6th February 2012

gigs clubbing art comedy theatre blog competitions

Illustration by Julie Khan

Excellent, Smithers

Monday 25th January is Burns Night, the night where Scottish people and Ecossophiles gather to eat haggis, drink whisky, wear tartan, dance archaic little jigs, and celebrate the life and works of the late, great Rab C. Nesbitt.

Talking of tartan, check out our predictions for London Fashion Week, which is less than a month away now. Plus we've compiled a whole new dedicated mini-site. For all the secrets, news and interviews, check out London Fashion Week – The Spoonfed Guide.

It's also exciting to hear that LCD Soundsystem have announced a string of UK dates, whilst we're pretty stoked to be able to offer the chance to win tickets to see highly controversial stand up Jerry Sadowitz.

We're ambivalent about the news that Earl's Court is to close after the 2012 Olympics, but pretty darned pleased that over at another venue under threat – the Hackney Empire – YBA Gavin Turk and composing fellow Michael Nyman are going to come and launch a cool new photography exhibition.

Oh, and Abi Titmuss is in a play...

Friday 22nd

Comedians are often making or starring in loads of short films but don't often have a platform to show them off apart from T'Internet. Popcorn Comedy is a fantastic new monthly club mixing live comedy from some of the best on the circuit with the funniest videos found online. This month's gig looks particularly exciting with a pick of the best

Known for a dreamy, ethereal sound, Scottish folk act and one-time King Creosote collaborator, Withered Hand definitely isn't your normal singer songwriter. Influenced as much by Pavement as Belle and Sebastian, his songs are dry-humoured lessons in self deprecation, laced with witty-one liners and easy charm. In fact, he's so likeable, we

Tonight is the first in a series of shows curated by Pendulum. Their taste is excellent. The Glitch Mob are the West Coast glitch hop pioneers who have quickly conquered California and are systematically bringing the heavy West Coast sound further afield. Their massive beats will absolutely destroy Matter tonight. They're joined by Zane Lowe

Saturday 23rd

Who doesn't love a healthy dose of photorealism every now and again? Nicholas Middleton works directly from photographs to produce stunning black and white oil paintings that vary in terms of composition from casual moment-capturing snaps to more staged tableaux. The resulting works have something of Stephen Gill's highly attentive realism

Splendidly occultish weirdness at Transition Gallery this January and February.

Steve Richards and Rachel Cattle present a new video work inspired by all manner of obscure symbolism, arcane tracts, and other esoteric bits and bobs.

The whole oddball occult thing is pretty big right now, and this kind of exhibition is one of the reasons why.

Three promoters team up to bring you A Night For Heroes. In the basement, Concepto - a new venture by the man behind Liason Harry Hammond - will be rocking things. They have Lee Rands, Dan Farserelli and Michael Wells pulling the punches for them. Soulful House East (SHE) return to Egg with Funky Soldiers flying the flag and Meganite bring

Sunday 24th

Radio 1 new music DJ Huw Stephens hand picks the bands on show tonight at the Lock Tavern. Highlights include up and coming Sunderland indie-poppers Frankie and the Heartstrings.

How many open doors do we walk away from? How many doors do we open for ourselves? How many do we walk through? It goes on but essentially the door is one heck of a metaphor in this one act play in both English and Turkish. Ala-Turka, the Arcola's Turkish theatre group, wants to show you what's behind few doors. An exploration of the opportunities

Monday 25th

Essex-based dance/punk/prog rockers These New Puritans arrive at the Bush Hall tonight, playing tracks from their brand new second album 'Hidden'.

They've been on the fringes of the indie scene since around 2005, and their latest record rightly gained positive reviews from all angles.

As a weird tie-in, the band will also be offering a limited number of free tickets that have been cunningly hidden for fans to find. The only clue to the whereabouts of the Bush Hall gig is this:

"On the Highest road out west, a store filled with items to stimulate the pinna. Yeah, yeah..."

OK, good luck with that...

You might know that Edinburgh holds the world's largest arts festival but did you know that Glasgow holds Europe's biggest comedy festival?

Now in its eighth year, the festival runs from 11-28 March and already has Jimmy Carr, Frankie Boyle, Lee Mack, Rhod Gilbert and Dave Gorman signed up, with plenty more to be added.

If travelling to Glasgow seems like a bit of a mission, there will be a very special London preview on Burns Night no less, showcasing loads of quality acts taking part from Stewart Lee to John Hegley. For £12.50, this gig is a real bargain.

Tuesday 26th

There was a warning, and its name was Enron.

The financial saga on stage. It shocked the world, foreshadowed the current recession and is now being thoughtfully and humourously played out for our amusement.

Written by Lucy Prebble and directed by theatrical renaissance man Rupert Goold this show fairly exploded at the Royal Court last year and the move to the West End should see even better effects and music employed.

The saga is played with a huge amount of swagger and pathos as a modern version of the classical tragedy. A perfect rendering for such a collection of horrific, larger than life swindlers facing a true downfall.

All-girl trio Vivian Girls sound exactly like a second generation Lush, and whilst Cassie Ramone is no Miki Berenyi - she's much better looking, for starters - if they want to make sublime shoegaze and dream pop with a surf-rock chaser then we aren't complaining.

Tonight they entertain the Hoxton Square Bar and Kitchen.

