the outburst of creativity that took place against the backdrop of political tumult in the early decades of the 20th century, when textile design took off in new directions.

Z-ARTS

WHAT, IS SHE BLACK NOW

16-21 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Range of textile art by Seleena Laverne Daye, playfully looking at the representation of women of colour within popular culture.

May 2016

BROKEN LIVES

Photographs depicting the slavery that continues to exist in modern day India.

AFRO SUPA HERO

13 MAY-11 DEC, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

A celebration of the importance of role models and icons in combating discrimination, shown through London-born Jon Daniel’s personal collection of pop cultural heroes and heroines of the African diaspora, in the form of comics, games and action figures.

CONTINUING THE JOURNEY

UNTIL TBC, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Project exploring the struggle of Merseyside’s black community to reach racial equality and social justice, taking you from post-war Britain through to the 1980s to tell the tales by voices were heard and those that were not.

OIL BOOM, DELTA BURNS

UNTIL TBC, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

An exhibition of photography by internationally-acclaimed photographer George Osodi, who has spent over six years documenting the injustices of the Niger Delta, a region rich in natural resources and beauty.

Kirkby Gallery NEW WORLDS

2-7 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

A collection of works made during the 60s and 70s, drawing on the era in which Kirkby as a new town was built. Featuring pieces by Frank Auerbach, Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, David Hockney, Mary Martin, Peter Blake, Gillian Ayres and others.

Lady Lever Art Gallery REFLECTIONS

UNTIL-5 JUN, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

A community exhibition featuring painting, prints, ceramics and textiles, showcasing work created by people of all ages from across the Wirral.

Liverpool John Moores University 2016 DEGREE SHOW

26 MAY-10 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

The Liverpool School of Art and Design 2016 transform the John Lennon Art and Design Building with original and contemporary art and design pieces from the final year students.

Merseyside Maritime Museum ON THE WATERFRONT

UNTIL-19 JUN, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Exhibition exploring the rich history of the Albert Dock and the changing fortunes of the waterfront, the city and port of Liverpool.

LUSITANIA: LIFE, LOSS, LEGACY

UNTIL TBC, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Marking the centenary of the sinking of the Lusitania, telling the story of the ship while also considering the role of Liverpool’s liners in WWI. TITANIC AND LIVERPOOL: THE UNTOLD STORY

UNTIL-TBC, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Exploring Liverpool’s central role in the Titanic story, where real life stories of those who sailed on the ship are told through film footage, images, costumes and interactive elements.

Museum of Liverpool

POPPIES: WOMEN AND WAR

UNTIL-5 JUN, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Exhibition featuring striking portraits of women whose lives have been affected by conflict, from the First World War to present day.

GROWING UP IN THE CITY

UNTIL-25 SEP, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Photographs of Liverpool childhood over time.

ROMAN TREASURES OF CHESHIRE

UNTIL-19 JUN, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

The debut exhibition of two recently-discovered RomanoBritish Cheshire hoards - one, a group of Iron Age and Roman coins buried in mid-1st century AD, the other, Roman coins and jewellery buried in late-2nd century AD. REEL STORIES

UNTIL-1 JAN 17, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

As the UK’s most-filmed city outside of London, this exhibition shines the light on Liverpool’s cinematic history through around 40 original film posters from the 1950s and beyond.

1916 EASTER RISING: THE LIVERPOOL CONNECTION

UNTIL TBC, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Community display spanning photography, medals and other archive material marking the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising, exploring the roles that Liverpudlian men and women played in this pivotal moment in history.

Open Eye Gallery

OPEN 2: PIECES OF YOU

UNTIL-5 JUN, 10:30AM – 5:30PM, FREE

The second in the Open series, featuring six rising artists: photographers Sam Hutchinson (Leeds), Peter Watkins (London) and Phoebe Kiely (Manchester), along with a collaboration by photographer Stephen Iles and sculptor Nicola Dale (Manchester).

Sudley House PUTTING ON THE GLITZ

UNTIL TBC, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Dazzling 1930s evening gowns take centre stage in this exhibition, revealing how the glitz and glamour of Hollywood was reflected in the fashions of the period.

Tate Liverpool

FRANCIS BACON: INVISIBLE ROOMS

18 MAY-18 SEP, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, £9 - £12

The largest exhibition ever staged in the North of England of the work of Francis Bacon, presenting around 30 paintings from across his career alongside a group of rarely seen drawings and documents.

The Atkinson VICTORIAN DREAMERS

UNTIL-13 NOV, TIMES VARY, FREE

Drawn from The Atkinson’s own collection of Victorian art, this exhibition looks at the themes of travel, storytelling, the antique past and nature.

LORD STREET: PAST, PRESENT & FUTURE UNTIL-31 JUL, TIMES VARY, FREE

Exhibition bringing together a wide range of material including archive photographs, architectural plans as well as costume and film, to explore the heritage of the water features, gardens, glass-topped verandas and architectural buildings.

ONE DAY, SOMETHING HAPPENS: PAINTINGS OF PEOPLE

UNTIL-22 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

Exhibition from co-editor of frieze magazine, Jennifer Higgie, whose personal view of radical change in art looks at the everyday theatricality of the body, and includes a selection of paintings by the likes of Walter Sickert, David Hockney and others.

THE LANDING: DEREK CULLEY PAINTINGS

UNTIL-15 MAY, TIMES VARY, FREE

The Atkinson christens its new commercial gallery with a vibrant exhibition by Dublin-born, Birkdale-based Derek Culley.

The Bluecoat

DOUBLE ACT: ART AND COMEDY

UNTIL MAY-19 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

Curators David Campbell and Mark Durden bring together artists from diverse cultural and political contexts to explore how comedy helps us shape meaning and negotiate life’s complexities.

The Brindley COMMON GROUND

2 MAY-11 JUN, TIMES VARY, FREE

An exhibition of works by Greg Fuller, Jason Hicklin and Tracy Hill, who re-interpret spaces along the Mersey Estuary to explore journeys and experiences of travelling on foot.

The World Museum EYE FOR COLOUR

UNTIL-4 SEP, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Returning to World Museum for its 10th anniversary, Eye for Colour alerts the senses and stimulate the mind with hands-on exhibits and interactive displays exploring the ways in which colour shapes our world.

Various venues LIGHTNIGHT LIVERPOOL

13 MAY, 5:00PM – 12:00AM, FREE

Liverpool’s one-night arts and culture festival, which sees venues throw open their doors after hours, light projections taking over the streets and much more. For full listings: lightnightliverpool.co.uk

Victoria Gallery and Museum KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

3 MAY-18 JUN, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Exhibition containing works from the Liverpool Medical Library and the Liverpool Athenaeum.

HARD TO HANDLE

3 MAY-TBC, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

An exhibition exploring the development of hafted tools - y’know, stuff that’s attached to a handle of some kind, like an axe or hammer.

Walker Art Gallery

PRE-RAPHAELITES: BEAUTY AND REBELLION

1 MAY-5 JUN, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, £5 - £7

A collection of over 120 paintings highlight Liverpool’s huge role in the Pre-Raphaelite movement, which helped establish the city’s reputation as Victorian art capital of the North. Expect works from Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Ford Madox Brown and more.

TRANSFORMATION: ONE MAN’S CROSS-DRESSING WARDROBE

1 MAY-1 FEB 17, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

A stunning collection of 16 garments from the collection of Peter Farrer, who has been cross-dressing since he was 14, with a particular focus on women’s period costume including evening dresses made between the 1930s and 1980s.

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