Going Live The entertainment events you should be booking

GOING LIVE…

As the live entertainment machine grinds back into action, David Pollock give the lowdown on the events you should be booking

With some areas of art and entertainment diving back into business and others taking it more slowly, the hope that things might be getting back towards normal (or at least a new normal) is tempered by the time it takes to get big shows together. While promoters and producers are doubtless scrambling about to get things organised quickly, here’s the best of what’s been announced so far.

NEW YEAR’S CELEBRATIONS

Usually Edinburgh’s Hogmanay Street Party tickets are almost sold out by now and a host of big international names have been announced for events across the city, but things are going more slowly this year. The welcome news that the street party is going ahead finally came at the end of October but things will look a little different this year. Renamed ‘Party at the Bells’, the street party will run from 10pm to 1am with a reduced capacity of 30,000 people permitted to enjoy the countdown celebrations on Princes Street. 3,500 ticketholders will be able to watch electronic music duo Basement Jaxx and Scottish DJ Arielle Free live on the Ross bandstand in the gardens under the castle while their performances are streamed to the rest of the crowd on huge screens. Then as the clock strikes midnight, the iconic fireworks display will light up the skies, cementing Scotland, once again, as the home of Hogmanay.

Ahead of the big event, families can also look forward to the return of The Torchlight Procession (30 December). Participants will collect their torches from three locations around the city: Waverley Bridge, West Parliament Square or Bristo Square and will then start the Procession on the Royal Mile between

CHVRCHES

North Bridge and St Mary’s Street. The family friendly event will be slightly different to previous years, with the procession spread out between 4pm and 9pm, allowing locals and visitors alike to blaze through the Scottish capital in a fun and safe environment.

Meanwhile, down at Greyfriars Kirk, Scottish singer-songwriter Dougie Maclean will be performing as part of Scottish Music Programme, a special three-night folk event (29 – 31 December). Opening the mini festival is one of Scotland’s most skilled and imaginative contemporary folk acts, Breabach (29 December) while on Hogmanay itself, the beloved three x BRIT Award winner, Eddi Reader will take to the stage.

FESTIVE CLUB NIGHTS

Despite the debates over vaccine passports, clubs are also making big plans for new year, with Ayr’s breakthrough DJ and producer Ewan McVicar announced for FLY NYE at Cabaret Voltaire (31 December) and a full-venue Nightvision party, with quests still to be announced, at the Liquid Room & Warehouse (31 December). The Liquid Room is also hosting a New Year’s Day session from seminal Edinburgh queer club Taste (01 January) and a First Edition Boxing Day warehouse bash with the mighty Helena Hauff (26 December), while the Jackhammer 20th birthday party is at the Caves over the holiday period (29 December) and Pulse has two parties planned, one at La Belle Angele with Glasgow’s Slam (26 December) and a New Year’s Day event at a venue tbc.

MUSIC

Spirit doesn’t come much more Christmassy than the annual Phil Cunningham’s Christmas Songbook (20 and 21 December), stopping at the Queen’s Hall on a seasonal tour of the country, with Scottish folk stars including Eddi Reader, Karen Matheson, John McCusker and Kris Drever in attendance. Just the thing to get warmed up for the return of Celtic Connections (20 January to 06 February) to Glasgow in the depths of winter. Back in Edinburgh, meanwhile, there are a bunch of must-see shows coming up in the New Year, from Scottish stalwarts Belle & Sebastian (Usher Hall, 01 February), CHVRCHES (O2 Academy Edinburgh, 14 March) and Eigg-based pop noodler Pictish Trail (Summerhall, 07 April) plus stand-out touring names like recent Ivor Novello winners Goldfrapp (Usher Hall, 07 April), Mancunian DIY genius Julie Campbell aka LoneLady (Mash House, 02 February) and young punks Nova Twins (Mash House, 12 February).

THEATRE

Much like the music industry, large-scale theatre is getting back in business quickly with plenty of big touring shows, a number of which were planned before the pandemic. At the Playhouse, for example, Jim Steinman and Meat Loaf’s rock musical Bat Out of Hell is playing (08 to 19 February), as is the soulful return to the soul sound of the 1960s Dreamgirls (05 to 16 April). There are other big musical names coming to the Festival Theatre too, including the all-singing story of Henry VIII’s wives in Six (15 to 26 March) and the big West End hit Everybody’s Talking About Jamie (29 March to 02 April), while the King’s Theatre hosts the National Theatre of Scotland’s brand new musical version of the Peter Mullan film Orphans (12 to 16 April), written by Douglas Maxwell and directed by Cora Bissett. At the Royal Lyceum, the spring will bring the premiere of Zinnie Harris’s new play The Scent of Roses (25 February to 19 March) and Hamilton star Giles Terera’s debut play The Meaning of Zong (13 to 23 April), about an antislavery campaign in the 18th century.

Dreamgirls

Howardena Pindell

ART

The National Galleries of Scotland’s current programme continues into 2022, which means all the family still have time to experience old-school cinema thrills at Ray Harryhausen: Titan of Cinema at Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern Two) (until 20 February). Elsewhere, Joan Eardley and Catterline at Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One) celebrates the great Scottish painter of the 20th century, Thomas Joshua Cooper: The World’s Edge at the Scottish National Portrait Gallery (until 23 January) presents photographs of the fringes of the Atlantic Ocean, and New Arrivals: From Salvador Dali to Jenny Saville at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art (Modern One) shows off some recent acquisitions from huge names including Hirst and Picasso. At the Fruitmarket Gallery on Market Street, two exhibitions take us through to spring. In the main gallery space, Howardena Pindell’s A New Language (until 02 May) celebrates the six-decade career of an artist whose work has responded to racism

Dita Von Teese

and white supremacy through paintings, works on paper and video, while in the new warehouse space, up-and-coming artist Jyll Bradley’s Pardes (until 18 April) is a sculptural exhibit designed for this former fruit and veg storage space.

AND A FEW MORE…

If the above isn’t enough to give us a sense of normality returning, then how about Steve Coogan’s peculiar brand of self-help in Alan Partridge: Stratagem (Playhouse, 26 April and 26 May), Ross Noble’s comedy return in Humournoid (Festival Theatre, 15 January), Dita Von Teese’s bigbudget burlesque show Glamonatrix (Playhouse, 02 March) or Strictly’s dance star Oti Mabuse in I Am Here (Festival Theatre, 08 May).

Alan Partridge

FIND YOUR HAPPY PLACE

Whether it’s shopping for your favourite brands, meeting with friends for a coffee, or having a great day out with the family, Livingston Designer Outlet has got something to keep you happy this Christmas.

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Extended Opening Hours

We are now open longer for you to shop at a time that suits you. Please check our website for details of our daily opening hours.

Festive Events

Keep an eye out on our website and social channels to get involved in some Festive Workshops throughout weekends in December. You can join in with fl oral wreath making, crafts and an audio Santa trail. Please check our website for further details.

Charity Giving Tree

No child should be without a gift on Christmas morning. So this year we’ve partnered with Team North Pole to provide Christmas boxes to families most in need in West Lothian. We’re asking for your help by donating gifts to include in these valuable gift boxes. You can donate in the Outlet and help us make a difference this Christmas.