Wednesday 27th

Each of the YBAs has had their own way to gain notoriety: Hirst did the shark, Emin the bed, and Quinn the blood-head. Chris Ofili did it by using elephant dung in his paintings. Not so controversial you might think, but New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani certainly didn't think so when he banned the exhibiting of Ofili's 'The Holy Virgin Mary' when it came to the city as part of the Sensation tour.

The painting featured a black Mary surrounded by pornographic close-ups of female genitalia, images from blaxploitation flix, and the ubiquitous elephant dung. On the back of this little scandal, Ofili was ranked number 86 in Bernard Goldberg's book 100 People Who Are Screwing Up America.

Dan Perfect's jumbled and explosive canvases erupt in an array of colours, shapes and forms.

The energy and intensity of his surreal, often graphically inspired works are visually arresting, complex, chaotic, disorientating and fascinating, and his latest solo show at Karsten Schubert looks set to be all of the above.

Thursday 28th

Jez Butterworth is in the front rank of English playwrights. His latest is a Shameless-esque romp through one day in the life of a waster as he is pursued by his children, by council eviction officers, by angry drug dealers and greedy, druggy mates. It's St George's Day and the fair is in town. But where is Johnny?

This play first appeared in 2009 at the Royal Court where it was acclaimed as something special, playiong to packed houses every night and praised to the stars by audiences and critics alike. An impressive cast including Mark Rylance (The Government Inspector, The Other Boleyn Girl) and Mackenzie Crook (The Office, Pirates of the Caribbean) have stayed with the show for this hotly anticipated and all-too brief West End run.

Quack Quack is a three-piece instrumental, instrument-swapping band approximately based in Leeds.

Combining simple keyboard melodies with pulsing polyrhythms, QQ make music that is difficult to pigeonhole but has been compared to folks such as Trans Am, Can, and Afrika 70. Which is no bad thing in our book.

Friday 29th

Artists have a history of destroying work that they're not happy with. Cezanne, Bacon, de Kooning, Monet: all are known to have destroyed pieces for a variety of different reasons.

One of the most famous examples in recent years was Michael Landy's 2001 work Break Down in which the artist incinerated every single one of his possessions, including his artwork.

And now, this year, he's hosting something called Art Bin, a project which sees the South London Gallery turned into a dumping ground for unwanted art.

The idea is to create "a monument to creative failure". A load of old rubbish? Quite possibly.

Skank out the mid-winter shadows with some of UK reggae's biggest names in Jamaican institution The Globe, Notting Hill as Police & Thieves put on a rankin January Blues Dance.

Featuring Musclehead, the brains behind Saxon Studio International - the most influential reggae sound system in the UK; Lloyd Bradley, one of the world's foremost reggae journalists and Gervase, the man behind Britain's biggest dancehall night, The Heatwave.

Forward-thinking dubstep night Deadly Rhythm continues to impress with enviable line-ups.

In 2009 Dutch producer 2562 released the LP 'Unbalance' to wide acclaim, becoming a standout in the experimental dubstep/future garage scene. As headliner for the night he's sure to dish up all kinds of glitchy, ambient, minimal-influenced beats.

Meanwhile the up-and-coming Jackmaster heats things up with forays into tribal house and dancehall. It doesn't get fresher than this!

Saturday 30th

It's the annual 'New Act of the Year' bash at the Hackney Empire tonight - one of the UK's most prestigious competitions for discovering new talent on the British comedy circuit.

Over the last 29 years, it's introduced several comics who are now TV stars including the likes of Harry Hill, Eddie Izzard and Russell Brand. Hosted by legendary comedy veteran Arthur Smith, around 15 finalists from previous heats take part and a panel of judges announce the winner at the end of the show.

Once again The Blitz Party returns to Shoreditch for a night of 1940s reminiscence. Always a sensation, you can expect to step into a wartime East End air-raid shelter under The Arches at Village Underground with oil lamps and searchlights lighting your way.

The night will feature some of London's finest swing bands and DJs, including favourites Ta Mere and Twin Tonic. This setting, along with themed food and drink will have all the makings of a night to remember.

Tickets are only available in advance and can be purchased via ticketweb, or by visiting the Blitz Party website, so make sure you snap them up quickly. There is also a dress code which states '1940s glam', so for the ladies that means lipsticks, tea dresses and stockings at the ready. While for the men, home front utility clothing and allied uniform are all welcome.

One of the best promotions in London - mulletover celebrate the onset of another decade with a January sale.

NYC house invigorators Wolf and Lamb join Soul Clap, Richie Ahmed and the main man Geddes.

Sunday 31st

2010 begins in earnest at the Saatchi Gallery with the opening of The Empire Strikes Back. After China, the Middle East and America, Uncle Charles turns his attention to the contemporary art being produced in India right now.

Expect the usual works that Saatchi likes - big, bold, sculptural pieces and the odd painting, occasional political statements and perhaps something that might cause some controversy.

When it works it's great, when it doesn't it all seems a bit facile, but given that the Saatchi Galery is free, it's always worth having a peek inside of an afternoon.

In a special charity gig for The New Victoria Medical Foundation, the producers of the Funny Women Awards present a one off comedy gig showcasing the best in female comedy.

Featuring stand-up, sketch, character and musical comedy from some of the best new talent from the 2009 Awards and beyond, the event will be headlined by Jan Ravens, from BBC's Dead Ringers, and hosted by Carrie Quinlan of BBC Radio 4's News Quiz, the show will include this year's Funny Women Awards winner, Miss London, described as comedy's 'Little Miss Dynamite'.