The Skinny North January/February 2017 by The Skinny

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January/February 2017 North Issue 42

Music Hudson Mohawke Outfit Jenny Hval Catholic Action Fist City

Film Edinburgh Film Festival Peter Bogdanovich Walter Hill Mark Adams Alex Ross Perry

Art Anthony Schrag Dundee Degree Show Tim Dalzell Grace Schwindt

Books Dark Horse Poetry Louise Welsh Clubs Ezup Festivals Round-Up

Comedy Edinburgh Magic Festival Dracula Zoo Nights

Fantastic Feasts THE FOOD & DRINK SURVEY 2017

Music Ones to Watch Henge Bruising HAARM Mark Eitzel Cloud Nothings

Film Manchester by the Sea Alternative Musicals Moonlight

Clubs Setaoc Mass Eastern Bloc’s Tips for 2017

Art The Archipelago

Comedy Hannah Platt Olga Wojtas

Books Amy Stewart Writing Advice Theatre PUSH Festival Ridiculusmus

Travel Living in Malmö Guilt and Self-Loathing in India

P.23 Food & Drink Survey 2017

Illustration: Isabella Bunnell

P.34 Guilt and Self Loathing in India

P.32 The Archipelago

P.49 Mark Eitzel

January/February 2017 I N D E P E N D E N T

C U LT U R A L

J O U R N A L I S M

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Editorial Commissioning Editor Film & Contributing Editor Events Editor Music Editor Art Books Clubs Comedy Deviance Food Theatre Travel

Lauren Strain Jamie Dunn Jess Hardiman WIll Fitzpatrick Sacha Waldron Holly Rimmer-Tagoe Daniel Jones John Stansfield Kate Pasola Lauren Phillips Jennifer Chamberlain Paul Mitchell

Production Production Manager Designer

Sarah Donley Kyle McPartlin

Sales Digital Sales and Marketing Manager

Caroline Harleaux

Sales Executives

Issy Patience James Taylor

General Manager

Kyla Hall

Editor-in-Chief Publisher

Rosamund West Sophie Kyle

Printed on 100% recycled paper

Contents

THE SKINNY

Contents UP FRONT

FEATURES

06 Chat & Opinion: Horoscopes,

last-minute news and LOLs.

08 Fury: As Valentine’s Day approaches, our writer speaks to two couples for whom love is far from commercialised.

40 Aussie talent Julia Jacklin calls in from

Melbourne at a ridiculously early time of the morning to tell us about her wonderful debut album, Don't Let the Kids Win.

09 Graphic Content: Wolfmask Art presents a briefly optimistic view for 2017.

Heads up: Your at-a-glance guide to cultural happenings in January and February.

EVENTS GUIDE

Art & Theatre: The season’s key exhibitions and shows, and your last chance to see The Hepworth Prize for Sculpture.

Gigs: The best new music coming to a venue near you; plus the hot new names you should keep an eye on this year.

Clubs: The parties you shouldn’t miss, and a journey through Manchester talent Setaoc Mass’s record collection.

The incomparable Michelle Williams discusses the roles that never leave her, the weirdness of seeing her face on screen and working with Kenneth Lonergan on Manchester by the Sea.

Poet Louise Wallwein recalls volunteering with Kos Solidarity in Greece, an experience which informs a new work exploring the urgency of the global refugee crisis.

Director Barry Jenkins discusses Moonlight, one of the year’s most anticipated films and a deeply moving character study of a young black man grappling with his sexuality in workingclass Miami.

Novelist Amy Stewart describes the pleasures of researching crime fighting sisters (and feminist heroes) the Kopp women.

We speak to theatre company Ridiculusmus about their new work Give Me Your Love, which explores the healing potential in altered states of consciousness.

Former American Music Club frontman (and possibly ‘best singer you’ve never heard of’) Mark Eitzel tells us of working with Bernard Butler on new album Hey Mr Ferryman.

20 Comedy: If you only see one comedian this month, make it Hannah Platt.

Film & Books: Screenings and readings to put in your diary, plus an appreciation of alternative musicals ahead of the release of Ryan Gosling/Emma Stone love story La La Land.

LIFESTYLE

The Skinny Food & Drink Survey 2017: The results are in, and we’ve riffled through your votes for your favourite eating and drinking establishments across Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester to bring you LOADS OF CONTENT. Take a dive into our findings and emerge with your choices vindicated, or at the very least, some great tips for new restaurants to check out.

Showcase: Plants and art come together in the work of Leeds design studio The Archipelago.

Travel: Our Pre-Brexit guides to moving abroad continue with a look at living in Malmö, and we hear from a wide-eyed traveller in India who can no longer ignore the elephant in the room.

Deviance: We’ve got you sorted for both Valentine’s Day and 2017 as a whole in this month’s Deviance, with a step by step guide to healing the world after the shocker that was 2016 and a road-test of a mathematical formula for dating...

January/Febuary 2017

Meet HAARM, a Liverpool band with a bright future (and a fan in Chloë Grace Moretz).

50 Cloud Nothings' Dylan Baldi explains the progression and purpose behind the band's most thoughtful record to date.

REVIEW

Music: Album reviews and tour stories from Leeds indiepop foursome Bruising – your New Year listening, sorted.

Competitions: Win film festival tickets and booze!

Film: January and February in a cinema near you, reviewed.

Books: Is your New Year’s resolution to finally finish that languishing debut novel? We’ve got some handy tips for you. Plus, the season’s books reviewed.

Listings: What’s on and where, in Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester.

Out back: We’re pleased as punch to publish the winning short story from the Women in Comedy Festival writing competition: The Mystery of the Second Olga, by Olga Wojtas.

Contents

Shout Outs

Spot the Difference SHRIMPLY THE BEST HEY, CHECK OUT THESE PARTY SHRIMP! Aren’t they rad? Ok, we’re giving you the hard shell here. Who knows how you get started in this line of work – to us they just look like prawns of the party industry. Still, without shrimping on the detail, at least they’re earning an honest crust(acean). These two party shrimp may look identical,

but there’s a very subtle difference between the two that will require your observational skills to be at their peak. Summon all your powers of deduction and head to theskinny.co.uk/ competitions once you’ve identified the correct answer – the best or funniest answer will win a copy of The Weatherhouse by Nan Shepherd, thanks to the kings among prawns at Canongate.

Competition closes at midnight on Sun 29 Jan. Winners will be notified via email within two working days of closing and will be required to respond within 48 hours or the prize will be offered to another entrant. Our Ts&Cs can be found at theskinny.co.uk/about/terms

Sounds from the Other City

Sounds from the Other City festival reveals first details Salford’s annual celebration of new art, performance and music Sounds from the Other City returns for its 13th year in 2017, and we’re hella excited – as you should be. Fanning out across multiple stages along the Chapel Street corridor and beyond, this luckily numbered edition of the much-loved event involves many of the Northwest’s most adventurous, boundary-pushing promoters and introduces a new concept, the mysteriously titled Sounds of the New Dawn… more details to be revealed via SFTOC.TV and soundsfromtheothercity.com, so keep your (third) eyes peeled, people. Sunday 30 April, 3pm-late, tickets £23 from Skiddle and in person at Piccadilly Records, Common, The Old Pint Pot and The King’s Arms. Don’t miss: SICK! Festival, exploring today’s urgent issues Dedicated to revealing and debating our most urgent physical, mental and social challenges, SICK! Festival returns to Manchester this March (8-25). The focus for 2017 is on issues of identity and belonging, with highlights including the premieres of To Belong by Koen De Preter and Theater Stap, a dance performance about what it means to be part of a group, and Traumboy by Daniel Hellmann, a solo performance in which Hellmann reports on his experiences as a male prostitute – without shame, honestly and interactively. Tickets are on sale now, while further programme details will be revealed soon – keep an eye on sickfestival.com and theskinny. co.uk/news. Line-up for Stay Fresh Fest 2 complete; plus, goodies! The final acts have been added to the bill for Stay Fresh Fest 2 on 28 January at the Deaf Institute, Manchester. Join The Skinny and the Deaf to celebrate some of the most vital new music emerging today, courtesy of polyrhythmic electronic outfit Strobes; Manchester’s partysmart punks Patty Hearst; recent Heavenly Records signings The Orielles; intergalactic travellers Henge; scuzzed-out garage rockers

Chat

Shot of the Month Gengahr, Deaf Institute, 8 December, by Andy Sawyer

Heavy on the Magic; Sheffield lo-fi noisepoppers Seize the Chair; riff-heavy sludge monsters MUMS, and Luxury Death (the new project from Ben Thompson of Nai Harvest). Aaand breathe. Tickets are just £8/£10 and we can reveal there’ll be a special bottle from Blackjack Brewery on offer, plus tote bags printed by the lovely One69A for the first 50 people through the door. Tickets: thedeafinstitute.co.uk. Safe As Milk festival shapes up nicely More names have been announced for the first Safe As Milk festival, taking place 21-23 April in Prestatyn, North Wales. Electronic enigma Actress, experimental pop composer Anna Meredith and influential Ghanaian dance artist Ata Kak are among the names newly added to the bill, which is quickly shaping up to be one of the most interesting programmes of contemporary music we've seen in the UK for quite a while. Also announced are Neu!/Harmonia founder Michael Rother, 'electronic music's answer to Basquiat' Gaika, and Blackest Ever Black’s Carla dal Forno, among others. Tickets: safeasmilkfestival.com/ sam17. Where Are We Now? festival announced A new festival curated by art collective Neu! Reekie! for Hull City of Culture 2017 brings together acts including Young Fathers, Akala, Charlotte Church and Hollie McNish for three days of politically minded performance, 2-4 June. Artists from soul singer Law Holt to award-winning filmmaker and writer Mark Cousins and DJs/ producers Andrew Weatherall and Sean Johnston will attempt to answer the question Where Are We Now? through music, film, spoken word, street theatre, poetry, visual art and discussion. “We'll be converging on the city of Hull to ask of today's counter-culture the soaring, searching question with which David Bowie kissed us goodbye,” say Neu! Reekie!. “Dark divisive forces of racism and prejudice are stirring across the UK (and Europe) in the wake of Brexit and across the Atlantic following the election of Donald Trump. We need to ask our artists, musicians and writers where they stand.” Tickets: hull2017.co.uk

By Jock Mooney THE SKINNY

Online Only

Crystal Balls With Mystic Mark

ARIES You and your partner have a lot in common: you both hate each other’s guts. TAURUS You feel like hell is being demonised with propaganda. GEMINI When the last few humans are unlucky enough to meet around the dying nightmarish embers of the world’s last bonfire to gnaw on charred kitten corpses beneath a nuclear winter sky I hope we remember what the world used to be like. I hope we can still force out a chuckle reminiscing about the Pen Pineapple Apple Pen song. CANCER The air stewardess on your flight interrupts your in-flight movie to vomit in terror and cry uncontrollably about “all going to die” or something. You pause the film and reluctantly take your earphones out to see what the big fuss is about. LEO An absolute dreamboat asks you out on a date this month, and whilst playing with your hair you explain you can’t on Saturday, because you’re burying 12 dogs in your back garden. But you can probably do Sunday, Sunday’s good.

Ask Auntie Trash:

VIRGO This month you go with your gut on many important decisions. Like when to go to the toilet. Or if you’d like to make a fart or not. LIBRA We might live in a post-truth world, where photos are easily faked and news is factless nonsense invented by racist click-hungry algorithms, but they can’t Photoshop what’s in your heart. SCORPIO You’ve been born into a time in history where there are refrigerated drinks, yet you still complain. SAGITTARIUS You have a lovely glossy coat of thick back pubes. CAPRICORN You watch as your cat spots the tapeworm dangling out of its bumhole, the movement alerts it and it pounces. Your cat slurps up the worm like the spaghetti in Lady and the Tramp, locking lips and making eye-contact with its own bumhole in the process. AQUARIUS At night, why not try closing your eyes? After a little while you’ll stop being aware of what’s happening and you’ll come around eight hours later feeling so refreshed. Give it a shot. PISCES For the Trump supporting, pro-Brexit Bowie fans, 2016 was a mixed bag.

New Year, New You? Illustration: Stephanie Hoffmann

Silence

theskinny.co.uk/film He has a very particular set of skills, and he’s putting them to use in two very different films this month – we talk to Liam Neeson as Scorsese drama Silence and CGI fantasy A Monster Calls hit cinemas. theskinny.co.uk/travel Fancy a new start in 2017? Our series of Living Abroad guides continues with a look at life in the French city of Lille and the Turkish capital Istanbul. We also look at some of the more challenging aspects of travelling for gay couples. theskinny.co.uk/music We catch up with Johnny Lynch, the man behind

Hello Trash, With the New Year coming up, I’ve been thinking about starting afresh and making some positive changes in my life. I want to lose weight, I want a better job, I want to start doing fun things (awesome things, like going to the theatre) more, how can I use the new year to help me achieve my goals? Thanks, Hay x

ell, 2016 was a shitter of a year wasn’t it? I don’t blame you for wanting to do 2017 right, and I want you to know that I think it’s great to hear that you’re wanting to make some changes in your life, and also, that you want to start going to the theatre more (holla!). But, I ask you, why wait until the New Year? This whole ‘New Year, New You’ nonsense is just a way to make people feel bad about themselves, anyway. After a full month of no holds barred gluttony, encouraged by everyone around us, suddenly, January arrives with a side dose of guilt disguised as ‘radical self care’. Because, what do people who’ve been eating and drinking for a month do after? They feel bad. And what do people who feel bad about themselves do? They spend money to make themselves feel better. Ego is bad for the economy, but low-self esteem is our real currency. We love making people feel bad about themselves, because confident people don’t need to buy things and do things to themselves in order to impress those around them. Just look at the front cover of the nearest ‘lifestyle’ magazine – it’s all about how to lose weight, impress your (wo)man in bed, and how to fit into a space that society deems to be acceptable. Ick.

January/February 2017

the inimitable Lost Map label and collective, and talk to Christopher Taylor aka SOHN ahead of the release of new album Rennen. theskinny.co.uk/clubs Get the lowdown on the best club nights across the North each week with our clubbing round-ups. Sign up to The Skinny Zap! Want to stay up-to-date on the best things to see and do each week, but without the tricky business of wading through thousands of Facebook invites and panicked WhatsApp messages? Sign up for our weekly newsletter, and let us do the hard work for you.

Let’s get real. There is no such thing as a New You, there is just a happier and healthier version of the person that you are now; think of it as You 2.0, because the 1.0 version of anything always has glitches. Nobody’s perfect, but we can all be better, yes, so what can you do to kickstart your goals and – most importantly – stick to them? Don’t wait. Don’t wait until the first of January. Don’t wait until tomorrow. Start now, and start small. Create manageable goals, like “Today, I will walk home from work.” “Today, I drink water, not fizzy juice.” Christ, I sound like a lifestyle coach, but here goes. When you make any change in your life, no matter how big or how small, the biggest obstacle in your way is YOU. (Pow, mind blown). Nobody is coming to save you. There is no white knight waiting to kick down the doors of the fortress that is your own procrastination. In order to make a change you must commit fully to it. You’ve got to want to do it, not try to do it because some pseudo-authority figure told you that this is what you should do. Start 2017 by already making tiny little differences to your life, like, I don’t know, buying a fucking theatre ticket for a show in a few months time, not when the show starts. If you set your mind to it, you can do anything, absolutely anything. But, it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to do so. It’s not going to be easy, it’s probably not going to be fun to deal with (at first) but if you can get through 2016, then you can get through anything, my friend. Absolutely anything at all. Love, Trashy xx

Opinion

Love in the Time of Homelessness Beyond the commercialisation of Valentine’s Day, human connection is far from a luxury. Our writer speaks to two couples for whom love, support and partnership are vital Words: Jasmine Andersson

t doesn’t surprise me that Jen is still friends with one of her old prison officers. “He told me that my attitude had definitely changed for the better,” she laughs. Jen’s laugh is one of the features that make her so likeable. She invites me to sniff her neck to see if I can still smell a spritz of Alien perfume, and her animated eyes are brought to life by a stroke of blue eyeliner. Even though I must have passed Jen at least 60 times when I worked in Manchester’s Northern Quarter, this is the first time I’ve sat down and spoken to her. Even though she’s visibly shivering and needs to put the hours in to get her food for the evening, she can’t keep a smile off her face. She later tells me that she’s so happy because she’s fallen in love. Although the Northern Quarter might be home to a strong vinyl selection and watering holes for a pint or six on payday, its streets are also the home of two of the city’s homeless couples. Although homelessness comes as no surprise to Mancunian residents – 2000 people are said to be without permanent accommodation in the area – little regard is given to the people that are carrying on with their lives as normally as possible on the streets. Jen’s story serves as poignant reminder that human connection is far from a luxury. “We all want someone to sleep next to at night, and we’re no different,” she said. “If it weren’t for the boys, me and Rosie” – a friend living close by with partner Dean – “would have to cuddle up together. Saying that, it’s great to have them on our side.” Jen has been in and out of prison since her

father kicked her out when she was 17 years old. Leaving Styal three months ago after a two-year sentence, Jen bumped into her partner-to-be, Mark, on the street. “I caught his eye when he was grafting, and he told me how different I looked,” she said. “I was addicted to heroin, so the last time he saw me I looked like a rake. I’ve put a lot on since.” Mark made her an offer a few weeks later. She was drawn to his “earnest and protective nature.” “He took me to one side and said: ‘Jen, if you get with me, all I will ever do is look after you. You will never have to graft again and I’ll look after us.’ Next thing I know, I’ve grabbed his hand and I’m walking off with him.” After experiencing a hard life with addiction, Jen is getting clean thanks to Mark’s help. “I am still using, but it’s about a quarter of what I used to,” she said. “Mark doesn’t touch anything, and every week, I’m cutting down. For the first time in my life, I feel safe.” When Mark joins us later, he fumbles for Jen’s hand and kisses her on the cheek. “He told me he loved me so quickly,” she laughs. “We want to get married in the future. Not a big church thing, it costs far too much money, but something in a registry office, maybe. Just with a few people that we care about. We’re both 40 this year!” The first throes of romance are etched all over their faces; in the tent opposite are a couple who have managed to keep it steady in spite of the realities of keeping a relationship alive while trying

to survive. Although Rosie and Dean’s 15-year age gap might not suggest they’re the world’s most compatible couple, the pair have stayed together for eight years. They said that they “didn’t like each other at first,” but after kissing at a Christmas party they fell in love, and lived together in private accommodation for three years. In a twist of fate, the pair were evicted from their flat at the same time Dean’s dad died, leaving them no other place to turn but the streets. Temporarily shunted between halfway houses on a street with other homeless people, Rosie told me that they had “never been anywhere like it”. “I had been using for ten years by this point, and I had never seen anywhere so bad,” she said. “One time we came back to the flat to find that our dirty washing had been sold to a shop up the street to make some cash.”

“ For the first time in my life, I feel safe” The pair also have a one-and-a-half year old son, who currently lives with Dean’s mum. “We haven’t seen him for a couple of months, because we don’t want him to see us like this,” said Rosie. “We buy him presents whenever we can, and would love to see him more often. But we want to get a flat, somewhere nice and cosy, a two-bed, where

Dean can go back to his football coach training. He’s only 23, and he just needs one more course before he’s qualified.” It is clear that competition to find accommodation is fierce. Waiting lists are long, and priorities can be easily skewed. The responsibility of splitting funds between two can lead to further strain. “People meet each other on the streets normally, so we’re quite different in that,” said Rosie. “We knew one couple who had been together for just two days and they managed to get a room. They got kicked out pretty soon after, but it doesn’t make much of a difference to us.” When I ask them how they’ve managed to keep it going for so long, the pair tell me that they’d be “lost without each other.” Rosie said: “Dean does get easily led, so we bicker from time to time, but I think that’s normal. We have separate tents so we can have space when we need it, but we know that we’re there for each other. My best advice? Don’t let the little things come between you.” As I’m walking away, Jen is pulling Mark off the bench to meet one of her old friends. It reminds me of that moment so many of us share when we introduce a lover to the people we care about the most. Nearby, Rosie and Dean are sat, arms around each other at the foot of their tent. They are making the world work for them, in the most vulnerable of spaces. Names have been changed We want to hear from you on the urgent subjects in your area. Get in touch: lauren@theskinny.co.uk

THE SKINNY

Graphic Content Wolfmask is a cartoonist based in Leeds who has worked with artists such as Courtney Barnett, The Murderburgers, Gnarwolves and loads more. Get in touch if you need rad art! wolfmaskart.co.uk

ahh here we are, another new year and a fresh start!

so many resolutions! ticking off loads already!

this year is gonna be alright!

i'm going to work hard, try new things & get fit

james blunt: the new album

go n n a t hi s y ea r is ht be a lr ig !

January/February 2017

i g iv e u p.

Comic

2016 is so last year – get 2017 off to a flying start with a host of beer festivals, live comedy, one-off film screenings and all-day gigs to blow away the festive cobwebs.

2017 is Hull's time to shine, having been bestowed the title of UK City of Culture for the year. Opening with a special art trail around the city centre, the programming then unfurls into the likes of performance collective Neu! Reekie!'s Where Are We Now? festival with Charlotte Church and Hollie McNish, the Women of the World festival and much, much more. All year, Hull; various venues, times and prices

This year marks Open Eye Gallery's 40th birthday (you ain't over the hill in our eyes, love), which means we can look forward to a fabulous 12 months of programming, kicking off with North: Identity, Photography, Fashion, an exhibition exploring the influence the North has had on national and international visual culture and fashion. From 6 Jan, Open Eye Gallery, Liverpool, times vary, free

Hollie McNish

PUSH Festival

Derrin Crawford & Demi-Leigh Cruickshank in 'The Liver Birds' LOVE magazine, Liverpool, 2012

Labyrinth screening

Manchester's treasured creative hub HOME shows that it's got no intention of indulging in a postChristmas slump, thanks to the return of PUSH Festival, which showcases work from some of the Northwest's most exciting artists. Along with a full programme of theatre, this year also welcomes a venture into film and visual art for the first time. 14-28 Jan, HOME, Manchester, times and prices vary

The grim reaper dealt a particularly cruel hand for 2016, so it seems only fitting that you start this year off by paying homage to the late, glam-rocking great David Bowie, who's no doubt counted by many as one of the most sorely missed. Catch him in action with a screening of cherished cult musical Labyrinth, timed to mark a year since his untimely passing. 17 Jan, Howard Assembly Room, Leeds, 7.30pm, £5

Labyrinth

Cute Owl Experimental Music Festival

Tangerinecat

David O'Doherty

Winter Ales Festival

It's always wise to start the year off with a good dose of laughs, so let Irish comedian David O'Doherty tickle that funnybone with his latest show, Big Time. He'll be bringing out his crappy keyboard from 1986 for another round of music-meets-comedy chatter. 25 Jan, O2 Academy, Leeds, 7pm, £15.50-£17.50

Book yourself in for a seasonal drinking sesh with the Winter Ales Festival at St George's Hall, where you'll find over 200 real ales and ciders, along with wines and prosecco, Liverpool gin, rum and vodka and local food slingers ready to help you soak it all up. Cheers! 26-28 Jan, St George's Hall, Liverpool, times and prices vary

Photo: MaryRose Ireson

Central Manchester Vegan Fair

Photo: David Broadbent

Cute Owl promotions are throwing their very own intimate celebration of grassroots experimental music with the Cute Owl Experimental Music Festival. Lined up on the bill you'll find Ukraine-formed postelectro/industrial heads Tangerinecat, Tunbridge Wells' Code: Marla vs Spire Cranes, synth-popper Cynthia's Periscope and fingerstyle guitarist Rik Andrive. 21 Jan, Gullivers, Manchester, 6.30pm, £4-£5

Get your year off to an animal-friendly start with the Central Manchester Vegan Fair, promising 30 stalls selling vegan food, drinks and beauty products, along with film screenings of Vegan Society's 1994 doc Truth or Dairy and Hillside Animal Sanctuary DVDs, which feature undercover filming at farms. 21 Jan, Cross Street Chapel, Manchester, 10am, £TBC

David O'Doherty

Stay Fresh Fest 2 After making a thundering debut back in September, Stay Fresh Fest is back for more, baby! Once again The Skinny is teaming up with The Deaf Institute to bring you some of the most vital new names on the Northern music scene, including cosmic explorers Henge, Halifax surf-poppers The Orielles and the new project from Nai Harvest's Ben Thompson, Luxury Death. 28 Jan, The Deaf Institute, Manchester, 4pm, £6

Chat

Photo: Alice Hawkins

Compiled by: Jess Hardiman

Open Eye Gallery turns 40

Illustrstion: Sarah Bissell

Heads Up

Hull City of Culture

The Orielles

JANUARY

Stay Fresh Fest

THE SKINNY

Brew-denell Beer Festival

Continuing its annual series of retrospectives on overlooked British screenwriters, this year HOME places focus on the work of writer and actor Neville Smith. With recurring themes such as football and left-wing politics, Neville Smith: A Retrospective will include screenings of Gumshoe, The Golden Vision, Bag of Yeast and Long Shot. 8-29 Jan, HOME, Manchester, times and prices vary

Manchester Beer and Cider Festival With over 600 beers, ciders and perries ready and waiting for your discerning tastebuds, this January certainly ain't gonna be dry thanks to the Manchester Beer and Cider Festival, organised by the Greater Manchester branches of CAMRA. You can also book yourself into a cider tasting, a talk on the renaissance of artisanal Dutch beer and much more. 19-21 Jan, Manchester Central, 12pm, prices vary

Gumshoe

Haunting the Unknown Inspired by FACT's current exhibition, No Such Thing as Gravity, Haunting the Unknown is a mini-season of horror films including Aussie psychological horror The Babadook, Guillermo del Toro's The Devil's Backbone and Thai film Uncle Boonmee, together exploring how a place might determine the spirits it creates. 19 Jan-2 Feb, FACT, Liverpool, times and prices vary

Haunting the Unknown

One from the Heart screening

Independent Venue Week Celebrating the independently run gig-holes that we love, Independent Venue Week is back for more, this time with Charlatans frontman Tim Burgess as ambassador. 24 Kitchen Street and the Lending Room in Leeds are among participating venues, but we're particularly excited for a gig with Documenta, Horsebeach and Yucatan at Manchester's Soup Kitchen (29 Jan, 7pm, £5). 23-29 Jan, nationwide

Having no doubt given yourself the requisite week-anda-half off the sauce after a debauched festive period, it's time to clamber well and truly back on the wagon with the almighty Brew-denell Beer Festival, the Brud's annual flagship piss-up that's been going strong for five years. Local beers, street food and live music: what's not to love? 13-15 Jan, Brudenell Social Club, Leeds, times and prices vary

HorseBeach

We're joining forces with HOME for a screening of One from the Heart , Francis Ford Coppola's ambitious but often-overlooked 80s romantic musical, to tie in with the release of Damien Chazelle's much-anticipated La La Land. Set against the garish backdrop of the iconic Las Vegas strip, the drama unfolds as a couple break up in pursuit of their romantic fantasies. 24 Jan, HOME, Manchester, 8.30pm, prices vary

Fiesta Bombarda Carnival

Chinese New Year

The reliable folk of Northern party powerhouse Fiesta Bombarda are upping the ante once more, this time with a two-day Cathedral Carnival. Across the extended weekend stint, they'll be pulling in the likes of Beardyman ft. Rob Lewis, Renegade Brass Band, Jeramiah Ferrari and DJ Hyde, with many more acts yet to be announced. 2728 Jan, Liverpool Anglican Cathedral, 7pm, £20

And so commences the year of the rooster! There'll be Chinese New Year celebrations across the North, but with the oldest Chinese community in Europe, Liverpool's festivities are most definitely top dog with markets, parades and firecracker displays all to look forward to – while over in Manchester plans are afoot for the city's largest Chinese New Year festival to date. 28 Jan, worldwide

Renegade Brass Band

La La Land

Chinese New Year

Liverpool Peace Proms

James Wilson-Taylor

Now that America's being run by an intolerant, egotistical celebrity sex pest – and we're not doing much better with all this Brexit malarkey – now, more than ever, is the time for promoting harmony in this crazy world we live in. In steps Liverpool Peace Proms to do precisely that, celebrating peace, unity and tolerance through a 3000-strong choral and orchestral performance. 28 Jan, Echo Arena, Liverpool, 3pm, £11.75-£15.50

Having previously satisfied his inner nerd with comedic forays into the realms of Batman and Dr Who, James Wilson-Taylor turns his attention to redheads with Ginger is the New Black, a musical history of the flame-haired beauties that walk this world – and a call for a little bit of rebranding as we move into 2017. 28 Jan, The Lowry, Salford, 8pm, £10-£12

January/February 2017

Photo: Patrik Kristian

Neville Smith: A Retrospective

Liverpool Peach Proms

JANUARY

James Wilson-Taylor

Chat

Banff Mountain Film Festival

Fast Anchor Film Festival

Banff Mountain Film Festival heads out on its world tour, stopping off in Leeds with a brand new selection of short films documenting incredible adventures across the globe. Over the two days you'll find two different programmes (full deets at banff-uk.com), with discounts available if you want to go the whole hog. 2-3 Feb, Leeds Town Hall, 7.30pm, prices vary

Aiming to showcase the best in up-and-coming filmmaking talent, the inaugural Fast Anchor Film Festival (or FAFF for short) fosters exciting new work locally, nationally and internationally through its three main awards: Best Short Film, Best Young Filmmaker and Best Manchester Film. 4 Feb, Savoy Cinema, Stockport, 6.30pm, £15

Steve Bugeja

Ellesmere Port Comic-Con

Former winner of BBC Radio's New Comedy Award, writer, actor and comedian Steve Bugeja is back at it with his latest show, Unpronounceable, the follow-up to 2015's critically acclaimed debut, Day Release. Support comes from UK-based Japanese comedian Yuriko Kotani. 5 Feb, The Lowry, Salford, 8pm, £10-£12

Following last November's shindig, Ellesmere Port Comic-Con is back for the new year having already booked the likes of Ceri-Ann Williams (Gal Gadot's body double in Wonder Woman), Virginia Hey (Farscape) and Mel Pickup (Star Wars: The Force Awakens). 5 Feb, Civic Hall, Ellesmere Port, 10am, £5

Savoy Cinema, Stockport

Steve Bugeja

Matt & Phreds Valentine Special

Photo: Patrik Kristian

You may have thought January did surprisingly well for booze bashes, but thankfully it's passing the baton on to February with the 10th annual Ilkley Beer Festival. Hit up ilkleybeerfestival.org.uk to see what they've got in store for you. 10-11 Feb, King's Hall and Winter Garden, Ilkley, times vary, £5-£7.50

Music Tourism Convention

Bridget Christie

Visit Britain, Marketing London and Sound Diplomacy present the Music Tourism Convention, bringing together the music and tourism sectors with TED-style talks exploring Liverpool's leading festivals, its music tourism and more. 17 Feb, Titanic Hotel, Liverpool, 9.30am, £145

In her critically acclaimed new show, Because You Demanded It, multi awardwinning comedian and writer Bridget Christie takes on 2016's most contentious curveball: Brexit. She'll explore what happens when the UK votes for something no one was prepared for... 20 Feb, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, 7.45pm, £14-£16

Need to woo that special someone in your life? Ain't no better way to do so than through the medium of smooth-ass live jazz. Matt and Phreds Valentine Special should do the trick nicely, with the Charlie Cooper Quartet heading up an evening of romantic tunes, complete with M&P's famous pizzas and free entry. 14 Feb, Matt & Phreds Jazz Club, Manchester, 8pm, free

Yaw Owusu, Liverpool International MusicFestival

Charlie Cooper

Bridget Christie

Liverpool International Jazz Festival

Gin Festival York

The fifth Liverpool International Jazz Festival takes on the Capstone for another long weekend of all that jazz. Along with a series of free sets from Northwest artists, we're psyched for Manchester-based quartet Mammal Hands, signed to Matthew Halsall's Gondwana Records. 23-26 Feb, The Capstone Theatre, Liverpool, times and prices vary

Gin Festival York is upgrading to a bigger venue, which means more space for all your juniper-based shenanigans! With over 100 gins, including several new, exclusive types, there'll also be live music, food and a full programme of talks and masterclasses from industry experts. 24-25 Feb, York Barbican, times and prices vary Mammal Hands

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FEBRUARY

THE SKINNY

Photo: Idil Sukan

Ilkley Beer Festival

The Bluecoat's 300th birthday 2017's a big one for a certain contemporary arts behemoth: it's the Bluecoat's 300th birthday! Such landmarks deserve their very own programme of special events, so the gallery is kicking off with two exhibitions (turn to p15 for more details) before welcoming installations from British artist Louisa Martin and Siobhan Davies Dance and much more. From 4 Feb, Bluecoat, Liverpool, times and prices vary

Yoko Ono Ono Yoko

Preloved Vintage Weigh n Pay

Love Folk Festival

Still feeling the effects of all that present-buying a few months back? Bored of the threads you got from all the present-receiving a few months back? Get yourself down to the Leeds Preloved Vintage Weigh n Pay fair, where you can browse six tonnes of vintage clobber at £15 per kilo. 5 Feb, Royal Armouries, Leeds, 11am, free-£1.50

Self-proclaimed as 'the little festival with the big heart', The Atkinson's Love Folk Festival is back for the third year running. Celebrating new, upcoming folk music along with traditional styles, headliners are seminal folk rockers Fairport Convention and former Bellowhead frontman Jon Boden, with a raft of other local acts padding out the line-up nicely. 10-11 Feb, The Atkinson, Liverpool, times vary, £48

Jon Boden

Liverpool Beer Festival More beer? Ah, go on then. Over in Liverpool the local CAMRA lot will be hosting 2017's Liverpool Beer Festival, this time with an extra session on the Wednesday night for extended boozing hours, with the rest of the week divided into daytime and evening sessions. 15-19 Feb, Metropolitan Cathedral Crypt, Liverpool, times and prices vary

Liverpool Beer Festival

Rory Bremner

Jorvik Viking Festival

Master satirical impressionist Rory Bremner returns to the stage, fired up with Trump, Boris and Brexit-related ammo for Party Political, a new show that aims to make sense (and nonsense) of it all – with a little help from comedians and politician guests. 21 Feb, The Lowry, Salford, 8pm, £19

Embrace your inner child – and the pillaging past of your Viking ancestors – at one of Yorkshire's mostloved tourist attractions with the Jorvik Viking Festival, the largest Viking festival in Europe. Don't pretend you're too cool for this one. 20-25 Feb, York; various venues, times and prices JORVIK Viking Festival

Dance: Sampled

Winter Vintage and Makers Fair

Part of The Movement, a partnership between Birmingham Hippodrome, The Lowry and Sadler’s Wells and supported by Arts Council England, Dance: Sampled will allow you to 'sample' dance styles from Shobana Jeyasingh Dance, world tango champions Julia Urruty and Claudio Gonzalaz, and BBC Young Dancer winner Connor Scott. 24-25 Feb, The Lowry, Salford, 7.30pm, £5-£15 Dance: Sampled

January/February 2017

Rory Bremner

Pillbox Vintage head to the Atkinson for the first in their series of quarterly events, the Winter Vintage and Makers Fair. You'll be able to lap up the last of the winter with the best in vintage traders and regional makers, who'll be selling clothing, accessories, jewellery, homewares, ceramics, craft and more. 25 Feb, The Atkinson, Liverpool, 11am, free

FEBRUARY

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THE SKINNY

EV EN TS

The Hepworth Prize for Sculpture, featuring work by Helen Marten, Phyllida Barlow and more

Visitor takes first look at 'Bluebutter Idles', 2014 and 'Part offering (new and amazingly sexual daughters)', 2014 by Helen Marten

David Medalla’s 'Cloud Canyons', 1964 - 2016, part of the inaugural Hepworth Prize for Sculpture

elen Marten is the name on everyone’s lips. Freshly announced winner of the 2016 Turner Prize, the Macclesfield-born artist was also awarded the inaugural Hepworth Prize for Sculpture just weeks beforehand. You can experience her work for yourself at The Hepworth Wakefield as part of the Prize exhibition, alongside the three other shortlisted artists – David Medalla, Phyllida Barlow and Steven Claydon – until 19 February, and while the judging panel may have reached their decision, the gallery is still accepting votes from visitors to discern the public’s favourite. Simply pop your filled-out form in the box as you leave the show, or vote at hepworthwakefield.org/prize. Marten’s sensitive and often funny assemblages occupy a room next to Medalla’s transfixing ‘bubble machine’, an almost-living, kinetic sculpture that grows and disintegrates as you watch. His practice focuses on place, people and partici-

pation, and you can add your own messages or keepsakes to his work A Stitch in Time – stretches of material hung hammock-like from the ceiling embroidered with everything from shopping lists and pocket lint to poems people have written on the spot. Also featured is a vast, disorienting structure by Barlow that transforms the gallery into a scree slope-like landscape, and Claydon’s sense-stimulating work that plays with sound, scent and light. All four artists are showing new/recent as well as existing work, and the exhibition is the most ambitious yet staged in the Hepworth’s five-year history – celebrating that anniversary with what is now one of the biggest single art prizes in the UK, as well as the first specifically for contemporary sculpture. The Hepworth Prize for Sculpture, The Hepworth Wakefield, until 19 Feb, Tue-Sun 10am-5pm (closed Mondays), free

Photo: Lewis Ronald

On Stage

The best in theatre this season

Winter wonders in Leeds Leeds goes full ice queen this season as Opera North present three classic fairytales: The Snow Maiden (21 Jan-24 Feb), Hansel & Gretel (2-25 Feb) and Cinderella (16-25 Feb) at the Grand Theatre. Skating between worlds of fantasy and reality, the stories sweep from enchanted snowscapes to dark forests and glittering palaces; John Fulljames’ production of Rimsky-Korsakov’s rarely-staged Snow Maiden should be a particular highlight. We’re also intrigued by a modern, digital take on Pygmalion by acclaimed company Headlong – see below for more on that – while the National Theatre’s phenomenally successful Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time at the Grand (28 Feb4 Mar) will warm both hearts and cockles. Pride and politics in Liverpool What was winter made for if not period drama? This year, you can graduate from sobbing through re-runs of lovely Paul Dano in War & Peace or the seventh viewing of Poldark to actual real-life corsets and coat-tails at Liverpool Playhouse, with Simon Reade’s adaptation of Pride & Prejudice (7-11 Feb). Mr Bennet is played by Matthew Kelly and Mrs Bennet by Felicity Montagu (Alan Partridge, Bridget Jones’ Diary), while the whole thing is supported by Classic FM and Country Life so you can be sure it’ll be very proper, darling. For something a little less rose-tinted, try Glasgow Girls (Playhouse, 14-18 Feb), a song-based political drama telling the true story of seven young women who protest the deportation of their school

friend and her family. A hit at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe, Cora Bissett’s play has been called “the most politically engaged and enraged British musical since Blood Brothers.” Vital talent in Manchester It’s all about PUSH Festival in Manchester (HOME, 14-28 Jan), championing work by local practitioners. Highlights include The Island, The Sea, The Volunteer and The Refugee by Louise Wallwein, which tackles the issue of migration through Wallwein’s personal perspective as a volunteer with refugee support group Kos Solidarity in Greece. At last year’s PUSH we loved Mighty Heart Theatre’s body image/self-esteem focused show When I Feel Like Crap I Google Kim Kardashian Fat; they’re back for 2017 with work-in-progress Now Is The Moment We Learn Hope, unspooling their experiences travelling to some of the happiest and unhappiest places in the UK. Another important event this winter is Queer Contact (10-18 Feb), the annual festival at Contact Theatre celebrating LGBT History Month. Theatre/ cabaret notables include a new version of Nigerian singer Le Gateau Chocolat’s Black, a moving and confessional portrait of his life, this time accompanied by contemporary music ensemble Psappha. For Valentine’s Day, look no further than Smother; an electrifying dance/hip-hop performance in which seven dancers explore the relationship between two young men. For more recommendations and to find out what’s on, head to theskinny.co.uk/theatre

Public View

Pygmalion

Happy birthday to the Bluecoat! 300 years young, but you don’t look a day over 21 you ever-evolving cultural spring chicken. As part of the anniversary events programme, catch Public View, an exhibition showcasing work by 100 artists who have previously exhibited at the contemporary arts centre including John Akomfrah, Sonia Boyce, Jeremy Deller and Yoko Ono. Hyped. 4 Feb-23 Apr, The Bluecoat, Liverpool, 9am-7pm, free, thebluecoat.org.uk

Over 100 years since it was written, George Bernard Shaw’s groundbreaking social critique comes bounding into the present day in Sam Pritchard’s fearless new staging. Digitally given new lease of life through video and sound technology, the play surveys class identity and social mobility in Britain today – which we’re guessing might provide the jarring realisation that, even with a century behind us, things ain’t quite as evolved as they perhaps should be. 4-25 Feb, West Yorkshire Playhouse, Leeds, 7.45pm (matinees available), £13.50-£30, wyp.org.uk

Art by Email Carmen

Beyond Boundaries: Art by Email

Carmen

Political situations and immigration conditions mean it’s not always possible for artists around the world to travel to, work and exhibit in the UK. Offering a platform to those who cannot physically visit Yorkshire Sculpture Park, group exhibition Art by Email presents the work of 16 artists from the Middle East and North Africa who, using media including film, photography and performance, explore the realities and resilience of their countries. 7 Jan-5 Mar, Yorkshire Sculpture Park (Bothy Gallery), Wakefield, 10am-4pm, free, ysp.co.uk

Public View

January/February 2017

ART / THEATRE

Think opera’s all about huge stages, highfalutin narratives and highbrow delivery? Think again: Olivier Awardwinning company OperaUpClose bring the form down to earth with intense and intimate performances. Experience George Bizet’s story of passion, obsession and independence in a new English-language version with a modern setting, and fresh off the back of a sevenweek run at London’s acclaimed Soho Theatre. 25 Jan, Oldham Coliseum, 7.30pm, £22.50, coliseum.org.uk

Events Guide

Photo: Lewis Ronald

Last Chance to See...

