6th February 2012

gigs clubbing art comedy theatre blog competitions

Illustration by Julie Khan

Issues? Bless You

We rarely get political here at Spoonfed. But the recent and ongoing events around the G20 summit got us thinking, and we decided to act. We sent our two most intrepid editors – Lowri and Joe – to go and see what all the fuss was about. Joe contented himself with an overseer's role (drinking beer on a street corner) whilst Lowri – arm in a cast, mind – made it to the ‘front lines’.

After finally escaping, she brought reports of “Climate Campers having a Ceilidh, Trafalgar Square singing Happy Birthday to the wonderful Tony Benn and bankers in jeans smugly waving £10 notes at protesters from their office windows. ‘Canary Wharf’ was carried out on a stretcher whilst temporary turf provided a little patch of green amid the tents on Bishopsgate.” Today, Barack and Co. are thrashing it out in the corridors of power, while the rest of us sit in the office writing about cool stuff to do next week. That’s politics.

Friday 3rd

Aristocratic French fashionista Jean-Charles de Castelbajac turns his elongated and bejewelled fingers to the world of fine art with an exhibition of painting at Paradise Row this April. Rest assured however that JC has not been getting paint on any of his notoriously wacky clothes. Oh no: for this show he's commmissioned a group of Chinese

You may have heard of Dent May and his Magnificent Ukulele already, but if you haven't, don't fret - you'll definitely be hearing a lot of him before the year is through. Possessing a unique vocal style that's somewhere between Prince and Serge Gainsbourg, he makes songs that veer between '50s hop, country and, at moments, Brazilian bossa nova.

Chemical Brothers at Fabric. Yes and yes. Even if you're not absolutely fired up by this proposition - you'll still know who these legends are and probably be able to name a good few of their brilliant tracks. Their reach is incredible - they lead indie kids and ravers alike into the dark realms of techno and hold their heads deep under the

Saturday 4th

Live At The Chapel has been running on the first Saturday of the month since June 2007 when Simon Amstell, Russell Howard, Simon Munnery, and Steven K Amos put on a stonkingly good performance for its debut. This night is all about quality control, taking the best acts most comedy clubs have over the course of a year and putting them all

OK so this sounds like it's going to be pretty awesome. Cut&Paste is a digital design tournament that takes place in 16 cities across the world, and this April it plonks its bad self down for one night only at the Coronet in Elephant and Castle.A digital design tournament, you say. What on earth could that entail? Well you get a load of the

Award-winning stand-up comedian Robin Ince talks about astronomy, evolutionary conundrums and how he ended up on a panel show arguing about Christmas with Vanessa Feltz and Konnie Huq. Ince has appeared on BBC2's Lab Rats, Never Mind the Buzzcocks and Armando Ianucci's Charm Offensive but it is his live performances that are particularly special

Incredible Berlin-based duo Booka Shade land at Matter to make the brain-eating zombies dance tonight.

Their line-ups are consistently glittering, and their focus is underground house and techno. If you like it tough and bloody, then tonight is a party that will not disappoint.

Sunday 5th

Award winning circus troupe, NoFit State, return to London with Tabú. Swirls, twirls, and hire-wire theatrics mix with live music in a performance which has been referred to as "stunning" and "the future of British circus" by no less than the Guardian and The Observer. Sounds pretty good to us. Oh, and if you're under 26, you

Seminal New York No Wavers, Teenage Jesus and the Jerks, come to town one last time to play their final UK show evaaa at Corsica Studios. The band, including arch Poet Laureate of the No Wave generation Lydia Lunch, only existed for 3 years in their first, classic inception from 1976-79. Yet their influence has stretched far beyond their humble

Monday 6th

FREEZE! are a comedy duo made up of Tom Basden (if.comedy 'Best Newcomer' 2008 ) and legendary comic poet Tim Key. Both are also in top sketch group Cowards who have recently been appearing in the self-titled BBC4 series and have a smattering of awards and nomination between them.

When your parents call you Elvis, you might feel a bit under pressure to actually be good at something. It probably doesn't help that your dad is the scary knife-wielding maniac in Pyscho either.

Still, Elvis Perkins has wrestled with these pressures and has come up with a pretty tender and chirpy mix of jazz and folk that is definitely worth the £9.50 to see him at the ICA tonight

Tuesday 7th

Summer 2010 and the heat is on the newly crowned Labour Prime Minister. Maggie Thatcher, the woman who destroyed the lives of many communities and gave us the assurance that 'there is no such thing as society', has kicked the bucket. And, in a sign of how far New Labour has lost its sense of history, serious plans are afoot to give the late PM a state funeral.

