6th February 2012

gigs clubbing art comedy theatre blog competitions

Illustration by Julie Khan

Perfect Tents

Festivals! Mud and music and more magic than that scene in Fantasia where Mickey Mouse dons a wizard hat and brings a broom to life. Unlike the sorcerer's apprentice though, Spoonfed are thoroughly in control of everything festival-related this summer. We've got a dedicated and comprehensive festivals guide, complete with kit lists and all the latest news. Like Gorillaz stepping up to cover for Bono, bless 'em.

Talking of festivals, Edinburgh is nearly upon us – well kinda nearly. And London is awash with preview shows – we've helpfully selected the very best. Oh and we've interviewed top funny fellow Jason Byrne and hung out with the infamous Chris Morris.

We've also put together a splendid guide to Bank Holiday clubbing, investigated life drawing with a difference, and done a comprehensive look ahead to the very best events this June. Which is all rather nice.

Thursday 27th

Popcorn Comedy is a fantastic monthly club which presents some of the funniest videos found online alongside live performances from some of the best comics on the circuit. This week accompanying the on-screen fun is 2009 Eddie 'Best Newcomer' nominee Carl Donnelly and hilarious character comedian Adam Riches. Speaking to Donnelly about what he

Friday 28th

CCTV cameras get a bad name. On the one hand they're a Big Brother-esque imposition upon our privacy; but on the other, most of them don't actually work anyway. Do they make us safe, or paranoid? Tate Modern presents an exhibition exploring this and many other issues related to surveillance and the act of looking. There's photography on show

The Just The Tonic crew have now branched out from Nottingham to London and currently hold comedy nights at the Leicester Square Theatre every Friday and Saturday. Since its move down south in 2008, Just The Tonic line-ups have been consistently excellent; keeping an eye for quality control by booking big names and hotly tipped newcomers.

Whatever your dance tact, be it freaky folk, debauched disco or the perversive polka, you can get your rave on at the Deranged Dance Off. Hosted by Secret Garden's The Dance Off Crew, expect a specially constructed arena where the games begin. Tremendous prizes await winners and if you lose...well...shame. Participation is not mandatory, but it's

Saturday 29th

Brand new night launches tonight. the vibe is good time, sleazy disco, Italo, house jams, yacht rock and the vibes of the best mix-tape your first crush ever made you. Nothing But Us will be bi-monthly. They aim to throw a house party like the one you threw at your parents house that got a bit too out of hand... Kicking things off is Dalston's

A first London solo show for widely acclaimed Japanese contemporary artist Tabaimo at Parasol Unit this summer.

Fusing drawing, animation, video and installation, Tabaimo's work is energetic, enthralling and dense with exotic symbolism.

Sunday 30th

Lostbahnof present their second annual courtyard BBQ at Lati Ri's friendly outdoor space. As well as a full BBQ menu, there's the custom soundsystem, Heavenly Jukebox are in the house, the excellent residents will of course be spinning tunes plus a very special guest from foreign climes... You'll hear classic house, good techno, garage, disco

Sound artist Ben Frost has imposed himself as one of the most talented and riveting experimental musicians around these days with his mind-blowing and cinematic last album "By The Throat". His performance tonight at the Luminaire is not something to be missed.

Chronicles unites disparate genres, styles, people and importantly, the different clubbing moments we hold dear. From the acid house days to Glasto raving to Public Life to main room mayhem - these are our Chronicles. Tonight allow another landmark moment to embed itself in your consciousness. The main room line-up speaks for itself: A Guy Called

Monday 31st

FREEZE! are a comedy duo made up of Edinburgh Comedy Award winners Tom Basden and Tim Key.

Expect songs, sketches, poems and a lot of laughs - these guys are two of the most talented and highly regarded young comics on the circuit.

A Brooklyn-based writer, musician and collector of vintage synths, Daniel Lopatin is one-third of Infinity Window, one whole of Oneohtrix Point Never, and a key player in a post-noise scene.

Tuesday 1st

Continuing the Etcetera's excellent season of Edinburgh previews, the always enjoyable Robin Ince brings his new show to the Camden theatre tonight.

Join the Book Club man as he rages against pseudoscience, newspaper columnists and his own stupidity, then celebrates Texan philosophy teachers, Carl Sagan and how his child is better than everyone else's.