Northern Stars Wondering which hot new acts to keep an eye on over the next 12 months? We asked some trusted bands and artists in Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester to tell us their Ones to Watch... The Blinders At the end of the year we crossed paths with a beautifully deranged band from Doncaster called The Blinders. John Robb of Louder than War was the first to mention them to us and we have since then become very close friends and associates. There’s nothing more admirable than youthful angst and fury; perfect beginnings. Not only that but there are three of them and five of us, and eight is a very balanced number of people to have a very good time – it would also fit both bands in a normal splitter van with a driver. The Blinders have a cataclysmic way of climbing in your guts on and off record: we are holy fans. [Chosen by Cabbage]

Kinder Meccano Performing with the new music ensemble ACM (Almost Credible Music) and as prolific solo artists in their own right, it’s the duo pairing of composers and performers Michael Cutting and Vitalija Glovackyte under their Kinder Meccano moniker that has us excited. Based in Manchester/Salford, theirs is a world of hidden machine music, amplified by homemade pick-ups, shining 16-bit threads of melody and zen-like process music, mingling performance and playfulness. Very much our sort of thing. Live the experience feels like a lab ritual involving obsolete technology and fizzing electronics. Commendably and completely its own thing and surprisingly easy on the ear – go see 'em. [Benjamin Duvall, Ex-Easter Island Head]

anz Anna-Marie Odubote aka anz is set to do big things in 2017 with promising productions already catching the ears of tastemakers such as Murlo, Amy Becker and Elijah of Butterz, and MCs such as Jammz who used the beat from her track Mission for Just Eat, from his Underdog Season Vol. 1 mixtape with Jack Dat earlier this year. She’s adept at constructing colourful, weighty cuts in a variety of different styles and tempos from 100-140bpm, as well as blending these with fine acumen in her dope DJ sets. Expect to see talented ‘yung-anz’ (as her SoundCloud avatar is smartly named) tearing up clubs in the UK and beyond, with vibes aplenty. [Balraj Samrai, Swing Ting Records]

Silent Cities Simon Maddison AKA Silent Cities is an incredible soundscape artist, originally from the Northeast but now residing in Liverpool. Toying with acoustic guitar sounds transformed using brooding and expansive effects (including delay, reverse and reverb), the cherry on top really is his voice, which soars above the rest in angelic fashion. Comparisons to an electro-folk Jeff Buckley can be forgiven when you hear his music live and on record, but that’s not all: his music also has this incredible world feel too. Listen and you’ll be hooked. [Natalie McCool]

Cowtown

Photo: Jack Kirwin

Luxury Death

Events Guide

Cavalier Song I know I’ve released a record for these guys on God Unknown Records, but Cavalier Song deserve to be known for their creative, artistic statement of intent. Part King Crimson, part Philip Glass, with a mixture of The Fall and Sonic Youth thrown in for good measure. They are sparse but heavy; loud but cinematic. Mark Greenwood’s dark tales are interweaved through the light and beauty of the music, creating a perfect juxtaposition. Their new LP is gearing up to be a mighty beast. [Jason Stoll, Mugstar/Sex Swing/God Unknown Records] Eleanor Nelly My tip is definitely Eleanor Nelly. There aren’t too many country/folk artists from Liverpool so it’s great to have someone like her representing for that genre – aside from being perfectly original, her songwriting shows maturity well ahead of her years. I had the opportunity to perform with her a while back with the Liverpool Philharmonic Youth Orchestra, at Liverpool International Music Festival, and she was excellent. A lot of great things coming her way soon; looking forward to the new music she’ll be bringing to the Liverpool scene. Wishing her good luck, knowing she won’t need it. [XamVolo] Howes Howes produced one of my favourite albums of the year (3.5 Degrees), and played a great improvised set when we shared a bill with him and Virginia Wing at Soup Kitchen back in September. Despite his main instrument being a modular synth, there’s lots of interesting Max for Live programming that powers things behind the scene on his laptop, and

that kind of hybrid analogue/digital set-up is something that interests me greatly (and does away with the retro/analogue fetishism going on at the moment). There’s a lovely warm, organic, pastoral feel to his improvisations, perhaps owing to them being recorded straight to cassette, as well as to his delicate touch on the old synth. [Matthew Benn, Hookworms/XAM Duo] Luxury Death My one to watch is Luxury Death, part of both the PNKSLM and Hardly Art families. Meg and Ben make cool indie-pop – Painkiller was the song that caught my ear; it wouldn’t be out of place next to The Pains of Being Pure At Heart on a Spotify playlist. Their somewhat dark, reflective lyrics, plus fuzzy dual male/female vocals and jingle-jangle guitar make the perfect piece of pop. They have a bunch of dates next year; I’ll certainly be getting a ticket. [Faith Holgate, PINS] XAM Duo XAM Duo is Matt Benn from Hookworms and Chris from another great Leeds band, Deadwall. It’s modular synth-based stuff with live programming and some sweet sax on it as well. We’re not exactly connoisseurs of the genre, but we caught them playing a show at Wharf Chambers in Leeds a couple of months ago and were totally blown away. It takes a lot to make us stand still and not mess around for half an hour but XAM Duo did just that. Really looking forward to catching them again in future! [Naomi Baguley, Bruising] Listen to tracks by our Ones to Watch at theskinny.co.uk/music

Dream Wife

A Very Bon and Duds Engagement

London trio Dream Wife are Alice Go, Bella Podpadec and Icelandic singer Rakel Mjöll, who met at art school in Brighton. Originally conceived as a performance art concept, the three are now onto a self-titled debut EP, from which you can expect dreamy vocals and razor-sharp riffs for poolside pop with a bite – something that becomes a thundering live show, as we witnessed back in November at Liverpool Music Week. You’re in for a treat. 21 Jan, Headrow House, Leeds, 8pm, £7, @diymagazine

Independent Venue Week returns in January for another bout of timely aceness (hey, what better way to shake off post-Christmas bleakness?), and Soup Kitchen pitch in with a strong showing. This all-star all-dayer is just one of the many highlights: psych-weirdos Irma Vep launch their latest LP No Handshake Blues, while Duds offer their perfectly rambunctious aural tantrums alongside a selection of bands they’ve chosen themselves: Rapid Tan, The Foetals, Girl Sweat and more. Lovely noisy stuff all round, then. 28 Jan, Soup Kitchen, Manchester, 4pm, £3, @SoupKitchen_Mcr

Cabbage

Cowtown and Peaness If you were at the debut Stay Fresh Fest back in September (round two on 28 Jan at The Deaf Institute, remember!), you’ll recall Leeds-based post-punk trio Cowtown and Chester indie-pop trio Peaness (snigger) as two of the undisputed standouts. The good news is they’re both heading back to Manchester for an evening of fine guitar pop. The even better news is that, 'cos we’re all more than just a bit skint after Christmas, it’s free. 20 Jan, Soup Kitchen, Manchester, 7pm, free, @SoupKitchen_Mcr

anz

Cabbage

Dream Wife

If the hooks and smarts of this Manchester quintet don’t getcha on first listen, their splendidly ludicrous song titles surely will: Uber Capitalist Death Trade and Necroflat in the Palace are just two slices of their pointed post-punk, which is suitably jittery and drenched in sneering melody. Reports from their live shows suggest a riot’s as likely to break out as a moshpit, and who’d honestly have thought you could say that about a band named after a leafy vegetable? 10 Feb, EBGBS, Liverpool, 7.30pm, £10, @ClubEVOL

Music

The Hipshakes

THE SKINNY

Alien Contact

Meet the extraterrestrial noisemakers behind Henge, the world’s foremost exponents of a mysterious musical genre known only as ‘cosmic dross’

ased in Manchester yet claiming to come from far-flung dimensions, Henge are a singularly exhilarating riot of colour and noise. Not that they’d favour terms such as ‘riot’; their message is one of peace, and the only way they know how to get there is to party. Which means a unique stage presence and a mash-up of genre sounds incorporating Devo-edged synth-pop, fleet-footed funk and a distinct smattering of psychedelia: fun, in other words. They play Stay Fresh Fest 2 at Manchester’s Deaf Institute in January, alongside fellow Northern movers and shakers The Orielles, Strobes, MUMS and more – get to know ‘em a little more below... The Skinny: When and how (and why!) did Henge begin? ‘Zpor’: Henge began many billions of years ago when I, Zpor – an ancient jester/inventor/explorer – fled my home planet of Agricular in Cosmos Redshift 7 as it was consumed by its dying sun. I duly visited Xylanthia in the Sirius Star System where I learned the highly spiritual form of music called ‘cosmic dross’. My teacher was a charismatic drummer called Nom. We became travelling companions and visited many planets in the Milky Way Galaxy including Venus (which at that time was experiencing apocalyptic climate change caused by the runaway greenhouse effect). While there we rescued a Venusian named Goo who was taken aboard our spaceship. He – the lone survivor of the Venusian apocalypse – is particularly responsive to bass frequencies. The final band member to join our group was a human. After making contact in the astral realm the human being invited me and my crew to Earth (a place I am familiar with but had not visited since ancient Egyptian times). Our intervention was needed! Humans had reached a critical time. The Earth’s resources are being squandered on making weapons of war. Time is running out for humankind...

Henge

intervening when necessary. It was me who sent the ice asteroids careering towards Earth, bringing water to the planet. I also sent the mushroom spores that flourished and have inspired humans to develop social consciousness, language and art. We have played cosmic dross in many locations around the galaxy. On planet Earth the message expressed in these lyrics is of ultimate importance: ‘WE DEMAND THAT THE WEAPONS OF WAR ARE MANUFACTURED NO MORE DEMILITARISE WE DEMAND THAT WE HAVE IN ITS PLACE THE MEANS TO UNITE AND COLONISE SPACE’

You’ve described your music as ‘cosmic dross’. If one of your tunes were sent into space to be played back from another planet (like Blur’s Beagle 2 adventure), what would you want the piece of music to convey? Please bear in mind that this may provide an alien race with the first signs of intelligent life emerging from Earth. We are already aware of intelligent life on Earth. We have been observing Earth since life began here,

Photo: Stuart Moulding

Jane Weaver

What does Manchester mean to you? Manchester is a vital location for us. It is where we have chosen to set up a base for the first two years of our mission. There are many people here who are ready to receive enlightenment. We have felt that the people of Lancashire have been particularly receptive to our message.

“ Henge began many billions of years ago...”

And finally: What do you like to do outside of Henge? Any projects we should know about? Our hobbies include: space travel, astral exploration, intergalactic raving and spreading peace.

Zpor

Which of the other acts at Stay Fresh Fest 2 are you most looking forward to watching? Heavy on the Magic.

hengemusic.com

Julia Jacklin

De La Soul

The gently bobbing warbles of singer-songwriter Julia Jacklin may sound like they’re being cooed from a ramshackle porch step in the States, but they’re actually part of a wave of new Americana heading westwards from Australasia, a tide that’s also bringing with it the likes of Nadia Reid, Fraser A. Gorman and Marlon Williams. Catch the supremely talented Aussie as she stops by with her none-too-shabby debut album, Don’t Let the Kids Win. 23 Feb, Soup Kitchen, Manchester, 7pm, £8.50, @JuliaJacklin

Long-revered for their positive-minded, jazz-influenced hip-hop, it seems we’ve never been more in need of De La Soul’s lyrical peace and lurve. They’re back at it this year trailing their ninth studio album, And the Anonymous Nobody, a Kickstarter-funded project that’s seen Pos, Dave and Maseo team up with the likes of David Byrne and Little Dragon, plus hip-hop heavyweights Pete Rock and Snoop. 28 Feb, O2 Academy, Leeds, 7pm, £23, @super_friendz_

The Fall

Mind on the Run: The Basil Kirchin Story

CLUB. THE. MAMMOTH. all-dayer

When Brian Eno describes someone as “a founding father of ambient”, it’s worth paying attention. Reclusive genius Basil Kirchin started out playing drums in his father’s big band in 1940, at the tender age of 13, but he went on to develop a fascinatingly textured form of musique concrète that still resonates thanks to its remarkably prescient scope. Jane Weaver and St Etienne’s Bob Stanley star in this three-day mini-festival celebrating Kirchin’s legacy, brought to you as part of Hull’s City of Culture festivities. 17-19 Feb, Hull City Hall, times and prices vary, @2017Hull

Post-punk heroes both old and new gather together for a phenomenal, action-packed all-dayer: Mark E. Smith gathers another bunch of musical miscreants for (approx) the 1,937th line-up of The Fall, while the Leeds pairing of Eagulls and Hookworms makes for a knockout combo. Still, with Kagoule, Tigercub, Cabbage, Goat Girl, Strange Collective, Ohmns and Skinny faves Pink Kink also on the bill, you really can’t go wrong here. We predict a boozily brilliant day on all counts. 21 Jan, Arts Club, Liverpool, 4.30pm, £30, @clubthemammoth

March 2016 January/February 2017

Henge play Stay Fresh Fest 2 at The Deaf Institute, Manchester, 28 Jan, on a bill of vital new music: Strobes, Lake of Snakes, Patty Hearst, The Orielles, Luxury Death, Heavy on the Magic, Seize the Chair, and MUMS. Starts 4pm, tickets £8 from seetickets.com

Julia Jacklin

Music

Photo: Euan Robertson

Tell us something people would be surprised to learn about you. I have found a way to live forever.

What does the rest of the year have in store for you? We are currently recording and will be releasing something in the springtime. We have a tour to accompany that which takes us around the UK and Europe. We also put on big parties in Manchester called Space Cassette. The night is like a rave but with live bands and we have acts from all over the world coming to play. There is one on 10 Feb with Age of Glass, Galaxians and Ruby My Dear. We also do Space Cassette festival takeovers and Henge will be performing at those along with many, many other festival appearances.

There are a great many smaller towns near to Manchester – Clitheroe, Todmorden, Darwen – where vast swathes of people have united and are demanding demilitarisation. Manchester is one of many locations that we have selected to carry out our work. Glasgow, Bristol, Sheffield, Leeds and Liverpool are also important cities for us in the UK. We also take our work into Europe and have felt especially welcome in Belgium and Germany.

De La Soul

Events Guide

Eastern Bloc’s Ones to Watch Eastern Bloc Records name some of their tips for the year ahead, from hardware duo Space Afrika to ascendant star Willow, and Manchester-via-Berlin’s Setaoc Mass

f you’re interested in the mind-expanding side of electronic music, chances are you’re a regular at Eastern Bloc, Manchester’s specialists in techno, drum and bass, house and more on vinyl since 1985. Based in Stevenson Square, they throw their doors open late every Friday and Saturday to host free in-stores from invited selectors, cementing the shop’s reputation as a meeting place for the open minded. We asked them to pick some of the most interesting emerging DJs and producers locally, who you should keep an eye on in 2017.

Space Afrika What Eastern Bloc say: “DJs and live performers on a dub techno tip, deep and meaningful techno excursions well executed on full hardware set-up.” What we say: The two Joshuas – Joshua Reid and Joshua Inyang – have been bringing dark dancefloors to their knees around Manchester with sensual and sinister hypnoses, turned out of an impressive live artillery. Theirs is a smoggy, haunted sound that aligns perfectly with a walk through the city in the post-club gloaming. Listen to: The Sudden Walk from the Primrose Avenue EP [Where To Now?] soundcloud.com/space-afrika Annabel Fraser “Eclectic taste, excellent DJ.” Annabel Fraser’s no-rules motto – she’s a ‘lover of music not genres’ – has allowed her to become one of the most trusted DJs in Manchester, always opening your ears to something new. Catch her playing regular Eastern Bloc in-stores, on various excellent bills at Hidden club (including supporting DJ Sprinkles on 21 Jan), and monthly on NTS Radio Manchester. Listen to: Her NTS archive at nts.live/shows/annabel-fraser Raw Data “Raw analogue sounds; live set very coherent and fluid.” Fast and furious techno from two Signal club

Guest Selector: Setaoc Mass

residents on an all-hardware live set-up – take a deep breath before diving in. Listen to: RD1. facebook.com/raw-data-live

The SK Eleven label boss delves into his record bag to share childhood favourites, obscure gems, and all time favourite techno hits

Willow “Killing it at the moment with a debut EP on Workshop in 2016. She’s got her own sound nailed production wise; excellent DJ.” Employing the stopped vocals and cut-up vowels you find in many house productions but with a decidedly tricksier, twisting approach. Willow’s slippery sound is well-suited to the tripped electronics of the Workshop label (Evan Tuell, Kassem Mosse, Lowtec). Catch her with Dusky at Sheffield Hope Works on 3 Feb. Listen to: B1, from the Workshop 23 EP [Workshop] soundcloud.com/willowmcr

Interview: Claire Francis

anchester-born Sam Coates, aka Setaoc Mass credits his hometown for his introduction to techno music. Now based in Berlin, the young DJ and producer is making a name for himself with his own muscular, otherworldly brand of techno, as well as heading up his own SK_eleven imprint (SK11 being the postcode of Coates’ family home just beyond the outskirts of Manchester). Coates' most recent EP, the four-track collection Cycles, was released in December; we spoke with him about some of the stand-out records in his collection.

Setaoc Mass “Berlin-based Manchester local with a string of solid releases and highly credible own imprint SK Eleven. Excellent DJ.” Check out our chat with Sam on this page to learn more. Listen to: Structured Deceit, from the Cycles EP [SK Eleven] soundcloud.com/setaoc_mass

What’s your favourite song or track from your childhood? Think it has to be The Beatles’ Octopus’s Garden. I remember the cassette never left my player for a very long time. I was only young, maybe eight or nine years old.

Drazen “Techno-leaning geek, skilled selector!” Very much emerging – there’s little recorded output online so you’ll have to seek out Drazen in a club for the experience. Recent supports include Headless Horseman so you can be sure of an intense ride.

Which track always inspires you? Probably something non-techno related like Ludovico Einaudi. All his music is really inspiring, emotional and hypnotic to me.

Works Unit; Cleric / Reflec “Individually talented and skilled, together a great combination.” Works Unit is the project of producers Cleric and Reflec, combining a heartstopping BPM with elevating spectral flourishes that take you up, up, up. Released in September, the first EP is the debut in what’s planned as a series of four, all with evolving, ghostly artwork designed by Cleric. Listen to: Foundation One from Foundation EP [Works Unit] soundcloud.com/worksunit

The best tune to open a set with? To be honest, I usually start most of my sets with some ambient or bleeps. Talismann’s track Russia has been used many times to open a set. What record do you like to listen to at home? Probably Aphex Twin’s album ...I Care Because You Do. I’m always coming back to this album and listening to it over and over, never getting bored.

easternblocrecords.com

Events Guide

What was one of your favourite tracks to come out in 2016? AWB – Ecliptic [Antigone x Shlømo remix]. This track is just pure techno, and shows how good this year was for techno. Tell us the last track you had to look up with Shazam? I just had a look through my Shazam history and found Susumu Yokota’s Azukiiro no Kaori. There’s so much good music by this artist. What kind of music might we be surprised to find you listening to? Hmm... couldn’t really answer that, although I do generally like to listen to a lot of classical music. I don’t know much about the genre, I just love the sinister sound. Finally, what is your all-time favourite techno track? James Ruskin – Work [Steve Rachmad remix]. I just recently started playing this again in most of my sets; two absolute pioneers of techno and two of my heroes. This track really brings them together. The original is just as great as the Rachmad remix.

Below the Surface with Gilles Peterson

No one does heavy like Project 13, who team up tonight with Annex Agency to present Hamburg’s mistress of experimental EBM/leftfield electronics, Helena Hauff. She’s joined by Minimal Wave Records figurehead Veronica Vasicka, NTS Radio regular and dredger of electronic sludge Lee Gamble playing back to back with L.I.E.S. label founder Ron Morelli, and Poland’s club Radar originator Olivia. Punishing in the best possible way. 20 Jan, Hidden, Manchester, 10pm, £15, @Project13MCR

Positive vibes will be the order of the day at this get-together of big-sky thinking selectors, led by BBC Radio 6 Music’s Gilles Peterson. Manc tropical house favourite Ruf Dug shares in Peterson’s globe-trotting musical DNA, while Lone is one of the UK’s most cerebrally searching young producers. They’re accompanied by a full Manchester complement of Adesse Versions, Jack M, De La Crème and Cult DJs in Below the Surface’s first party of 2017. 10 Feb, Hidden, Manchester, 10pm, £15, facebook.com/BELOWTHESURFACEMCR

Acetate #22: Craig Richards & Pearson Sound

Helena Hauff

Photo: Katja Ruge

Zutekh 8th birthday

What track do you wish you’d produced/written? Can I quote Aphex Twin again?! Vordhosbn is one track I definitely wish I’d produced, it’s got so many different elements which would all sound amazing on their own, and when they’re combined, it’s like living in another world.

Project 13 & Annex: Helena Hauff

Midland

Zutekh still feels like one of the freshest nights on the scene, so it’s hard to believe they’re nudging a decade old. But eight they are, and they’re celebrating in style by bringing in one of their long-loved regulars, Midland, ably supported by Amsterdam’s Trouw club regular Job Jobse and word-of-mouth Hotflush Recordings talent Or:la. Finally, making his Zutekh debut is Mr Price of London/ Bristol/Cardiff’s Studio 89 party series. Hip hip! 25 Feb, Mantra Warehouse, Manchester, 9pm, £15, @zutekh

Tell us about an obscure gem in your collection? Carl A. Finlow’s Anomaly, probably... not that obscure, but it is definitely a gem.

Entering their seventh year, Acetate have brought some of the biggest names in contemporary techno and electronica to Leeds: Floating Points, Oneman, Blawan... Not least among them is Pearson Sound; almost a club regular, but always a pleasure to revisit. He’s flanked tonight by Craig Richards, long-term Fabric artist-in-residence. If you’ve been following the London club’s licensing problems with concern over the past year, why not show some support up the M1? 3 Feb, Wire, Leeds, 11pm, £8, facebook.com/acetateclubnight

CLUBS

Ruf Dug

THE SKINNY

January/February 2017

Spotlight: Hannah Platt As droll as Daria: find Merseyside-via-Manchester’s finest misanthrope at a venue near you Interview: John Stansfield

annah Platt lists Daria from the titular 90s MTV show as one of her inspirations, giving you some indication of the kind of misanthropic comedy that spouts forth from this diminutive Merseysider whenever she even slightly opens her mouth. (She also mentions former Spotlighter Kiri Pritchard-McLean, fully justifying our picks.) What you might not be expecting is just how dark a lens Platt sees the world through. With a monotone drone she perfectly captures a disaffected youth and a world-weariness that is far beyond her 24 years. In just over a year of performing Platt has established herself as a fresh and unsurprisingly bleak voice of a new generation that is at odds with the world they will inherit. A dark comedic mind is nothing new, but Platt’s inventive turn of phrase and unwillingness to halt when audiences start to get a little squeamish mark her out as one to keep an eye on. Influences: “Fern Brady, Michael J Dolan, Aparna Nancherla, Daria, Sharon Horgan, Kiri Pritchard-McLean, Aubrey Plaza, Trixie Mattel, Broad City, Lou Sanders, my bad decisions.” First gig: “Another Comedy Night in Liverpool. I was really depressed and thought well, if they hate me, then we have that in common. I tend to think that before all gigs. And dates.” Best gig: “Group Therapy in Manchester. I did it in the summer with Josie Long, David Trent and Daniel Simonsen. I’ve been to that gig so many times as a punter, and being well received by a room full of people who wanted to watch alternative comedy over anything else on a Saturday night was just ace.”

Events Guide

COMEDY

Worst gig: “Any gig where comedy has unexpectedly happened around the three people having a quiet drink at the pub/restaurant/wake.” If you could be haunted by anyone, who would it be and why? “My downstairs neighbours. They’d have to be dead first but I wouldn’t mind that.” What would you be doing if you weren’t doing stand-up? “I used to do burlesque, so I’d probably still be failing at that. And I’d probably have a blog no one read.” Aspirations: “To be a male comedian. But I’d settle for being able to gig as much as possible.” If you lived in medieval times what would you do for a living? “I go into a fit of rage when I can’t find the new episode of Toddlers and Tiaras on a free streaming site. I wouldn’t survive in medieval times.” What’s the largest animal you think you could beat in a fight? (No weapons.) “I’m five foot one. I weigh just over six stone. I’m a goner in any physical fight. I have been told I can be needlessly vicious in arguments though. So maybe those talking parrots.” Question from past Spotlighter Adam Rowe: Why do you even bother? “Because there’s a six-week waiting list for counselling in Manchester. That and to spread joy.” Hannah Platt is at The Badger, Chesterfield, 14 Jan. Find her on Twitter: @hannahtheplatt

THE SKINNY

Seven great alternative musicals Ahead of the UK release of La La Land, Damien Chazelle’s effervescent musical extravaganza paying homage to classic song and dance films, we suggest seven offbeat musicals that challenge the form and push at the edges of this beloved genre Words: Jamie Dunn Phantom of the Paradise [1974] Dir. Brian De Palma Brian De Palma blends The Phantom of the Opera, Faust and The Picture of Dorian Gray to form this barmy rock’n’roll opera of insanity. William Finley is winning as our tragic hero, a maimed musician tricked into pouring his soul into a cantata based on the story of Faust for sleazy svengali Swan, brilliantly played by Paul Williams. Williams, who wrote the tunes for other ace musicals The Muppet Movie and Bugsy Malone, is also on composer duty, and he comes up with a wide array of songs poking fun at the music industry. Of all the deranged musical acts who show up on Swan’s stage, the most inspired is Gerrit Graham as Beef, a camp glam rock star who deserves his own movie. Nashville [1975] Dir. Robert Altman Country’n’western music and shady political manoeuverings collide in Robert Altman’s thrilling state of the nation address that’s lightly disguised as an epic comedy musical. This loose-limbed jigsaw movie features two dozen principle characters – singing divas, wannabes, groupies, journalists – who come together during a concert in the Tennessee state capital while a political campaign plays out in the background, and each player (even those actors who can’t sing) has a song in their heart. All that Jazz [1979] Dir. Bob Fosse Bob Fosse’s autobiographical fever dream of a movie riffs on Fellini’s 8 ½ to tell the story of a manic musical director who’s perhaps pushing his body too hard when he starts having visions of Death. As you’d expect with a Fosse picture, the choreography is dazzling, but just as frenetic and expressionistic is his editing, which is often audaciously satirical and darkly hilarious. At one point the musical director (Roy Scheider)’s heart bypass operation is spliced with a meeting with his scurrilous producers, who are planning mutiny.

One from the Heart [1982] Dir. Francis Ford Coppola After the brutality of Apocalypse Now, Francis Ford Coppola channeled his romantic side with this gritty and sexy study of love that’s one of the great visual ecstasies of the 80s – and one of cinema’s great financial follies. Using head-spinning and fourth-wall-smashing theatrical techniques, Coppola tells the story of a bored couple falling out of love and into the arms of others, and then back in love again with their original partner. The story is humdrum but the style is out of this world. Coppola’s camera spins and twirls, the elaborate Las Vegas set looks more expensive than the real thing and on the soundtrack we have the smoky duet of Tom Waits and Crystal Gayle acting as cigarette-stained and whisky-soaked choruses: ‘Looks like you spent the night in a trench, and tell me / How long you been combing your hair with a wrench?’ Like the other post-New Hollywood follies of Heaven’s Gate and Ishtar, the film’s spiralling cost and disastrous box office crippled its director’s career. And like those films, it’s now clear that One from the Heart is a masterpiece. Streets of Fire [1984] Dir. Walter Hill Action maestro Walter Hill creates a glorious dollop of pulp fiction here by splicing America’s two most garish periods of popular culture – the 50s and the 80s – to create a neon-drenched universe that suggests a Wild West version of American Graffiti shot using the film grammar of MTV. Every linereading is heightened, every edit is breakneck, every music cue is dialled up to 11. Both Bonnie Tyler and Meatloaf must cry themselves to sleep each night wishing Jim Steinman had written Nowhere Fast, Streets of Fire’s rollocking opening number, for them instead. Little Shop of Horrors [1986] Dir. Frank Oz Frank Oz’s take on the Broadway musical based on Roger Corman’s scuzzy original is a delight. A never-better Rick Moranis stars as a mild-mannered

All That Jazz

Little Shop of Horrors

flower shop attendant who becomes a slave to a carnivorous plant that demands to be fed – and it’s not Miracle-Gro it’s after, but a steady supply of human flesh. The singing is nothing to write home about but the songs are great. Best of all is a hilarious Steve Martin as a sadistic dentist hooked on his own supply of laughing gas. Scott Pilgrim vs. the World [2010] Dir. Edgar Wright It’s a slacker comedy, it’s a hipster romance, it’s a gamer punch-em-up, it’s a wild comic book movie and, yes, Scott Pilgrim is also a musical. Our titular hero (Michael Cera) is the bass player for Sex Bob-Omb, whose songs, including their opening

The Enemies Project: North West Poetry Tour

Sheila Rowbotham

Sheila Rowbotham: Verso and Queen of the Track Liverpool feminist collective Queen of the Track join forces with radical publishing house Verso to host respected and influential historian Sheila Rowbotham. She’ll be talking about her new book, Rebel Crossings: New Women, Free Lovers and Radicals in Britain and the United States, which follows the stories of six key figures at the turn of the 20th century, all of whom were part of a wider search for self-fulfilment and an alternative to capitalism. 25 Jan, The Bluecoat, Liverpool, 7pm, £4 (£3), thebluecoat.org.uk

March 2016 January/February 2017

standard We Are Sex Bob-Omb, come courtesy of Beck; Broken Social Scene, Cornelius, Dan the Automator and Kid Koala provide tunes for some of the film’s other fictional bands. When Scott’s not playing bass in Sex Bob-Omb, he’s trying to win the affection of a rollerblading delivery girl with a colourful past, which includes seven evil exes whom Scott has to vanquish. These battles themselves feel like MGM dance numbers... but with more punching. One from the Heart screens 22, 24 and 25 Jan at HOME, Manchester At the 24 Jan screening, The Skinny will introduce the film – please come and join us for this wonderful but overlooked movie, and a drink in the bar after the screening

Groundhog Day double bill What’s better than a RAD screening of Harold Ramis’ existential comedy Groundhog Day with nachos and burgers at Gorilla? Why, how about a RAD screening of Harold Ramis’ existential comedy Groundhog Day with nachos and burgers at Gorilla followed by a RAD screening of Harold Ramis’ existential comedy Groundhog Day with nachos and burgers at Gorilla. DO YOU FEEL ILL YET? 2 Feb, Gorilla, Manchester, 7pm, £6, @RADscreenings

The term ‘poetry slam’ hardly does this justice. A whopping 80 poets will collaborate to produce new work this winter, with the resulting pieces performed across six events at different Northwest venues; around 16 artists local to each area will participate each night alongside a core group of poets. Highlighting the resurgence of literary and avant-garde poetry in the region, the tour is curated by poet and critic Tom Jenks and takes in Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield, Leeds, York and Ormskirk. 13 Jan-11 Feb, various venues and times, free, theenemiesproject. com/northwest

Set Fire to the Stars

SJ Fowler

Super Furries lad Gruff Rhys is touring his soundtrack to Andy Goddard’s 2014 directorial debut, Set Fire to the Stars, a semi-biographical film starring Elijah Wood about an aspiring poet who sets out to save acclaimed Welsh writer Dylan Thomas. Following a screening of the film, Rhys will perform the music live alongside Y Niwl, while director and 90s rave bod Dylan Goch re-imagines and remixes the monochrome film as they play. 27 Jan, The Dancehouse Theatre, Manchester, 8pm, £15, @nowwave

FILM / BOOKS

Groundhog Day

Events Guide

Feature

THE SKINNY

LI FE ST Y LE

The Skinny Food & Drink Survey 2017 As we report back on the findings from our 2017 Food and Drink Survey, our in-house foodie considers some of the themes, trends and surprises among your votes

Stories

Photo: Helena Fletcher

he results are in, and in mulling them over we’ve been busy picking out our favourite dishes at your favourite cafes, asking some of the winning breweries to pair their finest tipples with food, discovering the preferred Leeds hotspots of a certain excellent bottle shop and even gathering pizzamaking tips from one of your favourite restaurants. That’s all to come over the next few pages: but first, some broader observations. With some surprising winners in the Best Pub category, it’s apparently open to debate what actually constitutes a pub these days – and, more importantly, what makes a good one. Does it need sticky, psychedelic carpets and a telly screening live sports on a loop, or can it have American-style

ribs and cocktails? Or might it just be all about the nuts? Meanwhile, it seems vegetarian and vegan food is finally having its moment, thanks to multiple votes for animal-friendly veggie/vegan gaffs at both ends of the spectrum – from a street food vendor all the way through to a fine-dining restaurant. And while there are plenty of old favourites still receiving the love, there are some seriously strong newcomers among this year’s results, too – not least a slick, polished cafe that’s made us rethink our interminable love for Scandi culture. Turns out it’s not all about hygge, thank fuck. [Jess Hardiman]

Clean Living Our Food and Drink Survey results show two notable trends: the rise of vegan-only eateries, and an enduring love for a Scandi aesthetic. We look at two places leading the way: Stockport’s vegan restaurant The Allotment, and minimal Leeds cafe Stories

The rise of animal-friendly fine dining With the number of vegans in Britain rising by a whopping 360% in the last decade, the plant-based diet – once a lifestyle associated somewhat demonisingly with preachy, kale-snaffling, hemp-clad hippies – is now being given a lot more credit. And the fact that a vegan restaurant in Stockport has won many of your votes for Best Newcomer is proof of precisely that. The Allotment is a new vegan (and glutenfree) restaurant in the heart of Stockport’s Old Town, where head chef and owner Matthew Nutter hopes to revolutionise the concept of vegan fine dining, conjuring up smart, flavourful combinations that reveal how vegan cuisine can be refined into something sleek, rich and genuinely special. The £55 taster menu changes regularly, and currently features courses including shiitake parfait (buttery shiitake and chestnut parfait, served with a sweet port and shallot reduction, beetroot and balsamic marmalade and raw seeded crackers), southern spiced cauliflower (cayenne-spiced cauliflower with parsnip puree, braised celery, smoked macadamia cheese and slow-cooked artichoke) and chocolate orange brownie (orange brownie with vanilla and almond crème anglaise). Not forgetting, to conclude, a cheeseboard of cultured nut cheeses served with grapes, seasonal chutney and raw crackers. Opening up a realm that’s worlds apart from

January/February 2017

your humble beanburger or bowl of houmous, The Allotment single-handedly illustrates how, here in the North, vegan food is no longer on the periphery of our culture, but is starting to lead the way – and in this new restaurant, it gets the elegant environment it’s deserved for decades. Other vegan spots we love: In Liverpool, The Art School serves up a vegan tasting menu (£89) which features braised black-eyed peas, girolles, charred baby leeks and confit cherry tomatoes; Asian marinated pan-fried tofu with spaghetti vegetables, baby spinach and soy juices; and late-harvest poached pear with mandarin orange puree, winter berries and praline popcorn. At the other end of the spectrum, the folk at fabled junk food gaff V Revolution in Manchester are also working hard to prove that the vegan lifestyle doesn’t have to be all about sprout tops and spiralised courgette. Having recently expanded to a larger unit on Edge Street, V Rev are continuing to smash the stereotypes into smithereens. A Design for Life: Leeds’ Scandi-inspired Stories Our love for Scandinavian culture is by no means a recent revelation, with a regular trip to IKEA now an ingrained part of our consumer routine, along with evenings sat on the sofa immersed in Nordic noir ‘pon the tellybox. Then there’s all those slices of rye bread and knäckebröd for that endless

Stories

barrage of avocados we now get through. Hell, why not even go right back to the days of ABBA? Indeed, our obsession with Scandi culture is nothing new – and yet somehow it continues to find new forms. Take hygge, the Danish concept of comfort, cosiness and general wellbeing that’s become one of our biggest lifestyle imports of recent months. Or, in cynical terms, the only way to market absolutely anything this winter, be it an event or a pair of sodding socks. But while some of us are beginning to feel coddled to death by the cable-knit clench of hygge, respite can be found among the slick, clean lines of places like Stories in North Leeds, an independent cafe run by Emily Crocker that opened in Oakwood last summer and one of your other winners in the Best Newcomer category. Inspired by the sights and tastes of Scandinavia, Stories embraces the white walls, natural pine furniture and uncluttered simplicity found outside of the hygge bubble, following the polished Scandi design blueprint that’s been on the rise

FOOD AND DRINK

within coffee culture for some years, but teeming it with substance and heart in its commitment to quality and provenance. The Nordic menu, for instance, champions all things local, with loaves from Leeds Bread Co-op, charcuterie from Woodalls in the Lake District, cakes from nearby Noisette Bakehouse and more. Smörgås are the main draw, using the open sandwich format to show off the quality ingredients like burrata with homemade pesto, sliced tomato, crushed pine nuts and rocket or Yorkshire smoked salmon with fresh, homemade pickled cucumber and dill. Team this with great coffee – ethicallysourced speciality coffee from Origin and seasonal hand-brewed filter options from local roasters North Star – or a cold-pressed juice, and you’ve got yourself one blissful package. If hygge’s supposedly all about wellbeing, Stories proves you don’t need a cashmere jumper and a roaring log fire to feel good about the moment you’re in. For the full results, turn to page 31

Feature

Photo: Helena Fletcher

Words: Jess Hardiman

Mix and Match Nothing goes together like a bevvy and food. Well actually, loads of things do: pink and red, cheese and jam, wine in the bath. Nevertheless: we asked three of your Best Breweries what they’d recommend serving with their beers...

Runaway Brewery “We love our food here at the brewery – almost as much as our beer! So much so, we often have certain dishes/cuisines in mind when we design our beer. Having hosted the GRUB food fair between March and October, we’ve had plenty of opportunities to put the beer/food pairing theory into practice. So here’s a couple of our favourite combos from this summer...” Runaway Pale Ale with wood-fired margherita pizza “Our Pale Ale is crisp and refreshing, with juicy citrus hop flavours and aromas. The malty backbone of the beer matches well with the wood-fired, bready base and the rich, sweet tomato sauce. The clean crispness of the beer provides a great foil to all that melted cheese, and also helps to cleanse the palate. It’s also great with spicy, aromatic dishes.” Smoked Porter with roast pork bao “Our Smoked Porter is brewed with a mix of roasted and beech-smoked malts. It’s a rich, dark, roasty beer, with a hint of sweet beech smoke and a hint of vanilla. It matches beautifully with BBQ burgers or steak, but really works well with rich, slow-cooked meats such as beef brisket, chilli con carne or spicy, sticky roast pork. We tried it a number of times with char siu bao (steamed buns) at the food fair this summer – delicious!”

Northern Monk Brew Co “We’ll suggest two pairings, one for our easy-drinking flagship session favourite (Eternal), the other for one of our huge over-the-top special beers (Black Forest Strannik).” Eternal Session IPA with tempura “The Eternal Session IPA is Northern Monk Brew Co’s flagship beer that has won a World Beer Cup medal. We recommend pairing it with tempura. The sharpness from the hops’ bitterness works well for cutting through the batter’s richness. However, the flavours of the typical seafood and vegetables used for this dish are delicate enough not to overpower this light-bodied 4.1% ABV ale. Every aspect of the dish is also perfectly complemented by citrus notes in the hops.” Black Forest Strannik Russian Imperial Stout with blue Stilton “Part of Northern Monk Brew Co’s Twist range, the Black Forest Strannik Russian Imperial Stout takes inspiration from Germany’s classic Black Forest gateau. This version of our seasonal imperial stout Strannik is brewed with dark chocolate, morello cherries and milk sugar. “To match the intensity of the beer’s full body and 10% ABV, we recommend pairing this beer with blue Stilton. The cheese’s bold flavour and salinity stand up nicely to the roasted malt base. At the same time, the sweetness and fruitiness

from the cacao and cherries balance out the flavours and elevate the complexity of this pairing to a whole other level.”

base of the beer marry together with the richness of the duck to make this an altogether robust and lavish snack.”

Marble Brewery “As our tap house The Marble Arch has an amazing food menu (even if we say so ourselves), we’ve paired up a couple of our beers with that – the first of which was taste-tested by a pub-full on the launch of the Black Sunshine a few weeks ago!”

Lagonda IPA with burger, fresh salad, relish, cheese, mustard and chips “Make sure the mustard is nice and strong and the Lagonda will have a calming effect on the spice, allowing the sweeter flavours to come through without overpowering the condiment. The resinous lemon/lime zest hops will cleanse the palate between bites, cutting through the fattiness of the patty. This should prevent the meal from becoming too heavy. Avoid blue cheese; choose something like a mild Swiss.”

Black Sunshine BIPA with duck terrine, apple compote and sour dough bread “The bright gooseberry-led hop notes marry well with the jammy apple compote while bouncing off the salty meat. The speciality dark malts in the

For the full results, turn to page 31

Public Opinion What actually is a pub? It’s the question on hardly anyone’s lips, but we’re going to answer it anyway, since your votes in the Best Pub category yielded some controversial results Words: Avina B. Aire

Belgrave Music Hall

h, the pub. A home from home, with past-it but comfy furniture and warm, amber lighting. A place for reflection: to play snooker on tatty old tables, read the newspaper, or just gaze into your pint. A place of tension, too, with sports results argued over and all the community’s dirty laundry aired. Ideally, there’s a dog; an elderly, wire-haired dog. Even more ideally, it’s curled up in front of a fire (a real, roaring fire).

Lifestyle

When you think of a pub, this is probably something close to the image in your mind. But how many of our preferred drinking establishments now resemble this picture? Not many, we’d imagine. As it has become harder and harder over the last few years to run a successful pub – around 21 close per week – proprietors are having to rethink the idea of the ‘traditional’ public house. Getting patrons through doors is increasingly

tough against competition that includes falling supermarket alcohol prices (making it cheaper for people to drink at home), the emergence of craftbeer bars which offer something trendier than your average boozer, and, of course, rising rents. Perhaps this romantic image of the humble and homely community hub has become exactly that – a product of rose-tinted nostalgia, now to be found only on TV and film. Belgrave Music Hall in Leeds and Cane & Grain in Manchester hardly conform to the pub blueprint. A multi-storey, mansion-sized music venue on one hand, and a heavily themed, Americanstyle ribs shack on the other. Their inclusions in your votes for Best Pub raised some skeptical eyebrows in The Skinny office, we’ll admit. But we’re nothing if not open-minded, and we’ll concede that, when you think about it, the essence of what you want from a pub is there. Hearty food, good beer, some entertainment and, certainly in the case of Belgrave, a sense that it’s a place to gather at the end of a long day – somewhere where simple wants are satisfied. And while Cane & Grain’s downstairs bar gets raucous on a busy Northern Quarter night, the

FOOD AND DRINK

‘secret’ upstairs room harks back to a similar idea, albeit from a different culture: the speakeasy. With low lighting, dark corners and soft, deep booths to sink into, if you catch it at the right time of week it can be a rare spot of solitude amid the city hubbub. Maybe these days it’s less about the look, and more about the feel? Perhaps the best example of a modern pub, though, is The Smithfield Tavern, which deservedly rides high in your votes. Honouring the building’s past as a true ‘old man’ pub, Blackjack Brewery – when they took it over in 2015 – have done a tasteful job of introducing everything a craft beer connoisseur now expects while staying true to the Smithfield’s smelly old spirit. They offer a decent but not overwhelming choice of brews with a pleasing lack of arrogance, unlike certain showy-offy menus out there; there’s a solid nuts selection (what’s the matter with these pubs that ‘don’t do’ nuts?! Another way in which the world has gone to shit); they’ve kept a dart board on the go and – thank fuck – there’s no telly. To us, it’s the perfect balance of fresh thinking with a respect for what went before. We’ll drink to that. For the full results, turn to page 31

THE SKINNY

January/February 2017

Feature

THE SKINNY

The Italian Job We weren’t surprised to see Ancoats gem Rudy’s Pizza among your votes for Best Restaurant. Now, you can attempt to make the magic happen at home with some pizza-making tips from Rudy’s own Jim Morgan Interview: Tom Ingham

B.eat Street

he closest many get to homemade pizza is peeling the cellophane from a supermarket margherita, which can be a depressing experience for the mind as well as the taste buds. And while wood-fired pizza ovens are becoming more readily available, this alone won’t necessarily guarantee anything better than your shop-bought ‘authentic taste of Italy’. But don’t give up, because, being the daddy of the dough that he is, Jim Morgan of Rudy’s Pizza has a few tips for getting a satisfying slice at home. “You can make good pizza at home; it won’t be authentic Neapolitan pizza, but it can still be really good.” Jim’s first thoughts are encouraging. So I guess you’ve done this before then, in an ordinary kitchen? “I made it weekly at uni for my housemates just in a frying pan – like a pizza fritter I guess. I used to shallow fry it in oil and then grill it.” That sounds easy, almost too easy. “There’s two methods really,” says Jim. “I used to make a Neapolitan dough (adding some oil to help it cook) and then lay that out in a big, flat frying pan that’s been pre-heated with oil. As the bottom is cooking you quickly add the toppings and then finally you grill it; it should only really take two to three minutes to cook.” And what were you saying about shallow frying it? “The other way is to deep fat fry the base in an inch of oil; that gives you a really nice, light base. Once you’ve done that you put some tomato on and put it under the grill, adding uncooked mozzarella

to the top. It’s a really simple method that’s very popular in Naples.” But those Rudy’s tomatoes, they’re special – surely it won’t be the same without them? “We have a small deli section with plenty of San Marzano tomatoes to take home,” Jim says. “People think we do something really special to them, but we don’t, we just use the best ingredients.” We can’t guarantee that your kitchen-bound effort will turn out anything like a real Rudy’s pizza, but given the relatively low cost of the ingredients, we can definitely tell you that it’ll be a lot more fun and cost-effective than reaching for those takeaway leaflets. And if Italian ain’t your style then you’ll find plenty of variety among the other Best Restaurant winners, from the sharp zesty spices of Liverpool’s Mowgli and the hearty, Middle Eastern/Parisianinspired small plates of its Bold Street neighbour Maray, through to the vegan fine-dining phenomenon that is Stockport’s buzzy Allotment (which also scooped the title of Best Newcomer). Flavours closer to home come from the Americanstyle slap-ups of Nolita Cantina and Leeds’ classicsfocused Ox Club, whose Scandi feel and solid menu had us singing its praises on its opening just over a year ago. If you’re lucky, maybe we’ll ask them for some tricks of the trade, too – keep an eye on theskinny.co.uk/food for tips, observations and all the latest news on the best restaurant openings across Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester. For the full results, turn to page 31

On the Wagon Poutine pop-up Blue Caribou Canteen features prominently among your votes for Best On-The-Go, suggesting that the street food revolution is far from over. We take a look at some current trends, available from a cart or shed near you... Words: Jess Hardiman Poutine There’s been a recent (welcome) influx of Canada’s national dish, where fries come loaded with cheese curds and gravy for the very ultimate in comfort food. Among your Food and Drink Survey winners for Best On-The-Go, Manchester’s Blue Caribou Canteen either go classic with skin-on fries, cheese curds and veal or mushroom gravy, or let you pimp your poutine with pastrami and pickles or spiced pork, pickled red cabbage and smashed pastry. Forget the cheesy chips of your drunken haze: this is the real deal. Small plates Complaining of too much choice in the street food game may seem like one of the most pathetic first world problems, but we can sympathise. Thankfully, the ever popular ‘small plates’ mentality of many restaurants is now being increasingly applied to the street food template, with tapas-style grazing so you can try a bit of everything. Bundobust in Leeds (and newly Manchester) reign supreme in Indian snacks, indeed they’re one of your other favourites in Best On-The-Go (okra fries, anyone?), while The Otto-Men in Manchester are also doing sterling work with their mezze plates. Cubanos A far cry from the humble British sarnie, cubanos are Cuba’s answer to the toastie, pressing mojo pork shoulder, pickles, mustard and cheese into a gooey sandwich. They’ve been made famous by Jon Favreau flick Chef, but a little closer to home we’ve got our very own advocates of the South American street food staple thanks to Liverpool’s FINCA, who’ve recently taken up residency at The Merchant.