Based in Gothenburg, Sweden, Wildbirds and Peacedrums (Mariam Wallentin and Andreas Werliin) have forged an extraordinary form of spiritual pop, primal blues and ecstatic soul music.

Clearly not tired from a recent stint at SXSW where they played more than 7 gigs in two days, they are back in the UK showcasing their new album 'The Snake' with a bit of musical shape-shifting on the stage of the Luminaire.

Wednesday 8th

Ooh! A horde of monsters have taken over Idea Generation Gallery this April.

There's twenty illustrations by Rob Steen from Ricky Gervais' Flanimals book alongside a host of other works by artists from the Central Illustration Agency.

In addition, there's a big vinyl installation called Monsterism Island by Pete Fowler, best known for his work with the Super Furry Animals.

There's been a new spirit of getting back to basics amongst hardcore kids recently. Thanks to the likes of The Shitty Limits, Your Demise and Cold Ones resurrecting the spirit of the Adolescents, shows have been actually been getting fun again.

One of the band who have been helping this happen is Attack! Vipers! Possibly one of the most hard-working bands out there, these guys have survived near fatal van/car crashes and three years of relentless touring to become one of the most

Thursday 9th

Horsey horsey don't you stop,
Just let your feet go clippetty clop,
The tail goes swish and the wheels go round,
Giddy up, we're homeward bound.

What a cracking nursery rhyme that one was, huh? Well if you like horses (and although they can be pretty scary, they're kind of amazing too) then this is the exhibition for you.

Bespoke party-starters Simmer touch down at underground Dalston venue Visions Video Bar tonight to administer more of their customary audio pleasure.

Simmer deal in house and techno and their one-off parties consistently push boundaries by showcasing fresh and unlikely artists to fly their flag.

This time they've landed Athen's electronic enigma Lemos to perform a special live show. He's been releasing his on-point minimal tech on Cecille, Balkan and Resopal Red and is widely accepted to be the money.

Friday 10th

Kneehigh Theatre present their visceral, seductive and fundamentally nasty take on the age old story of a dangerous, but lovable lothario.

Produced in collaboration with the RSC and the Bristol Old Vic, this flashy show transposes the action to the mean streets and spangly discos of the Winter of Discontent: 1978.

Expect lashings of sex, violence and thrills in a production drenched in cool and sound-tracked with live disco bangers.

The sun's sort of out, the clocks have gone forward, you're leaving work while it's still light... That can only mean one thing - it's spring, or to us musos, festival time!

Dalston's Barden's Boudoir is first off the blocks this year with 3 days of up-and-coming indie called Bird on a Wire (which is also the name of Mel Gibson's third best film). Kicking off with sets from impressive psychedelic noise merchants Gentle Friendly, the first night is headlined by the amazing Field Music side-project The Week That Was.

Saturday 11th

From January to March there is a competition being held online at www.musicalcomedy.co.uk to find the best musical act out of the UK's established and emerging comedians.

After surviving the public's online vote, a shortlist of the top twenty acts will be perused by a panel of judges, who will then choose their favourite five to see live at the Pleasance Theatre with the chance to win prize money.

Alongside the five finalists, there will also be special guest performances from established greats such as Earl Okin, Isy Suttie, Joanna Neary and Doktor Cocacolamcdonalds.

Renowned as the best and longest running comedy night in Nottingham (with 11 years mirth under their belts) the Just The Tonic crew made the trip down the A1 last year and set up shop in the rather grotty nightclub venue of Tufnulls in North London.

In the space of 10 weeks they had featured Daniel Kitson, Tim Vine, Jeff Green, Mark Watson, Stewart Lee, Ed Byrne, Chris Addison, Reginald Hunter and Richard Herring to name but a few and had some cracking sell-out nights.

Sunday 12th

his is one hell of a proposition: a collection of London and NYC's most luminous disco pioneers gathered to lay it down for your dancing pleasure on a *sunny* rooftop garden in East London on Easter Sunday of 2009.

The star guest from NYC remains a secret for good reason. Seriously now folks - if this doesn't float your boat I don't know what will.

One of modern music's most intoxicating relationships gets revisited tonight as David Byrne brings to life the songs that he and Brian Eno forged across 3 Talking Heads albums in the 1970s and then on the groundbreaking album My Life in the Bush of Ghosts.

The fact that after 30 years the two have reunited for a new record is surely enough to cause the hairs to stand up on the back of any music lover's head.

Phenomenal and aptly named after party Circo Loco is indeed a circus of freaks. There's no getting round the fact that the people you meet on the dancefloor at 11am on a Sunday morning have had too much fun. Their brains don't work like normal people.

What has set Circo Loco apart down the years is the quality of music they have chosen to play. In the last few years they've taken the radical step of throwing some of their parties at night - sharing the music with those of us whose stamina is normal.