Flower Power

To coincide with Halcyon's exhibition of religious paintings by Spanish artist Andres Garcia Ibanez, the gallery is tonight holding a discussion on the topic of religion in art.

On the panel are BBC arts correspondent Razia Iqbal, Father William Pearsall of the Church of The Immaculate Conception, all-round renaissance man Billy Childish and Evening Standard art critic and pompous controversialist Brian Sewell.

Sounds brilliant!

New York has churned out another great band and they're here for your pleasure tonight, plugging their excellent debut album 'The Rhumb Line'.

Like early Arcade Fire mixed with the new wave of Vampire Weekend, their sound is in turns sombre and uplifting, colourful and dark.

They have the songs to take them into the mainstream, but for now enjoy smaller shows like this. An arena couldn't do their music justice.

A brand new musical about love blossoming in the Warsaw Ghetto under the shadow of the final solution. Yes, you read that right, this is a holocaust love story about a group of actors trying to inspire hope and optimism in their community and each other in the face of Nazi oppression and extermination.

It's a difficult premise, and this is a bold production in many ways: not based on a popular movie, not a revival of an old favourite, and in fact, a leap into the unknown, this is a seriously unlikely hit - but it may become just that. They certainly have a talented team, with an all-new score by Shuki Levy, lyrics by David Goldsmith and a book by Glenn Berenbeim, all directed by Timothy Sheader. However they're not even insuring big opening nights with an all-star cast: this is an authentically new musical.

The holocaust is an unlikely setting for an inspiring love story, but it wouldn't be the first time this grim backdrop has been sensitively and successfully used. Imagine This is certainly the riskiest venture in the West End this autumn: and it may yet turn out to be an unusual hit in the mould of Les Miserables.

Hailing from from Philadelphia, Dr. Dog come from a long line of DIY indie pop oddballs who blend 60s pop worship with a complete disregard of current trends.

Coming in somewhere between Guided By Voices and Pavement, they're certainly a playful bunch and are great fun to check out even without the pseudo-interior of the Borderline to magnify the weirdness 1000 fold.

Frantic Assembly's strobe-lit, bleakly modernist dance version of Shakespeare's tragedy roars into the Lyric for a short season of well choreographed sex, fist fights and dance-offs.

An impressive, hugely energetic show which quite literally batters the audience and leaves you feeling traumatised. The pool, beer and yobbish preconceptions about modern urban living are well trodden but this show has extraordinary verve, and the sex and fighting are electrifying. The script ain't bad either...

For the past month, your humble corner shop has been filled with brightly coloured cabinets of sparklers and fireworks that would excite everyone's inner child.

The 5th of November this year marks the 403rd anniversary of Guy Fawkes and the Gunpowder Plot to blow up Parliament. Every year a traditional ceremony is held, where the basement of Parliament is searched by the Yeoman of the guard.

Comedians can be at their best when they try to teach us something - just think of Bill Hicks and his political diatribes. Robin Ince's School For Gifted Children show is less of a rant and more of a funny and at times, musical lecture by various comedians on anything from things they have found out about dinosaurs to nebulae and wig powder.

Its style is haphazard and off the cuff with unplanned diversions and twists and turns. Ince himself informs us: 'It's for people who like watching documentaries about ants with odd behaviour, books about rebellious librarians and who enjoy the idea of enthusiasm.'

This consistently good show has sold out all over London but the Museum of London is now kindly holding it for free.  You can also stay late and wander round the London Before London, Roman London and Medieval galleries.  The learning never has to stop people!

You like the ice skating pal? You like it, do ya? Uh huh? Well, head to the Natural History Museum this winter and skate away to your heart's content.

Ice is natural and has a history after all, so where better for an ice rink than the appropriately named Natural History Museum?

Plus, there's a cafe and Christmas Fair so you can buy gifts and drink coffee at the same time. Not literally at the same time obviously. You'd end up dropping all the prezzies and spilling coffee on yourself, but you know what we mean...

An entire Twenty Years of Solid Steel? I can hardly believe it.

Started by Coldcut on the then-groundbreaking pirate station Kiss FM, Solid Steel has continued to dish up some of the most innovative, eclectic music, always mixed with immense panache.

Run to this very day by DK, Solid Steel has led to a number of brilliant mix CDs, with collaborations with a number of Ninja luminaries.

Tonight celebrates all that, with a whole bunch of legends gathered at The End. DJ Food and DK will be rocking out a four deck set, Hexstatic will be shining asd usual, Bonobo are joined by World DMC champ DJ Kenato.

If you know Solid Steel, you know that this will be very, very special indeed.

Cripes DM - this looks like a corker of an evening!  Probably the funniest working stand-up in Britain today, Stewart Lee is hosting the BAC's fifth annual charity fund-raiser with a smattering of comedy greats on the bill.

The stellar line-up includes Lee's old partner-in-crime Richard Herring, several Perrier/if.comedy winners including Will Adamsdale, Phil Nichol and Josie Long, sketch favourites Pappy's Fan Club and Lee's wife Bridget Christie, whose recent show impersonating King Charles II went down a storm at the Fringe this year.  Tickets are £30 but for your money you get to see seven top comedians, save the BAC and get a free sausage.  A bargain really.