Mowgli

January/February 2017

Sourdough pizza It’s the wood-fired sourdough base that’s doing the rounds these days, favoured not only for its springy texture and charred leoparding, but also

FOOD AND DRINK

its digestible nature. Yup, thanks to its slower fermentation process, sourdough’s reportedly a good shout for those sensitive to the modern-day woes of gluten. Pile that dough high with spicy 'nduja or fennel sausage and tenderstem broccoli (a la Northern pizza stalwarts Honest Crust) and you’re on to a ruddy winner. Oysters While our penchant for a jaw-bustingly stacked burger or a melting grilled cheese will never die, these days it seems we’re also seeking out fresher flavours from the street food circuit. Manchesterbased Holy Crab have been busy raising intrigued eyebrows with their oysters, best eaten with their own Holy Hot Sauce or gin and tonic dressing. If this is a sign of the gentrification of street food, at just £2 a pop you can consider us gentri-fully-on-board. Dessert There was once a time when street food meant one none-too-appetising burger van in a parking lot. Now, not only do you get choice by the truckload with tacos, burritos, hotdogs, pizza and bagels just the tip of one very appetising iceberg, you also get to follow it up with pud! Street food events are currently catering to sweet teeth better than ever, showcasing cake-based craftsmanship with artisanal doughnuts, ice cream sandwiches, macaroons and more. Mainstays like Manchester-based Blawd and Leeds’ Noisette Bakehouse are churning out la dolce vita with aplomb. Beyond the street food scene, the North has many great shouts for a quick bite to eat, as evidenced by your other On-The-Go winners. Whether you’re into the wealth of choice available at B.Eat Street or the classic burritos of Pancho’s – both Manchester – or Liverpool’s old fave Evil Eye and plant-based Caribbean newbie ItalFresh, there’s something for you whenever you’re in a rush. For the full results, turn to page 31

Lifestyle

Top of the Shops A welcome newcomer in your votes for Best Food & Drink Shop, Leeds’ Tall Boys Beer Market is more than just a bottle shop: it’s quickly become a meeting place for the city’s independent community. We asked them to name some of their favourite spaces and makers

bottle shop, beer cafe and coffee spot residing in Thorntons Arcade at the very heart of Leeds city centre, Tall Boys Beer Market boasts a range of over 300 beers and showcases some of the most forward-thinking breweries around. But it’s not just about food and drink here – the shop has become a space for many in Leeds’ creative and independent communities to gather, and to put on and attend events. Indeed, this month’s Showcase focuses on design studio The Archipelago, who’ve presented exhibitions and plantrelated workshops in the Tall Boys space – turn to page 32 to see some of their work. At the heart of Tall Boys’ philosophy is “good beer for good people.” Recently they told us about some of those good people in Leeds, following the same categories as our Food and Drink Survey (how’s that for synergy?! It’s like we planned it). Why not check them all out? Tall Boys’ favourite local brewery “We’re big fans of a small local brewery called The Beak. It’s a one-man band that started brewing in the corner of a factory on a super small set-up – the definition of micro brewing. Despite the size of the set-up, Beak has made some amazing beers and is constantly developing. “The Beak Brewery is great because it does its own thing. Where most new breweries are busy developing and churning out a core range made up of pale ales and IPAs everyone has come to expect, Beak looks to more interesting and often more traditional beer styles and gives them a modern twist. There is no core range, no flashy marketing tactics and no showing off involved, just good beer.” Favourite newcomer “The Brunswick on North Street have a sweet

selection of beers on keg and cask with a focus on breweries based in the North alongside a brilliant seasonal menu and one of the best Sunday roasts in Leeds! “Interesting things happen in their event space on the top floor, from exhibitions to theatre workshops, bands and markets. Jazz Club on the last Sunday of the month is a big highlight. They also have a dog, so…” Favourite shop “Has to be Shipley Triangle in (you guessed it) Shipley. They’re a bottle shop who have one of the best ranges we’ve seen; Gav knows what he’s talking about and is really helpful if you’re stuck choosing beers.” Favourite pubs “Whitelocks is the pub we tend to frequent the most. Rumour has it that it’s the oldest pub in Leeds. They’ve got loads of great cask beers, an interesting keg line-up, amazing pork pies and one of our favourite beer gardens in the city. “They’ve recently opened up the Turk’s Head at the top of their alley which focuses on the more progressive breweries and does fancy cocktails. That’s why we go there so much – you can have a Guinness from Whitelocks or a bottle of Mikkeller Spontan from Turk’s Head, it plays to every mood! “Sela bar is our favourite late spot, they do seriously good pizza paired with good booze and good music – what more do you need?” Favourite cafe “Laynes Espresso, they’re just too good. There is no messing around at that place, just amazing coffee and simple but delicious food. Laynes forever!” For the full results, turn to page 31

Naked Lunch

Cafe Society

Cafe culture is alive and well, as proven by the breadth of your Best Cafe winners this year. With everything from an Australian/NZ-inspired breakfast spot to a Smithdown Road co-op for you to check out, we thought we’d make things easier and recommend some key menu items Words: Jess Hardiman Federal Cafe & Bar – Veggie brekkie bagel The folk at Antipodean haven Federal are undisputed heroes of the all-day brunch, a skill that’s won over many a Mancunian’s heart through Instagrammably fresh ingredients, sexy crockery and, above all else, huge portions. Go for the veggie brekkie bagel, which comes with free range eggs, fresh spinach leaves, aioli, spiced tomato relish, halloumi and mushrooms all splaying out onto the plate – yours for £7.50. In a world where sourdough barges into far too many brunches, sometimes it’s nice to see the humble bagel fighting back. Koffee Pot – Pastrami and house pickle melt Obvs a full English breakfast here is something of a Mancunian institution, but if you want a real sense of what Koffee Pot 2.0 have been busy rustling up since their move to Oldham Street, you’ll want to check out their adventures in brining beef in-house. That means salt beef, pickled ox tongue and ox cheek pastrami – we recommend the latter, served as a three-cheese melt with slaw and house pickles. Cosy up with one of these and a round of two-forone cocktails, and enjoy the late-night cafe culture of Europe in the heart of Manchester.

Unicorn

Lifestyle

Lovelocks – Peanut butter, banana and caramelised pecans on sourdough Arguably the best thing about Lovelocks is that sensational tiled counter, but, interiors aside, you’ll find that the menu is packed full of simple, fresh flavours partnered by the kind of reasonable prices we’re after. The star of the show, though, has to be their latest breakfast item, which sees sourdough toast given some love from peanut butter, banana and caramelised pecans. If you’ve got room for afters, check out the endless barrage of tasty

FOOD AND DRINK

cakes, rotating daily with the likes of carrot, chocolate and raspberry and even a vegan and glutenfree chocolate fudge and peanut butter cake. Bold Street Coffee – Venezuelan eggs Seems Liverpool’s first speciality coffee house is still doing it for you all, thanks to its simple, fresh dishes, laid back atmosphere, creative vibe and, above all else, consistently great coffee. Pull up a flat white and order the Venezuelan eggs: two fried eggs on white bloomer toast, sliced avocado, grated Venezuelan 100% cacao and hot pepper sauce. Yezzzir. Naked Lunch – Vegan breakfast Naked Lunch is a new co-operatively owned cafe and coffee shop on Smithdown Road, an area that’s famed for its community spirit. Here, the humble full English is given some attention, with pescatarian versions also available. However, it’s the vegan brekkie you’ll be most impressed by, filling the plate with veggie nut roast, portobello mushrooms, roast tomato, avocado, house baked beans, sautéed sweet potato and baby spinach with pine nuts. Laynes Espresso – Smashed broad beans on sourdough Place yourself in the reliable hands of one of Leeds’ most trusted food and drink venues, and you’ll be able to step away from the ubiquitous avocado on toast and branch out with smashed broad beans on sourdough with peas, mint, lemon, feta and a poached egg. The shakshuka is also worth your time; theirs comes topped with dukkah with harissa buttered toast on the side. Turn to page 31 for addresses, Twitter handles and the like

THE SKINNY

ADVERTISING FEATURE

On the Jukebox

In the words of Bunny Jacksons, “It would be easy for us to play on the novelty aspect of blues music, but to be honest the chicken-wire stage does that for us enough! We’re all about the blues, country and rock, wherever that’s traced back to. If it’s toe-tapping, monkey-nut peelin’ and worthy of taking on Bunny’s name – Blue Ribbon in hand, we’ll play it!” Here are five key tracks to get you in the mood for an evening at Bunny's: Hugo – 99 Problems [Sony, 2011] This bluegrass version of Jay-Z’s 99 Problems really gets the toes tappin’ in the juke joint. Johnny Cash & The Tennessee Two – Get Rhythm [Sun International Corporation, 1969] A Bunny’s favourite, this was the first song our house band played on our chicken-wire stage. Howlin’ Wolf – Smokestack Lightning [Chess, 1956] A clear favourite with our afternoon whiskey sippers. Muddy Waters – Manish Boy [Chess, 1955] A 50s blues classic. We love the Hoochie Coochie Man. The Black Keys – Howlin’ For You [V2/Cooperative, 2010] This one is our floor-filler, everyone loves some American rock!

In Your Glass

All That Jazz

It’s all about the whiskey at Bunny Jacksons. Here are two of their signature serves you can make at home, or enjoy at the bar.

Bunny Jacksons Juke Joint is a drinking den with a difference – you can enjoy free, live blues and jazz music alongside your American whiskey and pool. To get you in the mood, we take a quick look at the history of jazz and blues in Manchester

upping on your Boiler Maker late one night at Bunny Jacksons, Manchester’s newest whiskey and music joint, you’ll find it’s the ideal moment to reflect on the city’s relationship with jazz, blues and all things soulful. Britain has a longstanding history of taking American imports and making them its own. Artists such as Chuck Berry, Bill Haley and Jimi Hendrix inspired legions of blues, rock and soul greats in the UK. Likewise, jazz made its way over to these shores towards the end of World War I, with British acts taking their cues from bebop with its fast tempo and scope for improvisation. While the 1970s bastardised long improvisational pieces to some degree, the original spirit of rhythm and blues was kept alive by bands such as Manchester’s 52nd Street. This jazz-funk outfit had their demos played by Piccadilly Radio ‘til they were signed by the infamous Factory Records in 1982, before moving on to Virgin and releasing their most recognisable hit, Tell Me (How It Feels). TV shows like ITV’s New Faces gave rise to Mancunian soul band Sweet Sensation, whose 1974 hit Sad Sweet Dreamer went to number one in the UK charts, inspiring the likes of Imagination and The Real Thing. Despite numerous hits, British blues and jazz musicians still thrived in small clubs. London has long been home for these artists, with the likes of Ronnie Scott’s jazz club in Soho becoming legendary among punters and players. However, Manchester’s influence is not to be understated. The George & Dragon pub on Swan Street,

January/February 2017

which in the 1930s became known as Band on the Wall, was the destination of choice for European and American servicemen during the Second World War. In 1975 a local jazz musician bought the pub and, after liaising with well-known Manchester saxophonist Johnny Roadhouse, decided to adopt the Band on the Wall moniker as the venue’s official name. Its reopening in 2009 was marked by performances from jazz pianist Julian Joseph and soul singer Mica Paris, and it still hosts these kinds of artists today. Just around the corner is the Northern Quarter’s Matt and Phreds jazz club, which brings together artists from the worlds of jazz, folk, gypsy, electro, swing, world and even ska.

“ Manchester's influence on the jazz/blues scene is not to be underestimated” Manchester’s love for jazz was cemented in 1996 by the founding of Manchester Jazz Festival, which brought together nine bands along with DJs and booze for a good old shindig. Even after seeing its inaugural running postponed following the IRA bombing of Manchester, the festival has

Words: Tom Ingham

gone from strength to strength and celebrated its 20th anniversary in 2016. It encourages challenging, improvisational styles, champions local acts and often avoids just booking those doing the rounds on their world tours, although big names do often make the trip. Today, Bunny Jacksons joins venues such as the Royal Northern College of Music and the Bridgewater Hall in helping to maintain a thriving rhythm and blues and jazz scene in Manchester, and allowing up-and-coming acts like the eclectic Honeyfeet to develop and craft their skills among a discerning and open-minded audience. Head along to Bunny Jacksons Juke Joint for live blues, rock and soul every Thursday, Friday and Saturday, and enjoy electric live performances along with a game of pool or darts. Manchester’s newest whiskey and music joint also runs monthly open mic and country karaoke nights, so if you’re a performer yourself you can get involved with that “boozy, bluesy, sippin’ n’ foot tappin’” atmosphere on their traditional chicken-wire stage. And if you needed some encouragement: performers get free drinks between 7pm and midnight, so grab ‘Bunny’s Broken Mic’ and take part!

Boiler Maker “The classic way to drink whiskey”; pair a shot of Woodford Reserve with a bottle of Miller Genuine Draught. Eternal Bridesmaid “A more fun way to enjoy American whiskey for the less die-hard fans” 25ml lemon 35ml Jim Beam rye whiskey 15ml St-Germain elderflower liqueur 15ml pomegranate syrup 5 raspberries 25ml apple juice Shake over ice and pour into a big glass, bits n’ all. Add more ice if needed. Garnish with raspberries and a lemon wedge.

Bunny Jacksons Juke Joint, B.Eat Street, Deansgate Mews, Manchester. Open Thu-Sun 12pm-3am; @bunnyjacksons

Know the Fringe inside out? Fest Magazine, the biggest free guide to the Edinburgh festivals, is looking for a team for 2017. Full job specs at theskinny.co.uk/about/getinvolved @festmag /festmaguk

Illustration: Ailsa Sutcliffe

THE SKINNY

The Winners The full list of winners from this year’s Food and Drink Survey, and where to find them...

Illustration: Luis Pinto

Best Pub or Bar The Smithfield Tavern 37 Swan St, Manchester blackjack-beers.com/smithfield @TheSmithfieldNQ

Kelly's Dispensary 154-158 Smithdown Rd, Liverpool @KellySmithdown

The Castle Hotel 66 Oldham St, Manchester thecastlehotel.info @thecastlehotel

Ship & Mitre 133 Dale St, Liverpool theshipandmitre.com @Theshipandmitre

Cane & Grain 49-51 Thomas St, Manchester caneandgrain.co.uk @CaneAndGrain

Belgrave Music Hall 1-1A Cross Belgrave St, Leeds belgravemusichall.com @Belgrave_Leeds

Mowgli

Best Food On-the-Go

Best Restaurants

Best Breweries

Blue Caribou Canteen Manchester bluecariboucanteen.com @bccanteen

Evil Eye Beer & Burrito Shack 208 Smithdown Rd, Liverpool facebook.com/evileyebar @evileyeburritos

The Allotment 6 Vernon St, Stockport theallotment.info @allotmentvegan

Maray 91 Bold St, Liverpool maray.co.uk @MarayLiverpool

B.Eat Street Deansgate Mews, Great Northern Warehouse, Manchester beatstreetmcr.co.uk @beatstreetmcr

ItalFresh 61 Jordan St, Liverpool italfreshhq.com @ItalFresh

Rudy’s Pizza 9 Cotton St, Manchester rudyspizza.co.uk @RudysPizzaMcr

Mowgli 69 Bold St, Liverpool mowglistreetfood.com @mowglistfood

Bundobust 6 Mill Hill, Leeds bundobust.com @Bundobust

NoLita Cantina 81a Bold St, Liverpool nolitacantina.com @NolitaCantina

Ox Club 19a The Headrow, Leeds oxclub.co.uk @OxClubLeeds

Pancho’s Burritos Arndale Market, 49 High St, Manchester panchosburritos.co.uk @PANCHOSBURRITO

Best Newcomers

Best Food & Drink Shops

Marble Brewery The Marble Arch, 73 Rochdale Rd & 57 Thomas St, Manchester marblebeers.com @marblebrewers Mad Hatter Brewing Liverpool madhatterbrewing.co.uk @MadHatBrew

Runaway Brewery Millgate, Dantzic St, Manchester therunawaybrewery.com @RunawayBrewery Blackjack Brewery 36 Gould St, Manchester blackjack-beers.com @Blackjackbeers

Northern Monk Brew Co The Old Flax Store, Marshalls Mill, Leeds northernmonkbrewco.com @NMBCo

Best Cafes

The Allotment 6 Vernon St, Stockport theallotment.info @allotmentvegan

Lovelocks Old Haymarket, Liverpool lovelocks.coffee @LovelocksC

Unicorn 89 Albany Rd, Manchester unicorn-grocery.coop @UnicornGrocery

Lunya 18-20 College Ln, Liverpool lunya.co.uk @Lunya

Federal Cafe & Bar 9 Nicholas Croft, Manchester federalcafe.co.uk @FederalCafeBar

Bold Street Coffee 89 Bold St, Liverpool boldstreetcoffee.co.uk @boldstcoffee

B.Eat Street Deansgate Mews, Great Northern Warehouse, Manchester beatstreetmcr.co.uk @beatstreetmcr

Naked Lunch 431 Smithdown Rd, Liverpool @NakedLunchCafe

Beermoth 70 Tib St, Manchester beermoth.co.uk @thebeermoth

Purple Carrot 286 Smithdown Rd, Liverpool facebook.com/ purplecarrotliverpool @PurpleCarrotLiv

Koffee Pot 84-86 Oldham St, Manchester thekoffeepot.co.uk @thekoffeepot

Naked Lunch 431 Smithdown Rd, Liverpool @NakedLunchCafe

Blue Caribou Canteen Manchester bluecariboucanteen.com @bccanteen

January/February 2017

Stories 454 Roundhay Rd, Leeds storiescafe.co.uk @StoriesinLeeds

Matta’s 51 Bold St, Liverpool mattas.co.uk @MattasLiverpool

Tall Boys Beer Market 17 Thorntons Arcade, Leeds tallboysbeermarket.com @tallboysleeds

FOOD AND DRINK

Lovelocks Old Haymarket, Liverpool lovelocks.coffee @LovelocksC

Laynes Espresso 16 New Station St, Leeds laynesespresso.co.uk @LaynesEspresso

Lifestyle

The Archipelago M

ichael Lewis and Zosia Berkieta-Lewis founded design studio The Archipelago in Leeds in 2011, with a desire to collaborate with other creatives alongside taking on client commissions. They’ve since worked with some of the leading art organisations in the region, including The Hepworth Wakefield, Leeds Art Gallery and Yorkshire Sculpture Triangle, all while running their own projects – most prominently The Plant Room. Starting out as an exhibition, The Plant Room has grown to become a series of events and workshops, with Michael and Zosia curating work by green-minded artists and illustrators, running mini markets selling plant-friendly ceramics, hosting talks and even designing edible city gardens. The Skinny: Where did the inspiration for The Plant Room come from? Michael: We discovered a research article about the positive benefits of introducing plants into minimalist workspaces, finding that adding plants improved both wellbeing and creativity. This article led to the idea of a plant-themed exhibition, hosted in a working space. We used our design studio and curated an exhibition celebrating illustration, ceramics and furniture, all with plants in mind. Alongside studio life we’ve had an allotment for a number of years now. Starting with a basic understanding and a pile of books for reference, our passions grew. The Plant Room seems to have become very popular very quickly. What do you think lies behind the project’s appeal? I think the first exhibition was very intriguing. We created an identity for The Plant Room based on old Observer’s Books jackets and colour combinations and promoted it in a handful of locations in the city and through social media. There started to be a little buzz around the event, and when we had our opening night the studio was packed. Our aim was to put on an exhibition with integrity, to justify people taking the time to visit us. The first exhibition was a success and it led to other collaborations and projects over the last 18 months. I think generally as more folk live and work in urban areas we strive for a little green in our lives. We’ve been very lucky with the support the project has had locally. We’ve recently started to put on Garden Sessions, a series of workshops and talks with plants in mind. So far each one has sold out; we’ve got our next sessions lined up for the new year, so watch this space!

Who are some of your favourite artists you’ve worked with through The Plant Room? We’ve been lucky enough to work with some amazingly talented people. On the first exhibition we worked with illustrator Lucy Ketchin, ceramicist Dove Street Pottery and furniture designer Matt Kelly. The first exhibition led to a few exciting collaborations with Tall Boys Beer Market and Northern Monk Brew Co (NMBCo). With Northern Monk we designed a beer garden and a planting scheme for an edible city garden. We launched the garden in summer 2016 with an NMBCo x The Plant Room Midsummer IPA. With Tall Boys Beer Market we designed the interior of their cafe space including a modular green wall. We’ve continued to collaborate with Tall Boys, opening our Mini Market – a small concession selling modern ceramics with plants in mind. More exciting Plant Room and Mini Market collaborations are to come in 2017! There are so many like-minded creatives in the North – there comes a sense of strength in numbers when you come together to work and collaborate. Part of your philosophy is to ‘keep the studio small, always’. Why is this important? When we started the studio we had no intention of growing it beyond a handful of people. The idea behind The Archipelago name is that it references a collective approach, as in a group of islands forming an archipelago. With this approach we bring in other creatives and specialists to work with us on individual projects, allowing us to work on a wide variety of projects irrespective of scale. What are you working on currently? With The Archipelago we’re currently working on four exhibitions, two for Lotherton Hall in Leeds, one for the National Coal Mining Museum in Wakefield and one for Kew Palace in London. With The Plant Room there are numerous projects coming up. We’re expanding our Mini Market at Tall Boys Beer Market and have an exciting collaboration to reveal in the New Year! The Plant Room is also currently working on a number of indoor-space projects in the city. Read the full interview at theskinny.co.uk/art thearchipelago.eu | thearchipelagopress.co.uk | instagram.com/theplantroom

SHOWCASE

THE SKINNY

January/February 2017

SHOWCASE

Living in Malmö Getting out before Brexit? Consider Sweden’s third-largest city, where an international outlook, great childcare and underground clubbing await

“T

ake the train to Copenhagen.” That was the first reply when our Swedish teacher tried to start a conversation about things to do in Malmö. The first! But it’s fundamentally untrue – ignore any smartarse Danes who insist that Malmö, Sweden’s third largest city, is but a suburb of Copenhagen. Such condescension is, I believe, a fairly recent development brought about by Öresundsbron, the long, elegant road and rail bridge (as seen on Scandinavian crime drama The Bridge) which links the two countries and promotes increasing social and economic closeness within Scandinavia and Europe. That’s the idea anyway. The super-national connectedness that the bridge symbolises is, in reality, undermined by restrictions that have been in place throughout 2016, a delayed reaction to the refugee crisis. Two separate ID checks are now mandatory, making train travel to Malmö slow and unreliable. It’s a shame, because this bureaucratic irritation belies what is now, arguably, Malmö’s defining characteristic – its internationalism. In 2014, 31% of Malmö residents were born outside Sweden. There’s even been an attempt to make Malmö the first city in the world with residents from every nation on earth. 23 nationalities are still sought. Vanuatans, Andorrans, Marshall Islanders: Välkommen till Malmö! As long as you meet statutory employment requirements.

“ Ignore any smartarse Danes who insist that Malmö is but a suburb of Copenhagen” What does this internationalism mean for Malmö? Traditionally, non-European immigrants in Sweden have been packed away in suburban enclaves, but this is changing. The presence of immigrants is becoming more apparent, as the city transitions from multiculturalism to the meltingpot model. Nowhere is this melting point more apparent than in the Möllan area of the city. It’s a pretty remarkable neighbourhood, housing hipsterish faux-dive bars, actual dive bars, Asian restaurants of vastly varying qualities, fast food joints, incipient high-end eateries, Middle Eastern bakeries, arty office spaces and studios, and so on. One of the striking, and emphatically nonSwedish, aspects of Möllan is how many people hang about in the streets. Coming from Scotland’s Central Belt, I initially interpreted the sight of young men hanging about in the street with trepidation/naked fear, but I was wrong. This is more like a cultural echo of warmer parts of the world where outdoor communal areas are more commonly spaces of social interaction (and, yeah, it’s also a reflection of high unemployment in Malmö, especially amongst immigrants).

vals are entitled to. Classes can be a bit chaotic, but I emphatically recommend it. It involves learning not just the language but about Sweden in general, mostly through conversations about gender equality, sexuality, human rights and so on. More surprisingly, you’ll learn just as much about Sweden from your classmates. The Syrians, Iraqis and Slavs that you sit with in class are your neighbours. They might not watch women’s football or cure their own salmon but, in the here and now, they are Malmö. Their relationship and reaction to Sweden are important, and finding out how they live and how they came to be here is consistently enlightening. Finding a flat As is the case with every other habitable place in the known world, finding a decent rental in Malmö is a pain. It’s important to know the difference between a first- and second-hand rental. A first-hand rental is an arrangement with a housing association, and gives you strictly enforced rights regarding changes in rent, the length of your tenancy, upkeep of properties and so on. Because of the relative scarcity of these properties, there is a sub-letting market, with people hoarding their rented flats and renting them out on a short term basis. Second-hand (andra hand) rents of this kind are easier to come by but far less regulated and secure. Standard operating procedure for new arrivals to Malmö is to take your chances with a second-hand rental (most likely found through the Swedish equivalent of Gumtree, Blocket.se), then hunt out a first-hand place where you don’t face the risk of being turfed out by your landlord on a whim. There’s less of a tradition of young people flat-sharing in Sweden than in the UK, so some of the terms used to describe living arrangements can be a bit misleading. If you’re invited to live in a kollectiv don’t expect to end up in a hippy commune in the style of Lukas Moodysson’s film Together. A flat-share with a taciturn German is the more likely outcome. Also, don’t expect your own washing machine. Tvättstugen (literally, the washing cottage) is pretty much a Swedish tradition. You’ll have to book a

time to do your laundry in advance, probably in the basement of your building. This sounds like a massive pain in the arse, but is actually extremely useful as an invariably valid excuse for ducking out of any unwanted social engagement. “Oh, you’re going to see an Ingmar Bergman double bill on Tuesday? Ah, yeah, sorry, tvättstugen.” Malmö nightlife Weekends in Malmö centre can appear lively but somewhat sanitised. The aforementioned Möllan is a more reasonable place to start a night out. There’re enough bars and restaurants to find something to anyone’s taste, and the adjoining area in and alongside Folketspark forms something of an indie music hub (Kulturbolaget, Babel, InKonst and Moriska Paviljonen). Unfortunately though, to catch touring bands, you’ll often have to resort to that old ‘take the train to Copenhagen’ approach. A visitor would probably be surprised at how quiet Malmö seems after midnight. Serious clubbing is hampered by legislation, for example the Swedish law that (with very few exceptions) permits the sale of alcohol only to establishments that serve food. Somehow the intensity of a hardcore trance night can be undermined by somebody tucking into their chicken and chips in the corner of the room. Regardless of the reasons for it, Malmö has a significant underground club scene. Known in Swedish as svartklubben, parties of dubious legality pop up in and around town every weekend, and are often promoted with inclusive gender, sexual, and racial politics. On occasion parties are shut down by the police, but there seems to be an unofficial (and untypical for Sweden) police tolerance towards them. In any case, a lot of them are not illegal as such, and operate more or less legitimately as social clubs (you may have to become a member before you can attend). In a way, the extent of a club’s legality is reflected by their overt presence on social media – if a club has an open Facebook group it surely can’t be very illegal. Oskrivet (techno/house) and Plan B (eclectic weirdness) are a couple of higher profile club names to get you started. From there, it’s up to you how far down the rabbit hole you wish to venture.

Words: Brian Cloughley

Bring the kids Of course, when people talk about moving to Sweden for the lifestyle they’re rarely referring to the underground party scene. It’s widely reported, and indeed true, that Sweden’s provisions for parental leave and daycare make parenthood a viable life choice here rather than the ruinous catastrophe and/or preposterous pipe-dream that it so often seems to be in the UK. This kid-friendly (or perhaps more accurately, parent-friendly) set-up is evident throughout Malmö. There are playgrounds everywhere and you can’t go far during daylight hours without bumping into a daycare day-out. The sight of a two-by-two line of chattering hi-vis clad munchkins is indubitably adorable. The convention for kids to go to nursery/pre-school from a young age and for long days (at little or no cost to the parents) is one of the pillars of raising kids in Sweden. Is this a sensible and holistic policy that promotes individual freedom, a healthy work-life balance and gender equality? Or is it a nefarious way of ensuring young kids become indoctrinated into a Swedish way of life at the earliest possible age? That’s an argument for another place, but those kids in the hi-vis vests are so cute they might make the whole brainwashing thing worthwhile. The other pillar of raising young kids is the ample parental leave that new parents are entitled to, while continuing to receive the majority of their salaries. There is a hefty amount of red tape involved, but these benefits are available to all residents from EU countries (insert here: Brexit lament/mocking comment about the unsustainability of European social provisions). There is even a bonus equality payment, to encourage fathers to take equal parental leave. If the presence of earnest-looking men around parks and playgrounds is any indication, this policy seems to be working. This brings to mind the (OK, yes, almost certainly apocryphal) story of an American visitor returning from Malmö and reporting on its renowned social liberalism; “It’s amazing, there are gay au-pairs everywhere!” theskinny.co.uk/travel

Learn Swedish To feel a part of this international scene, as counter-intuitive as it might sound, I’d recommend trying to learn Swedish. Swedish is, wrongly, thought of as a difficult language to learn. Granted, it sounds a bit peculiar, but it’s actually pretty similar to English in terms of grammar, syntax, and even vocabulary. Plus it’s great fun to speak. SFI (Svenska för Invandrare/ Swedish for Immigrants) is a free governmentsponsored language programme that all new arri-

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TRAVEL

THE SKINNY

Guilt and self-loathing in India Each year, the British Council escorts scores of wide-eyed university students across developing countries, but there comes a time when each guest must confront the elephant in the room

The Elephant At 6pm in mid July, an elephant lumbered down a quiet backstreet of Delhi. It was flanked on either side by dancers and fire-jugglers, and it bore a sash across its midriff. WELCOME BRITISH COUNCIL adorned it in bright pink letters. We, at whom this message was aimed, stood at the end of the street in our turbans and robes, sipping bottles of beer and awaiting the serenade that was to conclude our tour of the country on a British Council programme called ‘Make In India’. Rumours of a surprise had circulated all day – this was clearly it. The animal was so slow, however, that by the time it got close enough to kick up dust against our ankles its novelty impact had already been supplanted by gloomy reality. The crowning centrepiece of our Delhi welcome ceremony, after trudging 8 miles across town in 40-plus degree heat, had finally arrived to the party, and it didn’t look to be in much of a mood. Frankly, it looked pretty glum: its feet flattened by too many years in the city, kneaded out like rolls of dough; its sides scarred by villainous owners; its trunk hanging like dead weight; its testicles swollen and pendu lous; its mouth gasping for air. Worst of all were the eyes: sad and cavernous, and with lids that sagged to reveal the innards of the skull. Someone should fix it a drink, I thought – something strong. The Programme Meanwhile we all continue sheepishly sipping our own drinks to stifle our grimaces. We’re the 60 students chosen for a British Council ‘cultural exchange’ programme that’s amounted to a crash course across northern India. We’re the sponges, India is the moisture, and this so-called ‘exchange’ is really more of a one-way street. Activities have included Bollywood dancing on hotel rooftops, touching base at the Bombay Stock Exchange, dining at the Taj Lake Palace with Prince Mewar of Udaipur, and wandering through the Dharavi slums with packs of biscuits to hand out to impoverished children. But throughout this all-consuming, all-singing, all-dancing odyssey, something mysterious has been curdling the skin, contam-

January/Febuary 2017

inating the food and spiking the punch, and right now it is unmistakable. The ailment they call ‘colonial guilt’ has been the elephant in the room for a fortnight, and now that there is actually an elephant present, greeting us outside our hotel and paying miserable tribute to our government, it has found corporeal form. To the untrained eye, our trip is beginning to resemble a reenactment of a royal visit to the Raj. We’ve inspected factories and institutions, rubbed shoulders with royalty, taken pictures with the needy, and now we have our own honorary elephant. The dancers and fire-jugglers continue to dance and juggle while our semi-circle shuffles backwards from the animal. Some members of the group can be seen breaking into tears. The rest are extremely uncomfortable. Later, during one of our regular group conferences, the ceremony is deemed “too imperialist” by one commenter, to widespread agreement. The inclusion of the elephant is labeled “an error of judgment” on behalf of the Council. Everyone nods. The issue is laid to rest. The Guilt Colonial guilt is the Catholic guilt of an atheist, university-educated generation. It’s like a newfangled update on original sin; the guilt is present from birth, despite the absence of any specific wrongdoing. Combined with the equally ubiquitous consumerist guilt, it helps form a well-intentioned but self-indulgent, patronistic, vague and frequently misguided worldview. The received opinion is that our debt is immeasurable, hereditary, and forever unpayable, but that we must try to pay it back regardless with foreign aid and apologist rhetoric. But the truth is, India doesn’t need our tears, or our sympathy, or even our money. Like most of East Asia, it’s turning out to be superb at capitalism. Its economy is forecast to surpass the U.S by 2050. Tellingly, and despite the attitudes of its participants, ‘Make In India’ is no typical British Council programme; it is helmed by a company called

IndoGenius, whose aim is to promote India, and it is run by Nick Booker-Soni, a brilliant man who is convinced of the West’s political, moral and economic decline, and who spends a lot of his time trying to persuade young British people to jump ship and start afresh in the new promised land. Post-Brexit, Booker-Soni isn’t the only one: “Get out while you still can!” goes the clarion call from political commentators and baby boomers at home. “Leave this stinking vessel!” The message of ‘Make In India’, too, is clear: India is the land of the future; Britain the land of the past. That was then; this is now.

“ Colonial guilt is the Catholic guilt of an atheist, university-educated generation” The Self-Loathing By its own definition, the purpose of any British Council programme since the organisation’s creation in 1934 has been to engender cultural relations and promote Britain around the world. In 2016, the curious part in all of this is that few participants on this or any British Council ‘cultural exchange’ venture appear to exhibit any willingness to represent, er, Britain. Instead, they almost all seem to harvest a loathing for their home country, and an embarrassment about their own consumerist, post-colonial selves. This is no doubt exacerbated by the contrast between India’s boundless spiritual complexion and the decidedly materialist and comparably mundane personalities of most of the Westerners who find themselves wandering through it. David Foster Wallace once said this of being a new age traveler from the First World: “It is to spoil, by way of sheer ontology, the

TRAVEL

Words: Henry Scanlan Illustration: Isabella Bunnell

very unspoiledness you are there to experience.” All 60 of the ‘Make In India’ participants seem painfully aware of this. In some ways, this is reassuring. In others, it’s excruciating. Only in this scenario could a crowd of young, affluent people gather in a lecture room and carry out a perverse Q&A with a man from the Dharavi slums, who is held in reverence at the front of the room and asked questions that can mostly be paraphrased to “what’s it like to be poor?” The sincere self-effacement of one student’s closing statement said it all: she stood, breathing heavily into the microphone, one hand on heart. “You are richer than us in so many ways,” she assured the man from Dharavi, to ardent applause. The man graciously received the sentiment, but might’ve been tempted to ask what he could buy with it. The Future On the morning after our Delhi closing ceremony, an announcement is made at breakfast confirming that the elephant won’t be returning next year. A number of complaints have been made in its name. There is a collective sigh of relief in response to this announcement, which brings with it the news that the people have made a difference: a forlorn elephant will be saved another 8-mile trudge across the city next year. Of course, this won’t actually do anything to protect the elephant from a similarly painful experience elsewhere, but it does at least mean that it won’t be able to upset a group of UK students ever again. There may come a time in the not-too-distant future when Britain’s discernible use to the rest of the world has whittled away, and India has completed its graduation into a First World powerhouse. When that time comes, India, a nation awash with manufacturing prowess and technological genius, will be able to arrange for its own bright young students to visit Britain and gawp awkwardly at its struggling people. It won’t be all bad for the Brits, though; at least they won’t have to feel guilty anymore. theskinny.co.uk/travel

Lifestyle

Enough Hopelessness Toby Sharpe shares a step by step guide to healing the world after the shitstorm that was 2016...

ey millennials! Feeling sad? You have good reason. The past 12 months sucked. For you, 2016, the year most comparable to a garbagefire, is finally over. As I sit and write this piece, still trapped in 2016’s wicked grasp, I look fondly back to 2012. Back then, we thought a comet would incinerate us in a Mayan apocalypse. The world seemed so much less scary, enough that we could worry about supernatural or cosmic threats. Now, everything has changed. Our world seems to be ending in a more mundane, and yet more malevolent, way. Our Earth is not what Tomorrow’s World and The Powerpuff Girls said it would be when we were growing up. An orange virus has taken over America, endangering the lives and livelihoods of minorities, immigrants, and the world at large. Tories ineptly rule Britain. We live under austerity, a programme condemned by the UN for the way it actively contributes to the suffering and deaths of the poor and disabled. Student loans dog the youth. The right-wing lies to the populace and there is no charismatic left-wing popular leader to put on our ‘HOPE’ posters. Refugees are treated appallingly on our soil and abroad. More and more young people are growing up in poverty. Our air is growing poisonous. Our politicians are not stopping climate change. Our world will heat up, the ice caps will dwindle, the oceans will reclaim us. You are right to be afraid. Your feelings of loss and panic are not unreasonable. However, if we fall too deep into despair, we will lose. This world can make you feel hopeless, and can convince that your voice is meaningless. You might read this and think “well... my voice IS useless, I voted Remain / Labour / Clinton and look how that turned out!” You’re not wrong. Things didn’t work out how we wanted them to: there are many reasons why. People felt apathetic. People felt disempowered. People felt useless. I feel that way. I am not trying to invalidate your pain; I know how infuriating it can be when people tell you to snap out of your suffer-

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ing, or to sort yourself out with some easy fixes. In the grand scheme of things? You are not useless. Sure: you are not powerful. You are somewhere in the middle. We are not as special as we were told growing up. Your voice does not mean a lot. It means a little. However, our voices are louder when we shout them together. Therein our power lies. We cannot let the aged, the uninformed, and the mendacious right-wing elite doom our generation and those to come. We cannot feel that we’ve had ‘enough of experts’. We cannot hate one another. This article is a small war-cry for the future that we can grow. Here are some things that you can and should do to live for a better year and a better world.

“ Your voice does not mean a lot. It means a little. However, our voices are louder when we shout them together. Therein our power lies” Donate If you have money to give, there are organisations in the UK in need of donations. Definitely look into whether the government has defunded your local rape crisis centre, and find out whether shelters for the homeless and the abused need funding or help in your area. If you are particularly worried about the effects Trump’s reign will have over the lives of vulnerable Americans, then

there are a number of groups that you can donate to online from the UK which explicitly protect the rights of minorities, from supporting immigrants and refugees to protecting women’s access to reproductive healthcare. Volunteer If you don’t have money to spare, but want to help charities and other organisations, take the time to consider who needs your help and where your time could best be spent. Google charities in your area. If you have skills to share, now is the time. If you are a good teacher, or if you’re good with languages, or computers, you could donate some of your time and talent to organisations or people who need them, particularly refugees. Educate Children are going to grow up thinking it is okay to be a bigot, to scorn minorities, and to treat women’s bodies like chew-toys and playgrounds. If you have or know kids, make sure they know that the Orange Devil is not a role model. Call people out We’re all going to need to call people out a lot more. We are so often worried about causing a scene, about seeming angry, as we make our voices heard. The right wing does not worry about how its opinions come across. It yells and people listen – one is often forced to hear what is being shouted. If you have certain kinds of privilege – if you’re male, or straight, etc. – use your privilege to fight for others. Your comfortable silence makes you complicit. It is time to challenge your friends, your acquaintances, your lovers. If you think liking the occasional Facebook post makes you an ally to the cause, it is time to do more. Use your position to amplify the voices of the marginalised. Give to your local food or clothing bank There’s most likely an old can of beans you keep

DEVIANCE

Words: Toby Sharpe Illustration: Fran Caballero forgetting to turn into chilli. Donate them. Those jeans you considered maybe turning into jeanshorts eventually? Donate them. Convert our cultural obsession with decluttering into a way of helping people around you. If you don’t have much of your own to give, see if you can collect donations from neighbours or friends to hand in on their behalf. Join a political party I know you think they’re all evil, all bureaucratic, and all useless. They will continue to be – if people who think like that don’t get involved. Stop ignoring homeless people Give them your change. If you don’t have any coins, at least say hello, or nod as you pass. Stop propagating the myth that everyone on the street is lying about their situation. Stop pretending that we are not all just people. Be vocal about the good you do I know it’s embarrassing. It may not be cool to announce that you have bonded with the old lady down the road, or that you’ve just had a tough day working at the local centre for refugees. But people need to know that good work is going on, and that they too could and should be doing good. Be kind Love people. Be there for people. Listen to people who are suffering. If someone in your life is sad and you know they’re sad, don’t just hide them from your newsfeed. You don’t have to be a therapist or a priest to give someone some time to talk. If you don’t feel ready to talk, you can just be in the same room as someone. Send them an emoji. Make them a cup of tea. These are dark times. Friendship is more important than ever. It is so easy to brighten someone’s day, even when the world seems lacking in light.

THE SKINNY

Dating by Numbers Can a mathematic formula solve the problem of finding the perfect date? As Valentine’s Day approaches, one writer finds out... Words: Chloë Maughan Illustration: Sonny Ross

have had my fair share of excruciating dates. Certainly some nights, after another less than satisfying encounter, it feels like I’ve taken the whole pie. From the guy who objected to recycling, to the man who announced ten minutes into a coffee date that his wife might join us: my experiences have made me laugh, cry and consistently brought me closer to my vibrator. And along the way I’ve definitely walked away from dates that have left me warm, but still achingly unsure. Ultimately, even when you do stumble across something woo-worthy, there’s always that question wavering in the background: is this it? In a world where dating apps make romance feel ever more accessible, it’s easy for suitors to become just another option in a never-ending aisle of possibilities. And with such a seeming bounty of matches within our reach, how are we to know when to stop swiping and start saying yes?

My theory Recently my friend told me of a mathematical theorem that boasts the answer to finding this elusive, ‘optimum’ stopping place. Perhaps this doesn’t sound like the sexiest of solutions, but I’ve been told it has the hallmarks of a good drinking challenge. Besides, I’d recently been informed by a BuzzFeed quiz that my Starbucks choice means I’m not destined to meet my match for another eight years. I was willing to try anything to speed up the process. In a theory dreamed up by mathematician Matt Parker, it’s suggested that an algorithm, designed by statistician Dennis Lindley in response to The Secretary Problem, may hold the key to locating our perfect partners. And what is this ‘Secretary Problem’, you might ask? Well, much like in the realm of exclusive monogamous dating, Lindley’s formula relies on the idea that you have to decide whether you’re prepared to settle for each candidate as they come along. In choosing both a secretary and a dinner date, there are no takesy-backsies once you’ve rejected them… you could try, but it would be pretty awkward. Many of us choose not to settle for the first person we date, because we want to know what’s out there. But equally there is that fear that if you keep hunting, you’ll pass by the best, much like in the secretary theory. According to Parker, “somewhere in the middle there must be an ideal place to stop interviewing more candidates just to see what they’re like, and hurry up and choose a good one.” The same, he suggests, should be applied to dating. With this knowledge behind me, I decided to embark upon my own experiment – to find my perfect match, using the power of maths. Sexy, right? So, down to the nitty gritty. Finding peak date material, the theory tells us, lies in sampling 37% of your possibilities, and then accepting the next best that comes along. If you’re looking for the perfect secretary, reject 37% of your hopefuls and you’ll get yourself the perfect employee. If you’re after a date, work your way through 37% of your local eligible partners and the next person who comes along might be a winner. On the basis of time constraints I capped my sample at 100 men. But quickly realising I didn’t have the time or patience to go out and date 37 people, I decided to test the theory on those early pre-date interactions instead – those preliminary flirtatious negotiations many of us have experienced via Tinder, OKCupid or whatever takes up the storage space on your phone.

January/February 2017

My sample: the men of Bumble On the dating app Bumble, once there’s a mutual match, only women are able to send the first message. This meant I could ensure each interaction was started in exactly the same way, with a simple: “Hey! How are you?” The rest was up to my companion and chemistry. A truly random sample would perhaps have relied on swiping right to every man that crossed my dash, and testing the interactions with the first 37 matches. But I wanted to mimic something closer to the human experience. After all, in dating we don’t simply sample any person that asks (thank god), but those that already satisfy our key desires. Are they the right age? Am I attracted to them? Is he a chronic mansplainer with white dreads? We’re able to determine a surprising amount of this from a small set of pictures; I know I’m a sucker for a man holding a puppy and repelled by pictures of house bros on nights out. So, I resolved only to swipe right on the guys that would usually pique my interest. To the left for men posing with rifles, perpetually obscured by sunglasses (what are you hiding, anyway?). And to the right for those with honest eyes, and a disproportionate population of bearded boys with nose piercings. What can I say, I have a type!

“ Minus points would be applied for dick pics” My method I capped each engagement at ten messages sent each way. Some guys wouldn’t reply to that first message. What did this mean? Well, they weren’t my match, obviously. They got a simple 0. For the rest I produced a delicate ranking criteria to weight the interactions against each other. These included: humour; equality of engagement (i.e. did they ask and respond to questions, or expect me to lead the conversation), and feminist credentials. Minus points would be applied for dick pics. The results Prior to this experience I’d never spent so much time on a dating app. My tolerance is pretty low, and often it takes just one dodgy message for me to hit the uninstall button. And yet here I was, swiping through the thumb cramp to find Mr Right, or at least Mr Probably Better Stop Looking Now. And that’s when I ran into a slight problem. If there is one thing that can disillusion you with internet dating altogether, it’s completing Bumble (Bristol edition) in just three days. 30% of the way into the messaging stage and I was running out of suitors. My optimum (aka Mr Stop Right Now Thank You Very Much) had only one real contender: a guy I matched with just 5% of the way into the experiment. Oh, Mr 5%. He surpassed the criteria – he was funny and sweet, and kept his clothes on in all his pics. He played music for a living, and identified openly as a feminist. I’d half decided that if the experiment didn’t work out, I’d work my way back to him and ask him out. My other interactions were somewhat disastrous. Let’s just say I learned more than I’d bar-

gained for about the kinks of virtual strangers, and seen guys less than ten messages in (and long before the first round of drinks) inviting themselves round to “warm me up”. With ever dwindling numbers and a cornucopia of dick pics from overly forward matches, I regret to admit that I gave up on reaching 37%, let

DEVIANCE

alone looking beyond it for my optimum stopping point. What was the point? The lovely Mr 5% had disappeared, and I couldn’t help but feel it was karma’s lesson, teaching me not to sacrifice people to the auto-reject pile in favour of stats. A lesson in embracing what’s in front of you, perhaps. That, or the BuzzFeed quiz was right: bring on 2025.