Wednesday 2nd

All good things must come to an end, and sadly that even applies to the wonderful Kaleid editions project space. This month the penultimate show, a group exhibition of artists' books curated by Victoria Browne and Dr. Aylin Kunter comes to Redchurch Street.

In the aftermath of the election and in the true political spirit of things, the artists' books on show challenge the notion that there is only ever one politics.

Meanwhile interactive installation duo, Hellicar and Lewis will transform the space with a series of continually evolving light projected beings. This might possibly be the coolest exhibition at Kaleid yet.

Oh my sainted aunt, this looks basically like the best thing that's ever happened in an art gallery. For six evenings this June Trolley Gallery is being transformed into a sort of art installation/restaurant.

Each night 12 people dine in/on a sculptural construction by Robert Storey that plays with ideas of scale. Artist Caroline Hobkinson has conceived the menu, which consists of a medievally-inspired banquet. There's magic porridge, cheeses raining from the sky, fish jumping from the water to land at one's feet and freshly baked bread roles suspended in mid-air.

Thursday 3rd

The acclaimed production from Michael Clark performed primarily to the music of David Bowie returns to The Barbican.

The production features strong salutes to Bowie's key collaborators and influences including Lou Reed, Iggy Pop, Brian Eno, Nina Simone and The Velvet Underground.

Friday 4th

Whilst it's easy to mock the science of the past, it's always worth remembering the words of Thomas Carlyle, who said that "the reign of quacks has not ended with the nineteenth century... We are all the slaves of quackery in one shape or another."

Last year's (and potentially ruinous) libel dispute between Simon Singh and the British Chiropractic Association proves Carlyle's point rather succinctly. Science is not immune from idiocy - nor shall it ever be.

Of course Wellcome explores all this over the course of a night of free Friday fun, rather than our tedious waffle.

Oh sweet lord! The bizarrely clad but ever-wonderful Chrome Hoof have got a new album out, and to celebrate they're throwing a big old bash at Bocking Street Warehouse.

Chrome Hoof are what it would look like if all the baddies from Doctor Who had got together for a bit of a jam. Mixing funk, metal, electro stabs and blasts of brutal noise, Chrome Hoof are almost a mess. But the band are so tight, and the pounding rhythms - simultaneously shifting and inexorable - ensure that their music never seems indulgent.

Simian Mobile Disco and Andrew Weatherall will also be in attendance to ensure things go off like a sparkly cyber supernova.

Saturday 5th

Electro-pop pioneer John Foxx curates his own night of analog sounds and vintage robot-pop at the Roundhouse.

At a time when his 1980-masterpiece "Metamatic" is being rediscovered and praised for its visionary beauty, the ex-Ultravox member revisits his work through a unique performance featuring original analog gears played by a band he has assembled for the occasion. To celebrate his 30th birthday as a solo artist, he has also invited fellow synth-legend Gary Numan, techno-star Jori Hulkkonen and a few others to DJ after the gig. A memorable event for sure.

More goodies for your mind and soul from Sud Electronic tonight - this time they bring Detroit legend Kelli Hand and Fred P - the mind behind Black Jazz consortium and creator and owner of Soul People Music.

Absolutely brilliant.

Tonight launches the charity - on World Environment Day no less - with a similar ethos to acid house: no boundaries, no discrimination, no persecution.

Tonight they support Survival International - which defends the human rights of many indiginous tribes around the globe and provides support for them in defending their land and culture.

Last Night A DJ Saved My Life brings together some of the pioneers and early legends of the early acid house scene.

Live At The Chapel is all about quality control, taking the best acts most comedy clubs have over the course of a year and putting them all together on one bill, once a month.

Held in the stunning Union Chapel in Islington, tonight's 20th Live at the Chapel show has an extra special line-up with Extras star Stephen Merchant, Channel 4's '12th greatest stand-up' Stewart Lee, brilliant comedy actor Kevin Eldon (Jam, Nighty Night, Brass Eye, Black Books) and comedy curmudgeon Arthur Smith. Plus, there will be a massive stadium-filling act who cannot be named.

Sunday 6th

A day of live music, performance, exhibitions and workshops to encourage people to take steps towards a greeener lifestyle.

There'll be hands-on fashion for the eco-style conscious, a green fair marketplace, delicious sustainable food and a bikefest where you can try out a new type of bike or get yours serviced for free. Apparently you can also travel back in time, grow your own hat, milk a cow and much much more.