Wow. Rebel Waltz have been dishing out the underground house to pleased as punch dancefloors for nearly 10 years.

Residents Murray Richardson and Stuart Patterson still play back to back, and have developed their tune for tune sound which pinpoints the origins of house and it's variants over the last decade.

Tonight they welcome DC10 hotshot Clive Henry to the East Village decks. Happy Birthday Rebel Waltz!

This will be special.

When the people at Doctor's Orders heard about, DJ Vadim's recent experience with rare eye cancer, they immediately got the past guest and Ninja Tune producer's agreement for a fundraiser.

There's a huge line-up of UK talent, all donating their services for free along with the venue. All proceeds go to Cancer Research UK.

Vadim has now been treated, and depending on his rate of recovery may even perform himself.

Monkey Business has been such a roaring success that it now runs three nights a week in 2 different venues in North London. Attracting big names, such as Noel Fielding, Harry Hill and Russell Brand, Monkey Business always has good billings of varying acts from musical, to sketch and stand-up. The venue, above The Sir Richard Steele pub is intimate and cosy, making it a great place to catch big acts in small surroundings. The bar is open till midnight and Thai food is available before 8pm.

The resident MC Martin Besserman is known to wander a little way from the norm, a self confessed Speaker's Corner frequenter, but although he may well be a bit bonkers, his madcap humour gives the night a unique twist and his commitment to nurturing new acts and signing up the best, ensures this club is one of the best for comedy in London.

PLEASE NOTE: First time guests have to join Monkey Business for an additional £2.50 fee

Anyone who knows dubstep knows that DMZ is massively important to the scene. Novelty may have been traded for respectability these days, but hosts Mala, Coki and Loefah have successfully worked to prevent any staleness setting in.

As some of dubstep's very best producers, it's worth the trip just to hear their latest work, unlikely to be seen on anything other than closely-guarded dubplates for months.

Full line-up to be announced

Translated from the German by David Tushingham, this short, sharp play by Falk Richter is about highly topical subjects: recession, urban dread and gated communities.

The drama follows a family who live inside a fortress apartment, but face fear on their way in and out and also a more nagging worry, that the well organised father will lose his job and they will have to move back out among the rabble. It's a highly charged drama which shows that the widening gap between the middle class and a new underclass is just as wide in Germany as it is here. As the play develops, the fear and paranoia of the family trapped in their safe haven gradually eclipses any dangers they imagine outside.

A UK premiere for a shocking, claustrophobic piece that sets up real fears and violence against excessive paranoia and insularity, and amply demonstrates the cost of allowing fear to rule your life. Oh, and it is very funny in its own Germanic way.

An exploration of the lives of Europe's homeless at Village Underground this week.

Acclaimed British photographer Liz Hingley (John Snow is a big fan) has travelled across France, Germany, Belgium, Bosnia, Holland and Italy documenting in great detail the lives of those who have been marginalised by contemporary society.

These images are obviously touching and sad, but Hingley somehow also manages to convey both beauty and dignity. This is important work.

Will and Alison play a pair of dates at Brixton Academy, rounding off a year that has seen them release their fourth album, the mellower-than-usual 'Seventh Tree'.

Though the recent material has seen them reverting to a more ambient sound, they will surely still pull out the glam-pop stompers that made them so popular a couple of years back.

The first time I saw an erotic comic was in Tokyo looking through the Manga section trying to find a English graphic novel to take home as a souvenir. Usually a reserved and very private society, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw a comic octopus doing things to a manga girl I cannot describe here.

Today's special guest artists Erich Von Gotha, Lynn Paul Meadows, Garry Leach and Wicked Wanda writer Frederic Mullaly will discuss the world of adults-only X-rated comics.

The panel's discussion will be followed by book signings for adoring fans.

Irish star of Black Books, Shaun of the Dead and Run Fat Boy Run, Dylan Moran, is back with a brand new  stand-up show, What It Is.

Moran's legendary rants have sold out across the world cementing his reputation as one of the foremost comics of his generation.  Likened to Dave Allen and labelled 'The Oscar Wilde of Comedy', Dylan is unpredictable, bizarre, cruel and above all painfully funny.

LMHR continue the cause at impressive new club Matter, with a great line-up of broadly appealing urban acts. That includes Skepta and JME's Boy Better Know show, Roll Deep and drum 'n' bass duo Chase & Status.

The all-conquering New York City pop duo play the Empire tonight, as they wind down the promotion for their phenomenal debut album 'Oracular Spectacular'.

These guys really know how to put on a live show, and you are advised to catch one of this London shows, they might not be back for a while.

Gareth Gates, Joanna Page and Alistair McGowan are the stars at this gala production of the well-loved classic Cinderella.

Every year, the New Wimbledon hosts one of the biggest pantos in town... they can get nearly 2000 people into the place, and when they all shout 'oh no you don't' it's something to behold.

Expect camp costumes, rude jokes for the parents and a wonderfully feel-good atmosphere. And Gareth Gates! Aw, bless...

Russia before the Communists did their thing was a place of staggering grandeur - if you were rich and important, that is.

This major exhibition at the V&A looks at the incredible luxury of the dress and uniforms worn by the Emperors and their courts from the 1720s up until the revolution of 1917.

There's pieces worn by Nicholas I, Alexanders I, II and III and Paul I: this is pomp personified.