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Feature

THE SKINNY

FE U AT

HAARM’s Way

RE S Interview: Lorna Gray

Photo: Peter Michael

With their first two singles already whipping the internet into a frenzy, Liverpool’s HAARM have a bright future. Founder member Chris McIntosh tells us more

iverpool is well aware of its reputation as a petri dish of musical talent. Recently the murky waters of the Mersey have spawned a number of unique and universally esteemed sounds, many of which have acquired impressive fanbases in the process. To name but a few, Clean Cut Kid, Circa Waves and Stealing Sheep are among those who’ve managed to gain momentum and keep Liverpool on the musical map of late – and if the attention that new trio HAARM have received is anything to go by, they’re surely headed in the same direction. HAARM are Chris McIntosh (vocals/guitar), Jen Davies (vocals) and brothers Olly and Dylan Gorman (drums and bass, respectively). Initially formed as a songwriting project between old friends, the buzz surrounding their first single Foxglove swiftly reached fever pitch, leading to frequent radio airplay, over 33,000 plays on SoundCloud and Hollywood personality Chloë Grace Moretz expressing her adoration for the song. “When Jen approached me,” says McIntosh, “the initial aim was just to write maybe a few songs that we were happy with, and then think about whether we were going to do a band ourselves or whether we’d try and give the songs to somebody else.” The results of their instant chemistry made it an easy decision: they opted to realise their potential as a band. “We just wanted to write as many good songs as possible. The first song that we wrote together was Foxglove – very quickly after that we realised this was something we wanted to pursue as our own band.” Released online back in January of last year, Foxglove opens with an attention-grabbing flurry

January/February 2017

of processed drums, swiftly joined by soft keys and simultaneous male/female vocals to create an instantly arresting earworm that – on the surface – drips with positivity. There’s more to its appeal than merely being a good indie-pop song, however; it’s bound to have connected with many of the nation’s left-leaners.

“ Foxglove is about the Tory government dragging the country down into the depths of despair, basically” Chris McIntosh

“It’s a little bit political,” McIntosh explains. “It’s about the Tory government dragging the country down into the depths of despair, basically.” The songwriter admits that he doesn’t usually set out with a theme or message, and the development of Foxglove was a creative coincidence that paid off. “At the time that we wrote it, the Tory government had just been elected back in. It was literally the day after. We were obviously a little bit disenchanted and a little bit pissed off about that.” In the wake of Brexit and Trump’s presidential success, the lyrics seem more poignant than ever

– as becomes clear once we dig a little deeper into the metaphorical meaning behind their sound. “The lyrics in the chorus are basically, ‘This ship that you are sailing’s going down / So show me land,’” McIntosh continues, emphasising the desire for change at the heart of the song. He goes on to explain how other lyrical contrasts (‘he stands in a doorway’ versus ‘she sleeps in a doorway’) point to the disparity between those in power and those left to fend for themselves. “Not all of our stuff is political,” he says, “we just went down that road with that one.” Even the song’s title serves to extend its allegorical concerns, however: “The idea behind Foxglove [is that] the flower means insincerity.” The perfect metaphor for the current Tory government? The disingenuity of the party’s Brexit campaigners, and their willingness to throw the disenfranchi-sed under the bus, would certainly suggest so. McIntosh talks about the band’s decision to stay behind the scenes for a long time after their formation – since the original intent of HAARM was to only write songs rather than perform them, the band’s live debut came almost two years after their inception. “We put off playing live for a long time. As soon as we put Foxglove out we got asked to do so many gigs, and so many great gigs as well, which perhaps in the past we would’ve jumped at the chance to do. We just felt that we were rushing into it a little bit; we hadn’t rehearsed as a band when we’d put Foxglove out because we’d literally just written those songs and recorded them. We didn’t even have a band really. So initially we kind of took our time.”

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The waiting certainly paid off, and their first live appearance was eventually booked for the recent Liverpool Music Week, as the main support for sisterly oddpop duo Let’s Eat Grandma. “By the time we were asked to do the DIY gig for Liverpool Music Week, we were champing at the bit,” he says. “It had been about nine months since we’d put Foxglove out.” The reception they received was wholly positive, with a member of the crowd holding up hand-crafted letters spelling out the band’s name and a headache-inducing roar of applause at their finale. The future looks promising for HAARM to say the very least, and while the specifics of their plans largely remain under wraps, they’ve recently been announced as support to London’s enduring postpunkers Bloc Party for three sold-out dates. “I love Bloc Party so I’m really pleased! Two dates in the Roundhouse, and one in the Manchester Albert Hall. Everyone in the band has always wanted to play the Roundhouse because it’s just such an amazing venue, such a prestigious place so it’s just like, ‘Wow!’ One to tick off the list.” Keen to build on the success of their debut single and its equally vital follow-up In the Wild (just released), the band will hit the recording studio in the New Year. “We’ve got four new songs that we’re dying to record. We’re going to record those in January and maybe look at putting out an EP in the springtime.” As embedded as they already seem in Liverpool’s musical landscape, this is only the beginning for HAARM. With treats in store for 2017, it looks like their story is set to continue. HAARM support Bloc Party at Albert Hall, Manchester, 8 Feb

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A Living Snapshot We caught up with Julia Jacklin in Melbourne at a ridiculously early time of day to discuss her overnight success with debut album, Don’t Let the Kids Win, which came in at number 34 in our Albums of 2016 list – not bad for a debut Interview: Gary Kaill

’m in Melbourne and I’m in a record store. I’m going to be playing a show here in a couple of hours. It’s early for you, right?” Oh yes. It’s early afternoon in Australia but, for The Skinny, sat blearyeyed in front of a Skype connection, well – let’s just say it’s as late as it is early. But for Julia Jacklin – whose Don’t Let the Kids Win is one of the finest debut albums of 2016 – we’ll forgo a few hours kip. Jacklin appears to have emerged almost overnight, certainly to UK audiences but there’s history behind her already accomplished songbook. “I’ve had the songs for a long time,” she explains. “Well, I had most of them. And then I heard Aldous Harding’s album and I just loved the production. I thought it was just exactly what I was looking for. It was this warm, lo-fi production that took care to support the songwriting. And I just wanted my songs to breathe and not be too smothered. So I emailed the producer, Ben Edwards, and told him I was this songwriter from Sydney, Australia and I’d like to work with him. And he was like ‘Yeah, come over! Live at my house!’ Unbelievable, really. So I went over to New Zealand a few months later and I stayed there for three weeks and, yeah, we made the record.” Sounds simple, and Jacklin’s understatement skates past both the quality of her writing and the record’s irresistible legacy stylings: a reverb-heavy mix that deftly frames the natural vibrato of her voice. “Yeah, well that whole schtick,” she begins, and pauses. “I know that my music can definitely sound old and I know that the styling in my videos and press shots could look quite 70s or something but I’m trying to always keep it modern as well. I don’t want to be like a retro act – I like it when you have these elements that are jarring.” That much is evident on the album’s startling cover where Jacklin lounges in a room that is clearly from another time – it’s just not exactly clear when. The presence of a large blue gym ball only blurs things further. Jacklin expands on the recording process: “So, yeah, Ben and I hadn’t met before. He just picked me up when I arrived in Christchurch and we started the next day. I mean, it was a pretty big gamble but thankfully we got on really well.” Aside from its melodic and sonic pull, Don’t Let the Kids Win’s lyric sheet reveals a deep gift for storytelling. ”I‘ve always kept a diary for as long as I can remember. I guess I always wanted to be a writer when I was a kid but the songwriting didn‘t really happen until I was about 20.” It looks like the lyrics take precedence. “Yes, they do. Lyrics are the most important thing for me. I usually finish the songs on the guitar but they can come to me when I‘m walking down the street or driving my car or having a shower or something: moments when I‘m alone. A phrase or a scene will come into my head and I‘ll just play them over and over again until I get something interesting and then I‘ll put it to guitar.” That notion of someone diarising the events in their life is an appropriate way in to the album’s mix of observation and confession. You can hear Jacklin musing aloud in her songs: “I think it’s interesting with song writing how it can highlight the issues you’re having in the moment in your life,” she says. “It’s very cool for me to be able to look back over this record – because I made it over a year ago and I wrote the songs two or more

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years before that – so I do feel quite removed from it already. But I’m really glad that I have it now because it’s a really nice snapshot of my early twenties: a little time capsule that documents my feelings and my experiences.” As the record finds a following, as reaction develops and grows, might the songs come alive in new ways? “Yeah, they might. I find that idea quite interesting. You know, because I’ve lived the album for a while and spent a long time talking about it, I’m actually really relieved that it’s out there now and it gets to, I don’t know, live on. It’s quite weird that people might now start to connect with me in a new and fresh way. And, you know, I’m very proud of my slightly younger self for writing those songs and recording them and being brave enough to do it off her own back.”

“You come to realise that the first time you broke up with someone isn’t actually the most tragic event ever” Julia Jacklin

Songs like the beautiful, sorrowful Leadlight work almost as parables, such is their narrative scope. Jacklin revisits her experiences, details those events and those feelings in a vivid past tense and then almost offers a closing summary: a commentary from a different position. “Well, look – I never really connected with that whole notion of getting up and singing depressing songs about my life for people. I do want a hopeful ending in the songs. I guess a big part of it as an adult is realising that your experiences are not unique. That’s not necessarily a bad thing – it’s something that binds us all together. You come to realise that the first time you broke up with someone isn’t actually the most tragic event ever. So, I take that mentality into my songwriting: don’t feel sorry for yourself. It’s just human experience and I guess I want to, as you were saying, resolve those experiences in some way. Even if you don’t have an answer, at least you’re able to pause and think about it.” Perhaps the smartest sad songs look for a way out of the sadness? Even if, sometimes, they never quite make it? “I guess that’s what I explore in the title track,” agrees Jacklin. “It’s this idea that as you get older and the things around you are changing, it’s okay that it feels weird. It does feel weird. And, you know, you have to acknowledge that and just keep going.” Don’t Let the Kids Win. It’s a great title. Jacklin laughs. “Yeah… I like it. People seem to have very different ideas of what it means and I like that, too.” Julia Jacklin plays Glasgow King Tut's, 27 Feb

Photo: Shervin Iainez

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They Come from a Land Down Under Fractures Fractures is the moniker of Melbourne-based multi-instrumentalist, singer-songwriter and producer Mark Zito, who makes incredibly immersive and lovely floaty pop music. Fractures will release his debut album Still Here on 10 Feb. Listen to: Fall Harder Oh Pep! Melbourne-based folk/pop band Oh Pep! were formed in 2009 by Olivia Hally and Pepita Emmerichs. Their debut album Stadium Cake was released in June 2016 via Dualtone Records and it’s a lovely slice of pop worth checking out. Listen to: The Race Owen Rabbit One of Australia’s most enigmatic artists, Owen Rabbit released his debut self-produced and mixed EP One at the end of last year. Since the release of his 2015 breakthrough track Holy Holy, the Melbourne-based musician has carved out a reputation as one of the most exciting and

unpredictable songwriters and producers. Listen to: Holy Holy Bossy Love Glasgow-based Bossy Love feature John Baillie Jr and ex-Operator Please singer – and genuine Australian – Amandah Wilkinson. They had a pretty exciting 2016, bringing their high energy live show to many a city up and down the UK, and with a number of single releases under their belt it’s surely time for something bigger in 2017. Listen to: Call Me Up Hazel English Australian-born, Oakland, California-based singer-songwriter Hazel English released her debut EP Never Going Home via Marathon in October 2016 and has a second one due to follow shortly. English has been working with Justin Raisen (Angel Olsen / Charli XCX / Santigold), so 2017 should be a pretty exciting year. Listen to: Never Going Home

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January/February 2017

Keeping it Real From Dawson’s Creek heartbreaker to indie royalty, we speak to the incomparable Michelle Williams, who gives a stunning performance in Manchester by the Sea, the new film from Kenneth Lonergan

ichelle Williams is haunted. Spectres of film roles past hang around her psyche like benevolent Banquos. “I think about all of them,” the 36-year-old actor tells us during her visit to 2016’s London Film Festival, “and the harder that you work on something, or the more time you put into something, the more deeply ingrained they become inside of your own body memory.” One character who’s been particularly limpetlike is Cindy Heller, the young woman who falls in and out of love with Ryan Gosling’s ukulele-playing Dean in Derek Cianfrance’s bittersweet romantic drama Blue Valentine. “I didn’t take off [Cindy]’s wedding ring for like a month after that movie; I just couldn’t let it go,” Williams recalls. “But it gets to a certain point where you have to go back and be yourself. One does really need to make an effort to not allow all these people to hitchhike inside of your soul; it’s not a healthy way to live.” From where we’re sitting, Williams looks pretty well adjusted. She’s made the transition from the young star of 90s teen phenomenon Dawson’s Creek to formidable indie actor without seeming to break sweat. Part of her success might be down to her refined taste in collaborators. Since Dawson’s Creek wrapped in 2003, Williams has worked with some of the great auteurs working today, filmmakers like Martin Scorsese (Shutter Island), Todd Haynes (I’m Not There), Lukas Moodysson (Mammoth), Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain) and Charlie Kaufman (Synecdoche, New York); and her three films with Kelly Reichardt (Wendy and Lucy, Meek’s Cutoff and the upcoming Certain Women) represent the most rewarding director-actor collaboration in US cinema right now. In other words, Michelle Williams is an actor with an uncannily sharp nose for quality film projects. We suggest this, but she’s skeptical. “Did you see Suite Française?” she laughs. “Wow. Ouch. That one hurt.” To make or to watch back? “Both,” she says without missing a beat. “You can never have a sense when you read something – or even while you’re making it – if it’s going to be good or not. You really

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can’t tell. And you work just as hard on the movies that are bad as you do on the ones that are good. So it’s alway sort of a surprise how they turn out.” Her approach to choosing roles is more instinctual. In fact, it’s positively physical. “I can feel my heart might want to jump out of my chest,” she says, describing how she feels when she reads a good script, “and my brain starts working on it as if it’s a little puzzle and I need to solve it. And that’s how I know that I want to do something and it just becomes a part of my thought process. Even if I don’t have the role, or even if I don’t get the role, it’s just something that I’m drawn to and then start thinking a lot about.” In the case of Manchester by the Sea, the brilliant new film Williams is in London to promote, she didn’t even wait for this reaction. “I knew that I would say yes to it before I even read it, simply because of the kind of artist Kenny is. You’d be foolish to turn down an opportunity to work with him.” The “Kenny” Williams refers to is Kenneth Lonergan, the playwright, screenwriter and director who, thanks to the recent acceleration in productivity of Terrence Malick and Terence Davies, is western cinema’s new snail’s pace genius, having managed only three features in 16 years – each one a masterpiece. In addition to Manchester by the Sea, Lonergan’s golden trio is completed by 2000’s You Can Count on Me and Margaret, which was shot in 2005 but not released until six years later, where it disappeared from theatres almost immediately. The scarcity of a Lonergan film makes being in one all the more special. “I had always wanted to work with him because his worlds are so complete and so authentic,” explains Williams, “and I really wanted to be a person in one of them.” Williams' screentime in Manchester by the Sea isn’t substantial – she’s only in a handful of scenes – but her character, Randi, packs a punch. We see two versions of her in the film. In flashback there’s firecracker Randi, the foul-mouthed mother of three who’s in a lively and loving marriage to Lee, the film’s main focus, played by Casey Affleck. Then there’s the Randi of the present, who’s less

rambunctious than her former self and now married to another man with whom she’s had a child. The reason why Lee and Randi are no longer together is revealed piecemeal throughout the film. We won’t divulge the circumstance for their breakup here, but we will say it’s devastating.

“ It’s so unnatural to see yourself so large on a screen and I don’t have the stomach for it” Michelle Williams

Manchester by the Sea is a film filled with wonderful moments, but if only one scene from the last 12 months of cinema had to be locked away and preserved for eternity it has to be the one in which Lee, who’s been emotionally stunted by the event that caused his marriage to crumble, meets Randi by chance in the street of their hometown, the fishing village of the title, which Lee has reluctantly returned to to see to his brother’s funeral arrangements. The scene is the fulcrum of the movie. Lee’s emotions have remained pent up until this point, but this encounter with his ex-wife is where they’re released. “I think we were both nervous because there’s just a lot going on in it,” Williams explains. “It’s very technical, a very tricky scene to learn because of all the overlapping dialogue.” It’s also a long scene, perhaps the longest in the movie. Up until this point Lonergan’s edits have been as sharp and curt as the surly and taciturn Lee has been. But in this scene Randi is in control; it plays out to her rhythms. “You don’t often get opportunities like that in movies, to work

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Interview: Jamie Dunn

with so many words and to work on something that lengthy,” she says. “Movies tend to be so much about what people aren’t saying or the spaces in between lines, but there is a dynamic verbal exchange in that scene, and it has to be performed in a very specific way. Everything is important to [Lonergan], the oohs, the aahs, the mms; those are all scripted.” Get used to seeing this scene: it’s surely the clip the Academy Awards will play when Williams receives her fourth Oscar nomination. When we ask Casey Affleck what makes Williams such a special actor he points to the realism of her performances. “She just inhabits the role and instantly you feel like, Oh, here’s a real person who’s treating me like I’m a real person in the world,” he says. Her secret, he reckons, is that she can communicate several emotions at once. “There’s a lot going on in her eyes and in the way she says stuff. She can convey both annoyance and love in the same sentence. So it starts to feel like, Oh, that’s how my wife talks to me.” Since its premiere at Sundance, Manchester by the Sea has earned rave reviews and was picked up by Amazon Studios for nearly ten million dollars. Williams sheepishly confesses that she’s in no hurry to see it herself, however. “It’s been three years since I’ve seen a movie that I’ve been in – I just find the whole thought of it too jarring.” You should watch it, we tell her. It’s pretty good. “I was joking with Kenny about not having seen it last night. I told him, ‘I’m going to see it, I just need to see it small and contained and privately.’ Kenny was like, ‘so on an iPhone,’ and I said, ‘That would be perfect! Yes!’ It’s so unnatural to see yourself so large on a screen and I don’t have the stomach for it right now.” Normally we’d never condone watching a film on a phone, but such is the power of Williams’ performance, she’ll blow you away, even on the puniest of screens. Manchester by the Sea is released 13th Jan by StudioCanal

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Photo: Louise Wallwein

The Island Poet Louise Wallwein recalls volunteering with Kos Solidarity in Greece, providing food, water and support for refugees – experiences which have informed a new dramatic work exploring the urgency of this global crisis

he child, Aylan, he was heading to Kos when he drowned with his mother and brother. When I read that, I went cold; he was heading to an island I know very well. Life started to turn around for me when I became one of the 1% of care leavers to get a degree. At Salford University I met this very kind and cool bunch of international students from all over the world: Angola, Portugal, Greece. I became good friends with my pal George Frouzakis who had to go back to his island, Kos, and do his national service. I went to see him and was welcomed by his wonderful family. People from Kos are very kind, they share their food and take you in. This meant the world to me, with no family of my own. When this crisis hit them – these waves of people seeking peace and security – the people of Kos and the Greek Islands were left to deal with the situation on their own. So I got in touch with George, he told me about Kos Solidarity and I hopped on a plane as soon as I could. The first time I went out, it was still at the human disaster stage. It was the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen. Kos has a beautiful harbour, all Italianate castle walls, archways. Sensual sea, blue Turkish coast in the distance. A long promenade where tourists stroll at sunset. Then opposite the police station were several hundred dome tents. And people, so many people, refugees, washing their clothes, making phone calls, washing in the sea. Peeing in the sea. It was a catastrophe and there was this terrible stench. Usually at that time of year the only thing you can smell is the heady scent of jasmine. The beach was littered with life jackets, discarded clothes, water bottles, flip-flops, rubber dinghies and people who had paid a huge ransom to flee war, the violence of poverty. Human driftwood. At that point, international and local Greek volunteers were the only people giving food and water. Médecins Sans Frontières were there to give medical aid, Flying Help from Germany. We were there to give out meals prepared in a warehouse and brought to the port. The night shift was where we greeted people arriving on the boats. Mostly soaking wet, forced to swim much of the way and then they had to walk five kilometres to us at the port. We could not go and pick people up, we would have been accused of smuggling. Most people were shocked and traumatised by the journey through to Turkey, over the Maku

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mountains that is the border between Turkey and Iran. One of the familiar stories was that people, once in the hands of human traffickers, were forced to march over snow-covered mountain paths at gunpoint. If someone would fall and be injured, then the smugglers would knife them. If a baby cried it was given sleeping syrup, and sometimes those babies would not wake up again. It was described as being laden with dead bodies, that part of the route; they were treated worse than dogs; it was a repeated phrase.

“ I would often ask people which country they wanted to land up in. It made me feel sad that only ten people out of the thousands said England. I feel this is our loss” Solidarity is about being practical but also human. We welcomed people with a big smile, good wishes and the most basic things; my priority was water, warmth and laughter. We wouldn’t force people to queue for food, we would take food to the tents, say Salaam, hello, ask how people were. Befriend them while they were resting at this waypoint on their journey. It would sometimes take weeks for people’s paperwork to be sorted out. People would sign in at the cop shop then wait for their name to be on the list outside the police station. This list was next to a list of the missing. So many did not make it. The Mediterranean claimed somewhere around 4000 people last year. There was trauma everywhere and shock, you had to keep your eye on those grieving.

However, there was loads of happiness when people got their papers to get on the boat to Athens. It was a bit like an episode of Love Boat, you got to know people very quickly in that situation, mini sagas had played out – then waving them off onto the ferry at the end. Repaired a little, a good outfit picked out of the lucky bag of donations. I don’t think people realise how bad it is in the camps in Greece. A country that is in the midst of its own crisis is being left to cope alone with the people trapped there. We need to keep up our efforts to support them. We are so buffered here on our small island from this crisis. Everywhere else in Europe has been affected. In all the major cities people have mobilised to support refugees. This gave people the chance to be kind. To be human, to be active. Here we are immune. I would often ask people which country they wanted to land up in. It made me feel sad that only ten people out of the thousands said England. I feel this is our loss. I met some ace people, doctors, teachers, mathematicians, carpenters, artists and none of them wanted to come here. I don’t know, is it because we are an island that we are so convinced that we are the centre of the world? A story that will never leave me is about a group of young men I met at Christmas. Fine blokes from Kurdistan, great haircuts. Decent, polite and very gentle. I’d got to know them a bit, we’d laughed a lot. They kept in touch during their journey. They did the march through the Balkan route, made it to Germany, got to a camp and then were told they had 30 days to get out of the country. They headed down into France, made it to Dunkirk. It was a frantic journey but they were sticking together. Then one of the lads changed his mind and decided to pay a smuggler to get him to Germany, where his uncle was. He froze to death in the back of the truck. I’d met him, laughed with him. The rest of the lads made it to the UK, we keep in touch. They are doing OK. I’ll never forget all the people that I met, both refugee and volunteer. It was hard work but also we had lots of good times. I will aways remember doing the night shift on Christmas Eve, all of us volunteers resting on Ikea bags stuffed with donations, looking up at the constellations; a poet, a couple from California, newlywed volunteers – this frontline was their honeymoon. Then we were joined by people from Syria, Pakistan, and the

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conversation continued and it felt like I was in the right time and place. Totally present and standing by the side of people who needed someone simply to be kind. There is no such thing as other people. We are all the same, we laugh at the same jokes, want the same things. We all just want to be safe. No one likes to see anyone suffer – although one of the memories scored right into me is, there was this one running tap, by the square where we did our shift. There was a man brushing his teeth, there in his lunghi, no choice but to sort himself out there. And then groups of tourists would drift by and take selfies. With my work The Island, The Sea, The Volunteer & The Refugee I want to motivate people to take an active part in this crisis, to understand it has not gone anywhere, that children are still drowning, that young teenagers are going missing and how empowering it is be active in whatever way suits you. In it you hear George Chartofilis, the founder of Kos Solidarity, by day a physics teacher and for the rest of his hours a real humanitarian, describing how he gathered his mates to a meeting where each person put five or ten euros into a pot and they brought food and water to the people. Then they were helped by tourists who could not ignore the people arriving on boats with no one to help them. They got on with it. They saved many lives, comforted relatives, delivered babies. They motivated Greek grandmas to make hot food every day. They eventually got loads of help from around the world. Sometimes containers of rice would arrive from Ireland, knitted hats from Austria. It was quite incredible. Just ordinary people being given the opportunity to be kind. This is something that I feel aggrieved about regarding the way the British responded to this human crisis. I feel sorry that Calais was allowed to ever happen. It is in our make-up to show solidarity to others. Kos Solidarity now supplies clothes to the Hotspot camp. If you would like to make a donation, visit kos-solidarity.com. Louise suggests shoes: “Winter is here and many people don’t have them.” Louise Wallwein was in interview with Lauren Strain The Island, The Sea, The Volunteer & The Refugee is at HOME, Manchester, 15, 18, 19 & 21 Jan, part of PUSH Festival 2017 homemcr.org

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Magic in the Moonlight Moonlight, a gorgeous and deeply moving character study of a young black man grappling with his sexuality in working-class Miami, is the year’s most talked about indie film. Director Barry Jenkins takes us through its inception

e are in a plush hotel room in central London, and Barry Jenkins is sitting on the floor. He is slumped against a wall with his legs outstretched as he recreates the moment when playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney saw Jenkins’ Moonlight for the first time. “Oh, I’ll never forget it,” he recalls with a chuckle. “I showed it to him at a private screening room. The movie ended, and he got up, he sat on the floor, and he stared at his feet for like 20 minutes. It was him, myself and André Holland – because him and André go way back – and he said, ‘I don’t know how many times I can watch that, because you’ve brought to life some things I haven’t been able to think about for so long.’” As he returns to his chair, Jenkins admits that this felt like the first significant milestone on Moonlight’s journey. “Thankfully great things continue to happen, but at that point I was like, alright, I’m good.” The great things that have happened to Moonlight since that first screening have included universal acclaim, box-office success, and an apparently endless series of prizes from critics groups and awards bodies, including one from the British Independent Film Awards that Jenkins collected the night before our interview. His adaptation of McCraney’s story In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue follows a young man named Chiron through his troubled childhood, adolescence and adulthood in Miami, and the film is rooted in the experiences of both McCraney and Jenkins, who grew up nearby and in similar circumstances without knowing each other. For Jenkins, this personal investment is the key to the film’s widespread success. “I think because we didn’t try to make the movie for everyone, people really respond to that,” he explains. “I think we live in a time now where, because of the business dynamics of what we do, the imperative is to make something that everyone can

January/February 2017

love. With this film I was trying to make a movie for an audience of two, myself and Tarell, because the movie is more or less about the two of us. I think when you do that, people respect it, you know. It passes the bullshit test.” McCraney wrote In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue in 2003 but it was never produced for the stage, and watching the film it’s difficult to see how it would have worked in that environment. Moonlight is a richly cinematic work with so many of its key moments resting on gestures, glances, close-ups and physical intimacy, and Jenkins agrees that the screen is its natural home. “I don’t think it would have ever worked on a stage, and I don’t think Tarell ever wrote it intending it to be on a stage,” he says. “Now I also don’t think that the first version I read would have worked in the format it was on screen. I always describe it as being halfway between the stage and the screen, but it was inherently visual, even when he first wrote it, and like you my first instinct was, this is not going to work on the stage but there are some very interesting visuals here. The original piece was like 47 pages, so there was a lot of space within it and there was a lot of room for me to extend and create. I always knew that I wanted to make a film that would live on faces and physical gestures, and it was wonderful to have his language to connect those very silent beats.” To make a film that lives on faces you need to make sure you get the right faces, and one key to Moonlight’s impact is the way the three inexperienced and very different actors cast as Chiron – Alex Hibbert, Ashton Sanders and Trevante Rhodes – create a fully realised character, with physical and emotional details echoing across the stories. “It’s magic,” Jenkins says with a laugh when asked how he pulled this off, before amending his answer to “magic and a great casting director,” but it’s true that there seems to be a mysterious

kind of alchemy at work as this character develops during the course of the film. “We ended up in a place where they were organically feeling the same thing because it is the same character, just becoming a different person,” he says. “There’s this idea that no matter what version of Chiron you’re watching, and no matter what version the character is performing for the outside world, internally he’s still the same person. I’ve said this a lot, but we were casting them based on this feeling in their eyes, and that’s why the poster works, because they all have the same deep vulnerability in their eyes.”

“ We didn’t try to make the movie for everyone, people really respond to that” Barry Jenkins

Moonlight is a small film, made for roughly $5 million, but it’s still a big leap forward from Jenkins' mumblecore romance Medicine for Melancholy, his only previous feature. That film was made in 2008. Does it feel like the work of a different filmmaker? “Nah, same filmmaker, different circumstances, different resources,” he says. “I do think I’m a different person. I think I’m definitely more mature. I could make Medicine today, but I could not have made Moonlight eight years ago. So I think there has been, not an evolution, but I think I

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Interview: Philip Concannon

have evolved and matured in certain ways, less aesthetically and more emotionally.” He has spent much of the intervening eight years working on commercials, shorts and branded content, a worthwhile learning experience that he credits with sharpening his filmmaking instincts and teaching him to work with large crews, but he also had a couple of features that he failed to get off the ground in that time. “But you know what? They weren’t personal enough,” he admits. “I’m not saying that every movie you do has to be as personal as this one has been, but I do think – to circle back to the beginning of our conversation – that people are responding to this film the way they are because it’s clearly so personal; they respect that. The things I was working on before I probably didn’t care about as much as I cared about this one, so I’ve got to be very good about finding things that I can genuinely care about.” He’s not thinking about that yet, however. For now, Jenkins is happy to stay on the road, taking Moonlight from one country to another and discovering how disparate audiences react to the very personal and specific story that he and McCraney have created. “The best thing about winning the BIFA last night was thinking, holy shit, we’re a long way from Miami. I mean a long way away – and yet, people are still seeing themselves in the film,” he says. “I want to go to Turkmenistan to see if people can see themselves in the film there. No matter what community you go to, there are people who feel ostracised or othered, and they rarely see narratives about ostracised or other characters where those characters have their full humanity on display and intact, so I think it’s in some ways important to take the film as far as it can go. I’m not speaking of awards and things like that, but physically to just get the movie to as many people as possible.” Moonlight is released 24 Feb by Altitude

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Crime Fighting Sisters Lady Cop Makes Trouble picks up the story of the three Kopp sisters after their debut in Girl Waits With Gun. Amy Stewart talks about filling the holes in fact with fiction and reflecting modern feminist issues through these 1920s crime fighting sisters Interview: Annie Rutherford

t can be hard to find stories about adult sisters, as novelist Amy Stewart points out. Once we’ve outgrown Little Women and Dodie Smith’s glorious coming-of-age novel I Capture the Castle, the best we can hope for is perhaps Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility, which are more interested in the sisters’ relationships with their Willoughbys and Wickhams than with each other. Yet for many of us, our relationship with our siblings is one of our most enduring ties throughout our lives, surviving rivalries and tears at which friendships might flounder and offering support, inspiration and wisdom which we might not seek from our parents. It is this cocktail of stubborn loyalty, heady admiration and more than occasional frustration which made sisterhood into one of the leading metaphors behind the feminist movement. And so it is a joy to come across a series of books which follows three sisters as they live and work together – all the more so given that Constance, Norma and Fleurette Kopp were real people whose lives played out in the early years of the 20th century, as the first tentative steps towards women’s rights were being taken.

“ Anything women did which was out of the ordinary made headlines” Amy Stewart

Amy Stewart’s first book about the Kopp sisters, Girl Waits With Gun, appeared in the UK in 2016 and transports the reader to New Jersey in 1914, to a small town as yet seemingly unruffled by the onset of war across the Atlantic. When Constance, Norma and Fleurette’s buggy is upturned thanks to some unconscionably bad driving on the part of a local silk merchant, it is an incident that has unlikely consequences. The driver refuses to pay for the damage caused and instead starts terrorising the sisters, who see bricks thrown through their windows, kidnapping threats and arson attempts. In response, the town sheriff fits the women out with guns and teaches them how to shoot. These first, startling lessons prove to be the start of a long career in law enforcement for Constance – the oldest sister and Stewart’s narrator – who went on to become one of the first female deputy sheriffs in the USA. “Constance was really a misfit,” Stewart points out, as she explains what first drew her to the

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Kopps. “She didn’t want to get married. At the age of 35, nothing was really going on in her life. And then this one event happened and changed everything. That doesn’t happen to most people; our lives change gradually.” She laughs, “That’s why no one would write a novel about my life.” The idea for the books grew out of a moment of serendipity: Stewart had been researching a gin smuggler when she’d come across a newspaper article about the Kopps’ accident and its aftermath. “Just yesterday a similar thing happened,” she remarks. “You just find these weird, wonderful stories when you’re researching. Yesterday I came across something, stuck it in a file, and thought, someday I’ll have to write a book about this. “With the Kopp sisters, rather than just save a couple of things in a folder and go back to what I was doing, I lost the rest of the day searching for more information about them. It’s such a long and really interesting story. I thought, this isn’t just a novel, it’s a series of novels, it’s a TV series! There’s a run of about 15 years of the sisters living and working together in law enforcement.” The second book about the Kopps, Lady Cop Makes Trouble, is just out in the UK and picks up a few months after Girl Waits With Gun leaves off, with Constance working as a deputy for the wonderfully drawn Sheriff Heath. Like the first book, it’s both a gem of rediscovered female history and a pleasingly page-turning crime novel. When a prisoner escapes on Constance’s watch, she takes herself off to the streets of New York to bring him back, often going against her superior’s orders to do so. Constance’s contested position as a deputy is at stake: while a law had recently been passed allowing women to serve as police officers, to be a deputy you had to be eligible to vote – which women weren’t. As with Girl Waits With Gun, the title and (beautifully designed) cover of Lady Cop Makes Trouble is inspired by newspaper articles from the time, of which there are a wealth about Constance and her sisters. “At first I was surprised that there were so many articles about the Kopps – but then I realised that anything women did which was out of the ordinary made headlines,” Stewart remarks. “One newspaper from the time reported on two women who’d decided to have a race. They made the paper just because they did some running!” And there’s no denying that the Kopps were out of the ordinary. Constance did in the end get her deputy’s badge – and in the 1920s the sisters went on to open a detective agency, a development to be covered in later books in the series. If this sounds a bit too like Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, think again. Stewart’s books are steeped in the atmosphere of the era (“the time periods are so interesting,” she exclaims, “there’s always

so much done with the 1920s, but the 1910s are really fascinating too!”), but never in a way which treats the time period as a clichéd or glamorous backdrop. Rather, Stewart’s background as a nonfiction writer serves her well and the novels are meticulously researched, without the research ever getting in the way of the stories. These are novels, not biographies, and where Stewart’s research comes up against blanks, she fills in the gaps with fiction, but notes at the back of each book give curious readers the chance to fact check. “Sometimes authenticity is about dropping little details in,” Stewart considers. “There’s an important scene set in a New York subway station towards the end of Lady Cop Makes Trouble, and I actually went to New York and walked all around the subway station, figuring out which bits were old. There’s also a museum of the New York subway – it’s the most fascinating place in New York! They even have subway cars from that time which you can sit in. The seats in the subway cars are made of wicker, which would never have occurred to me. It’s great to be able to have those details.”

BOOKS

With their cast of idiosyncratic characters and a healthy dose of humour, the adventures of the resourceful Constance, the dramatic Fleurette and the contrary Norma offer some much needed escapism from the shadow cast by 2016. At the same time, however, Stewart points out that, “It’s amazing how similar the political situation now is to back then,” and this is subtly woven into the novels. Concerns about immigration were growing, fuelled in part by the European war. Globalisation was becoming a concept to be strived for. In some ways the books are a rallying cry to arms. Constance knows well that if anyone is to protect her sisters or defend her status as a deputy, that person is her. As Sheriff Heath is fond of reminding his colleagues, when things go wrong we can’t be defeated but rather we have to “get back to work.” It is a call reminiscent of the feminists, activists and other glorious people rallying out there at the moment to stand fast, stay strong and regroup. Lady Cop Makes Trouble is out 12 Jan and Girl Waits With Gun is out now Both titles are published by Scribe at RRP £8.99

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January/February 2017

All in the Mind I

n November, amid a political landscape that appears to be otherwise devolving, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave the green light on the third and final phase of trials which could alter the sole role of the drug MDMA from a recreational, illegal party and nightlife favourite, to a legal medicine designed to alleviate the effects of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) among military veterans. It’s a decision that could potentially change lives and industries, with the notoriously industrious, often cripplingly competitive US drugs market finally getting a share of what’s so far been a patentfree experiment in human ecstasy. Perhaps more positively, thousands of clinicians and therapists would be granted the opportunity to provide relief for thousands of psychologically affected veterans. Of course, much of this therapy, both in the US and the UK, has already been happening under the radar. MDMA (in its adulterated form) is much more freely available in Europe, but those involved in the clinical trials are subject to a distilled, near enough pure version of the drug costing a cool $400,000 a kilo. Slightly less competitive than the

price texted to you every Friday from that unsaved number in your phone. Jon Haynes and David Woods are neither psychedelic experimentalists nor military personnel, but the founders of celebrated experimental theatre collective, Ridiculusmus. Outright establishment frustration seems to have provided strong fodder for their most recent touring play, Give Me Your Love, the middle instalment of a trilogy of shows on the topic of mental health, each loosely connected but standing individually. Give Me Your Love is a jet black comedy about the anxiety of everyday domestic life after wartime. The script and initially bizarre staging are true to the company’s abiding approach of handling intriguing, sensitive material in a way that’s “seriously funny”, and concerns Zach and Euan, two Welsh squaddies dealing with the aftermath of unseen horrors while serving in Afghanistan. Since his return, family man Zach has boxed himself in. It’s a metaphor taken quite literally in the staging, which sees one of the pair encased in cardboard, stumbling around a dilapidated Port Talbot council house, while another is firmly behind a locked door. It is something

Give Me Your love

akin to Abbott and Costello meets Trainspotting. “The trigger for the staging concept is we both went to the Imperial War Museum on two separate trips, and we were both struck by a One Man Nuclear Test Capsule, which they affix to warships,” explains Haynes, who, with his partner, fleshed out the play over 12 months of intensive workshops in Cardiff, working out their rough concepts with a room full of enthusiastic participants. Haynes recalls interviewing a Gulf War veteran who described her uneasy life at sea as nothing more than “Spam in a can.” Unsurprisingly, the military has an even more strained relationship with drug use than most institutions. Give Me Your Love received rapturous praise upon its debut in cosmopolitan centres such as Sydney and London, but its upcoming 2017 tour takes it to locales such as Exeter and Aldershot, towns and cities known for their proliferation of servicemen and women.

“ The military is caught up in so much hypocrisy” David Woods

“The reaction was quite shocked, I think,” recalls Haynes of recent performances in Bridport, Dorset. “We had an interesting, intimate postshow discussion in the bar after one of these things, but the audience were actually quite conservative there. There were a couple of women who wanted to talk about their own experiences with PTSD after violent relationships they had been in. There was one woman who argued with me about the effects of MDMA. She said she used to take it and get very depressed, and was worried that people in therapy would have what they call the comedown.” Haynes adds that Dr. Ben Sessa, a collaborator of the pair and a leading figure in drug research in the UK, suspects ecstasy’s supposedly brutal comedown is a myth, the result of too much drinking, dancing and little sleep. “They’ve experimented with all this sort of stuff in the battlefield to enhance the performance

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Interview: John Thorp

THEATRE

of their soldiers or confuse the enemy in other ways, in order to get an advantage in a military setting,” explains Woods. “So then not to use it in [the] rehabilitation phase is just sort of hypocritical. But the military is caught up in so much hypocrisy, it’s that sort of territory where they can’t relax or experiment or be seen to be, and make dreadful errors on that basis. Everything from strategy through to duty of care has been spectacularly fucked up by generations of army personnel, leaders more so. Somebody who can get in there and lead and strategise, like, say, Napoleon, I’m sure he would be very keen to use MDMA to help his post-battle fatigue.” While we can only speculate as to whether Napoleon would have indulged himself with MDMA (and we’re not likely to find out anytime soon), Woods’ concerns and frustration may be borne out of drama, but are reflected in depressing, real world statistics. “Soldiers dying by their own hand post-war is higher than any number of deaths in the field of war,” he adds. “People need to wake up and embrace anything they can to stop that trend.” Nonetheless, despite its unusual setup (and a brief section influenced by the unlikely combination of World War I shell shock victims with hardcore Rotterdam rave music), Give Me Your Love veers anyway from anything highfalutin, staying true to the company’s initial vision of theatre that is ‘seriously funny’. “We have to be imaginative, to offer a sort of realm that only theatre is capable of,” acknowledges Woods. “So doing that from a dreary, blank, gutted house is much more fruitful than us trying to create that from a battleground or multiple characters. So there are lots of choices, and many of them are the economic reality of doing smallscale touring theatre. But they still require a bold investment in the belief that the imaginative realms are powerful ways of portraying experiences.” Producing a disarmingly sensible show out of an openly absurdist situation, Ridiculusmus continue to search for the right way forward through the most unlikely of solutions. Here’s hoping this current dose has the desired effect. Ridiculusmus: Give Me Your Love is at the Lowry, Salford, 10 & 11 Mar, part of SICK! Festival 2017 ridiculusmus.com | sickfestival.com

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Photos: Sarah Walker

A new work by adventurous theatre group Ridiculusmus explores the healing potential in altered states of consciousness. We speak to directors David Woods and Jon Haynes about their research into the use of MDMA in treatment of PTSD

Another Golden Age Longtime solo artist and former American Music Club frontman Mark Eitzel on new album, the Bernard Butler-produced Hey Mr Ferryman

t’s become a cliché. We’ve all seen the clickbait, the articles in the broadsheet newspapers. The best singer you’ve never heard of. And it’s always the same old story: some exceptionally talented human being who didn’t get the breaks, who warrants more attention, who deserves a bigger audience. Who should be fêted, bathing in pearls and throwing bundles of money on the fire. As Denis Leary says, “Life sucks, get a helmet.” Despite being the former frontman of the inestimable American Music Club (who existed off and on between 1983 and 2008, and recorded ten albums, one of which Eitzel has himself disowned) and a long-time solo artist in his own right (with another dozen-plus records to his name), Mark Eitzel could easily check that ‘best singer you’ve never heard of ’ box. But when we talk – on the eve of the American election, with a modicum of doubt still remaining as to whether the world is shuttling like a handcart in hell towards something new and terrible – Eitzel has his mind on other things. “America’s about to become a dictatorship,” he says, offering a sarcastic “hurray!” But he’s a glass-half-full kind of guy: “There’s only a few percentage points in it. It could go either way…” 20:20 vision and all that; we’ll gingerly push the optimism to one side and talk instead about his new album, Hey Mr Ferryman, recorded with ex-Suede guitarist Bernard Butler in the producer’s chair. As with his many career highlights to date, it’s yet another goddamn beautiful artefact, another tremendous collection of songs that crest its highs and circumnavigate its lows in a way that will move the hardest heart. His voice sounds as good as ever; lyrics thrum like struck metal – if he’s listening, the similarly gifted Mark Kozelek of Sun Kil Moon may have sufficient cause to ponder whether he could put more effort into a song than just reading out diary pages and fan letters.

“ I just want something that’s beautiful” Mark Eitzel

And the music… well, let’s just say that despite his Stoke Newington origins, Butler brings a beautiful, California-sunshine vibe to proceedings, best seen in album opener The Last Ten Years. “We came to him [Butler] and said, ‘We haven’t got enough money to do a complicated album, we need something really simple,’ and that was the plan,” Eitzel explains. “I got to London. I showed up and played him all the songs. And he said, ‘I know you wanna do an acoustic album but no – we’re not!’ And I was like, ‘Alright, you know, whatever.’”

January/February 2017

When it came to how the two of them worked in the studio, Butler’s determined outlook seemed to suit the outcome: “I didn’t like every single note that he played on the record but that doesn’t matter. Overall everything he did was as if he was reading my mind. This was what I really wanted. 'Cause I’ll do these demos and he’ll say, ‘Urgh! Shut the fuck up! Cut my wrists! Don’t do that – let’s do this instead.’ He really got into the spirit of what I wanted to do.” Eitzel reckons Hey Mr Ferryman is one for the fans. “Now that the career is over,” he chuckles, “I try to make songs, like this album particularly, for people who like me and American Music Club. Let’s just make a record with acoustic guitars and singing, because that’s what I do the best. I know my strengths and weaknesses, so let’s make a stupid pop album – like kids with guitars – and rock. Bernard did it and it’s great!” Of course, Eitzel does himself a disservice in reducing his diverse oeuvre to these “strengths and weaknesses” – as with West, the 1997 album he made with R.E.M.’s Peter Buck, Hey Mr Ferryman is an album that could extend to a wider audience, with new listeners checking him out for the first time. It has what people inclined to comment on these things call ‘crossover appeal’, in part because of its evident and deliberate lightness. “I’m so sick of listening to dark music,” Eitzel says. “I mean, I love dark music, I really do. Maybe I’m just sick of aspects of my own past. It’s sort of like I can’t listen to music right now that’s dark, unless it’s completely electronic, and then I can’t really hear it. Songwriters – don’t fuck with my head! Say something about my life! That’s all I want. I don’t want you to make me cry. I don’t want to feel what you’re feeling. I just want something that’s beautiful.” We mention a line from the song Rise – ‘Tell me how to make something beautiful flash before your eyes’ – which appeared on American Music Club’s album Everclear back in 1991. There’s always something beautiful to be found on Eitzel’s records, something capable of stopping the listener dead in their tracks – he’s put a lot of beauty out into the world. He’s quiet, as you might expect, but humbly says, “Thank you, that’s the intention.” So we agreed to avoid the clickbait. We’re not going to say Mark Eitzel is the best singer you’ve never heard of, but what we will say is this: Mark Eitzel is to The National, what Paul Weller is to Oasis. He should be revered, rewarded and celebrated. Until that day comes, however, we have Hey Mr Ferryman, the latest great Mark Eitzel record and the first possible album of 2017 out of the starting gate. Hey Mr Ferryman is released via Decor Records on 27 Jan

Photo: Mark Holthusen

Interview: Pete Wild

For All the Lost Souls: A beginner's guide American Music Club – California (1988) The first great American Music Club album reads like a setlist of classic AMC songs: Firefly, Somewhere, Last Harbor, Jenny, Blue and Grey Shirt and the superlative Western Sky. This is the album most AMC fans will tell you is the best. American Music Club – Everclear (1991) As much of a paean to lost friends as R.E.M.’s Automatic for the People, Everclear remains the finest expression of AMC: shivering with frail beauty (Why Won’t You Stay / Miracle on 8th Street), roaring from the heavens (Rise / Sick of Food), aching with bruised tenderness (ExGirlfriend / The Confidential Agent). If you only buy one AMC record...

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Mark Eitzel – 60 Watt Silver Lining (1996) A slightly jazzier affair than usual but the voice and the lyrical prowess shine through. Like Morrissey, Eitzel has a mordant wit, best discovered on When My Plane Finally Goes Down. But it’s when he looks up from the gutter to the stars, battered and broken but always hopeful that the record shines. Listen to Aspirin, Wild Sea and Saved. It’s all beautiful stuff. Mark Eitzel – Don’t Be a Stranger (2012) Eitzel’s 11th solo outing was funded by a fan’s lottery win, and from the plaintively urgent Oh Mercy and the almost Vegas-period Elvis of All My Love to the sweetly self-deprecating Why Are You With Me, it contains some of the best songs of his career.

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Paint Fumes and Perspective Cloud Nothings’ Dylan Baldi explains the progression and purpose behind the band’s most thoughtful record to date

ive albums deep, Cloud Nothings frontman Dylan Baldi wonders if he might have found some perspective. Maybe. “I mean, every record kind of feels like I’ve reached ‘that’ place,” he admits. “But then I make another one, and it’s like oh… I was wrong! I didn’t do it yet.” Since 2009, the Cleveland, Ohio band have specialised in digging deeper. Cloud Nothings began as Baldi’s solo project, dreamed up in his parents’ basement in Westlake, Ohio. After being offered a fortuitous support slot for indie heroes Real Estate, he realised he needed some help recreating his stormy, caustic songs in a live setting. Since then, Baldi’s penned intimate, introspective anthems that detail moving out and moving on from a once teenage point of view, and his songs have connected with fans the world over. 2012’s Attack on Memory marked the beginning of Cloud Nothings’ proper, full-band ambitions, while 2014’s Here and Nowhere Else wound eight furious songs into a tumultuous thirty minutes, and earned Pitchfork’s sought after Best New Music stamp, but their 2017 follow-up Life Without Sound promises to rewrite the book on this band’s capabilities. Taut and tense, Life Without Sound explores a world which, once greyscale, has just turned full colour. You could call it a coming of age album – except it explores that kind of revelatory self-development as a constant process, one which we’ll never quite complete. Baldi explains: “Everything – and this record in particular, I guess – revolves around figuring things out. I’m a little older and I’ve done a little more. I’ve had more time to think about what’s going on in my life and the world. It’s all the same sort of reflection, but updated. The updated, 2017 version.” This 2017 version of Cloud Nothings has undergone many changes in the almost three years since we heard from them last, beginning with simple geography. Baldi moved back to the States after living in Paris, staying first in Ohio, trying out Massachusetts, and then finally reuniting with TJ Duke (bass) and Jayson Gerycz (drums) in Cleveland. “When you’re in the same city it’s so easy,

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it’s unbelievable,” Baldi says cheerfully. “I was the only one who was moving around. Everyone else was smart.” After trying out a collaborative record with San Diego surf rock band Wavves in 2015, Cloud Nothings set to an unusually long stint of rehearsal time. “We started working on [new songs] in October 2015, but a lot of that was AWFUL. We hadn’t seen each other in a while, so we were hanging out and the work we got done was of questionable quality. But then we ended up practising every day for like, ten hours, in this space which smelled like paint fumes and probably killed brain cells, and we made a record…”

“ It took a while for it to become a cathartic statement, rather than just a scared and sad one” Dylan Baldi

To emphasise the difference between this sedate writing session and the band’s usual, lastminute antics, Baldi recalls the making of Here and Nowhere Else: “So for the last record, we forced ourselves not to have too much time to make it. We were touring a lot, and then all of a sudden it was like, oh… we have studio time. But we haven’t made a record yet. We’d better do that real fast. Jason and I were like, ‘here’s a song, here’s another!’ and then we ran and recorded it without having really played it through. It was hectic and the record reflects that because the songs are all insanely fast. Like, ‘maybe if I play fast it’ll sound good?’” He laughs. “There was a lot of horrible

coffee; there was a guy whose job it was to make coffee all the time. Then we made an intern go and buy a grinder, and he quit the next day. It was kind of intense, actually. We weren’t there for long but we caused trouble.” In further contrast, Life Without Sound was recorded over three weeks in Sonic Ranch studio, near El Paso, Texas by John Goodmanson (Los Campesinos!, Sleater-Kinney, Death Cab for Cutie, Bikini Kill) – another famous producer added to Cloud Nothings’ impressive roster, following previous records with Steve Albini and John Congleton. “I like switching!” Baldi explains. “Not because we’ve had a bad experience with anyone, but I don’t want to make the same record twice.” He describes how Goodmanson encouraged the band to spend extra time and focus working on the sound of their guitars – now bolstered by an extra pair of hands in Cloud Nothings’ newest member (and old school friend) Chris Brown. The record’s twin guitars reflect the growing complexity of the band’s songwriting, and result in truly monumental, theatrical implosions. On a record where even the jaunty single – Modern Act – investigates emotional overspill via a hook of ‘I am alive but all alone,’ the closing track Realize My Fate epitomises Life Without Sound’s ability to unnerve. ‘I believe in something bigger, but what I can’t articulate,’ Baldi intones over marching, ominous drums. As the song builds, so does the indescribable, all encompassing fear of a future unknown – before, in classic Cloud Nothings tradition, the song boils over into seething, frantic catharsis. “It’s an intense tune,” he agrees, exhaling. “It was actually the first song I wrote for this record. I made it when I came back from living in France: I came back and I didn’t know I wasn’t going back. It took a while for it to become a cathartic statement, rather than just a scared and sad one.” Baldi’s clear, concise, documentational lyrics mark another change for Cloud Nothings: it’s the first time that a lyric sheet will be included within one of their albums. “In the past I really did just

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Interview: Katie Hawthorne

write them the day before I had to record something! But it took us a long time to make these songs; took a while trying to write the words too,” he says. “So they’re not something I’m embarrassed of at all. I’m proud of the words. I feel that they mean a little more to me than any other lyrics have – they’re not exactly narrative stories, but they’re definitely more that than the past records have been. I think this time it’s pretty apparent what everything is supposed to be: it’s about finding a thing that you didn’t know was a thing, and applying that to your whole life.” The narrative remains mysterious at times, but the idea of discovering some kind of secret key feeds through every track. ‘I find peace in the terror of the mind,’ Baldi professes, bravely, on opening song Up to the Surface, and explains this new, almost philosophical perspective with a neat chorus on Things Are Right With You: “feel right, feel lighter.” On Facebook, Baldi recently rewrote the band’s bio as “New Age” – a surprising summary of a band that’s produced many more mosh pits than meditation sessions. “Yeah, I’ve been saying that lately,” he laughs. “But for me, these songs all sort of move in the same way as the ambient stuff that I enjoy. Where everything leads to an end point that’s just a little bigger and more powerful. Every song follows a path that’s winding and weird for a while, and then at the end it hits, in a big way.” Baldi’s holistic approach is far more thunderous than, say, yoga, but this updated, regrouped Cloud Nothings is striving for a strangely similar kind of resolution. Like many of us, Baldi grew up in a sleepy suburb with little to do for fun. After he turned sixteen and gained a driver’s licence, he would take out his parents’ car “and just drive around, you know, into farms and stuff, and listen to records.” When he visits Westlake the ritual still remains, but occasionally he test-drives the band’s most recent studio recordings, instead: “I don’t know why I do it,” he muses. “But it’s fun to see if you’re still the same person.” Life Without Sound is released via Wichita Records on 27 Jan

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Album of the Month Ty Segall

Ty Segall [Drag City Records, 27 Jan]

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rrrrr Shite rrrrr Boring rrrrr Solid

Ty Segall is back with his first self-titled record since his 2008 debut, which should tell you that this is a restatement of basic principals: dispensing with overdubs and recording instead with a full band, this is an album that comes marching out of the gate, grabbing you by the front of your shirt and then playing the most heavenly rock your ears have heard in many a month. And that’s not even half the story. Things kick off with Break a Guitar, which is crunchy and riff-tastic and perfectly in keeping with what you’d expect: yes, it’s slightly psychedelic; yes, it could be a Big Star B-side (still high praise), but whack it up high and by the time you hit the three-minute mark you’ll be painting your face, dancing in robes and half expecting the Age of Aquarius to resurrect itself. Then there’s two minutes of Freedom, a garage anthem in waiting (it’s also the kind of song you’ll stick on repeat and listen to until you die; perhaps this is what David Foster Wallace meant by Infinite Jest). And just when you think Ty’s all about the rock this time round, Warm Hands (Freedom Returned) takes Freedom down a peg

rrrrr Brilliant rrrrr Life-changing

– think Syd Barrett impersonating Neil Young circa Tonight’s the Night. Talkin’ mellows us out still further; the kind of thing Ryan Adams used to do so well. Clearly, he’s taking us on a ride. The Only One roars like Sabbath and Thank You Mr. K hits Maiden country, but Orange Color Queen (a song he’s written for his current squeeze, which could see him being thrown a few more Lennon comparisons) and Take Care (To Comb Your Hair) are just about the loveliest folk-pop ballads it’s been our good fortune to hear in an age. In other words this is an album of light and shade, an album of nuance – which might surprise some people. He wears his influences on his sleeve, sure, but he makes all kinds of beautiful rackets. Not only are Ty Segall fans likely to be pressing this on people for the next few months, it also might be just about the best album he’s put his own name to. And that means it’s also likely to be the gateway Ty Segall drug for all those people who have yet to pay him any attention at all. [Pete Wild] Listen to: Freedom, Take Care (To Comb Your Hair)

Ty Segall

Cloud Nothings

Life Without Sound [Wichita Recordings, 27 Jan]

rrrrr Julie Byrne

Coldharbourstores

Sacred Paws

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Not Even Happiness [Basin Rock, 13 Jan] On her second album, Byrne expands her pallette and enriches her singular methodology. The setting is all at once familiar and then, in an instant, anything but. Here is folk music reimagined. Tenderly, expertly picked guitar supports the voice: Byrne doesn’t so much sing as exhale and her unforced delivery serves to mesmerise. The elementary nature of the songs disguises a shrewd compositional sense. Not Even Happiness eschews conventional melody and instead – like the very best of Nick Drake – builds atmosphere and drama by letting songs drift free, breathe and unfurl. This is an album of rare beauty. [Gary Kaill]

Listen to: Follow My Voice, Natural Blue

January/February 2017

Wilderness [Enraptured, 20 Jan]

Strike a Match [Rock Action, 27 Jan]

After 14 years away, Coldharbourstores return with eight tracks of luscious indietronica, deftly brushed by the hand of shoegaze and with their sense of ruminative melancholia intact. A marvellous production job from Graham Sutton (Bark Psychosis, East India Youth) allows the band space to breathe amidst the Cocteaus-esque shimmer of opener Sightless, but it’s new vocalist Lucy Castro who seals the deal. Whether soaring and searching (Genie) or pitchshifted and mysterious (Kissing), she gives character and colour to David Read and Michael McCabe’s shifting washes of melody and texture. Unlikely as it is to bust them out of the indie ghetto, Coldharbourstores’ unexpected return is a very lovely thing indeed. [Will Fitzpatrick]

Ah, this is such a tonic. Opener Nothing is the eyebrow-raiser and Rest is all it takes to seal the deal: from curious to committed in six minutes. Sacred Paws’ DIY ethos has little truck with identikit indie shapes, instead taking its cue from classic Afropop: the burbling beats, clean guitar tone, voices raised in sweet uplifting harmony, and the deft picking of the high strings a refreshing alternative to the, huh, regular alternative. Strike A Match is shot through with an infectious bonhomie – one that transforms the lyrical concerns of Everyday and Getting Old into little three-minute celebrations of the humdrum sadness of the day-to-day. An intriguing and deeply satisfying debut. [Gary Kaill]

Listen to: Sightless, Kissing

Listen to: Empty Body, Ride

We know what to expect from Cloud Nothings’ Dylan Baldi by now, and on fourth record Life Without Sound we hear the band taking a more polished and ruminative approach under producer John Goodmanson. Although the record was written in less hectic circumstances than 2014’s Here and Nowhere Else, Cloud Nothings’ pace certainly doesn’t drop, as the haunting piano that starts opener Up to the Surface quickly makes way for Baldi’s usual dramatic power chords and yowls, supported by TJ Duke’s motorik bass and Jayson Gerycz’s dynamic drum-

Mark Eitzel

Hey Mr Ferryman [Decor Records, 27 Jan]

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Hey Mr Ferryman continues in the vein of 2012’s Don’t Be A Stranger, lessening the self-laceration in favour of a far more reasoned and, dare we say, pop-friendly approach. Of course, Eitzel’s co-conspirator this time around is Bernard Butler who not only administers a very sympathetic production to Eitzel’s songs, letting them breathe and find their own space amid the typically rich lyricism, but also works as a masterful guitar foil, weaving his way in and around the entire album.

RECORDS

ming. ‘Saw what I’d done and who I’d been / I wasn’t comfortable with me,’ Baldi reflects on the anthemic Things Are Right With You, and on Life Without Sound we sense him being more outward than ever in his lyrical scope, with the catchy war-and-Godreferencing Modern Act providing the greatest balance between melody and wisdom. Although Baldi has more observations to share than his previous records – and makes them with snarling passion and versatility – that added maturity isn’t quite matched by his songs yet, with the mellowed Enter Entirely soured by the discordant chaotic tantrums of Strange Year and Realize My Fate. While bracing throwbacks, they serve to obscure his new insights. Baldi’s certainly matured; all he needs now is for his music to catch up. [Chris Ogden] Listen to: Things Are Right With You, Modern Act, Enter Entirely Crucially, the grain in Eitzel’s voice has shifted from anguish to empathy; particularly in opening track The Last Ten Years and gorgeous album stand-out An Answer, Eitzel’s gentle croon belies a bruised beauty, imparting wisdom. And of course, the black humour is still intact: In My Role as Professional Singer and Ham is perhaps the archetypal Mark Eitzel song title (echoing American Music Club’s In My Role as the Most Hated Singer in the Local Underground Music Scene) yet is couched in a sumptuous stringladen arrangement, gliding to a triumphant glissando-like coda. On Hey Mr Ferryman, Eitzel no longer exudes such a colossal sense of searing introspection – perhaps he has finally reconciled with himself – and, in Bernard Butler, he’s found the perfect foil to achieve this harmony. [Colm McAuliffe] Listen to: An Answer, Ham

Review

Los Campesinos!

Sick Scenes [Wichita Recordings, 24 Feb]

Sick Scenes, the sixth Los Campesinos! record and their first since 2013’s excellent No Blues, gives the impression that they’ve been itching to come back. Recorded in Fridao, Portugal during England’s disastrous Euro 2016 campaign, Sick Scenes sees LC! offering up a liberating set of songs about odious city hipsters, youthful nostalgia and future anxiety, wrapped up in the sevenpiece’s usual glorious flurry of chipper riffs and witty lyricisms. Witnessing others’ triumph in the wake of your own abject failure is an embarassing context for writing a record, but also a historically great motivator for lead vocalist Gareth David, who finds catharsis here. When rumbling opener Renato Dall’Ara (2008) lands with its infectious vocal hook and a withering takedown of a local scenester who’s ‘a part-time grass but a full-time asshole’, it’s a joyous return for LC! and a clear release of pent-up frustration. That emotional urgency sticks throughout Sick Scenes, never more than in the double-time pace of I Broke Up in Amarante and the album’s poignant centrepiece The Fall of Home, a twinkling acoustic song lamenting closing pubs and newfound responsibility which will appeal to 20/30-somethings everywhere. LC!’s enduring strength is that no matter how maudlin their subject matter (see: 5 Flucloxacillin), they never fail to be self-deprecating and spirited, also finding room for experimentation such as For Whom The Belly Tolls’ ghostly waltz during the bridge. A more fraught record than No Blues, Sick Scenes is a testament to coming to terms with adulthood and the power of friends to keep you going. [Chris Ogden]

Listen to: Renato Dall’Ara, The Fall of Home, 5 Flucloxacillin

Rennen [4AD, 13 Jan]

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Christopher Taylor, aka SOHN is back with Rennen, the follow-up to his beautiful 2014 debut Tremors. Starting where his previous album left off, the eerie mechanical hook of Hard Liquor makes for the perfect opener, eventually closing with the sound of a needle skipping on a record. Then the intro to Conrad kicks in (‘I can feel it coming / We can never go back’), and the familiar sound of his

PVT

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‘I used to play punk,’ sneers Matt Korvette, as though daring himself not to laugh scornfully. ‘Now I’m just singing the blues.’ It’s an odd way to characterise his band’s musical stylings: had the sludged-out hardcore of 2013 album Honeys dropped during noise rock’s 1980s crystallisation period, it’s not a stretch to suggest it’d now be regarded as one of the genre’s most sacred texts. Happily, this follow-up finds them operating at a similarly scintillating capacity, grinding down on the ugliness buried in the mundanity of modern life and crushing it into the wreckage of metal and post-punk. Meanwhile, Korvette contorts his face into a twisted grin and half-growls, half-spits devilish venom flecked with bon mots and primal howls, like George Carlin fed on a diet of raw meat and razorblades. Little escapes his ire, but for once on a PJ album, the best words come from elsewhere – author Lindsay Hunter shows up to pick a very macho grossness apart on I’m A Man, and does so hilariously. But with the band raging hard and smartly throughout, Korvette still gets some memorable gags in there. ‘I’ve been described as good,’ goes The Bar Is Low. ‘Some have even said great / What have I done / To deserve such a fate?’ Keep cranking out records this good, dude. We’ll figure it out for you. [Will Fitzpatrick] Listen to: Love Without Emotion, I’m A Man

Review

SOHN

Pissed Jeans

Why Love Now [Sub Pop, 24 Feb]

SOHN

inimitable vocal reaffirms that yes, this is indeed a SOHN record. Conrad is his response to Europe’s precarious political climate, with environmental analogies at its core: ‘As the ice is melting, merging with ocean / All our eyes are open and we’re looking out to sea’. Building on layers of synths and unconventional percussion (empty glasses, walls, floors and kitchen utensils), Taylor continues: ‘We’re lost civilians with the weight of millions / We’re pawns in war living in denial’. But despite the subject matter, the overall effect is bizarrely uplifting – it gives the impression that SOHN is perhaps a glass-halffull kind of guy. It feels hopeful. This is probably due to positive changes in Taylor’s personal life, from falling in love to getting married and recently becoming a father. ‘Time

Photo: Phil Knott

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and time again you keep the peace / Give me shelter / Let me be the man I wanted to be,’ he sings on Signal, a song rhythmically reminiscent of Massive Attack’s Teardrop. Returning to the political themes at the heart of the album, Primary – a song written when the primary elections started in America – opens with: ‘Give me patience to wait for another day / Help me hold my tongue, keep the rage away / Nobody seems able to make a change / And I can’t believe we’re not better than this’. There’s a real vulnerability to Taylor’s voice, too, reminding us of his mastery of light and shade. Rennen is more thought-provoking than its predecessor, but it’s still unmistakably SOHN. [Tallah Brash] Listen to: Conrad, Dead Wrong

New Spirit [Felte, 17 Feb]

After their pop-aspiring last record Homosapien found Australian electronic experimentalists PVT playing arena gigs in support of Gotye, New Spirit marks a sharp change in direction, leaning further into straight-up dance music than previous efforts whilst employing colder, gloomier sounds. Eerie, sustained synths and ghostly digital reverb makes this latest effort a tense and uneasy listen, with Richard Pike and co-adopting a dark techno-futurism that takes cues from patron saint of neon dystopia El-P. Nine minute single Morning Mist, Rock Island Bend is a slow-boil banger named after an environmentalist photograph that’s a renowned symbol of Australian activism, suggesting PVT have politics on the mind. If so, their diagnosis is bleak: ‘New heart, old blood. New ark, same flood,’ Pike monotones on the title track, along with a litany of similarly unfortunate continuities. Their pessimism takes a corny turn on Fake Sun in China (referencing Beijing’s notorious sunrises broadcast via billboard) thanks to blinding clunker of a line: ‘It looks like science fiction, but it’s science fact’. Murder Mall, however, offers a more effective snapshot of humanity in decline – a stabbing witnessed beneath the fluorescent glow of a chain store, unfolding in queasy slow motion. Woozy synth chords imbue the scene with a perverse mundanity that feels all too familar. At its best, New Spirit wallows in this kind of everyday helplessness. [Andrew Gordon] Listen to: Kangaroo, Murder Mall

Irma Vep

No Handshake Blues [Faux Discx & Comfortable on a Tightrope, 13 Jan]

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Welsh musician and adopted Mancunian Edwin Stevens didn’t choose his alter-ego lightly, borrowing from Olivier Assayas' 1996 film-within-a-film Irma Vep. As with much of his distinct aesthetic, and certainly on 11-minute opener A Woman’s Work Is Never Done, Stevens is hard to locate, as the track buries itself in a squall of overdriven guitar. No Handshake Blues is a disorienting and bruising experience. The brittle guitars fashion a death waltz mode; the vocals are disembodied and pained. Free-form arrangements find little room for melody. Demons are faced down but, as the record fades to silence, you can almost hear them getting ready to return. [Gary Kaill] Listen to: A Woman’s Work Is Never Done

RECORDS

Menace Beach

Piano Magic

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Lemon Memory [Memphis Industries, 20 Jan]

Wrapping a classic rock sound in a modern psych blanket, Leeds’ Menace Beach have shown some impressive progression on Lemon Memory, their follow-up to 2015’s Ratworld. They gain a lot from the distinctive nasal vocal style of former Komakino frontman Ryan Needham, and when he becomes largely absent the record suffers as a result. Can’t Get A Haircut is crunching but lacking a voice – literally and figuratively – to take it even higher. But when they strike gold, they hit it hard. The album’s eponymous track is a distorted circus big top of drone, hazy chords and thudding repetition that can leave a listener breathless. [Joseph Viney] Listen to: Give Blood, Lemon Memory

Closure [Second Language Music, 20 Jan] All good things must come to an end: Piano Magic’s twelfth album is also their final one, and what a way to bow out. An elegiac grace has always clung to Glen Johnson’s forever-in-flux collective, and their post-rock origins remain obvious in these sparse, subtle songs, even when smothering the title track’s chorus in howitzer guitars. It’s Johnson’s voice that takes centre stage, however, and he explores the concept of closure through relationship breakdowns, painting the very notion as unattainable. At a time when their contemporaries are all celebrating 20-year anniversaries, it’s typical that this band of standalone misfits should choose to use theirs as a final flourish. [Will Fitzpatrick] Listen to: Closure, Landline

THE SKINNY

Win a hotel stay in Glasgow for Glasgow Film Festival

Hesitation Marks Between years abroad and prestigious tours, Leeds indiepop foursome Bruising are doing everything on their own terms, as frontwoman Naomi Baguley explains Interview: Joe Goggins

Sunday 19 February (subject to availability), simply head to theskinny.co.uk/competitions and correctly answer this question: How many rooms does the Apex Hotel have? a) 666 b) 104 c) 42 Competition closes midnight Sun 29 Jan. Entrants must be 18 or over. The winner will be notified via email within two working days of closing and will be required to respond within 48 hours or the prize will be offered to another entrant. Our Ts&Cs can be found at theskinny.co.uk/about/terms

Credit: Andrew Benge

njoy a night at Glasgow Film Festival without having to worry about how you’ll get home! One lucky winner can have a night on us in the Apex City of Glasgow Hotel. Located in Glasgow’s city centre, it is home to 104 modern rooms and suites with high-speed Wi-Fi access and luxurious Elemis toiletries as standard – perfect to relax and refresh after enjoying a day exploring the Festival. To win a one night stay at the Apex, plus two pairs of standard price tickets to your choice of films on

f Bruising’s progression to date has felt like a slow burn to the listener, just imagine how the band themselves felt. It sounds terribly cliched to attribute their level of output – which we’ll generously term less than industrious – to the old chestnut of ‘life getting in the way’, but that’s pretty much exactly what happened back in the summer of 2015 when singer Naomi Baguley decamped to Berlin for a year studying abroad, just days after the group had wrapped up their first headline tour of the UK. Bruising found a way to use the situation to their advantage, however. The core group consists of just Baguley and guitarist Ben Lewis, who met and began writing together after the former spotted the latter sporting a Perfect Pussy t-shirt at Leeds’ now-defunct Cockpit venue and decided she liked the cut of his jib. They were never sticklers for co-operative creativity anyway, usually bringing their own ideas to sessions and then doing their level best to chisel them into shape, so the process remained the same between Berlin and Yorkshire; Lewis on guitar duty, Baguley handling lyrics and melodies. “We never did sit in a room together,” says Baguley on the eve of the band’s second headline tour. “It was always a case of swapping voice memos, so it didn’t feel like it made that big of a difference, being apart. I mean, we did try things that didn’t come off – like a Skype band practice, which was a disaster – but the truth is, I had a lot of time and space in Berlin to read, write and play guitar. It was frustrating not to have anything coming out, but there was no point at which we weren’t working.” Plus, there was another benefit to Baguley’s student status – the generous holidays made touring possible, and accordingly Bruising were able to hop on a couple of seriously prestigious bills. “If anything,” she explains, “going on tour with Los Campesinos! and Diet Cig felt like more than enough progress for us. I think if you just recorded all the time and never played live, you could easily become very self-satisfied and comfortable. The fear that comes with playing to an audience pushes you to become better, and it’s definitely improved us as a band. “That’s especially true when you support somebody like Los Campesinos!, who are just so tight on stage. When you see Gareth singing about very personal things to a room of a thousand peo-

January/February 2017

ple, and yet he’s still connecting with everybody individually, you just want to try to emulate that.” If nothing else, said tours afforded Baguley the opportunity to escape the insular life she’d been living in Berlin, where a combination of loneliness and an alien environment had meant she’d been falling more and more into introspection – a double-edged sword in creative terms. “I was in a long-distance relationship while I was away, so that was a hard thing. It becomes something that occupies a lot of your time and your mind. I was never off my phone, honestly, and you realise you’re living in this in-between space, somewhere between where I physically was and where my boyfriend physically was. It was a good experience, and I’m glad I did it, but I think the main benefit for the band was that it provided me with the space to think and develop myself without any pressure to come up with something that we could release straight away.” The time out of the limelight has allowed Baguley and Lewis to stockpile songs, but there’s apparently no rush to record; they’ll do so as and when it feels right. For now, we have a gloriously poppy new single entitled I Don’t Mind; the guitars nod to Pavement and the vocals land just the right side of the bubblegum border. It comes with a rough-and-ready B-side in the shape of Rest in Peace Kurt Donald Cobain (1967-1994), and the video for the first track is similarly tongue-incheek: an off-kilter takedown of self-proclaimed ‘lifestyle bloggers’. “I think an album’s a long way off yet,” says Baguley of the group’s future plans. “We’ve talked about maybe getting enough songs together to put an EP out, but we’re taking it slow, and having as much fun as we possibly can now that I’m back home and we’re all together again. The thing that Ben and I kind of figured out a while back was that if we just keep writing, we’ll eventually have loads of songs to choose from for a record. We’ll be able to cut things here and improve bits there, and we just feel like all of that will come together in its own time. For now, we just want to focus on playing live – we’ve got some lost time to make up for.”

Win Southern Comfort goodies!

I Don’t Mind is out now via Beech Coma – available for download, with a 7” to be released on 15 Jan @BruisingMusic

MUSIC / COMPETITIONS

eeling a little chilly this winter? Why not warm yourself up with a cocktail? We’ll provide the Cuffs and Buttons – that’s the name M.W. Heron first gave to Southern Comfort when he first invented it back in 1874, and it’s still a firm favourite at bars across the globe. For the perfect winter warmer, we recommend gently heating the delicious combination of Southern Comfort with apple juice and ginger beer. And if you’re fresh out of one vital ingredient, that’s where we come in... We’re offering you the chance to win a 70cl bottle of Southern Comfort and a pair of branded enamel mugs. All you need to do to get your hands on this very timely prize is head to theskinny.co.uk and answer this question: What was Southern Comfort originally called when it was invented in 1874? a) Cuffs and Buttons b) Herons Own c) Boots and Laces

Competition closes midnight Sun 29 Jan. Entrants must be 18 or over. The winner will be notified via email within two working days of closing and will be required to respond within 48 hours or the prize will be offered to another entrant. Our Ts&Cs can be found at theskinny.co.uk/about/terms

Review

In Cinemas La La Land

Moonlight

Director: Damien Chazelle Starring: Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone Released: 13 Jan Certificate: 12A

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“How are you gonna be a revolutionary if you’re such a traditionalist?” John Legend’s Keith asks Sebastian (Gosling) in La La Land. It’s a valid question that Seb never really has an answer for and, perhaps more pertinently, neither does director Damien Chazelle. Fortunately for this immaculately dressed contemporary musical, the seduction of the past is just as potent for audiences as it is for the characters. La La Land is finely cut, A-grade nostalgia that proves nigh-onimpossible to resist. Feet will be tapping right from the off thanks to a polychrome opening number, in which the grumbling denizens of a Los Angeles traffic jam burst out of their cars to sing and dance before silently slinking back behind the wheel and into everyday drudgery. It’s a clear riff on Fellini’s 8 1/2, and more appositely the work of Jacques Demy, whose spectre lingers throughout La La Land ’s shifts between fantastical musical whimsy and the realities of life. Although Seb and Mia (a winning Emma Stone) are presented as struggling artistes, their plight is always relatively comfortable – Chazelle acknowledges this at the outset with a jokey title that reads ‘winter’ over a gloriously sunny day. As with much of La La Land, Chazelle is having his cake and eating it. He playfully chides genre conventions while making an ode to past masters. He lays open his characters’ own faulty nostalgia but can’t see it through and ends with a scene taken straight from Demy’s Umbrellas of Cherbourg. Of course, none of that matters if the cake is this delicious. Gosling and Stone may be no Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, but their chemistry is undeniable and they’re capable of carrying the soundtrack’s catchy – if hardly extraordinary – tunes. In much the same way that flights of fancy give the characters respite from the compromises of life, La La Land has enough about it to distract from its flaws. It may not have answers, but it more than makes up for it with enchantment. [Ben Nicholson] Released by Lionsgate

Director: Barry Jenkins Starring: Trevante Rhodes, Naomie Harris, Mahershala Ali, Janelle Monáe, André Holland, Ashton Sanders, Jaden Piner, Jharrel Jerome, Patrick Decile Released: 17 Feb Certificate: 15

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Moonlight is a film that consistently upends expectations. With coming-of-age dramas, which is the easiest subgenre to slot Jenkins’ film into, too many filmmakers seem to view the maturation from child to adult as a self-contained journey with a defined point of conclusion. And this journey usually takes place in relatively little time, all things considered; in many of these films, a single event will come to define the characters’ transition, be it stumbling upon a dead body or befriending fellow misfits in detention. Writer-director Barry Jenkins understands that forming one’s identity is not as simple as that. As such, his heartbreaking story of a young man’s struggle to find himself is told across three defining chapters in his life, each named after the moniker this ever-changing person is going by at the relevant time: child Little (Alex Hibbert), teen Chiron (Ashton Sanders) and 20-something Black (Trevante Rhodes). Three beautifully intuitive, disarmingly intimate performances come to-

Moonlight

gether to form a cumulative portrayal of a life’s experience – a wounded soul saddled with too much to bear. In its decade-hopping portrait of strained relationships and vibrant, lyrical visual and aural flourishes, Moonlight recalls the work of Asian filmmakers Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Wong Kar-wai more than one might expect from a film set in Miami. But then, part of what makes Moonlight so special is how it shakes up preconceptions of what American cinema can address and how.

Toni Erdmann

Loving

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Director: Maren Ade Starring: Sandra Hüller, Peter Simonischek, Ingrid Bisu, Trystan Pütter Released: 3 Feb Certificate: 15

Review

Director: Jeff Nichols Starring: Joel Edgerton, Ruth Negga, Michael Shannon Released: 3 Feb Certificate: 15 The marriage of Richard and Mildred Loving in 1958 was a revolutionary act with far-reaching political consequences, but Richard and Mildred were not revolutionaries. They simply wanted to live together like any other couple, and Jeff Nichols’ Loving takes its lead from their quiet dignity. There are no emotional outbursts, no dramatic twists, and instead of building to the rousing Supreme Court speechifying that we might expect, the Lovings’ historically seismic victory is expressed in the most understated terms. It’s an admirable approach, but it also leaves the film lacking in dramatic thrust and emotional heft, and it sometimes seems that director Jeff Nichols is so burdened by the weight of doing justice to this story he’s wary of introducing any kind of artistic flourish. Joel Edgerton and Ruth Negga both deliver modest, internalised performances – with Negga’s expressive eyes being one of Loving’s biggest virtues – and the film has some tender moments of intimacy, but the steady pace and unwavering tone grows stultifying. These are good people and it’s an important story, but that in itself is not quite enough. [Philip Concannon]

Released by Soda Pictures

Released by Picturehouse Entertainment

Jackie

Rules Don’t Apply

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Released by Altitude

Maren Ade’s eccentric comedy-drama centres on elderly German prankster Winfried (Simonischek) who pays a surprise visit to his daughter Ines (Hüller), a joyless management consultant planning an outsourcing drive in Bucharest. Winfried insists on surprising Ines with a series of stitch-ups designed to lighten her up, and finally ingratiates himself into her business community by pretending to be a life coach. It’s a set-up straight out of a high-concept Hollywood comedy. There have been countless previous plots about uptight yuppies trying to impress their bosses, embarrassing parents trying to be kooky and families needing to come together and embrace life. In some ways, Toni Erdmann doesn’t improve on them – the humorous situations are so artificial that they distance the drab, handheld visuals from feeling like reality. In other ways, however, Toni Erdmann does rise above: the performances are fragile, gaining emotional momentum over the expanded running time. And just as the film seems primed for a self-pitying, cheap-shot conclusion, there’s a liberating extended set-piece of fumbling group adventure, and an incarnation of Winfried that achieves a mythic, cathartic quality. [Ian Mantgani]

Director: Pablo Larraín Starring: Natalie Portman, Peter Sarsgaard, Greta Gerwig, Billy Crudup, John Hurt, Richard E. Grant Released: 20 Jan Certificate: 15

Moonlight

It’s not only a rare portrait of black homosexuality, but also an authentic, complex, operatic, boldly expressive meditation on the circularity of time, alongside identity and love in all their forms. Few movies are as empathetic and openhearted as this one, and it’s the rare production where a single glance, emanating all of a life’s repressed ecstasy and pain, is able to convey more than the whole screenplays of most other films. [Josh Slater-Williams]

Director: Warren Beatty Starring: Alec Baldwin, Warren Beatty, Annette Bening, Haley Bennett, Candice Bergen, Matthew Broderick, Dabney Coleman, Lily Collins, Steve Coogan, Alden Ehrenreich, Taissa Farmiga, Ed Harris, Megan Hilty, Oliver Platt, Martin Sheen Released: 27 Jan Certificate: 12A

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Natalie Portman’s portrayal of Jackie Kennedy may be the bookies’ favourite for the Best Actress Oscar, but Pablo Larraín’s Jackie is far from your conventional Hollywood biopic. Weaving together fragmented memories of the days following the assassination of John F Kennedy, Larraín shows how the death of a president gave birth to a legend. During this period, Jackie famously compared her husband’s tenure in the oval office with King Arthur’s Camelot, and Larraín concentrates on this attempt to enshrine his presidency in mythology. Portman’s mannered performance is unforgettable, internalising Jackie’s grief into a quivering ball of anxiety, but it’s Mica Levi’s score that’s the film’s real star. Layering wailing strings over the bellow of melancholic horns, Levi violently manipulates the traditional orchestral score of a prestige picture to express how the building of a myth around one person can distort history. Peeling away the artifice of the Kennedy legacy to reveal the raw nerve of failed idealism, Jackie is a bewitching study of mythmaking that underlines Larraín’s status as cinema’s most daring political filmmaker. [Patrick Gamble]

Somewhere in Rules Don’t Apply, Warren Beatty’s long-awaited return to filmmaking, there are two good films. One is a romantic comedy about two people (Ehrenreich and Collins) who fall in love in the 1950s while working for the eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes (Beatty), who strictly forbids inter-employee relationships; the other a quirky but layered, fictionalised look at the later years of Hughes’ remarkable, lonely, paranoia-plagued life. It is a shame that these intriguing concepts are mashed together into one nonsensical plot, each cannibalising the best elements of the other. Ehrenreich and Collins do their best to feed off the scraps but the choppy editing and a conveyor belt of distracting cameos never really give them a chance to breathe life into their lovelorn characters. Ironically, Beatty’s wonderful performance as the erratic billionaire is the film’s only constant, causing chaos, comedy and pathos in delightfully unpredictable measures. Unfortunately for him, the rules do apply: too little of a good thing is simply not enough. [Ben Rabinovich]

Released by Fox Searchlight

Released by Picturehouse Entertainment

FILM

THE SKINNY

New Year, New Writing If your New Year’s resolution is to finally finish your debut novel, publish your work or simply get feedback from others, these writing groups will help you on the way

he start of a new year always ushers in a series of well-trodden clichés about getting that longdesired six pack, ending the cycle of awkward dates, or finally becoming the green smoothie-drinking, yoga mat-carrying superfood fan that you’re destined to be. For writers, the beginning of 2017 offers the chance to finally finish that dusty novel, receive feedback on a manuscript or begin the process of trying to get a literary agent. The publishing market is a daunting place for those with little experience of the maze of agents, presses, submissions and rejection letters, especially in a climate where the space for new voices is incredibly narrow, with presses focusing on big names to bring in revenue. To make navigating this daunting experience a tad easier, we’ve compiled some platforms across the North that are helping to foster a writerly community and assisting writers in publishing and editing their work. Commonword Based in Manchester, Commonword provide workshops and events designed to improve writers’ confidence and experience. If you want to hear from some of the most renowned publishers and experts in the field, or listen to some skilful spoken-word-

The Animators

ers, head to one of their events. Commonword also have a strand of programmes called Cultureword, which is a hub of Black creative writing, helping to promote African Caribbean and Asian writing in the North. cultureword.org.uk Orton Orton is the new kid on the block, offering a digital platform to writers. The site allows other writers to annotate work, suggest editors and publish work through Orton and their partners. The project was founded by Beth Cleavy, a writer disheartened by the tangles of the writing industry, seeking to give writers some control, agency and a community of their own. orton.io New Writing North The New Writing North organisation has been around for 20 years and their work ranges from producing Durham Book Festival to setting up reading groups and hosting the Northern Writers’ Awards, helping to publicise new writing. In the past they’ve worked with writers like Portico prize winner Benjamin Myers and Carolyn Jess-Cooke. They can help you adapt your writing to different mediums and audiences, write a blurb and craft an author biography. newwritingnorth.com

Poet Rommi Smith working with squad writer Jessica Wood

Leeds Writers Circle Literary advice from Leeds Writers Circle comes in the form of fellow wordsmiths, who are happy to look at any writing, whether it’s in the beginning or latter stages. So, if you have a bit of dialogue that you think could become a short story, why not check out one of their get-togethers? As well as giving constructive feedback, the group also offers the chance to meet fellow scribblers who think a little too much about stanzas and character too. leedswriterscircle.wordpress.com The Writing Squad A programme for young writers between the age of 16 and 21 who are living, working or studying in the North of England, The Writing Squad offers one day

The Poised Pen Liverpool writing group The Poised Pen meet regularly at Hardman Street’s Fly In The Loaf. The group’s founding members met on a creative writing course and have continued meeting since 2009. They occasionally run poetry and flash fiction competitions too, which are a good chance to combine a round of drinks with some snappy poetry. Find them on Twitter at @ThePoisedPen. theskinny.co.uk/books

Severance/ Intercourse

Montpelier Parade

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Watching lines on paper come to life is a magic trick that never fades, the simple and infinite pleasure of animation. Sharon and Mel arrive at art school in awe of it, the weird kids ostracised in their home towns for loving the wrong music, dressing the wrong way and knowing that cartoons are a serious business. Both are driven into the bigger, brighter worlds inside their heads and TV screens by their dim reality – Sharon being absorbed shyly into fictions while Mel explodes out into the real world as her own larger than life creation. They become friends and creative partners on first contact, spilling their inner lives into their cartoons in an attempt to draw a version they can make sense of. As the plot moves along in Kayla Rae Whitaker’s debut novel, the twists come less like bends in the road than eighteen-wheelers careering out of nowhere to smash through their lives. Death, illness and insecurity, childhood secrets and fears about the future – The Animators is about trying to make art, find love and keep sane amongst the chaos of everyday life. Whitaker’s heroes have that cartoon quality of being more brightly coloured and clearly drawn than reality yet so human as to make them utterly absorbing. It hurts when they get hit and you soar when they succeed – more than anything else, you just want to spend more time with them. [Ross McIndoe]

As a single mother, cocktail waitress and incorrigible man-eater, Ruth Malone is the epicentre of neighbourhood gossip. But when her two young children go missing, she soon finds herself the focus of a police investigation as well. Will Ruth’s refusal to play up to the image which society demands ultimately cost her the freedom she cherishes? Set in 1960s New York, Little Deaths purports to be a sleek and stylish thriller, with more hardboiled characters than you can shake a stroller at. Reporters, detectives and lawyers vie for the title of least runny yolk in this pressure cooker of a novel - one which unfortunately promises a little more than it can deliver. The cast of characters is made up largely of two-dimensional affairs who refuse to talk to the press one minute, before spilling more beans than a leaky Haribo bag the next. Meanwhile, the two figures of real intrigue – the unreliably lovelorn narrator Pete and the enigmatic Ruth, at the centre of everything – don’t have their ambiguities explored nearly enough. Yet for all that, the fast pace of the book pulls the reader along with its momentum, while the hazy 60s setting is brimming with atmospheric tension. Fans of the genre will be hooked to the final page just to find out whodunit, but hopefully more is to come from this fledgling author. [Jonny Sweet]

Out 31 Jan, published by Scribe, RRP £12.99

Out 12 Jan, published by Pan Macmillan, RRP £12.99

This is a tale of two books, bound together as one. The reader need only flip and reverse to move between a collection of vignettes describing moments of intercourse or the 90 seconds of consciousness following decapitation. So, ‘La petite mort’ or, well… the bigger one. An initially strange sounding pairing settles into clarity when considering the French term for orgasm translates to ‘the brief loss or weakening of consciousness’. Pulitzer prize-winning author Robert Olen Butler depicts the untethered post-chop streams of thought as the viscous liquid of dreams. Worryingly, the carnal ponderings are similarly surreal and meandering. This is experimental writing in its purest form, comparable in many ways to Édouard Levé’s Newspaper – that dark collection of fictionalised reports. While Levé’s aim was to reflect the modern world as reported through our media, Olen Butler’s seems more fragmented. Apart from the title themes, there seems little to build these collections into some grand vision. They are still highly entertaining – these imagined moments of real people (Intercourse features such notables as Charles & Diana, Bonnie & Clyde, Whitman & Wilde. Severance includes Yukio Mishima, Anne Boleyn, Jayne Mansfield. Everyday unknowns also take their place, and in both cases, for some reason, a chicken). Kudos to indy publisher NOEXIT2 for this beautifully designed, reversible double offering; a curio in form as well as content. A must for fans of sex and death. [Alan Bett]

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Little Deaths

workshops led by tutors in cities like Sheffield and Newcastle to nurture flourishing writers at the beginning of their careers. Keep an eye on their website to see what they’re up to this year. writingsquad.com

By Emma Flint

By Kayla Rae Whitaker

By Robert Olen Butler

By Karl Geary

A cold, wet spring in Dublin. Sonny sees Vera for the first time while he’s working in her garden with his da. She walks down the path towards him and he’s transfixed. Soon he’s in love, filled with curiosity and desire for this woman from a different world. It’s a coming of age story without gloss. Geary puts you right in the action with the raw closeness of the second person narrator. So you’re right there with Sonny as he keeps fucking up without meaning to. You think and feel as he does, you remember the adolescent awkwardness that once conspired against you. You see again how unfair it is that childish actions have such adult consequences. The novel draws its intensity from the gap between emotions and words. No one can express how they feel: we witness Sonny’s mum in a state of hopeless frustration; then Sharon, lost and hurting beneath the teenage bravado; and Vera, all but sinking into the black depths of her mind. Try as he might, Sonny can’t save any of them. This is Geary’s first novel, but you can tell he’s no first-timer. The precision in his prose belies his training as a scriptwriter; the plot unfolds with self-assured ease, and the dialogue lives on the page. There’s no rush, no over-explanation, no showing off. He trusts his reader, and the novel has compulsive power because of it. An astonishing debut. [Galen O’Hanlon] Out 5 Jan, published by Harvill Secker, RRP £12.99

Out now, published by NOEXIT2, RRP £12.99

January/February 2017

BOOKS

Photo: Steve Dearden

Words: Holly Rimmer-Tagoe

Review

Leeds Music Wed 11 Jan

PSYBLINGS (VALENSOLE + SMOKIN’ DURRYS)

SANTIAGO BAR, 19:00–22:00, £TBC

Manchester five-piece psych/noise rock outfit, whose sound comes with dashes of blues rock, psych rock and punk.

Fri 13 Jan

YORKSHIRE VS CANCER LIVE (CARVELLA + NEON DOLLS) BELGRAVE MUSIC HALL AND CANTEEN, 19:00–22:00, £5

Fundraiser gig with all proceeds going to Macmillan Cancer Support. JABBAWOKI + EDGAR DUKE

Mon 23 Jan

THE FELICE BROTHERS (HORSE THIEF)

BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB, 19:30–22:30, £15

NYC five-piece formed by brothers James and Ian Felice, ready to take you on a mud-stomping folk journey, as is their way. RAMIN KARIMLOO AND THE BROADGRASS BAND

CITY VARIETIES MUSIC HALL, 19:30–22:30, £28.50 - £64

The Olivier and Tony Award nominee brings a dose of musical theatre hits and broadgrass our way. JAS HUNTINGTON-BAZLEY

LEEDS TOWN HALL, 13:05–13:55, FREE

Indie alt rockers Jabbawoki are joined by blues/psych band Edgar Duke.

The recent winner of the Royal Northern College of Music’s Organ Prize performs music by Bach, Judish Bingham, Dupré and Stanford.

Sat 14 Jan

Tue 24 Jan

THE WARDROBE, 19:30–22:30, £5

KING SCHASCHA’S RUDEBOY SKANKIN’ (DJ UNITE + NUUSIC + PAPER CHASER) THE WARDROBE, 19:30–22:30, £5

The veteran reggae star heads out on a UK tour. THE HALLÉ

LEEDS TOWN HALL, 19:30–22:30, £12.50 - £33.50

Music by Mozart, Strauss and Schumann. HALFNOISE

HEADROW HOUSE, 20:00–23:00, £7.50

The indie project of former Paramore drummer, Zac Farro.

Tue 17 Jan TOM PAXTON

CITY VARIETIES MUSIC HALL, 19:30–22:30, £28.10 - £63.20

The veteran US folk musician celebrates 50 years on the road by, well, going out on the road again.

Wed 18 Jan

BBC INTRODUCING PRESENTS… (NGOD + KRRUM + FIGHTING CARAVANS + CARA HAMMOND + HUMOR)

BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB, 19:30–22:30, FREE

Featuring experimental rock from the Bradford five-piece NGOD and more. THE HUNNA

LEEDS UNIVERSITY STUDENT UNION, 19:00–22:00, £13

Hertfordshire indie-rock four-piece.

Thu 19 Jan NIGHT MOVES

BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB, 19:30–22:30, £8

Psych-country threesome from Minneapolis, heading to the UK for the first time this year.

Fri 20 Jan THE HOTELIER

THE WARDROBE, 19:00–22:00, £11

American emo funsters.

THE SLUMDOGS + THE OMEGA ERA + LUNABLIND

MILO BAR, 19:30–22:30, £6

Scruff of the Neck Records welcome three bands from across the North.

Sat 21 Jan

SOUNDWAVES MUSIC COMPETITION

O2 ACADEMY, 17:30–22:00, £6.50

The final of the Northern and Scottish music competition giving a stage to up-and-coming unsigned acts. THE PITMEN POETS

CITY VARIETIES MUSIC HALL, 19:30–22:30, £19.10 - £45.20

A supergroup made up of Northeast England’s musical veterans: Billy Mitchell, Bob Fox, Benny Graham and Jez Lowe. ROYAL LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

LEEDS TOWN HALL, 19:30–22:30, £12.50 - £33.50

Playing music by Britten, Schubert and Shostakovich. DREAM WIFE

HEADROW HOUSE, 20:00–23:00, £7

London-based trio peddling poolside pop with a bite.

Sun 22 Jan PROPER ORNAMENTS

BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB, 19:30–22:30, £7

The London indie-pop quartet tour their new release, Foxhole. DILLON COOPER

HIFI, 19:30–22:30, £6.50

Brooklyn rapper signed to New York’s 1009 Records.

GIRL BAND (GOAT GIRL)

BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB, 19:30–22:30, £10

The four-piece noise rock band from Dublin play a show at Summerhall as part of the NEHH series. CASS MCCOMBS BAND

BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB, 19:30–22:30, £11

More musically melancholic but lyrically sharp offerings from the US singer/ songwriter and pals. CRAZY TOWN

THE KEY CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £13

American rap rockers known for 2000 single Butterfly.

Wed 25 Jan DARLINGSIDE

BELGRAVE MUSIC HALL AND CANTEEN, 19:30–22:30, £15

Four-pronged indie folk group from Boston, back with new album Whippoorwill. BEACH SLANG

BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB, 19:30–22:30, £12

American punk rock band from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who formed in 2013. MARGO PRICE

BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB, 19:30–22:30, £12.50

The Nashville singer-songwriter brings her country twang to the road in support of debut solo album, Midwest Farmer’s Daughter. LA BÊTE BLOOMS

Performing music by Elgar, Mozart, Grieg and Haydn.

BOWL CUT RECORDS LAUNCH PARTY WHARF CHAMBERS, 20:00–23:00, £4

With Penelope Isles, Good Guy Clearance and more acts TBC.

Sun 29 Jan DECLAN MCKENNA

BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB, 19:30–22:30, £8.50

The fresh-faced winner of Glasto’s 2015 Emerging Talent Competition.

Mon 30 Jan TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £SOLD OUT

Bangor indie-rock outfit comprised of Alex Trimble, Kevin Baird and Sam Halliday, built on a bed of angular guitar pop with electro undertones. ALAN HORSEY

LEEDS TOWN HALL, 13:05–13:55, FREE

Halifax-based organist Alan Horsey performs music by Renaud, Dandrieu, Bach and Bairstow.

Tue 31 Jan HIPPO CAMPUS

BELGRAVE MUSIC HALL AND CANTEEN, 19:30–22:30, £8.50

Minnesota indie rock four-piece, out on an international tour in support of debut album, Landmark. SARAH JAROSZ (BELLA GAFFNEY)

BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB, 19:30–22:30, £16.50

VICTORS + LEWREY + MEIHAUS + ADAM T

HOLY TRINITY CHURCH, 19:30–23:00, £8

Pop-rock quartet Victors are joined by Bradford alt-poppers Meihaus and more.

Sun 05 Feb GREEN DAY

FIRSTDIRECT ARENA, 19:00–22:00, £39.50 - £65

Gnarly punk rockers who took most of us through adolescence, via the avenues of Vans trainers, sweatbands and eyeliner.

Musical brainchild of Oli Bayston, formerly of indie outfit Keith, taking his name from a Francis Bacon painting. JAMES MCMURTRY

BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB, 19:30–22:30, £15

Americana singer, songwriter and guitarist from Texas.

UNIVERSITY OF HUDDERSFIELD BRASS BAND

LEEDS TOWN HALL, 13:05–13:55, FREE

Post-Christmas brass gig featuring all yer old faves.

Wed 08 Feb LOYLE CARNER

KATE NASH

LEEDS IRISH CENTRE, 19:30–22:30, £20

Alabama sextet with a gospel neo-soul garage sound. PALE KIDS + NACHTHEXEN + MILK CRIMES

WHARF CHAMBERS, 20:00–23:00, £5

Catholic queer punk outfit Pale Kids are joined by Milk Crimes and more.

Wed 01 Feb

STRANGE BONES + BLACKWATERS

BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB, 19:30–22:30, £6

The MC from South London stops off with more stirring, confessional hip hop.

LEEDS UNIVERSITY STUDENT UNION, 19:00–22:00, £14

Thu 09 Feb LEWIS AND LEIGH

BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB, 19:30–22:30, £10

Alternative country/Americana duo based in London, though hailing from Wales and Mississippi respectively.

BLACK SABBATH

FIRST DIRECT ARENA, 19:30–22:30, £67.75 - £105.25

Ozzy Osbourne et al head out on their final UK tour.

SEAWAY (WSTR + THE GOSPEL YOUTH)

THE KEY CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £10

An evening of pop punk.

Fri 27 Jan

MARTHA WAINWRIGHT

CITY VARIETIES MUSIC HALL, 19:30–22:30, £26.10 - £61.20

The American-Canadian songstress (aka sprog of Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III, and sister to Rufus) does her fiery folk-rock thing.

Sat 28 Jan THE REZILLOS

BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB, 19:30–22:30, £16

Edinburgh-formed punk/new wave outfit active since 1976, running on high octane, guitar driven, melodic anti-mope rock.

Indie trio from Nottingham. THE KING BLUES

THE KEY CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £12.50

London ska-meets-punk trio, taking in everything from folk to doo-wop as they go.

Thu 02 Feb

KEVIN DEVINE AND THE GODDAMN BAND (LAURA STEVENSON) BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB, 19:30–22:30, £10

Brooklyn songwriter best known for his melodic tunesmithery built on alternately introspective, political lyrics.

Fri 03 Feb 65DAYSOFSTATIC

BELGRAVE MUSIC HALL AND CANTEEN, 20:00–23:00, £15

Noisy instrumental band who formed in Sheffield in 2001, who’ve since developed a sound that is as compelling as it is divisive. JULIAN COPE

BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB, 19:30–22:30, £23.50

WHARF CHAMBERS, 20:00–23:00, £5

An evening of ambient electronica and techno from Yorkshire and Winchester. L.A. WITCH (BLEACHED HEAT)

TEMPLE OF BOOM, 19:30–00:00, £6

Tue 21 Feb TOUCHE AMORE

BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB, 19:30–22:30, £14

LA-based post-hardcore rock quintet, led by vocalist Jeremy Bolm. BUSTED

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £30

Now that prodigal son Simpson’s returned, the pop-punk trio tour their new album, Night Driver.

Wed 22 Feb

BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB, 19:30–22:30, £17

LEEDS UNIVERSITY STUDENT UNION, 19:00–22:00, £12

The original line-up of these Manchester stalwarts celebrate 40+ years as a band.

Thrash metal group from California.

THE KEY CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £12.50

Australian band performing their first ever UK headline tour.

WEDNESDAY 13

Murderdolls frontman Wednesday 13 is off on a new project, still heavily into the horror punk.

Sat 25 Feb VANT

THE WARDROBE, 19:30–22:30, £11

Parlophone signed four-piece doing their indie rock thing.

AMBER RUN

Rising young Nottingham quintet of the soft folk-rock variety.

TEMPLE OF BOOM, 19:00–22:00, £10

WITH CONFIDENCE

THE KEY CLUB, 18:30–22:00, £10

Liverpool Music

VIENNA TONKÜNSTLER ORCHESTRA

LEEDS TOWN HALL, 19:30–22:30, £12.50 - £33.50

Taking you through music from Mozart, Beethoven and Sibelius. PROTO IDIOT + MUSH + DRAHLA + NEW WOMAN + MUMS + DUDS WHARF CHAMBERS, 16:00–23:00, £TBC

Gary Lizardpeas’ family fun day.

SLAUGHTER AND THE DOGS (GEOFFREY OI!COTT + THE SWINDELLS)

GHOUL

Leeds-based indie/rock/pop five-piece influenced by the likes of Little Comets, Catfish and The Bottlemen, Foals and The Wombats.

HELLIONS

THE KEY CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £6

Aussie hardcore band from Sydney.

Sun 26 Feb THE DEARS

BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB, 19:30–22:30, £13

Indie rockers from Montreal.

Mon 02 Jan

ROGER MCGOUGH + BRIAN PATTEN WITH LITTLE MACHINE

LIVERPOOL PLAYHOUSE, 20:00–22:00, £12.50 - £22

A selection of vintage, classic and surprising poems set to music, in a new show from Roger and Brian, joined by Steve and Chris of Little Machine.

Wed 04 Jan

LOWRI EVANS AND LEE MASON

THE ATKINSON, 19:30–22:30, £9 - £11

Folk duo who’ve been writing, recording, producing and performing together for over 10 years.

EUREKA MACHINES (BABY CHAOS + CHRIST CATALYST GROUP)

BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB, 19:30–22:30, £SOLD OUT

The Leeds-based pop-rockers take to the road. TROJAN RECORDS OFFICIAL CLUB TOUR 2017

THE WARDROBE, 19:30–22:30, £10

DUKE GARWOOD

FIRSTDIRECT ARENA, 18:00–22:00, £25

Soul Rebels kick off their first party of 2017 with 16-piece ensemble The Abstract Orchestra.

WORRIEDABOUTSATAN + SUNSET GRAVES

SIMON LINDLEY AND JULIA BREAKSPEAR

LEEDS TOWN HALL, 13:05–13:55, FREE

Organist Simon Lindley is joined by Julia Breakspear on the flute.

THE INDIGO PROJECT

THE WARDROBE, 19:00–22:00, £6

Sat 11 Feb

BELGRAVE MUSIC HALL AND CANTEEN, 20:00–23:00, £15

THE WARDROBE, FROM 21:00, £8.50

Pianist Paul Lewis plays music by Bach, Beethoven, Chopin and Weber.

Mon 20 Feb

BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB, 19:30–22:30, £7.50

Acoustic soul from West Yorkshire

DE LA SOUL

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–22:00, £24.50

American hip-hop trio hailing from Long Island, New York, crafting their own genre-bending blend of alternative jazz rap since 1987.

Revered storyteller and crooner of regrets and heartbreak.

HEADROW HOUSE, 20:00–23:00, £12

THE ABSTRACT ORCHESTRA + AKIN

PAUL LEWIS

LEEDS TOWN HALL, 19:30–22:30, £12.50 - £33.50

THABO

Tue 28 Feb

ANDY SHAUF

LEEDS TOWN HALL, 13:05–13:55, FREE

WELCOME BACK PARTY (AJ TRACEY + NADIA ROSE + PAIGEY CAKEY)

The quite super Leeds grunge pop unit head out to air their new studio album, Lemon Memory, released on Memphis Industries.

Seminal 70s post-punk outfit from Manchester, led by the inimitable Mark E Smith with an otherwise interchangeable line-up.

SIMON LINDLEY

LEEDS TOWN HALL, 13:05–13:55, FREE

Organist Simon Lindley plays a Bach recital.

BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB, 19:30–22:30, £10

THE WARDROBE, 19:30–22:30, £10

The North London Singer-songwriter and producer performs with his band, The Rebelship.

MENACE BEACH

BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB, 19:30–22:30, £7.50

Tennessee-hailing quartet made up of three brothers and a cousin, out and touring their latest LP offering of suitably stadium-sized and chantable choruses.

THE FALL

BELGRAVE MUSIC HALL AND CANTEEN, 20:00–23:00, £25

LADYHAWKE

Sat 04 Feb

American rock outfit residing in sunny Florida, formed back in 2003 by pals Tom Denney and Bobby Scruggs.

Fri 17 Feb

KINGS OF LEON

FIRST DIRECT ARENA, 19:30–22:30, £SOLD OUT

Fri 24 Feb

Musical collaboration between husband and wife duo Brett and Rennie Sparks – still making lovely Americana-styled alternative folk tunes after some 20 years together.

BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB, 19:30–22:30, £14

The first Trojan UK tour in four decades, showcasing the finest in ska, rocksteady and reggae.

NATTY

Newcastle trio - you pronounce it ‘Co-kane Mig-elle’ BTW.

HEADROW HOUSE, 19:30–22:30, £8

Visceral Bristol three-piece mixing noise rock grunge and slowcore to great effect.

BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB, 19:30–22:30, £6

Manchester-based five-piece serving up discordant post-punk.

THE HANDSOME FAMILY

BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB, 19:30–22:30, £15

The introverted New Zealander delights with her 80s-inflected pop grooves and propelling bass beats.

Music by Khachaturian, Rachmaninov and Rimsky-Korsakov. A DAY TO REMEMBER

COQUIN MIGALE

THOUGHT FORMS

CABBAGE (THE SHIMMER BAND + APRIL)

Mon 27 Feb

Fri 10 Feb

London-based multi-instrumentalist of the distinctly bluesy persuasion.

LEEDS TOWN HALL, 19:30–22:30, £12.50 - £33.50

WHARF CHAMBERS, 20:00–23:00, £5 - £6

The 1950s influenced soul singer returns to the UK in support of his third LP, Never Twice.

The Canadian pop-punk group return with new album, 13 Voices.

Irish singer-songwriter with a unique approach to life and a goal is to travel to (and perform in) every single country in the world.

Glasgow-based muso, composing e’er beautiful choral harmonies and acoustic instrumentation in his bedroom-studio set-up.

ST PETERSBURG PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

WENONOAH + BURL + AUTO BITCH

Ben Bridwell and his Band of Horses hold true to their whooping country-rock formula, touring in support of 2016 album, Why Are You OK.

BELGRAVE MUSIC HALL AND CANTEEN, 20:00–23:00, £10

SUM 41 O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £22.50

BRY

The Teardrop Explodes frontman and psychedelic wanderer plays a live set of tunes, y’know, in between being an author, activist, poet and whatnot. C DUNCAN (STEVIE PARKER)

Thu 16 Feb

BAND OF HORSES

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £22.50

NICK WATERHOUSE

DRAKE

THE KEY CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £10

BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB, 19:30–22:30, £10

Sun 19 Feb

FUFANU

Thu 23 Feb

FIRST DIRECT ARENA, 19:30–22:30, £63.75 - £106.25

LENDING ROOM, 19:30–22:30, £5

Post-metal band from Ghent, Belgium, heading our way with new album, Rheia, which was engineered, mixed and mastered by Jack Shirley (Deafheaven, Loma Prieta).

OPORTO, 19:30–22:30, £6

Icelandic rock’n’roll with roots reaching out into techno, for your auditory pleasure.

Sat 18 Feb

Last name Ever, first name Greatest strikes again.

PET SHOP BOYS

FIRSTDIRECT ARENA, 18:30–22:00, £35 - £65

The London-based duo tour tunes from their forthcoming second album, Another River.

FIRST DIRECT ARENA, 19:30–22:30, £63.75 - £106.25

DRAKE

Performing music by Britten, Finzi, Vaughan Williams and Beethoven. The electro-pop wonders play songs from their latest album, Super, and likely a gaggle of other hits from their 20+ year career.

HEADROW HOUSE, 19:30–22:30, £8

L.A. trio comprising the achingly cool Sade, Irtita and Ellie. Punky rock on reverb overdrive.

Thu 26 Jan

SILVER WILSON

ALPINES

Ms Nash keeps it reliably chirpy with her vocally-loose melodic ramblings.

Last name Ever, first name Greatest strikes again.

OATHBREAKER

Wed 15 Feb

LENDING ROOM, 19:30–22:30, £5

BOXED IN

CITY VARIETIES MUSIC HALL, 19:30–22:30, £35.10 - £40.10

ST. PAUL AND THE BROKEN BONES

Norwegian pop-punk outfit, fka Slutface.

BELGRAVE MUSIC HALL AND CANTEEN, 20:00–23:00, £8

BELGRAVE MUSIC HALL AND CANTEEN, 20:00–23:00, £15

Rare show from the multi-award winning American singer-songwriter, performing some of her greatest hits alongside new album The Things That We Are Made Of.

CITY OF LONDON SINFONIA LEEDS TOWN HALL, 19:30–22:30, £12.50 - £33.50

Mon 06 Feb

The Grammy-nominated multiinstrumental bluegrass singer does her thing. MARY CHAPIN CARPENTER

SLØTFACE OPORTO, 19:30–22:30, £6

Wenonoah (aka Rosena Wenonoah) is joined by Burl and others.

Two brothers and their mate, busy constructing raw noise rock.

LENDING ROOM, 19:30–22:30, £4

HEADROW HOUSE, FROM 20:00, FREE

Listings

LEEDS TOWN HALL, 19:30–22:30, £12.50 - £33.50

Post-punk five-piece from Hull.

Up-and-coming grime act AJ Tracey is joined by rappers Nadia Rose and Paigey Cakey - from Croydon and Hackey, respectively.

EUROPEAN UNION CHAMBER ORCHESTRA

Mon 13 Feb ST PETER’S SINGERS

One of the North’s most famous chamber choirs open their special 40th anniversary year with a programme of popular choral faves.

Tue 14 Feb OMNI

WHARF CHAMBERS, 19:00–22:00, £8

Featuring ex Deerhunter guitarist Frankie Broyles, Atlanta based Omni play lo-fi pop that channels the spectre of the late 70s and early 80s. For fans of Television, Devo, and Pylon.

THE SKINNY

BACH’S CELLO SUITES LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC MUSIC ROOM, 20:00–23:00, £SOLD OUT

Principal Cello Jonathan Aasgaard takes you through pure, unadulerated Bach.

Fri 06 Jan

FROM INSIDE (WSTR + CALE LANE + PISONIA) THE MAGNET , 19:00–23:30, £5

Liverpool’s From Inside launch their new EP, The New Era.

Sat 07 Jan

MESSIAH (ROYAL LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA)

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 19:00–22:00, £19 - £45

Derek Clark leads the Scottish Opera Orchestra in a performance of Handel’s Messiah.

Sun 08 Jan ARMIDA QUARTET

ST GEORGE’S HALL, FROM 14:30, £25

Sun 15 Jan

THE HISTORY OF THE CAVERN (THE OVERTURES)

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, FROM 14:30, £19.50 - £30

A specially-commissioned show celebrating 60 years of one of the world’s most iconic clubs.

Mon 16 Jan

THE HISTORY OF THE CAVERN (THE OVERTURES)

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 20:00–23:00, £19.50 - £30

A specially-commissioned show celebrating 60 years of one of the world’s most iconic clubs.

Thu 19 Jan

100 YEARS OF REVOLUTION (ROYAL LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA) LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 19:30–22:30, £15 - £42

THE CHILLED LEMONS

Young Berlin-based string quartet, and indeed the only string quartet to have been included in the BBC’s prestigious New Generation Artists series for 2014-16.

Jazz quartet led by local saxophonist Phil Shotton.

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, FROM 14:30, £28 - £31.50

KING SCHASCHA’S RUDEBOY SKANKIN’ (DJ UNITE + NUUSIC + PAPER CHASER)

GLENN MILLER ORCHESTRA

A nostalgic conert of 40s tunes and classic wartime chart-toppers, with bandleader Ray McVay.

Mon 09 Jan TOMMY EMMANUEL

EPSTEIN THEATRE, 19:30–22:30, £25

Australian fingerstyle guitarist conjuring a whole band’s worth of sounds on just ten fingers. CALLAS AND ROBESON REVISITED

THE ATKINSON, 13:00–13:45, £11

David Gilbey and Valerie Watts perform the sounds of Maria Callas and Paul Robeson as part of The Atkinson’s Cake and Classical series.

Wed 11 Jan BACH’S CELLO SUITES

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC MUSIC ROOM, 20:00–23:00, £15

Principal Cello Jonathan Aasgaard takes you through pure, unadulerated Bach. THE BLUE AEROPLANES

O2 ACADEMY 2, 19:00–23:00, £12.50

A unique amalgam of rock, folk, poetry, punk, dance and art.

THE ATKINSON, 20:00–23:00, £7

Fri 20 Jan

THE ZANZIBAR CLUB, 19:30–23:45, £5 - £10

The veteran reggae star heads out on a UK tour.

KING CREOSOTE (MODERN STUDIES)

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 20:00–23:00, £18.50 - £24.50

Fife-based singer/songwriter KC – otherwise known as Kenny Anderson – heads our way. DREAM WIFE (HER’S + HAARM + AGP)

BUYERS CLUB, 19:00–23:00, £7

London-based trio peddling poolside pop with a bite.

Sat 21 Jan MARGO PRICE

LEAF, 20:00–23:00, £13

The Nashville singer-songwriter brings her country twang to the road in support of debut solo album, Midwest Farmer’s Daughter.

CLUB.THE.MAMMOTH ALL DAYER (THE FALL + HOOKWORMS + TIGERCUB + CABBAGE + GOAT GIRL + STRANGE COLLECTIVE + OHMNS + PINK KINK + DJ CARL COMBOVER + CLUB.THE. MAMMOTH DJS) ARTS CLUB, 16:30–02:00, £30

Thu 12 Jan

An all dayer headlined by seminal rockers The Fall.

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, FROM 19:30, £15 - £42

The NYC rockers celebrate the 25th anniversary of their acclaimed first album Don’t Come Easy.

PAUL LEWIS PLAYS MOZART (ROYAL LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA)

Merseyside’s own Paul Lewis tinkles the ivories with Mozart’s poignant final piano concerto.

TYKETTO

O2 ACADEMY 2, 19:00–23:00, £16

Sun 22 Jan

Fri 13 Jan

PETRENKO’S SHOSTAKOVICH (ROYAL LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA)

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, FROM 14:30, £15 - £42

Conductor Vasily Petrenko leads a programme of music by Shostakovich and friends.

PAUL LEWIS PLAYS MOZART (ROYAL LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA)

Merseyside’s own Paul Lewis tinkles the ivories with Mozart’s poignant final piano concerto. PSYBLINGS (VALENSOLE + SMOKIN’ DURRYS)

MAGUIRE’S PIZZA BAR, 19:00–22:00, £TBC

Manchester five-piece psych/noise rock outfit, whose sound comes with dashes of blues rock, psych rock and punk. MERRY HELL

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC MUSIC ROOM, 20:00–23:00, £13

A folk-rock band with a history, pedigree and a bright future. They have risen to become festival favourites with three critically acclaimed albums. Appearing here in their acousticish format.

Sat 14 Jan

THE ZANZIBAR PRESENTS… (BEDSIDE MANNERS + BLESSED MAYHEM + TURBULENCE + SORROW PALACE)

THE ZANZIBAR CLUB, 19:30–23:45, £4

A showcase of local bands. JOHANN STRAUSS GALA

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, FROM 14:30, £21.50 - £39.50

The Johann Strauss dancers and orchestra return for an enchanting afternoon of waltzes, polkas and more.

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, FROM 14:30, £15 - £42

Wed 25 Jan RIVAL SONS

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £17.50

Long Beach-hailin’ Californian band of heavyweight rock’n’rollers.

Thu 26 Jan

FINNISH SKIES (ROYAL LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA)

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 19:30–22:30, £15 - £42

The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra play their way through Sibelius’ Fifth Symphony and more. DECLAN MCKENNA

STUDIO 2, 19:00–22:00, £8.50

The fresh-faced winner of Glasto’s 2015 Emerging Talent Competition.

Fri 27 Jan

FIESTA BOMBARDA CATHEDRAL CARNIVAL (BEARDYMAN FT. ROB LEWIS + RENEGADE BRASS BAND + JERAMIAH FERRARI + DJ HYDE)

LIVERPOOL CATHEDRAL, FROM 19:00, £20

Northern party powerhouse Fiesta Bombarda throw a two-day carnival. LIVERPOOL ROCKS: ROUND 1

ARTS CLUB, 18:00–22:00, £6

The biggest battle of the bands in Liverpool, with 40 bands, four rounds and various venues. BASCO (JACK RUTTER)

THE ATKINSON, 19:30–22:30, £10

Multi award-winning Nordic folk band,

January/February 2017

ROY ORBISON AND THE TRAVELLING WILBURYS SHOW THE BRINDLEY, 19:30–21:30, £20

Tribute show celebrating the music of 80s supergroup The Travelling Wilburys, which featured Roy Orbison, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty and Bob Dylan. JIM MORAY

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC MUSIC ROOM, 20:00–23:00, £15

Folk revivalist with five awardwinning albums under his belt.

Sat 28 Jan PRABHAT RAO

THE CAPSTONE, FROM 13:00, FREE

Leading Hindustani classical vocalist Prabhat Rao takes to the stage alongside an ensemble of talented musicians. LIVERPOOL PEACE PROMS

ECHO ARENA, FROM 15:00, £11.75 - £15

Celebrating peace, unity and tolerance through a 3000-strong choral and orchestral performance. MUSICALS ROCK (ROYAL LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA)

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 19:30–22:30, £15 - £42

A celebration of hits from some of the greatest musicals of all time.

FIESTA BOMBARDA CATHEDRAL CARNIVAL (BEARDYMAN FT. ROB LEWIS + RENEGADE BRASS BAND + JERAMIAH FERRARI + DJ HYDE)

LIVERPOOL CATHEDRAL, FROM 19:00, £20

Northern party powerhouse Fiesta Bombarda throw a two-day carnival. LIVERPOOL ROCKS: ROUND 1

ARTS CLUB, 18:00–22:00, £6

The biggest battle of the bands in Liverpool, with 40 bands, four rounds and various venues. POPA CHUBBY

THE ATKINSON, 20:00–23:00, £18

Ted Horowitz marks 25 years of rocking the blues as, er, Popa Chubby. C DUNCAN

O2 ACADEMY 2, 19:00–23:00, £10

Glasgow-based muso, composing e’er beautiful choral harmonies and acoustic instrumentation in his bedroom-studio set-up.

Sun 29 Jan FAIRPORT CONVENTION

CAMP AND FURNACE, 19:00–00:00, £20

The longtime British folk-rockers draw on classic songs old and new, on the go now for nearly 50 years. DONNY OSMOND

ECHO ARENA, 19:00–22:00, £40 - £70

Celebrating 50 years of show business with The Soundtrack of My Life tour. Oh, Donald.

Tue 31 Jan EXMAGICIAN

STUDIO 2, 19:00–22:00, £7

Multi-era psychedelia, with flangey synth and lazy garage vocals; truly suited to a hair-in-the-wind road trip.

Wed 01 Feb

COMPTON AND NEWBERRY

Fri 03 Feb

RUSSIAN SUPERSTARS

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, FROM 14:30, £15 - £42

Featuring tunes from Stravinsky, Rachmaninov and Prokofiev. LIVERPOOL ROCKS: ROUND 1

ARTS CLUB, 18:00–22:00, £6

The biggest battle of the bands in Liverpool, with 40 bands, four rounds and various venues.

Sat 04 Feb

MATTHEW AND THE ATLAS

STUDIO 2, 19:00–22:00, £9.50

British singer-songwriter Matthew Hagerty tours his latest album, Temple. LIVERPOOL ROCKS: ROUND 1

ARTS CLUB, 18:00–22:00, £6

The biggest battle of the bands in Liverpool, with 40 bands, four rounds and various venues.

MILES HUNT AND ERICA NOCKALLS

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC MUSIC ROOM, 20:00–23:00, £14

RUSSIAN SUPERSTARS

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, FROM 19:30, £15 - £42

Featuring tunes from Stravinsky, Rachmaninov and Prokofiev. TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB

LIVERPOOL GUILD OF STUDENTS, 19:00–23:00, £SOLD OUT

Bangor indie-rock outfit comprised of Alex Trimble, Kevin Baird and Sam Halliday, built on a bed of angular guitar pop with electro undertones.

RUSHWORTH YOUNG COMPOSERS (LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC YOUTH ENSEMBLES) LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC MUSIC ROOM, 18:00–21:00, FREE

Premieres of new music written by Rushworth Young Composers. HERMITAGE GREEN

O2 ACADEMY 2, 19:00–23:00, £10

Folksy types from the Emerald Isle.

Young gun roots singer-songwriter hailing from Canterbury, Radio 2 Young Folk award nominated n’all.

LOVE FOLK FESTIVAL: LADY MAISERY

THE ATKINSON, FROM 14:30, £48

The, uhh, ‘diddling’ explorers showcase new material from their forthcoming album. LOVE FOLK FESTIVAL: FOLKLAW

THE ATKINSON, FROM 16:30, £48

Crowd-surfing folksters.

LOVE FOLK FESTIVAL: SAM KELLY AND THE LOST BOYS

THE ATKINSON, FROM 19:00, £48

The British acoustic roots musician strides out with new material. LOVE FOLK FESTIVAL: JON BODEN

THE ATKINSON, FROM 20:30, £48

O2 ACADEMY 2, 19:00–23:00, £9

DOUBLE TOOTIN’ FLUTES

THE ATKINSON, 13:00–13:45, £11

The Rowe Trio take you on a journey through the sounds of the flute, as part of The Atkinson’s Cake and Classical series. UNION J

O2 ACADEMY 2, 19:30–23:00, £20

The X-Factor boy band grace us with their presence. Joys.

Tue 07 Feb SKINDRED

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £20.50

Longstanding Welsh rockers mixing heavy metal, alternative rock, punk rock and reggae into their mash-up mix. BOXED IN

BUYERS CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £8

Musical brainchild of Oli Bayston, formerly of indie outfit Keith, taking his name from a Francis Bacon painting.

Wed 08 Feb

HIDDEN CHARMS (THE BAY RAYS + BRIBES)

THE MAGNET , 19:30–23:00, £7

London-based band Hiddden Charms come to Liverpool as part of their UK tour. RUMOURS OF FLEETWOOD MAC

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 19:30–22:30, £23.50 - £34.50

Fleetwood Mac tribute act.

Thu 09 Feb HOWIE PAYNE

BUYERS CLUB, 19:30–23:00, £9

Singer-songwriter formerly of The Stands, who’s previously worked with the likes of Paul Weller, Noel Gallagher and Bill Ryder-Jones.

NIK COLK VOID AND KLARA LEWIS

Thu 02 Feb

LOVE FOLK FESTIVAL: LUKE JACKSON

THE ATKINSON, FROM 12:30, £48

Mon 06 Feb

The quite super Leeds grunge pop unit head out to air their new studio album, Lemon Memory, released on Memphis Industries.

FACT and Deep Hedonia present a live show from two of the most exciting female producers working in electronic music, with London-based Nik Colk Void and experimental Swedish composer Klara Lewis.

Local four-piece Rival Bones team up with Manchester’s Ritual King for a night of heavy tones and riffs.

Lead singer and principal arranger of the multi award-winning Bellowhead, now doing his own thang.

Fri 10 Feb

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC MUSIC ROOM, 20:00–23:00, £10.50

MAGUIRE’S PIZZA BAR, 18:30–23:15, £3

Principle songwriter in The Wonder Stuff since 1986, Miles Hunt takes to the road with fellow band member Erica Nockalls.

THE ATKINSON, 19:30–22:30, £9 - £11

Banjo talent and old-timey vocalist Joe Newberry joins Grammywinning mandolinist and singer Mike Compton,

RIVAL BONES AND RITUAL KING (ENAMEL ANIMAL + THREE FROM ABOVE + SHOGUN)

MENACE BEACH

THE MAGNET , 20:00–23:00, £7.50

LOVE FOLK FESTIVAL: FAIRPORT CONVENTION

THE ATKINSON, 19:30–22:30, £20

The longtime British folk-rockers draw on classic songs old and new, on the go now for nearly 50 years. LEGENDS OF AMERICAN COUNTRY

ST HELENS THEATRE ROYAL, 19:30–22:30, £15 - £18

Europe’s no. 1 country music show, featuring the tunes of Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard and the like. CABBAGE (THE SHIMMER BAND + APRIL)

EBGBS, 19:30–23:00, £10

Manchester-based five-piece serving up discordant post-punk.

Sat 11 Feb PAUL CARRACK

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 19:30–22:30, £30 - £43.50

Sheffield-born singer, songwriter and former frontman of Ace, Squeeze and Mike and The Mechanics. JULIAN COPE

ARTS CLUB, 19:00–23:00, £23.50

The Teardrop Explodes frontman and psychedelic wanderer plays a live set of tunes, y’know, in between being an author, activist, poet and whatnot.

THE SHERLOCKS

Sheffield indie-rock unit made up of two sets of brothers.

Sun 12 Feb SUNDARA KARMA

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £11.50

Sundara means ‘beautiful’ in Sanskrit, and this quartet live up to their blissful name with some epic and anthemic indie rock, gaining comparisons from Arcade Fire to Bruce Springsteen.

Tue 21 Feb

MIKE AND THE MECHANICS

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 19:30–22:30, £32.50 - £43.50

Genesis founding member Mike Rutherford and his new generation of ‘The Mechanics’ take to the road to play the hits.

Thu 23 Feb SONS OF KEMET

THE CAPSTONE, 19:00–22:00, £11.50

2013 MOBO winners return to Band on the Wall, now well established as one of UK jazz’ most diverse bands. WILD NOTHING

LEAF, 20:00–23:00, £11

The Virginia dream-pop project of musician Jack Tatum tours in support of 2016 album Life of Pause. FIREBIRD (ROYAL LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA)

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, FROM 19:30, £15 - £42

Guest conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto takes on Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite.

Fri 24 Feb

TTONSTARTSSBANDHT

THE SHIPPING FORECAST, 19:30–23:00, £8

Floridian synth popping brothers. MAMMAL HANDS

THE CAPSTONE, 19:00–22:00, £11.50

Manchester outfit signed to Matthew Halsall’s Gondwana Records, fusing jazz, folk and electronica. FIREBIRD (ROYAL LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA)

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, FROM 14:30, £15 - £42

Sat 25 Feb

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC MUSIC ROOM, 20:00–23:00, £15

Balkan jazz meets Indian music.

LIPA BIG BAND

THE ATKINSON, 20:00–23:00, £7

Award winning big band, directed by multi-instrumentalist and composer, Danny Miller.

Fri 17 Feb LITTLE COMETS

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £14

Kitchen sink-styled indie-rock quartet led by the dynamic Robert Coles. KARL BLAU

LEAF, 20:00–23:00, £9

Northwest producer, singer and puppeteer out to blaze new trails with music and community events. THE CLASSIC ROCK SHOW

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 19:30–22:30, £23.50 - £33.50

A live juke box of classic rock sounds, from Eric Clapton and The Eagles to Led Zeppelin and ZZ Top. BUSTED

LIVERPOOL GUILD OF STUDENTS, 19:00–23:00, £29.50

Now that prodigal son Simpson’s returned, the pop-punk trio tour their new album, Night Driver.

Sat 18 Feb MIC LOWRY

O2 ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £16.50

Liverpool r’n’b heroes fast on the rise. CELEBRATE INDIA: SAMYO AND SABRANG

THE CAPSTONE, 19:30–22:30, FREE

SAMYO, the National Youth Orchestra for Indian Music, join forces with SABRANG, the National Choir for Indian Music. NIGHT AT THE OPERA

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 19:30–22:30, £15 - £42

An evening of celebrated sounds from Tosca, La Boheme, La Traviata, Samson and Delilah and more.

Sun 19 Feb WORRY DOLLS

THE ZANZIBAR CLUB, 18:30–22:30, £7

Tenacious duo made up of Zoe Nicol and Rosie Jones, together peddling contemporary Americana sounds.

Find full listings at theskinny.co.uk/whats-on

THE BEST GIG OF 2017 (MARTHA + RADIATOR HOSPITAL + ONSIND + NATTERERS + GROTBAGS)

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 19:00–22:00, £6

MAYA JAZZ

THE CAPSTONE, FROM 13:00, FREE

FIREBIRD QUARTET

THE ANGRY MEN

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:00, FREE

Jazz fusion group founded by electric bass player and Royal Academy of Music Jazz Course graduate Paul Robinson.

Fri 06 Jan

NIGHT AND DAY’S LOCAL SHOWCASE (DOOK DOOTSON AND THE FLIGHTLESS BIRDS + WE THREE KINGS + THE LOTUS + ENDA MCCALLAN) NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:00, £6

Live music showcase, giving a stage to local up-and-coming performers. EDWARD II

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:30–23:00, £12.50 - £16.50

THE JEREMY SASSOON BAND

The Manchester-based pianist and singer performs alongside his band.

Sat 07 Jan KYLA BROX

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:30–01:00, £5

The daughter of blues singer Victor Brox, with several albums to her name.

Live music showcase, giving a stage to local up-and-coming performers.

JOHNNY HUNTER QUARTET

THE CAPSTONE, FROM 17:35, FREE

Johnny Hunter (Nat Birchall, Blind Monk Trio, Spirit Farm, Sloth Racket) leads his own quartet. DAVID HELBOCK TRIO

THE CAPSTONE, FROM 19:00, £11.50

Austrian piano whizz David Helbock brings his trio our way in support of debut album, Into the Mystic. LIVERPOOL ROCKS: QUARTER FINAL

ARTS CLUB, 19:00–22:00, £6

The biggest battle of the bands in Liverpool, with 40 bands, four rounds and various venues. THE GRAHAMS

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC MUSIC ROOM, 20:00–23:00, £12.50

Alyssa and Doug Graham tour their most recent album, Glory Bound.

Sun 26 Feb

IAIN BALLAMY AND HUW WARREN

THE CAPSTONE, FROM 13:00, £11.50

The two musicians team up for a compelling programme based on their shared love of music from many disciplines. NEIL COWLEY TRIO

THE CAPSTONE, 19:30–22:30, £11.50

Piano trio jazz troupe.

THE X FACTOR LIVE TOUR 2017

ECHO ARENA, 18:30–22:00, £20 - £55

The stars (we use the term loosely) from X Factor take to the stage for their obligatory tour and – for most – a farewell to household recognition.

Tue 28 Feb

DAVE MASON’S TRAFFIC JAM

LIVERPOOL PHILHARMONIC HALL, 19:30–22:30, £32.50 - £38.50

British rock icon Dave Mason and his band go back in time to the start of his career with Traffic. LADY LESHURR

O2 ACADEMY 2, 19:00–23:00, £12.50

Ultra bad ass rapper who quotes Adele and raps insults like “your lips looks like crispy bacon” in her tracks. Make of that what you will.

The violin showman (and possibly the tallest violinist in the world) returns to his home town of Manchester with his live band.

Fri 13 Jan

REVIVAL (FAITH IN GLORY + MOUTH IN THE SOUTH + MURDER ON THE AIRWAYS + SCARLET CASTLES) MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:30–23:00, £7

Thu 05 Jan

THE CAPSTONE, FROM 16:25, FREE

Guitarist Pat McCarthy is joined by vocalist Shannon Reilly.

GREGORY SCOTT: THE JOURNEY

INTERNATIONAL ANTHONY BURGESS FOUNDATION, 19:30–21:15, £14 - £16

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:15, £8 - £12

Yorkshire-based contemporary jazz. PAT MCCARTHY QUARTET FT. SHANNON REILLY

The Blue Aeroplanes’ unique amalgam of rock, folk, poetry, punk, dance and art.

Dusty Pop welcome the Mancunian metal band and others.

NIGHT AND DAY’S LOCAL SHOWCASE (CAVANA + FEARS CHELLA + KOSMONAUTS + THE VANITY PROJECT)

THE CAPSTONE, FROM 15:15, FREE

THE BLUE AEROPANES THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:00–22:00, £12.50

Bad Uncle and Moving North make bold claims with this showcase of great sounds.

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:30–01:00, £5

LIVERPOOL ROCKS: QUARTER FINAL

Wed 15 Feb

Thu 16 Feb

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–01:00, FREE

New Orleans classics, old school blues and more.

ARTS CLUB, 18:00–22:00, £6

Russian-born pianist.

For his 60th birthday, saxophonist John Harle has asked Elvis Costello, Carl Davis, Michael Nyman, Graham Fitkin and others to write short pieces for him.

THE NIGHTCREATURES

Upbeat tunes blending the rhythms of the Caribbean with traditional songs from the British Isles.

The biggest battle of the bands in Liverpool, with 40 bands, four rounds and various venues.

JOHN HARLE 60TH BIRTHDAY BASH

Tue 03 Jan

Guest conductor Carlos Miguel Prieto takes on Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite.

ST GEORGE’S HALL, FROM 14:30, £25

KIRILL GERSTEIN

Manchester Music

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:00, £6

THE HALLÉ: A VIENNESE CELEBRATION

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 15:00–17:00, £13.50 - £41

The Hallé’s annual New Year celebration features the most romantic waltzes, thrilling polkas and exciting marches.

Mon 09 Jan JAZZ JAM

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:00, FREE

Open jazz jam led by Johnny Hunter, inviting musicians to join the house band for an evening of impromptu sets.

Wed 11 Jan

STUART MCCALLUM RESIDENCY

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:00, FREE

Monthly experimental improv compositions from The Cinematic Orchestra’s Stuart McCallum.

NIGHT AND DAY’S LOCAL SHOWCASE (GEORGE DEAN + LUCAS KANE + COLONNADES) NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:00, £6

Live music showcase, giving a stage to local up-and-coming performers. HALFNOISE

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–23:00, £7.50

The indie project of former Paramore drummer, Zac Farro. THE BOTTOM LINE

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:00, £10

UK pop punk act, touring in support of new EP I Still Hate You, due for release in January.

Thu 12 Jan

NIGHT AND DAY’S LOCAL SHOWCASE (SILCAA + HYPNAOSTRO + MAYLING + PRINCESS) NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:00, £6

Live music showcase, giving a stage to local up-and-coming performers. STEVE ROTHERY BAND (THE DAVE FOSTER BAND)

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:30–23:00, £18 - £20

Founding member of UK prog giants Marillion goes it alone (well, with his own band in tow.) THE HALLÉ: MOZART, JULIAN ANDERSON AND SCHUMANN

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–21:30, £13.50 - £41

Markus Stenz conducts two landmarks in the history of the symphony with Schumann’s Fourth Symphony and Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony, while German violinist Carolin Widmann is soloist in Julian Anderson’s ‘In Lieblicher Bläue’ (In Lovely Blue).

EXTRA LOVE (FAMILY RANKS)

Ten-piece dub reggae bunch hailing from Manchester, serving up danceable tunes by the shed load. SABATON

O2 APOLLO MANCHESTER, 19:00–22:00, £24.50

The Swedish heavy metallers drop in as part of a 10-date UK tour supporting their recent album Heroes. 52 SKIDOO

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:30–01:00, £5

Bringing back to life the forgotten era of the Speakeasy, Prohibition, Vaudeville, Tin Pan Alley, New York rent parties, Harlem Stride Piano and Hot Jazz. WEISSLICH VOL. 9

THE WONDER INN, 19:30–22:30, £5 - £10

An evening of brand new experimental music and performance from New Yorkbased supergroup Ensemble Pamplemousse, Antonia Barnett-McIntosh and Emma Bennett’s latest vocal collab and Miami-based Robert Blatt.

KING SCHASCHA’S RUDEBOY SKANKIN’ (DJ UNITE + NUUSIC + PAPER CHASER) THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–22:30, £10

The veteran reggae star heads out on a UK tour. CLAW THE THIN ICE (LEATHERNECK + CIVIL SERVICE)

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:00–23:00, £5

An evening of punk, shoegaze, postrock and everything in between.

RANDOLPH SWAIN AND THE RED LIGHTS

GULLIVERS, 19:30–22:30, £4

Manchester-based songwriter, and his pals. POETS OF THE FALL

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–23:00, £17.50

Finnish alt rock band from Helsinki. THE PRIONS

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:00, £6

The fast rising indie rockers launch their debut EP, Only She Knows.

Sat 14 Jan

THE GLENN MILLER ORCHESTRA

BRIDGEWATER HALL, FROM 15:00, £24.50 - £32.50

Guests The Jiving Lindy Hoppers perform some Glenn Miller classics, plus some Sinatra for good measure. RNCM STRINGS FESTIVAL

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC RNCM, FROM 10:00, £30 - £50

RNCM hosts a weekend celebrating all things strings, with performances, masterclasses and workshops for string players and music lovers alike. THE BOOM YEH

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:30–01:00, £5

Rootsy jazz-funk with a nod to Fela Kuti. BLUELIGHTS (LANTERNS + THE CHASE)

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:30–23:00, £7

Manchester-based pop-rock band Bluelights headline an evening from Dusty Pop.

CRIME SCENE: DAVID MCLEAN AND PHIL CARNEY (MUSICIANS FROM MOTHER + WATER + ACTION BEAT + LAKE OF SNAKES + DRUNK IN HELL + BARBEROS + LONELADY) ISLINGTON MILL, 19:00–23:30, £6

The culminating performance of the Samarbeta residency sees musician David McLean and film noir writer Phil Carney collaborate over 10 days to produce a new suite of compositions to be performed by a large ensemble of local musicians and actors.

Sun 15 Jan

JOHANN STRAUSS GALA

BRIDGEWATER HALL, FROM 15:00, £29.50 - £40

The Johann Strauss dancers and orchestra return for an enchanting afternoon of waltzes, polkas and more. RNCM STRINGS FESTIVAL

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC RNCM, FROM 10:30, £30 - £50

RNCM hosts a weekend celebrating all things strings, with performances, masterclasses and workshops for string players and music lovers alike. THE HUNNA

O2 RITZ, 19:00–22:00, £TBC

Hertfordshire indie-rock four-piece.

Listings

Manchester Music HANDEL’S MESSIAH: RE-IMAGINED (COLLECTIVE31) INTERNATIONAL ANTHONY BURGESS FOUNDATION, 19:30–21:30, £5 - £10

Kantos Chamber Choir and Orchestra will be performing the traditional Messiah under the baton of up-and-coming conductor Elspeth Slorach, interspersed within six newly commissioned electroacoustic works. MONA

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:00, £10

Post-indie rockers originally hailing from Midwest America.

Mon 16 Jan TOM PAXTON

THE LOWRY: QUAYS THEATRE, 19:30–22:30, £28.50

The veteran US folk musician celebrates 50 years on the road by, well, going out on the road again.

KING CREOSOTE (CHARLIE CUNNINGHAM)

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC RNCM, 19:00–22:00, £18.50

Fife-based singer/songwriter KC – otherwise known as Kenny Anderson – heads our way. AVENGED SEVENFOLD (DISTURBED IN FLAMES)

MANCHESTER ARENA, 19:00–22:00, £37.50 - £45

Heavy metal heads from Huntington Beach, California.

Tue 17 Jan WALKLATE & FUSCHI

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:00, FREE

Classic 50s and 60s blues, R&B and a little ska from British Blues Harp Champion Mat Walklate on harmonica and vocals and Paolo Fuschi on guitar. RAMIN KARIMLOO AND THE BROADGRASS BAND

THE LOWRY: QUAYS THEATRE, 19:30–22:30, £28.50

The Olivier and Tony Award nominee brings a dose of musical theatre hits and broadgrass our way. INSOMNIUM

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–23:00, £14

Finnish melodic death metal group.

THE GREATER MANCHESTER STRINGS SHOWCASE

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC RNCM, 19:30–22:30, £5

The GMYSO throw their own concert for the first time.

Wed 18 Jan

NIGHT AND DAY’S LOCAL SHOWCASE (FRESCO MUY FUNKY + ELEVATOR LADY + HOLLY JENKINSON) NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:00, £6

Live music showcase, giving a stage to local up-and-coming performers. THE HALLÉ: PROKOFIEV AND TCHAIKOVSKY

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 14:15–16:15, £13 - £41

Hallé favourite Louis Langrée conducts an irresistible all-Russian programme, featuring Prokofiev’s boisterous Classical Symphony, Tchaikovsky’s elegant Rococo Variations and Tchaikovsky’s gripping Fourth Symphony.

ASHLEY HENRY TRIO

RAE SREMMURD

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:00, FREE

O2 RITZ, 18:00–22:00, £18.50

Young pianist inspired by everyone from Kirkland, Glasper Moran, Madlib and Dilla to Hancock and Monk, whose trio channel this through jazz-infused hip hop. PIANISTS’ SHOWCASE

CHETHAM’S SCHOOL OF MUSIC, 19:00–20:00, £5 - £6

Join the Chetham’s pianists for an hour of fine tunes, following their recent successes at BBC Young Musician 2016 and the Junior Competition at the Wales International Piano Festival.

Thu 19 Jan

MESHUGGAH (THE HAUNTED)

O2 RITZ, 19:00–23:00, £20

Sweden’s foremost tech-metal architects head our way armed with their most recent LP, The Violent Sleep of Reason, a lead-heavy beast of an album. THE VRYLL SOCIETY

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:15, £10

Liverpool-based five-piece mixing in everything from Funkadelic to Aphrodites Child and krautrock. CAGE THE ELEPHANT

ALBERT HALL, 19:00–23:00, £18.50

After following up 2013’s Melophobia with fourth studio album Tell Me I’m Pretty last year - produced by Dan Auerbach of The Black Keys and The Arcs - the Kentucky rockers return to the UK. THE HALLÉ: PROKOFIEV AND TCHAIKOVSKY

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–21:30, £13 - £41

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:30–23:00, £12.50 - £16.50

Award-winning trumper player, composer and bandleader Laura Jurd steps out with new ensemble Dinosaur, blending elements of folk, jazz and rock. JOLIE HOLLAND AND SAMANTHA PARTON

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:30, £15

The two founders of Canadian outsider folk trio The Be Good Tanyas join forces with a forthcoming new album. AUREA QUARTET

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC RNCM, 19:30–22:30, £10

The foursome performs the music of Haydn, Shostakovich and Schubert.

Fri 20 Jan

DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:30–23:00, £15

Controversial hardcore metal fourpiece from New Jersey, touring their sixth and final album, Dissociation.

THE SENSATIONAL FRANCIS DUNNERY BAND

MANCHESTER CLUB ACADEMY, 19:30–23:00, £20

The guitar master straps on his electric guitar to play a cherrypicked set of hits.

Theh fresh-faced brothers Brown tour their latest hip hop output, SremmLife2. THE OFFSET

GULLIVERS, 19:30–22:30, £6

FRANNY EUBANK’S BLUES BAND

Canadian indie-rockers led by Nils Edenloff on vocals and guitar duties.

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:30–01:00, £5

Fuelled by the blues of Howlin’ Wolf, Little Walter and Sonny Boy Williamson. CARPETS (WEAL + INNER INFLUENCE)

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:30–23:00, £7

Post-punk/grunge outfit Carpets are joined by Weal and Inner Influence.

Sat 21 Jan

JOANNE SHAW TAYLOR (BROKEN WITT REBELS)

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:30–23:00, £20

British blues rock guitarist discovered as a 16 year-old by the Eurythmics’ Dave Stewart. TOMMY EMMANUEL

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC RNCM, 19:00–22:00, £SOLD OUT

Australian fingerstyle guitarist conjuring a whole band’s worth of sounds on just ten fingers. DONNY OSMOND

MANCHESTER ARENA, 19:00–22:00, £40 - £50

Celebrating 50 years of show business with The Soundtrack of My Life tour. Oh, Donald. LACEY

SOUND CONTROL, 18:30–22:30, £7

Nottingham rockers, who released their fan-funded debut album, Under the Brightest Lights, back in 2015. JEREMY SASSOON

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 17:00–18:00, FREE

The Manchester-based pianist and singer performs an early evening solo set.

PREVIOUSLY UNCHARTED (LVPO + M60 + ALX GREEN + RONAN O’BRIEN)

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:30–23:00, £7

Dusty Pop present an evening of alt-rock sounds.

LUCOO LIVE ALL DAYER (MAN MADE + ETHAN AND THE REFORMATION + HELLO OPERATOR + CRIMSONS + KASHMERE + CARNIVAL CLUB + LA MODE + KIERAN DOBSON)

SOUP KITCHEN, 15:00–22:15, £8 - £10

An evening of sounds from across the North, with DJ sets from Wet Dreams MCR and Disco Illusions throughout the day.

CUTE OWL EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC FESTIVAL (TANGERINECAT + CODE: MARLA VS SPIRE CRANES + STEPHANIE FINEGAN + TEKLA + RIK ANDRIVE)

GULLIVERS, FROM 18:30, £4

Cute Owl Promotions throw a brand new intimate festival of eclectic grassroots experimental music.

Sun 22 Jan BLACK SABBATH

MANCHESTER ARENA, 19:00–22:00, £60 - £95

Ozzy Osbourne et al head out on their final UK tour. THE FLAMING LIPS

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–22:00, £32.50

The famously O.T.T. live merrymakers return. THE FLAMING LIPS (GEORGIA)

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £32.50

The famously O.T.T. live merrymakers return. THE HALLÉ: PROKOFIEV AND TCHAIKOVSKY

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–21:30, £13 - £41

PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS PIGS (TOUGH TITS + LOCEAN) SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–22:30, £6

Beauty Witch welcome Newcastle fivepiece Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs.

Listings

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:00, £6

Live music showcase, giving a stage to local up-and-coming performers.

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC RNCM, 14:00–16:00, £5 - £10

Mon 23 Jan

An evening of acoustic music with Tom Walker and friends.

NIGHT AND DAY’S LOCAL SHOWCASE (DAVEYBLUE + THE NAVETTES + SOLLO)

RNCM YOUNG EXPLORERS CONCERT: A TWIST IN THE TAIL (PICCADILLY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA)

Tameside five-piece doing the indie thing.

TOM WALKER (MIRANDA AMESS + CONNOR PEPLOE + DAKOTA AVENUE + GIAN LUCA)

JAMES MCMURTRY THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:15, £16

Boogie Williams is joined by Alan ‘The Hat’ Whitham on bass and Richard young on drums, playing soul jazz, boogie and 60s groove.

The latest event in the RNCM Young Explorers Concert Series features two of Roald Dahl’s Revolting Rhymes, brought to life by live orchestra, narrator and some very special guests.

SOUND CONTROL, 18:30–22:00, £6

THE BOOGIE WILLIAMS TRIO GRANDE MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:00, FREE

KEVIN DEVINE AND THE GODDAMN BAND

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:00, £10

Brooklyn songwriter best known for his melodic tunesmithery built on alternately introspective, political lyrics. ROYAL CANOE

THE RURAL ALBERTA ADVANTAGE

GULLIVERS, 19:30–22:30, £11

THE WHITE BUFFALO

O2 RITZ, 19:00–23:00, £15

The White Buffalo (AKA Jake Smith) is a Californian artist whose five-album wide discography boasts serious songwriting prowess. Expressive vocals, distinctively woven instruments and epic tracks. MATT AND PHRED’S ALL STAR JAM (DREAMER)

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:00, FREE

Mancunian funk, soul and disco group Dreamer host the monthly jam. CASS MCCOMBS BAND

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–23:00, £12.50

More musically melancholic but lyrically sharp offerings from the US singer/ songwriter and pals.

Tue 24 Jan THE WOODENTOPS

SOUP KITCHEN, 20:00–23:00, £15

British rock outfit of mid-80s fame, back on the road. THE PRETTY RECKLESS

NEW YORK BRASS BAND MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:30–01:00, £5

North Yorkshire’s only contemporary New Orleans-inspired brass band, featuring an eight-strong line-up of percussion, sax, trumpets, trombones and sousaphone. EVIL SCARECROW

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:30–22:30, £11

Parody metal band from Nottingham, monstrous in appearance and captivating in performance. RIOT JAZZ

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:30–23:00, £7 - £11

The riotous, 11-piece jazz band hailing from Manchester perform at BOTW to gather material for a forthcoming Spring live album. GLENN HUGHES (STONE BROKEN)

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:30–23:00, £22.50

The some-time Trapeze, Deep Purple and Black Sabbath bassist hits the road. RNCM BRASS BAND FESTIVAL

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC RNCM, FROM 18:15, £44 - £98

NYC rockers led by vocalist and rhythm guitarist Taylor Momsen.

RNCM’s celebration of brass music returns, this year with a focus on the musical connections between the UK and USA.

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:00, £7

O2 RITZ, 18:30–22:00, £16.50

O2 RITZ, 19:00–22:00, £20

DREAM WIFE

London-based trio peddling poolside pop with a bite. MONKFISH

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:00, FREE

Mike Mellor, Stu Morrison and Gordy Bowyer blend gypsy jazz with bop, Latin groove and blues. THE HOTELIER

GORILLA, 19:00–22:00, £11

American emo funsters. HALF WAIF

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–22:30, £6

A Celtic connections concert from Half Waif, the project of Nandi Rose Plunkett (Pinegrove).

Wed 25 Jan KYLA BROX

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:00, FREE

The daughter of blues singer Victor Brox, with several albums to her name.

Thu 26 Jan RIOT JAZZ

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:30–23:00, £7 - £11

MEXRRISSEY

Four-pronged indie folk group from Boston, back with new album Whippoorwill.

Fri 27 Jan

CHATHAM COUNTRY LINE

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:15, £15

The bluegrass four-piece come to the UK with a glut of awards on their mantelpiece. TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB

O2 APOLLO MANCHESTER, FROM 19:00, £21

Bangor indie-rock outfit comprised of Alex Trimble, Kevin Baird and Sam Halliday, built on a bed of angular guitar pop with electro undertones.

SOUP KITCHEN, 16:00–22:15, £3

As part of Independent Venue Week, Soup celebrates the launch of Irma Vep’s latest EP, while also welcoming Duds and other pals.

Sun 29 Jan

HORSEBEACH (YUCATAN + DOCUMENTA)

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:00–23:00, £5

Independent Venue Week and Tim Peaks Diner welcome hazy lo-fi dream pop locals Horsebeach and others. RNCM BRASS BAND FESTIVAL

Sun 05 Feb

TUK TUK

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:00, FREE

Sax-led trio from Cardiff. BLACK PEAKS

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:00–22:00, £10

The Brighton-based tech-rockers take a trip up North ahead of releasing their debut album, Statues.

Thu 02 Feb

THE HEAD AND THE HEART

GORILLA, 19:00–22:00, £16.50

Folk outfit composed of Seattle transplants, treading the line between a folksy Beatles and The Avett Brothers, but wi’ more oomph, all topped off with raspy vocals courtesy of Josiah Johnson. CONOR OBERST

ALBERT HALL, 19:00–23:00, £26.50

Lead singer of Bright Eyes – as well as Desaparecidos, and a sometime player in myriad other outfits – Conor Oberst takes to the road solo to showcase tracks offa his latest LP, Ruminations. ASAXUAL

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:00, FREE

Recently-formed five-piece paying tribute to the best two-brass front lines of the recent past.

MAGNUS OSTROM

Fri 03 Feb

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:00–22:00, £9.50

Copenhagen-based electronic head Anders Trentemøller returns with new album, Fixion. BRENT COBB

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–23:00, £7

Country singer-songwriter from Georgia, out trailing new album Shine On Rainy Day.

Sat 28 Jan

MARTHA WAINWRIGHT

O2 RITZ, 18:30–22:00, £23

The American-Canadian songstress (aka sprog of Kate McGarrigle and Loudon Wainwright III, and sister to Rufus) does her fiery folk-rock thing. TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB

O2 APOLLO MANCHESTER, FROM 19:00, £21

EVIL SCARECROW

Parody metal band from Nottingham, monstrous in appearance and captivating in performance. RNCM BRASS BAND FESTIVAL

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC RNCM, FROM 11:00, £44 - £98

RNCM’s celebration of brass music returns, this year with a focus on the musical connections between the UK and USA. CHARLIE COOPER AND THE CCS

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:30–01:00, £5

Vintage soul headed up the deep, husky tones of Charlie Cooper, who’s joined by a band that channels their inner Booker T and the MGs. THE HALLÉ: MOVIE CLASSICS

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–21:30, £13.50 - £43

BBC presenter Petroc Trelawny makes a welcome return to the Hallé for a night of movie classics, capturing some of cinema’s most memorable moments.

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC RNCM, FROM 11:00, £44 - £98

Ex-E.S.T drummer embarks on a solo project, establishing himself on the Scandinavian jazz scene with a new album. JOJO

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:00–23:00, £13

American popstress who found fame at the tender age of 13 with debut single, Leave (Get Out) - now back with her first album in 10 years. SMN #17: MARE, CORRUPT MORAL ALTAR, IRK + PIJN

GULLIVERS, 19:00–22:00, £6

Solitary Music Nerd welcome Canadian duo Mare, Leeds’ Irk and more.

Mon 30 Jan EXMAGICIAN

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:00–23:00, £7.50

ABSTRACT ORCHESTRA DOES DILLA

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:30–23:00, £8 - £12

16-piece ensemble Abstract Orchestra take on the mighty J Dilla back catalogue. MATTHEW AND THE ATLAS

British singer-songwriter Matthew Hagerty tours his latest album, Temple. RITE

ISLINGTON MILL, 22:00–05:00, £TBC

Outside the Mill looms dark, but stepping inside your filter dissolves to find a fluorescent cabaret; a space where people gather to rejoice in colourful abandon; a special place where you can cast your inhibitions loose and be who you want to be…

O2 RITZ, 19:00–23:00, £15

Philly-born pop punk sextet. UNION J

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:30–23:00, £20

The X-Factor boy band grace us with their presence. Joys. RUMOURS OF FLEETWOOD MAC

PALACE THEATRE, 19:30–22:30, £24.75

Fleetwood Mac tribute act.

RNCM DAY OF PERCUSSION (JOBY BURGESS + RALPH SALMINS + ALEX ACUNA + MORE)

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC RNCM, FROM 10:00, £14 - £25

RNCM throw their doors open to welcome percussionists of all ages and abilities for a day of workshops, clinics, concerts and one-to-one consultation lessons.

Mon 06 Feb SHOVELS AND ROPE

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:00–22:00, £14

Husband and wife duo from South Carolina – making lovely harmony-driven folk with the help of a a few guitars, a kick drum, a snare, some harmonicas and the occasional bit of keyboard. VAULTS

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–23:00, £10

A trio who describe themselves as an introspective electronica, whose single One Last Night hit the big time after featuring on the Fifty Shades of Grey soundtrack. RNCM OPERA SCENES

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC RNCM, FROM 18:00, £FREE

RNCM singers perform excerpts drawn from a wide variety of operas. GREEN DAY

MANCHESTER ARENA, 19:00–22:00, £39.50 - £65

Gnarly punk rockers who took most of us through adolescence, via the avenues of Vans trainers, sweatbands and eyeliner. CHIASCURO QUARTET

ALBERT HALL, 18:00–22:00, £15.50

JAMIES BROWN IS ANNIE

Tue 07 Feb

Icelandic rock group formed in 2012, returning with their second studio album, A/B. MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:30–01:00, £5

Jazz-funk group, who take their name from an Eddie Murphy Saturday Night Live sketch.

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:00, FREE

BAND ON THE WALL, 23:00–02:00, £10

An evening of gypsy jazz - the acoustic jazz styles first popularised in the 1930s by Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grappelli - led by violinist Matt Holborn and his quartet.

THE WONDER YEARS (BENTLEY RHYTHM ACE + FUZZBOX + THE LOTTERY WINNERS + STEVE LAMACQ)

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC RNCM, 19:30–22:30, £25

KALEO

Multi-era psychedelia, with flangey synth and lazy garage vocals; truly suited to a hair-in-the-wind road trip. GYPSY JAM

RNCM BIG BAND WITH MARTIN TAYLOR

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC RNCM, 19:30–22:00, £15 - £18

Wed 01 Feb

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:30–23:00, £13 - £17

TRENTEMØLLER

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:00, £15

DARLINGSIDE

A VERY BON AND DUDS ENGAGEMENT (DUDS + IRMA VEP + THE FOETALS + RAPID TAN + GIRL SWEAT + THE HIPSHAKES)

Manchester-based group GSD perform tunes from their new album, Wildfire, following a successful crowd-funding campaign on PledgeMusic.

RNCM’s first Big Band show of 2017 features guitar wizard Martin Taylor, who brought the house down last time he played with in 2011 with his tribute to Django Reinhardt.

GORILLA, 18:30–22:00, £17.50

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:00–22:00, £11

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–22:15, £15

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 16:00–22:00, £8 - £10

We’re teaming up with The Deaf Institute for a two-floor all-dayer of great live sounds, following the thundering debut of Stay Fresh last September. Come play!

GSD (FLIGHTLESS BIRDS)

INTERNATIONAL ANTHONY BURGESS FOUNDATION, 19:00–21:30, £3 - £5

Canadian indie pop oufit Royal Canoe get back out there with new album, Something Got Lost Between Here and the Orbit.

RNCM’s celebration of brass music returns, this year with a focus on the musical connections between the UK and USA.

Bangor indie-rock outfit comprised of Alex Trimble, Kevin Baird and Sam Halliday, built on a bed of angular guitar pop with electro undertones.

The rising Texas country singer songwriter makes the trek to the UK.

STAY FRESH FEST 2 (LUXURY DEATH + HENGE + HEAVY ON THE MAGIC + THE ORIELLES + SEIZE THE CHAIR + MUMS + STROBES + PATTY HEARST)

VOX LOW

ISLINGTON MILL, 20:00–04:00, £TBC

Cowbell welcome Vox Low over from France to play their Manchester debut.

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 20:00–23:00, £9

Like a Morrissey tribute night, except the band involved have reimagined the songs of The Most Miserable Man On Earth in truly Mexican form, with brass, accordion and sunny, sunny vibes. Sounds mental.

The riotous, 11-piece jazz band hailing from Manchester perform at BOTW to gather material for a forthcoming Spring live album. AARON WATSON

HIPPO CAMPUS SOUND CONTROL, 18:30–23:00, £8.50

Minnesota indie rock four-piece, out on an international tour in support of debut album, Landmark.

Americana singer, songwriter and guitarist from Texas.

HIGH HOOPS PRESENTS MOOD II SWING

Aka songwriter-producer Lem Springsteen and composer-producer John Ciafone, known throughout the 90s for their work in New York’s house scene through to UK garage. MOTOWN’S GREATEST HITS

Performing works by Bach, Beethoven and Berwald. KATE NASH

GORILLA, 19:00–23:00, £14

Ms Nash keeps it reliably chirpy with her vocally-loose melodic ramblings.

NIGHT AND DAY’S LOCAL SHOWCASE (TAMSYN + DOLLIE DEMI + STARLET AND THE PHANTOM BLACK) NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:00, £6

Live music showcase, giving a stage to local up-and-coming performers. THE DIRTY BOMB

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:00, FREE

Motown mania with The Foundations.

Alabama sextet with a gospel neo-soul garage sound.

Intrumental funk four-piece from near Liverpool.

Sat 04 Feb

MANCHESTER CLUB ACADEMY, 19:30–23:00, £10

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–23:00, £11

Portland sister trio, heading to the UK armed with new album I’m Alone, No You’re Not.

ST. PAUL AND THE BROKEN BONES

O2 RITZ, 19:00–22:00, £20

SEAWAY (WSTR + GOSPEL YOUTH BAND)

An evening of pop punk.

Tue 31 Jan THE KING BLUES

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:30–23:00, £12.50

London ska-meets-punk trio, taking in everything from folk to doo-wop as they go.

PALACE THEATRE, 19:30–22:30, £19 - £27.50

JOSEPH

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:00–22:15, £10

SHOWADDYWADDY

PALACE THEATRE, 19:30–22:30, £21.25 - £23.25

The Leicester rock’n’rollers swing by with more classics than you can shake a pair of creepers at. TARZAN BROS

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:30–00:30, £5

Brothers Theo and Greg Tantanozis perform material from their latest release along with a full live band.

BRY

Irish singer-songwriter with a unique approach to life and a goal is to travel to (and perform in) every single country in the world. BIG THIEF (MEGA BOG)

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:00–22:15, £10

Acoustic folk-pop music with meat on its bones. HIGH VALLEY

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:15, £10

Nashville outfit blending folk, pop and country.

THE SKINNY

Wed 08 Feb CYMBALS EAT GUITARS

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–23:00, £9

NYC posse who know how to cut loose on the ol’ thunderous drums/guitars/ keys combo. BLOC PARTY

ALBERT HALL, 19:00–23:00, £25

The Kele Okereke-fronted ensemble embark on their return to the live stage after a two year hiatus. STUART MCCALLUM RESIDENCY

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:00, FREE

Monthly experimental improv compositions from The Cinematic Orchestra’s Stuart McCallum. SAINT MOTEL

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–23:00, £10

Los Angeles indie-rockers who do a good line in dreamy pop soundscapes.

THE HALLÉ: SIBELIUS, POULENC, DVO?ÁK AND JANÁ?EK

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–21:30, £13.50 - £41

RON FRICKE’S BARAKA: FILM WITH LIVE SCORE (FLAMINGODS + MY PANDA SHALL FLY + AFRODEUTSCHE + O>L>A + DANIEL LIM + ELDAD DIAMANT) ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC RNCM, 19:30–22:00, £14

Video Jam commissioned six musicians to compose and live perform original works to accompany iconic film Baraka, which captures what director Ron Fricke calls ‘a guided meditation on humanity.’

Sat 11 Feb LADYHAWKE

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:30–23:00, £14

The introverted New Zealander delights with her 80s-inflected pop grooves and propelling bass beats. DRAKE

MANCHESTER ARENA, 19:00–22:00, £55 - £131

Last name Ever, first name Greatest strikes again. MENACE BEACH

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:15, £7.50

With Sibelius’s The Oceanides, Dvo?ák’s Legends, Janá?ek’s Taras Bulba and Poulenc’s hauntingly beautiful Concerto for organ, strings and timpani.

The quite super Leeds grunge pop unit head out to air their new studio album, Lemon Memory, released on Memphis Industries.

PALACE THEATRE, 19:30–22:30, £28.75 - £30.75

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:30–01:00, £5

ROY WOOD

The prolific man behind Move, ELO and Wizzard brings his rock ‘n’ roll band our way. TURNPIKE TROUBADOURS

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:00, £14

Red Dirt rockers from Oklahoma. TELEMANN 250 PROJECT

CHETHAM’S SCHOOL OF MUSIC, FROM 17:30, £5 - £6

A celebration of the timeless music of Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767) through a programme of concerti in the 15th-century Baronial Hall.

Thu 09 Feb

CHELSEA GRIN (BETRAYING THE MARTYRS)

SOUND CONTROL, 18:30–22:00, £14

A night of metal from CMH Live and Avocado Booking. BOXED IN

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–23:00, £10

Musical brainchild of Oli Bayston, formerly of indie outfit Keith, taking his name from a Francis Bacon painting. HOWIE PAYNE

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:00–22:00, £9

Singer-songwriter formerly of The Stands, who’s previously worked with the likes of Paul Weller, Noel Gallagher and Bill Ryder-Jones. LOYLE CARNER

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:30–23:00, £15

The MC from South London stops off with more stirring, confessional hip hop. LOUD NOISES BRASS

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:00, FREE

Fiesty four-piece spinning a twist on traditional jazz tunes. ANDY SHAUF

GULLIVERS, 19:30–22:30, £10

Revered storyteller and crooner of regrets and heartbreak.

RE-COMPOSED: MAX RICHTER/VIVALDI THE FOUR SEASONS (BRUNO HEINEN + COSMO STRINGS + KANA OHASHI)

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC RNCM, 19:30–22:00, £12

Featuring Cosmo Strings performing Max Richter’s re-imagining of Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons, while Bruno Heinen deconstructs the music of composers including Bach and Ravel.

Fri 10 Feb

THE PINEAPPLE THIEF

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–22:00, £18

Progressive indie rockers formed by mainman Bruce Soord back in 1999.

MOHAWK RADIO (JESS KEMP + IDEAL FORGERY + KATIE MAC)

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:15, £7

The Mancunian four-piece, aiming to provide memorable live performances like the legendary rock gods of old, throw a launch do for new EP Shoot From the Hip. THE SHERLOCKS

ALBERT HALL, 18:00–22:00, £12

Sheffield indie-rock unit made up of two sets of brothers. THE AFTER HOURS

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:30–00:30, £5

Electro swing enthusiasts weaving 1920s New Orleans jazz, swing and Balkan tunes with modern dance styles.

SANCHEZ, LUKIE D + YOLANDA BROWN (PETER HUNNINGALE + SYLVIA TELLA + ADELE HARLEY) MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 20:00–00:00, £27.50

A night of soulful r’n’b and smooth melodies.

CALIENTE

Eight-pronged Latin dance band based in North Wales, playing their own take on South American styles and jazz music. CABBAGE

GORILLA, FROM 18:30, £9

Manchester-based five-piece serving up discordant post-punk. THE HALLÉ: FROM BROADWAY, WITH LOVE…

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–21:30, £13.50 - £43

Music director, conductor and arranger, Larry Blank works his musical magic to bring Broadway to The Bridgewater Hall, joined by star vocalists Matthew Ford and Emma Williams. WONDERLAND TRIP

THE KING’S ARMS, 18:00–23:00, £15

Local pop-punk heads.

Sun 12 Feb DUKE GARWOOD

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:30, £12

London-based multi-instrumentalist of the distinctly bluesy persuasion. SLAUGHTER AND THE DOGS

MANCHESTER CLUB ACADEMY, 19:00–22:30, £17.50

The original line-up of these Manchester stalwarts celebrate 40+ years as a band.

Mon 13 Feb THE NAKED AND FAMOUS

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:30–23:00, £17

Alternative fivesome hailing from New Zealand, who do a good line in getting NME’s pants in a twist. JAZZ JAM

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:00, FREE

Open jazz jam led by Johnny Hunter, inviting musicians to join the house band for an evening of impromptu sets. PATCH AND THE GIANT

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–22:30, £6 - £8

Seven-piece alternative folk band. NADIA REID

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–23:00, £10

With a richness of voice, a depth of emotion and wisdom beyond her years, New Zealand native Nadia Reid returns to UK shores. SLØTFACE

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:00–22:00, FREE

Norwegian pop-punk outfit, fka Slutface. MARIO BIONDI

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC RNCM, 19:00–22:00, £25

Italian jazz-soul singer. OPERA EXTRACTS

CHETHAM’S SCHOOL OF MUSIC, 16:30 + 18.30, £5 - £6

Chetham’s Sixth Form singers present two concerts in the atmospheric setting of the Baronial Hall, directed by the renowned international mezzo soprano Margaret McDonald.

Tue 14 Feb TEGAN AND SARA

ALBERT HALL, 19:00–23:00, £21

Canadian indie rock duo keeping it in the family (they’re identical twin sisters) touring with their eighth studio album, Love You to Death. IZZY BIZU

MANCHESTER CLUB ACADEMY, 19:30–23:00, £12

Singer-songwriter who’s supported the likes of Sam Smith, Rudimental and Foxes, this time out trailing her own debut album, A Moment of Madness.

January/February 2017

SIGALA O2 RITZ, 19:00–23:00, £15

British DJ and producer from Norfolk, known less glamorously as Bruce Fielder. Hey, Bruce! Bruce!

MATT AND PHRED’S VALENTINE SPECIAL

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 20:00–00:00, FREE

The Charlie Cooper Quartet head up Matt and Phred’s love-in.

PETE MACLEOD AND BAND (STEVE CRADOCK + STEVE WHITE + MARTYN CAMPBELL) NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:00, £20

Tue 21 Feb

ESBEN AND THE WITCH (PIJN)

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:30–23:00, £8

Fri 24 Feb

A WIND, BRASS AND PERCUSSION CELEBRATION

CHETHAM’S SCHOOL OF MUSIC, FROM 15:00, £5 - £6

SOUND CONTROL, 18:30–22:00, £10

Hard rockin’ grindcore from the Singapore ensemble.

JESSARAE

London-based singer-songwriter from LA, who’s shared stages with the likes of Plain White Ts, Matt Corby and others.

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £20

ULRICH SCHNAUSS (NAT URAZMETOVA)

Sat 18 Feb

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:00, FREE

TRIVIUM (SIXTH + SHVPES)

Florida’s finest bring the mayhem. THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–23:00, £12

Kiel-born Ulrich Schnauss serves up a sensory feast of multi-layered synthesizers and ethereal vocals, while Nat Urazmetova takes care of the visual accompaniment. BLIND MONK TRIO

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:00, FREE

The classic sax, bass and drums trio format is updated with elements of everything from alt-rock to Eastern folk. TAKING BACK SUNDAY (FRANKIE IERO AND THE PATIENCE)

O2 RITZ, 19:00–23:00, £20

TOUCHE AMORE (ANGEL DUST)

SOUND CONTROL, 18:00–22:00, £14

LA-based post-hardcore rock quintet, led by vocalist Jeremy Bolm. HOPSIN

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:00–23:00, £17.50

LA-based hip-hop rapper, producer, director and actor, aka Marcus Jamal Hopson to his mammy. RUSSELL WATSON

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–22:30, £29.50 - £55

The popular classical crossover artist does his thing. BETTY HARRIS

BAND ON THE WALL, 19:00–23:00, £20 - £25

American rock unit formed by guitarist Eddie Reyes in Long Island back in 1999.

American soul singer and Northern Soul favourite.

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:30–23:00, £15

A night of indie pop courtesy of Dixie Ernill in conjunction with Pennyblack Music.

FOUR YEAR STRONG (CHUCK!, NO CAPTAIN CHUNK! + HOMEBOUND + BOSTON MANOR)

The US punk rock quartet return to the UK. FUFANU

GULLIVERS, 19:00–22:00, £6

Icelandic rock’n’roll with roots reaching outintotechno,foryourauditorypleasure.

Thu 16 Feb

JAMIE BROWNFIELD QUARTET

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:00, FREE

Jazz four-piece headed by British Jazz Awards rising star, Jamie Brownfield. JACOB SARTORIUS

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 18:30–22:00, £18

Kid internet sensation bringing the Bieber vibes. TEMPTING OR WHAT?

FIREWIND (MANIMAL + SCAR OF THE SUN)

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 3, 19:00–23:00, £16.50

Greek power metal outfit, back with new material. QUEER CONTACT FESTIVAL 2017: (I COULD GO ON SINGING) OVER THE RAINBOW

WHITWORTH ART GALLERY, 18:00, 19:00 & 20:00 FREE

FK Alexander takes your hand, fixes your gaze and sings to you, amidst the live swirls of Glasgow noise-band Okishima Island Tourist Association. THEODORA IN THE CITY

CENTRAL LIBRARY, 18:00–19:30, £5

Students from the RNCM School of Vocal Studies and Opera present a selection of arias and duets from Handel’s great masterwork Theodora.

Fri 17 Feb DEAF HAVANA

O2 RITZ, 18:00–22:00, £16.50

Four East Coast Village lads making a rammy of rock sounds. SUNDARA KARMA

ALBERT HALL, 19:00–22:00, £13

Sundara means ‘beautiful’ in Sanskrit, and this quartet live up to their blissful name with some epic and anthemic indie rock, gaining comparisons from Arcade Fire to Bruce Springsteen. ALPINES

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:00–22:00, £8

The London-based duo tour tunes from their forthcoming second album, Another River.

MOBO-nominated saxophonist and pals.

The Brighton trio blend druggy guitars, sinister ambience and gothic lyrical themes in their own inimitable way, all reliably intense in a live setting.

The rock’n’roll Glasgow singer-songwriter does his thing.

A day of performance celebrating wind, brass and percussion, with chamber music in the afternoon and larger ensembles during the evening.

Wed 15 Feb

CAMILLA GEORGE QUARTET MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:00, FREE

THE CHESTERFIELDS + KAREN + CHARLIE BIG TIME

GULLIVERS, 19:45–22:45, £7

QUEER CONTACT FESTIVAL 2017: WALL TO WALL PRINCE

CONTACT THEATRE, FROM 20:00, £10 - £15

MARCO MARCHI AND THE MOJO WORKERS

Channelling the energy of music from Blind Blake, Mississippi John Hurt, Tampa Red, Blind Boy Fuller and Robert Johnson. SURVIVE

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:15, £14

Texan experimental synth quartet formed back in 2009.

Wed 22 Feb

THE HANDSOME FAMILY (COURTNEY MARIE ANDREWS)

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC RNCM, 19:30–22:30, £15

Musical collaboration between husband and wife duo Brett and Rennie Sparks – still making lovely Americana-styled alternative folk tunes after some 20 years together. KYLA BROX

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:00, FREE

The daughter of blues singer Victor Brox, with several albums to her name.

ME FIRST AND THE GIMME GIMMES (MASKED INTRUDER) O2 RITZ, 19:00–23:00, £20

WORMROT (THE AFTERNOON GENTLEMAN + BOYCOTT THE BAPTIST + GOREHEAD + BRAINSHIT)

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:00–22:15, £7 - £10

THE NIGHTCREATURES

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:30–01:00, £5

New Orleans classics, old school blues and more. MAN AND THE ECHO

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:15, £9

Warrington pop outfit fronted by Gaz Roberts.

RNCM FILM ORCHESTRA: 100 YEARS AT THE MOVIES

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC RNCM, 19:30–21:30, £10

For the second fundraising event organised by the RNCM Student Development Board, attention turns to the history of film music over the last 100 years or so.

Sat 25 Feb VNV NATION

MANCHESTER CLUB ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £22

Alternative electronica duo of Ronan Harris and Mark Jackson, combining elements of electro-industrial, trance, synthpop and EBM into one danceable whole. CHINESE MARBLES

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:30–01:00, £5

Nine-piece jazz line-up, playing a free blend of jazz, funk, soul and ska. SUM 41

A celebration of music by his Purple Highness, featuring David McAlmont and Baby Sol on vocals, Janette Mason (MD) and an all-star band.

Punk rock cover group hailing from Southern California, known for their onstage fancy dress antics.

The Canadian pop-punk group return with new album, 13 Voices.

Sun 19 Feb

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–23:00, £12.50

The folky orchestral poppers tour their 11th album, Foreverland.

FAIRPORT CONVENTION

THE LOWRY: QUAYS THEATRE, FROM 20:00, £25

The longtime British folk-rockers draw on classic songs old and new, on the go now for nearly 50 years. PET SHOP BOYS

MANCHESTER ARENA, 18:30–22:00, £35 - £65

The electro-pop wonders play songs from their latest album, Super, and likely a gaggle of other hits from their 20+ year career.

NICK WATERHOUSE

The 1950s influenced soul singer returns to the UK in support of his third LP, Never Twice. THOUGHT FORMS

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:00–23:00, £7

Visceral Bristol three-piece mixing noise rock grunge and slowcore to great effect. THE HALLÉ: FAURÉ, MOZART AND PROKOFIEV

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 14:15–16:15, £13 - £41

Presenting nine emerging bands from across Greater Manchester.

Christian M?celaru forms a dream team with pianist Heejae Kim for Mozart’s ‘Jeunehomme’ concerto, Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet and Fauré’s charming Dolly Suite.

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–23:00, £15

Thu 23 Feb

GREATER MANCHESTER MUSIC HUB ROCK AND POP SHOWCASE

BAND ON THE WALL, 11:30–15:00, £5 - £6

ELISA

Multi-platinum Italian singer touring a new batch of songs.

Mon 20 Feb LEANN RIMES

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:00–22:00, £27.50 - £45

SOPHIE ELLIS-BEXTOR

GORILLA, 19:00–23:00, £20.50

Murder On The Dancefloor Informant Ellis-Bextor returns with new album Familia. AMBER RUN

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:30–23:00, £12

The American country popstress hits the road to fight the moonlight, or summat.

Rising young Nottingham quintet of the soft folk-rock variety.

NIGHT AND DAY CAFE, 20:00–23:00, £6

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:30–23:00, £9.50

NEON WALTZ

Alternative six-piece from John O’Groats who’ve spent this year touring with The Coral. THE SANDINISTAS

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:00–22:00, £6

A heady mix of punk and new wave rock n roll hailing from the Welsh Valleys.

PINEGROVE

American indie group from New Jersey, whose debut LP, Cardinal, was released last year. THE HALLÉ: FAURÉ, MOZART AND PROKOFIEV

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–21:30, £13 - £41

Christian M?celaru forms a dream team with pianist Heejae Kim for Mozart’s ‘Jeunehomme’ concerto, Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet and Fauré’s charming Dolly Suite.

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 19:00–23:00, £22.50

THE DIVINE COMEDY (LISA O’NEIL)

ALBERT HALL, 18:00–22:00, £30

Soup and Now Wave welcome the Floridian synth poppers back to Manchester for a rare show.

Sun 26 Feb

THE HALLÉ: FAURÉ, MOZART AND PROKOFIEV

BRIDGEWATER HALL, 19:30–21:30, £13 - £41

Christian M?celaru forms a dream team with pianist Heejae Kim for Mozart’s ‘Jeunehomme’ concerto, Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet and Fauré’s charming Dolly Suite. THE HARRY AND CHRIS SHOW

THE CASTLE HOTEL, 19:30–22:30, £8 - £10

World Poetry Slam Champion Harry Baker teams up with jazz musician Chris Read. RYAN HAMILTON AND FRIENDS

GULLIVERS, 19:30–22:30, £10

An acoustic evening with Ryan Hamilton and chums, featuring the new album from Ryan Hamilton and The Traitors.

Mon 27 Feb WEDNESDAY 13

THE RUBY LOUNGE, 19:00–22:00, £12.50

Murderdolls frontman Wednesday 13 is off on a new project, still heavily into the horror punk. MATT AND PHRED’S ALL STAR JAM

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:00, FREE

LED BIB (FLIGHTLESS BIRDS)

ROYAL NORTHERN COLLEGE OF MUSIC RNCM, 19:30–22:00, £15

Mercury Prize nominees Led Bib are back in 2017 with a new album, Umbrella Weather, and in the run-up to this gig will work with RNCM’s Popular Music students.

Find full listings at theskinny.co.uk/whats-on

SATURDAYS

PROJEKT, 22:00-04:00, £5

An 2700-capacity indoor festival vibe each week, with Co2 jets, confetti cannons, pyrotechnics and dancers, with residents PBH and Harley Sanders playing deep house, future house and classic club anthems.

Attic

SATURDAYS

PROPAGANDA’S ATTIC, 22:30-04:00, £4-£5

Long-running indie night, serving 28 cities across the UK, Ireland and Australia; expect The Libertines, The Fratellis, Kate Nash and such.

Canal Mills WEDNESDAYS

KREATOR (SEPULTURA + SOILWORK + ABORTED)

THE JAZZ SINGERS

MATT AND PHRED’S JAZZ CLUB, 21:00–00:00, FREE

COQUIN MIGALE (RESTLESS VENTURE)

GULLIVERS, 19:30–22:30, £7

Newcastle trio - you pronounce it ‘Co-kane Mig-elle’ BTW. YOUNGR

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:15, £7

Rising producer, aka Dario Darnell. TOOTHLESS

SOUND CONTROL, 19:00–23:00, £8

Bombay Bicycle Club bassist, aka Ed Nash.

SATURDAYS (EVERY FIRST OF THE MONTH)

JUICEBOX, 21:00-02:00, FREE

Indie night spanning alt rock, 60s, Northern Soul,

Wire

THURSDAYS

FUZZY LOGIC, 23:00-LATE, £2-£4

Leeds’ favourite indie night, playing dance floor anthems all night long.

Liverpool Clubs Brooklyn Mixer WEDNESDAYS

NO-WAVE SOCIAL CLUB, 22:00-03:00, FREE

Join the No-Wave DJs as they play hip hop, r’n’b, funk, soul and indie each week.

HiFi

Camp and Furnace

WEDNESDAYS

MOVEONUP, 23:00-LATE, £3-£4

GIN & JUICE, 23:00-LATE, £TBC

MANCHESTER ACADEMY, 18:00–22:00, £25

The White Rabbit

BONGO’S BINGO, 18:00-23:30, £5

A bingo rave with DJs, dance-offs and, of course, bingo.

Tue 28 Feb

Bi-monthly gig with backing music from the Dave Luvin Group.

THE DEAF INSTITUTE, 19:00–22:00, £18

O2 Academy

20 years of weekly soul – and counting – with DJ Matt Bolton.

CHUCK PROPHET AND THE MISSION EXPRESS

American singer/songwriter, guitarist and producer who hit the road straight outta high school in the 80s with psychedelic roots band Green on Red.

Leeds Clubs

Mancunian funk, soul and disco group Dreamer host the monthly jam.

MANCHESTER ACADEMY 2, 19:30–23:00, £14

Witty indie-pop from the Philadelphiabased four-piece.

Find listings below for weekly and monthly fixtures at clubs across Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester. For regularly updated listings including oneoff club nights and the best parties from independent promoters, head to theskinny.co.uk/whats-on

TONSTARTSSBANDHT

SOUP KITCHEN, 19:00–22:00, £7.50

Germany’s biggest thrash metal export with plans to abuse your eardrums (i.e. this will be loud).

MODERN BASEBALL (THE SUPERWEAKS + THIN LIPS)

Clubs

THURSDAYS

Resident DJs drop the biggest hip hop beats and breaks of the last 30 years. FRIDAYS

SOUL CONTROL, 23:00-LATE, £TBC

Residents’ party playing an eclectic mix of sounds from across the dance spectrum.

Sheaf Street Cafeteria FRIDAYS

THE FRIDAY RESIDENCY, 17:00-00:00, FREE

Weekly after-work sesh featuring everything from ‘post-Drake’ hip hop, trap and grime to neo soul, Afro/Latin and future beats.

The Warehouse FRIDAYS

STICKY FEET, 23:00-02:00, £TBC

THURSDAYS

BONGO’S BINGO, 18:00-23:30, £5

A bingo rave with DJs, dance-offs and, of course, bingo.

Level

WEDNESDAYS

LOVE WEDNESDAYS, 22:00-04:00, £TBC

Billing itself as Liverpool’s biggest weekly student event, with three levels of house, r’n’b, hip hop, party anthems and guilty pleasures. FRIDAYS

#HASHTAG, 22:00-04:00, £TBC

Three levels of nostalgic pop, dance anthems, r’n’b and hip hop, topped off with stilt walkers, dancers and trapeze artists. SATURDAYS

LEVEL SATURDAYS, 22:00-04:00, £TBC

Laser shows, trapeze artists, acrobatics, fire eaters and more complement the EDM, dance, progressive house and pop anthem soundtracks from the past and present.

Leeds’ biggest weekly bass night, powered through monstrous Funktion One dance stacks.

Listings

Modo SATURDAYS

STYLE SATURDAYS, UNTIL 04:00, FREE

Two floors, three DJs and a whole lotta, er, style – allegedly.

Mint Lounge FRIDAYS

TOP OF THE POPS, 22:30-04:00, £4

The Attic

Get your weekend off to a great start with this healthy mix of dancefloor fillers and guilty pleasures served up by residents and guest DJs.

4MATION, 22:00-03:00, FREE

FUNKADEMIA, 22:30-04:00, £5-£6

FRIDAYS (EVERY LAST OF THE MONTH)

4Mation returns with a free night of underground house and tech house.

Manchester Clubs

SATURDAYS

Mancunian nightclub institution – delivering a chronological history of soul on a weekly basis, courtesy of their DJ collective.

Night and Day Cafe FRIDAYS (EVERY THIRD OF THE MONTH)

ELECTRIC JUG, 23:00-03:00, £3

Albert Hall TUESDAYS

Serving up the best of the 60s, ranging from psych and rock'n'roll to Britpop and soul.

BONGO’S BINGO, 18:30-23:00, £5

SATURDAYS (EVERY LAST OF THE MONTH)

Band on the Wall

Indie club night featuring tunes from Arctic Monkeys, Blur, Courteeners, David Bowie, The Smiths and much more.

A bingo rave with DJs, dance-offs and, of course, bingo. SATURDAYS (EVERY FIRST OF THE MONTH)

MR SCRUFF KEEP IT UNREAL, 22:00-03:00, £12

No less than a DJ mastermind, known for playing marathon sets, mixing a junk-shop bag of sounds and bringing his beats to life with squiggly, scribbled animations.

Black Dog Ballroom NQ FRIDAYS

LOVE FRIDAYS, 22:00-03:00, £2-£3

Hark back to the Soul Train and Studio 54 days with chic disco and grooves. SATURDAYS

SATURDAYS AT BLACK DOG, 22:00-03:00, FREE-£3

Black Dog’s resident DJs spin everything from disco and house to hip hop and chart smashers.

Black Dog Ballroom NWS MONDAYS

MONDAY CLUB, UNTIL 4AM, £TBC

Party hip hop, grime, r’n’b, dancehall and much more down in Black Dog’s downstairs club, UnderDog. TUESDAYS

INFERNO TUESDAYS, UNTIL 4AM, £TBC

Party vibes aplenty with Co2 cannons, confetti guns and balloons, all soundtracked by r’n’b, bass and house tunes. FRIDAYS

FIZZ FACE FRIDAY, 17:00-04:00, FREE BEFORE 11PM

Black Dog's weekly club night, which sees the end-of week thirst of Manchester's 9-5ers quenched by £12 bottles/£3 glasses of Prosecco.

Eastern Bloc FRIDAYS AND SATURDAYS

EASTERN BLOC IN-STORES, TIMES VARY, FREE

Every Friday and Saturday the well-loved record store becomes an intimate setting for local club nights, record labels, guests and residents.

Factory 251 MONDAYS

QUIDS IN, 23:00-04:00, £1-£2

Cheap as chips Monday student night, where the price of various drinks match the alluring entry fee (which rises to £2 after midnight, btw). THURSDAYS

F//CK TH//RSDAY, 22:30-05:00, 99P-£5

Student Thursday-nighter, with resident DJs Steve Davies, Bill Murray's Rock n Soul club and Nicola Bear serving up anything from retro classics to electro mashups across three rooms. FRIDAYS

#FRI251, 22:30-05:00, 99P BEFORE MIDNIGHT

Student Friday-nighter, with mashups in room one, indie, funk and Motown in room two, and electro house in room three. SATURDAYS

THE BIG WEEKENDER, 23:00-4:00, £2 BEFORE MIDNIGHT

Three rooms of commercial dance, indie and deep house, powered by Funktion One Sound.

Hidden MONDAYS

SUNKEN MONDAYS, 22:00-04:00, £1-£15

A weekly student night playing the very best in house and techno.

Listings

THIS FEELING, 20:00-03:00, £5

FRIDAYS/SATURDAYS (EVERY SECOND OF THE MONTH)

ANTIX, 23:00-03:00, £3

The Thirsty Scholar

THURSDAYS (EVERY THIRD OF THE MONTH)

TOTALLY WIRED, 20:00, FREE

DJ Rob Gordon spins the best new wave, post-punk, Madchester and Britpop.

THURSDAYS (EVERY SECOND OF THE MONTH)

REGGAE THURSDAYS, 20:00-01:30, FREE

With originals and rarities, dubplate and up-to-date.

The Ruby Lounge SATURDAYS (EVERY FIRST OF THE MONTH)

REMAKE REMODEL, 23:00-03:30, £4

A night of alternative rock'n'roll shenanigans.

FRIDAYS (EVERY FIRST AND THIRD OF THE MONTH)

DEADBOLT, 23:00-03:00, £5

Ruby Lounge regular, often seen throwing special themed parties.

FRIDAYS (BIMONTHLY; EVERY LAST OF THE MONTH)

PEEPSHOW, 23:00-03:00, £12

Cabaret-themed night of avantgarde and alternative entertainment. SATURDAYS (EVERY SECOND OF THE MONTH)

BREAK STUFF, 23:00-03:00, £3

Cult indie, electronica, psychedelia, retro anthems and more from the Antics residents and guest DJs.

Power ballads and dad rock anthems, from AC/DC to ZZ Top.

CADILLAC, 23:00-04:00, FREE-£3

HOWLING RHYTHM, 23:00-03:00, £5

SATURDAYS (EVERY LAST OF THE MONTH)

DJs spin funk, disco, boogie, soul and groove into the small hours.

O2 Ritz

FRIDAYS (EVERY THIRD OR LAST OF THE MONTH)

ULTIMATE POWER, 22:30-03:00, £8

Club night sweeping the nation, offering up nothing but power ballads. It's like one big communal karaoke night.

Rebellion SATURDAYS

REVOLT, 23:00-03:30, £3

A night of rock and metal with beer pong matches all night. FRIDAYS

SATURDAYS (EVERY THIRD OF THE MONTH)

The 60s soul and Motown-centric night returns for another outing, serving up even more Northern soul and funk courtesy of the Howling Rhythm residents. SATURDAYS (EVERY LAST OF THE MONTH)

ABSOLUTE SHITE, 23:00-03:00, £4

Proudly one of the worst nights in Manchester; expect some of the worst tunes known to humankind.

Leeds Theatre

GET DOWN, 23:00-03:30, £2-£3

Funk, indie, Motown, soft rock, alt anthems, pop punk and pyahhh guilty pleasures.

Sankeys THURSDAYS

P.A.R.T.Y, 22:00-03:00, £4

Funky house, grime, r'n'b, UK garage and more at the veteran club.

Soup Kitchen MONDAYS

REMAKE REMODEL, 23:00-03:00, £2-£4

A night of alternative rock'n'roll shenanigans.

SATURDAYS (EVERY THIRD OF THE MONTH)

SWING TWING, 23:00-03:30, £5

Belgrave Music Hall and Canteen TEA TIME TASSEL OFF

21 JAN 17, 6:30PM, £9

An evening of burlesque with Ruby Rainstorm, Lamour La Monde, Carman Havalook, Seedy Frills and many more.

CarriageWorks Theatre THE WEIR

1 FEB-4 FEB 17, 7:30PM – 9:15PM, £9 - £12

In a remote Irish pub the locals spin tales to impress a divorcee newly arrived in the community. DARE DEVIL RIDES TO JARAMA

Always summery vibes from the Swing Ting boys, pushing their street and soundsystem numbers.

26 JAN 17, 7:30PM – 9:00PM, £5 - £12.50

Texture

THE RUNAWAY

SATURDAYS

SECLUDED, UNTIL 03:00, FREE

Anthemic house music from the Secluded residents, Kirk Paten, Fi La Funk, Lee Freeland, Francois Jean, Jake Angelo and Diana McNally.

Twenty Twenty Two FRIDAYS

LEE MAJORS AND BAD OSIRIS, UNTIL 04:00, FREE-£3

Residents Lee Majors and Bad Osiris spin hip hop, r’n’b, disco, garage and house throughout the night. SATURDAYS

STYLUS, KLEPTO & GUESTS, UNTIL 04:00, FREE-£3

Hip hop, r’n’b, house and ping pong going strong until 4am.

The Deaf Institute TUESDAYS

GOLD TEETH, 22:00-03:00, £4.50-£5

Legendary weekly mixed-bag night, often invites use of the term 'carnage'. SATURDAYS

GIRLS ON FILM, 22:00-03:00, £3-£6

Pink lady cocktails, disco balls, glitz and glamour – a club night where you're free to let your inner 80s child loose.

A new play by Neil Gore following Clem ‘Dare Devil’ Beckett.

4 FEB 17, 1:30PM – 2:20PM, £4.50 - £6.50

Theatre City Varieties Music Hall SLEEPING BEAUTY

14 DEC-22 JAN 17, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

All Souls Dramatic Club kick off the new year with their new family panto, a modern take on the classic tale of Sleeping Beauty. Matinee performances also available. CIRQUE DU HILARIOUS

14 FEB-26 FEB 17, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Three youngsters run away from their children’s home and sail down the River Tyne on a makeshift raft, where they meet a strange girl who lives with an old man, Grampa. SPILLIKIN: A LOVE STORY

23 FEB 17, 7:30PM – 9:30PM, £10.50 - £12.50

As Sally’s memories begin to fade fast, a new life-companion arrives in the form of a state-of-the-art robot, uploaded with the personality of her late husband. CINDERELLA

UNTIL 7 JAN, TIMES VARY, £10-£19

More in the way of annual panto fare, taking on the story of Cinders, her ugly step sisters, wicked step mother and run in with a dashing prince.

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST UNTIL 7 JAN, 19:00, £TBC

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST UNTIL 7 JAN, TIMES VARY, £10£47.50

Award-winning comedy duo LipService celebrate Jane Austen’s life 200 years on.

FirstDirect Arena

STRICTLY COME DANCING LIVE

2-3 FEB 19.30, £35 - £65

The celebs (we use that term lightly) and dancers from television phenomenon Strictly Come Dancing take to the stage for the annual live tour. We trust you’re suitably excited?

Gatecrasher BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

UNTIL 7 JAN, 19:00, £TBC

Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont's fairy tale is brought to life by Northern Ballet.

Leeds Grand Theatre HANSEL AND GRETEL

2 FEB-25 FEB 17, 7:00PM – 9:00PM, £15 - £55

One of the world’s most popular fairy tales is brought to life in an inventive new production by Edward Dick. THE SNOW MAIDEN

21 JAN-24 FEB 17, 7:00PM – 9:30PM, £15 - £55

Opera North’s first ever staging of Rimsky-Korsakov’s Russian opera opens their fairy tale season. BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

UNTIL 7 JAN, TIMES VARY, £10-£47.50

Northern Ballet bring the famous fairytale to life, with a live score from the Northern Ballet Sinfonia. CINDERELLA

16-25 FEB 17, TIMES VARY, £15-£55

A new production of Rossini's comedy, centred on floor-scrubber Cinderella as she dreams of a better life.

West Yorkshire Playhouse THE WITCHES

UNTIL 21 JAN 17, 7:00PM – 8:30PM, £14 - £16

UNTIL 21 JAN 17, 7:30PM, £13.50 - £40

18 FEB 17, 2:00PM – 3:20PM, £8.50 - £34

Gatecrasher

28 JAN 17, 7:30PM, £16.50 - £40

MR DARCY LOSES THE PLOT

8 FEB-12 FEB 17, TIMES VARY, £9 - £18

HEAVEN EYES

More in the way of annual panto fare, taking on the story of Cinders, her ugly step sisters, wicked step mother and run in with a dashing prince.

Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont's fairy tale is brought to life by Northern Ballet.

Stage adaptation of the Roald Dahl classic, the surprisingly scary factor of which you might be able to hack nowadays. Maybe. Matinee performances also available.

School kids take on Les Mis.

CINDERELLA UNTIL 7 JAN, TIMES VARY, £10-£19

Father and son team Clive Webb and Danny Adams - and Butlins regulars - invite you to ‘laugh like you’ve never laughed before.’ We’re more than a bit dubious, TBH.

A schoolboy finds a runaway girl hiding in an unused shed, and endeavours to find out who she is and where she came from. LES MISÉRABLES: THE SCHOOLS EDITION

Carriageworks

STRICTLY BALLROOM THE MUSICAL

UK premiere of a brand new musical inspired by Baz Luhrmann’s offbeat classic film, which follows dancer Scott as he follows his heart and breaks the rules. Matinees available. Babe the Sheep Pig 15 FEB-18 FEB 17, TIMES VARY, £13.50 - £20

Open up those nostalgia valves with a the story of a widdle pig with huge aspirations, which you’ll remember either from Dick King Smith’s original 1983 novel or the slightly creepy animatronic-heavy 1995 film. PYGMALION

4 FEB, FROM 19:45, £13.50 - £22

Reworking of one of George Bernard Shaw’s most famous comedies, the play of which the musical My Fair Lady is based.

Leeds Grand Theatre

Northern Ballet bring the famous fairytale to life, with a live score from the Northern Ballet Sinfonia.

CINDERELLA 16-25 FEB 17, TIMES VARY, £15-£55

A new production of Rossini's comedy, centred on floor-scrubber Cinderella as she dreams of a better life.

RENT 28 FEB-4 MAR 17, 7:30PM, £11.25 - £44.75

Gritty, perennial NYC musical based on Puccini’s opera, La Bohème, which follows a group of creative types living in the East Village, in the shadows of the late-1980s HIV/AIDS epidemic. Matinee performances also available. EVITA

24 JAN-28 JAN 17, 7:30PM, £12 - £38.50

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice’s musical about the former Argentinian dictator’s wife, Eva Peron. Matinee performances also available.

STRICTLY COME DANCING LIVE

7-8 FEB, TIMES VARY, £35 - £65

The celebs (we use that term lightly) and dancers from television phenomenon Strictly Come Dancing take to the stage for the annual live tour. We trust you’re suitably excited?

Epstein Theatre ALADDIN

UNTIL 8 JAN 17, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Panto take on the pauper who becomes a prince thanks to a lamp and a bit of elbow grease

SUPERBOOTY

17 FEB-19 FEB 17, TIMES VARY, £14 - £16

The Epstein’s very own panto dame, Michael Chapman, presents a new musical comedy about an ordinary girl with an extraordinary gift. Matinees available.

Everyman Theatre

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST

13 DEC-21 JAN 17, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Y’know the score: a handsome prince gets turned into a fearsome beast. Gross, right? His only hope of becoming a human again, as always, is to find true love. Beauty comes from within, etc.

Liverpool Empire Theatre Russian State Ballet of Siberia’s retelling of the classic love story, brought to life by Tchaikovsky’s haunting score. THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE

30 JAN-25 FEB 17, 7:30PM, PRICES VARY

1925s set musical based on the classic Julie Andrews’ movie, all flapper girls, dashing chaps and singalong merriment. THE MARRIAGE OF FIGARO

5 JAN-7 JAN 17, 7:15PM, £10 - £36

It’s Figaro’s wedding day, and to add to the usual worries, Figaro learns that his philandering master, the Count, is out to tempt away his bride-to-be Susanna. Classic story told by Scottish Opera.

SPEECHLESS

31 JAN-4 FEB 17, TIMES VARY, £10 - £12

Musical retelling of the songwriting partnership’s stellar career, told using both original photos and film footage. GISELLE

30 JAN 17, 7:30PM, £18.50 - £33.50

Classical ballet about love and betrayal, brought to life with mesmerising sets and lavish costumes. SUNNY AFTERNOON

7 FEB-11 FEB 17, 7:30PM, £12 - £49.50

The 2015 Olivier Award winner makes its way over to share the tale of The Kinks’ rise to stardom. Matinees available. MILLION DOLLAR QUARTET

A ma-hoo-sive musical inspired by the famed recording session which united Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins for the first (and last) time. Matinees available. THE COMMITMENTS

SLEEPING BEAUTY

All Souls Dramatic Club kick off the new year with their new family panto, a modern take on the classic tale of Sleeping Beauty. Matinee performances also available.

The Brindley HAMLET

9 JAN-14 JAN 17, TIMES VARY, £21.15 - £36.25

Directed by Michael Flatley and featuring forty premium dancers, so says they. Matinees available.

ANTON AND ERIN

A night of spangle, forced smiles and ballroom dancing from the wellknown duo. BRENDAN COLE: ALL NIGHT LONG

9 FEB 17, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Brendan Cole unbuttons his shirt to the sternum and gets set to host another night of Strictly-esque grooving.

The Capstone

From the Mill Theatre Company address issues of loneliness in the modern world.

UPON AWAKENING

31 JAN 17, 7:30PM, £6.50 - £9.50

NIGHT LIGHT

25 JAN 17, 7:30PM, £11.50 - £13.50

The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts GISELLE REAWAKENED

16 JAN-18 JAN 17, 7:30PM, £5 - £8

LIPA’s third year Dance students take inspiration from one of the oldest, most iconic classical ballets in history. Matinees available.

Manchester Theatre QUEER CONTACT FESTIVAL 2017: OUTSPOKEN

A special showcase of queer spoken word, poetry and literature.

Contact Theatre

I TOLD MY MUM I WAS GOING ON AN R.E. TRIP

1 FEB-4 FEB 17, 7:30PM, £7 - £13

Jane Austen’s ultimate romantic comedy, this time with Olivier awardwinning Matthew Kelly and Felicity Montagu.

A young female ensemble use verbatim text, live music, beats and rhyme to portray the stories of real women who’ve experienced pregnancy and abortion.

THE STAR

10 FEB-11 FEB 17, 7:00PM, £6 - £11

UNTIL 14 JAN 17, 7:30PM, £9.50 - £28

A festive music hall show with sing-a-longs, human catapults, daring escapologists and, er, a live cow? Matinees available. ROALD DAHL’S THE TWITS

21 FEB-25 FEB 17, 7:30PM – 9:50PM, £10 - £30

QUEER CONTACT FESTIVAL 2017: TRANS CREATIVE

A celebration of new transgender performance featuring Kate O’Donnell’s Hayley and Me and Elijah Harris’ Brand New Boy. QUEER CONTACT FESTIVAL 2017: BLACK

10 FEB-11 FEB 17, 8:30PM, £15 - £20

Roald Dahl’s tale of total D-bags Mr and Mrs Twit comes to life on stage in a new show directed by Max Webster.

An intimate and confessional portrait of Nigerian singer Le Gateau Chocolat’s life.

Royal Court Theatre

14 FEB-16 FEB 17, 7:00PM, £7 - £13

SCOUSE OF THE RISING SUN

UNTIL 9 JAN 17, 8:00PM, £13

The Royal Court’s Christmas show returns, this time promising more gag, more songs and more silliness. Matinees available.

16 JAN-17 JAN 17, 9:00PM, £10 - £12

PUSH FESTIVAL 2017: MORALE IS HIGH (SINCE WE GAVE UP HOPE) 16 JAN-18 JAN 17, 8:00PM, £8 - £10

The debut from Hodgkiss awardwinning Powder Keg blending theatre and music, pop and politics. PUSH FESTIVAL 2017: PEN:CHANT

19 JAN 17, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £8 - £10

Digging up the best local, national and international in spoken word, comedy, live music, contemporary performance and everything in between.

PUSH FESTIVAL 2017: THE HOUSE OF BERNARDA ALBA

20 JAN 17, 7:00PM, FREE

Federico García Lorca’s lyrical tragedy which tells the story of a woman who becomes a recluse and imposes silence on her five adult children following the death of her husband. 20 JAN-22 JAN 17, 9:00PM, £10 - £12

A one-woman show using mask, mime, puppetry and gesture to take you on a journey of love, life and loss. PUSH FESTIVAL 2017: NOW IS THE MOMENT WE LEARN HOPE

21 JAN-22 JAN 17, TIMES VARY, £3

15 FEB 17, 6:30PM, £6 - £9

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE

PUSH FESTIVAL 2017: I’M STANDING NEXT TO YOU

PUSH FESTIVAL 2017: BETTY

14 FEB-18 FEB 17, 7:30PM – 9:50PM, £10 - £30

7 FEB-11 FEB 17, 7:30PM – 10:00PM, £10 - £30

PUSH FESTIVAL 2017: THE TRIAL

A grotesque and darkly comic tale tracking one man’s struggle against a malicious and faceless power.

Central Library

GLASGOW GIRLS

15 JAN-21 JAN 17, TIMES VARY, £10 - £12

Acclaimed West End performers and state of the art visual media projection come together to celebrate McCartney’s entire solo career from 1970-2016.

Liverpool Playhouse Cora Bissett and David Greig’s life-affirming, song-filled drama based on the true story of seven feisty teenagers, whose lives change forever when their school friend is taken to be deported.

PUSH FESTIVAL 2017: THE ISLAND, THE SEA, THE VOLUNTEER AND THE REFUGEE

16 JAN-18 JAN 17, 7:00PM, £10 - £12

MACCA: THE PAUL MCCARTNEY STORY

A play about two teenage asylum seekers from the Oxford-based Mandala Theatre Company, whose visceral theatre uses social justice as a catalyst for creating art that is relevant.

LORD OF THE DANCE: DANGEROUS GAMES

NARVIK

A new play by Lizzie Nunnery telling the story of a Liverpudlian man and a Norwegian woman pulled together and torn apart by war.

29 JAN 17, 7:30PM – 9:30PM, £25

8 JAN 17, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, £23 - £25

Celebrating the life and music of Whitney Houston, starring rising West End star Rebecca Freckleton.

Imani Jendai’s one-woman show about family and growing up using tap, mime and physical theatre.

Louise Wallwein tells the urgent story of migration, froma personal perspective of volunteering with Kos Solidarity in Greece.

A portrayal of fragmented stories of lost souls, searching, not knowing what they are looking for.

WHITNEY: QUEEN OF THE NIGHT

21 FEB-22 FEB 17, 8:00PM, £6 - £11

The team who brought you Bouncers bring Shakespeare’s tragedy to life, along with some fine local actors.

25 JAN 17, 7:00PM – 9:00PM, £8

Based on the BAFTA award-winning film, following a young working class music fan produce the finest soul band Dublin’s ever seen. Matinees available.

SWAN LAKE

31 JAN-11 FEB 17, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

26 FEB 17, 14:30, £14-£16

A new play by Tamasha Theatre about motherhood and blood ties, between women and across nations.

UNTIL 22 JAN 17, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

4 FEB, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Young people’s arts festival, this year featuring original performances devised around the theme of mental health.

CIRQUE DU HILARIOUS

MADE IN INDIA

21 FEB-22 FEB 17, 7:30PM, £7 - £13

HOME

NOW FESTIVAL 2017

7 FEB-10 FEB 17, 6:30PM, £5

St Helens Theatre Royal

An unforgiving queer performance of sexuality and British culture exploring LGBT history from 1957 to 2017 from avant garde performer David Hoyle.

The Atkinson

1 FEB-2 FEB 17, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, PRICES VARY

Liverpool Philharmonic Hall

An adaptation of Michael Frayn’s hilarious farce.

16 FEB 17, 8:00PM, £10 - £15

The Kingsway Three return in this sequel to Liverpool’s much-loved comedy play, this time rising up and calling for Birkenhexit. Matinee performances also available.

THE SIMON AND GARFUNKEL STORY

A selection of West End/Broadway tunes, brought to the stage in a variety-style performance.

27 JAN-28 JAN 17, TIMES VARY, £14.50

NOISES OFF

27 JAN-25 FEB 17, 8:00PM, £13

3 FEB 17, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, £21.50 - £25.50

UNTIL 21 JAN 17, 7:30PM, PRICES VARY

Echo Arena

QUEER CONTACT FESTIVAL 2017: DIAMOND

Father and son team Clive Webb and Danny Adams - and Butlins regulars - invite you to ‘laugh like you’ve never laughed before.’ We’re more than a bit dubious, TBH.

BEYOND THE BARRICADE

13 FEB-18 FEB 17, 7:30PM, £12 - £39.50

Liverpool Theatre

BRICK UP 2: THE WRATH OF ANN TWACKY

QUEER CONTACT FESTIVAL 2017: JOAN

Drag king champion Lucy Jane Parkinson takes the stage as history’s greatest underdog, Joan of Arc. QUEER CONTACT FESTIVAL 2017: SMOTHER

14 FEB 17, 8:00PM, £10 - £15

201 Dance Copmany’s raw, contemporary hip hop movement comes to Queer Contact Festival with the story of two men’s broken encounter.

Join Mighty Heart Theatre to unravel their travels to some of the happiest and unhappiest places in the UK. PUSH FESTIVAL 2017: YOU/ME/ TOMORROW

23 JAN-25 JAN 17, TIMES VARY, £10 - £12

A fiery production from Manchester’s 1121 Collective, looking at how facts and fictions are intertwiced when a decade-long riot starts to encroach into the living room. PUSH FESTIVAL 2017: MINA

23 JAN-25 JAN 17, TIMES VARY, £10 - £12

A sensory, immersive exploration into the world of conversion therapy and gay exorcisms still prevalent today, through projection mapping, animation and physical theatre. PUSH FESTIVAL 2017: THE RETURN

26 JAN 17, 6:00PM, £3

A new work in development by Square Peg Theatre. PUSH FESTIVAL 2017: A PLACE CALLED HAPPINESS

26 JAN-28 JAN 17, TIMES VARY, £10 - £12

Debs Gatenby’s comedic and uplifting sequel to her critically-acclaimed solo show, Hi, Anxiety. PUSH FESTIVAL 2017: WHO WANTS TO LIVE FOREVER

26 JAN-28 JAN 17, TIMES VARY, £10 - £12

A jazz fantasy about loss, love and hop, created through heightened language in a nonlinear, impressionistic monologue. BLAK WHYTE GRAY

9 FEB-11 FEB 17, TIMES VARY, £10 - £18

Olivier Award-winning Boy Blue Entertainment make their debut at HOME with a hip hop dance triple bill.

THE SKINNY

International Anthony Burgess Foundation THE NORTH WEST POETRY TOUR

14 JAN 17, 7:30PM – 9:30PM, £FREE

Manchester leg of the North West Poetry Tour, which comprises over eighty poets collaborating to produce over sixty collaborative works for performance over six nights in January and February 2017. MORALE IS HIGH (SINCE WE GAVE UP HOPE)

16 JAN 17, 8:00PM – 9:00PM, £8 - £10

The debut from Hodgkiss awardwinning Powder Keg blending theatre and music, pop and politics. ANTHONY BURGESS: A LIFE IN LETTERS

25 FEB 17, 7:00PM, £TBC

To celebrate Anthony Burgess’s 100th birthday, the International Anthony Burgess Foundation invites you to a special exploration Burgess’s life through his unpublished letters, in an evening of typewriters, music, rough cider and poison-pen letters.

Manchester Arena

STRICTLY COME DANCING LIVE

4-5 FEB, 19:30, £35 - £65

The celebs (we use that term lightly) and dancers from television phenomenon Strictly Come Dancing take to the stage for the annual live tour. We trust you’re suitably excited?

Royal Exchange Theatre THE HOUSE OF BERNARDA ALBA

3 FEB-25 FEB 17, TIMES VARY, £5 - £16.50

Federico García Lorca’s lyrical tragedy which tells the story of a woman who becomes a recluse and imposes silence on her five adult children following the death of her husband. SWEET CHARITY

UNTIL 21 JAN 17, TIMES VARY, £5 - £16.50

Broadway classic, based on an original screenplay by the brilliant Federico Fellini, that takes audiences spinning through the dance halls, churches and streets of 1960s New York. CAROL ANN DUFFY AND FRIENDS 2017 16 JAN-16 JAN 17, 7:00PM, £10 - £12

Following the unprecedented success of the past seasons, Carol Ann Duffy returns to host the Royal Exchange’s hugely successful poetry readings, this time joined by poet Liz Lochhead.

The King’s Arms

BBC YOUNG DANCER 2017 21 JAN-23 JAN 16, 7:00PM – 10:00PM, £6 - £12

Celebrating the best young talent in ballet, contemporary, South Asian and street dance styles. DARK HEARTS OF SPACE

28 JAN 17, 8:00PM, £11 - £13

Dasha Rush and Stanislav Glazov explore the extreme and fascinating nature of black holes. TALES OF OFFENBACH

2 FEB 17, 8:00PM, £21.50 - £23.50

Opera della Luna return with two one-act operas by the French master of comic opera, Jacques Offenbach. Matinee also available.

One act play from Cameryn Moore detailing the life of a phone sex operator. SMUT SLAM

31 JAN-31 JAN 17, 7:30PM, £10

Dirty storytelling open mic hosted by Cameryn Moore.

Richard Alston Dance Company return with a programme including dances to piano pieces that originate from completely different worlds.

Leeds Comedy Attic FRIDAYS

JONGLEURS, 20:00-22:00, £15.50-£16.50

Four top comedians come together for one night of solid laughs. SATURDAYS

JONGLEURS, 20:00-22:00, £16.50-£17.50

Four top comedians come together for one night of solid laughs.

UNTIL 14 JAN 19:00, £10-£25

25 JAN 17, 8:00PM, £TBC

Headrow House

Five rats. One romance. No cheese. This is the familiar fairytale, with a big twist - the rats are in charge! Matinees and earlier perfomances available.

Opera House ALADDIN

UNTIL8 JAN 17, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Panto take on the pauper who becomes a prince thanks to a lamp and a bit of elbow grease BAT OUT OF HELL

17 FEB-8 APR 17, 7:30PM, £17.50 - £39.50

Rock n roll musical based on the influential albums of Jim Steinman’s storied collaborations with singer Meatloaf.

Palace Theatre DREAMBOATS AND PETTICOATS

27 FEB-4 MAR 17, 7:30PM, £17.90 - £38

60s-set musical singalong which finds two young musicians competing for the love of a certain lady. Matinee performances also available. SWAN LAKE

31 JAN-11 FEB 17, TIMES VARY, PRICES VARY

Massive Owl’s distorted take on Stephen King’s novella The Body and its 1986 film adaptation Stand By Me, where sound, movement and projection create a reimagined story of loss and acceptance. YOU HAD TO BE THERE

27 JAN 17, 8:00PM, £10 - £12

Uncanny Theatre explore thoseoneoff, memorable moments that, despite being permanently etched in our minds, never quite translate in the retelling. DENMARKED

2 FEB 17, 8:00PM, £10 - £12

An autobiographical performance, telling tales from the council estate of dodgy best friends through storytelling, singing, rapping and a loop station. GOOD DOG

22 FEB-23 FEB 17, 8:00PM, £10 - £12

Set in the early 00s, Good Dog chronicles growing up in a multicultural community. From the producers of I Know All the Secrest in My World.

Russian State Ballet of Siberia’s retelling of the classic love story, brought to life by Tchaikovsky’s haunting score.

The Lowry: Lyric Theatre

1 FEB-2 FEB 17, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, PRICES VARY

Cuba’s flagship dance company returns with a blend of Afro Caribbean rhythms, jazzy American modernism and inflections from European ballet.

THE SIMON AND GARFUNKEL STORY

Musical retelling of the songwriting partnership’s stellar career, told using both original photos and film footage. BILLY ELLIOT

UNTIL 28 JAN 17, 7:30PM – 10:30PM, £32.50 - £59.50

The story of that Geordie lad who just wants to dance, dad. Matinees available. BRENDAN COLE: ALL NIGHT LONG

30 JAN 2017, 19:30, £24-£42.50

DANZA CONTEMPORANEA DE CUBA

17-18 FEB 17, 19:30, £15.50 - £19

THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT-TIME

21 JAN - 4 FEB 17, 7:30PM, £13 - £51

Stage adaptation of Mark Haddon’s award-winning novel, about a young boy who is exceptional at maths while ill-equipped to interpret everyday life. Matinee performances also available. CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG

Brendan Cole unbuttons his shirt to the sternum and gets set to host another night of Strictly-esque grooving.

15 JAN 17, 7:30PM, £14 - £33

18 FEB-25 FEB 17, 7:30PM, £21.50 - £58.50

DANCE: SAMPLED

FUNNY GIRL: THE MUSICAL

Olivier Award-winning Sheridan Smith stars as Fanny Brice in this classic 1963 musical. Matinees also available.

Royal Exchange Studio CATHY

12 JAN-14 JAN 17, 7:30PM – 9:30PM, £10 - £12

New play from award-winning playwright Ali Taylor, inspired by Ken Loach’s pioneering drama, Cathy Come Home. O

21 JAN-21 JAN 17, 7:30PM – 8:20PM, £10 - £12

A dance that winds itself through politics of identity. Refusing to be held down, O presents mixed, black, female bodies as they negotiate histories, fantasies and assumptions.

A wacky inventor, his children and his pal Truly Scrumptious try to outwit a child-hating Baron and an evil child catcher. Matinees available. 24 FEB-25 FEB 17, 7:30PM, £5 - £15

Part of Movement, a dance producing partnership between Birmingham Hippodrome, The Lowry and Sadler’s Wells, supported by Arts Council England. GYMFUSION 2017: DREAMS

19 FEB 17, TIMES VARY, £10 - £12.50

Showcasing creative performance from all ages, abilities and disciplines.

The Lowry: Quays Theatre BURLESQUE AT THE LOWRY

14 JAN 17, 8:00PM, £11.50 - £20.50

The Slippery Belle returns to the Quays theatre for an evening of vintage glamour and old-school debauchery.

January/February 2017

Find listings below for weekly and monthly fixtures at comedy clubs across Leeds, Liverpool and Manchester. For regularly updated listings including one-off shows and the best nights from Gallery at Munro House independent promoters, head to theskinny. EVERYDAY OBJECTS UNTIL 21 JAN 17, TIMES VARY, FREE co.uk/whats-on Topsy-turvy re-imagining of The Holiday Inn, Lime St FRIDAYS & SATURDAYS

HOT WATER COMEDY CLUB: BOILING POINT, 20:00-23:00, £10-£15

The Lowry Studio CASTLE ROCK

UNTIL 31 JAN 17 11:00AM – 4:00PM, FREE

The first in a series of project commissions allowing artists to explore ESA’s head office space, which welcomes Leeds based visual artist Claire Tomas, who works under the name Lilli Mathod.

13 FEB 17, 8:00PM, £17 - £19

Octagon Theatre CINDERELLA

CLAIRE TOMAS: PATRICK INTERVENTIONS

AN ITALIAN IN MADRID

PHONE WHORE

26 JAN 17, 7:30PM – 9:00PM, £10

Comedy

East Street Arts

FRIDAYS (EVERY FIRST OF THE MONTH)

GROUP THERAPY COMEDY CLUB, 19:0022:00, £12

The North’s favourite comedy night, always bringing stellar guests from the national and international circuits.

HiFi

SATURDAYS

COMEDY SESSIONS, 20:00-23:00, £10-£12

The HiFi’s weekly evening of funny stuff.

The Fenton

SATURDAYS & SUNDAYS (EVERY FIRST OF THE MONTH)

DISCOUNT COMEDY CHECKOUT, 19:30, FREE

An evening of 100% raw improvisation comedy, taking inspiration from the weird and wonderful minds of its audience.

The Wardrobe

TUESDAYS (EVERY FIRST OF THE MONTH)

THE NOT SO LATE SHOW, 19:30-23:00, £6-£7

The UK’s finest alternative comedy TV-style chat show, with special guests, sketches, short films, music and all-round fun.

Verve

New and established comics take to the stage, for an evening of chuckles with their resident compere leading the way. SUNDAYS

HOT WATER COMEDY CLUB: TESTING THE WATER, 20:00-23:00, £1.50-£3

Showcase night for up-and-comers and undiscovered stars, offering a great value night out if you don't mind being a comedy guinea pig.

The Jacaranda WEDNESDAYS

NEW MATERIAL, 7PM, FREE

Hot Water Comedy Club take to The Jac with new material from pro comedians from across the UK.

The Magnet SATURDAYS

LIVERPOOL COMEDY CELLAR, 20:30-23:30, £13.50

Serving well at doing exactly what it says on the tin, with weekly free comedy to ease you into the week.

Baby Blue

THURSDAYS, FRIDAYS & SATURDAYS

LIVERPOOL COMEDY CENTRAL, 18:0022:00, £15

Regular triple headline show, with three comics lined up to tickle your funny bone.

Camp and Furnace

MONDAYS (EVERY FIRST OF THE MONTH)

STAND UP FOR MONDAYS, 19:30-22:15, £6

All-female stand-up night with great headliners fresh from Edinburgh and beyond. SATURDAYS

LIVERPOOL COMEDY CLUB, 19:30-23:00, £13.50

Promising the cream of the international comedy crop.

SATURDAYS

BARREL OF LAUGHS, 19:00-23:00, £15-£22

Pepper your weekend with laughs from four top class comics, sat comfortably at a table while enjoying your comedy with food and drinks, followed by Frog and Bucket's classic cheesy disco until late. SUNDAYS (EVERY FIRST OF THE MONTH)

LAFF TIL YA FART, 20:00-23:00, £7

Trevor Lynch presents the latest in a series of comedy nights, aptly titled Laff 'til Ya Fart. SUNDAYS (EVERY LAST OF THE MONTH)

LAUGHING COWS, £7

The Liverpool Comedy Cellar features the cream of the international comedy circuit “up close and personal” every Saturday.

The Slaughterhouse

SATURDAYS (EVERY FIRST OF THE MONTH)

WEDNESDAYS (MONTHLY)

THE LAUGHTER FACTOR, 20:00-23:00, £3-£5

A monthly event giving comics the chance to try out new material before the weekend shows – it helps if you think of yourself as a comedic guinea pig. FRIDAYS

LAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00-23:00, £10-£15

Triple headline show with a delightfully hilarious line-up of circuit funny-folk. SATURDAYS

LAUGHTERHOUSE, 20:00-23:00, £17.50

Triple headline show with a delightfully hilarious line-up of circuit funny-folk.

Manchester Comedy Frog and Bucket Comedy Club MONDAYS

BEAT THE FROG, 19:00-23:00, FREE-£3

Liverpool Comedy

BARREL OF LAUGHS, 19:00-23:00, £13-£19

Pepper your weekend with laughs from four top class comics, sat comfortably at a table while enjoying your comedy with food and drinks, followed by Frog and Bucket's classic cheesy disco until late.

All-female line-up of comics from the Laughing Cow bunch; a group that has helped the likes of Sarah Milllican and Jo Brand launch their careers.

TUESDAYS

FREE COMEDY TUESDAYS, 20:00-23:00, FREE

FRIDAYS

A ten-act long heckle-fest inviting a handful of amateurs to take to the stage and try to Beat the Frog, and the audience decides who stays – brutal! TUESDAYS (EVERY LAST OF THE MONTH)

LIP SYNCIN’ BATTLE, 20:30-23:00, £3-£6

Comics, guest celebrities and the general public all battle to become the best Lip Sync in the city. WEDNESDAYS (EVERY SECOND OF THE MONTH)

WORK IN PROGRESS, 20:30-23:00, £3-£5

Headline comedians treat us to brand spanking new material. Not for the cupboard-lover comedy fan, this night showcases material which is most definitely a work in progress. THURSDAYS

THURSDAY NIGHT LIVE, 19:00-23:00, £7-£13

Watch four top class comics, sat comfortably at a table while enjoying your comedy with food and drinks.

Gorilla

GROUP THERAPY COMEDY CLUB, 19:0022:00, £10-£12

Manchester’s much-loved monthly comedy club, known for bringing in the big guns of the national and international circuit.

SUNDAYS (EVERY SECOND AND LAST OF THE MONTH) NEW STUFF, 19:30-22:30, £2-£4

MC Toby Hadoke presents a showcase of new, never seen before material from established acts of the circuit. SUNDAYS (EVERY THIRD OF THE MONTH)

NEW COMEDIANS, 19:30-22:30, £2-£4

Alex Boardman's New Comedians series continues.

The Dancehouse FRIDAYS (EVERY FIRST OF THE MONTH)

D.A.F.T, 20:00-23:00, £8

Comedy's strangest and strongest acts come together for an evening of silliness hosted by Randolph Tempest (Phoenix Nights, Ideal, The Detectorists).

The King’s Arms TUESDAYS (EVERY SECOND AND LAST OF THE MONTH)

THE WORST COMEDY CLUB IN SALFORD, 20:00-23:00, FREE

Keeping expectations low with this night of open mic standup, opening up the stage to anyone willing to give it go.

The Old Monkey WEDNESDAYS (EVERY SECOND OF THE MONTH)

TRAPDOOR COMEDY, 19:30, £3-£5

One of the North’s favourite comedy clubs.

The Pub/Zoo TUESDAYS

XS MALARKEY, 19:00-22:00, £3-£5

Gullivers

The rather ace comedy night continues with its usual Tuesday night shenanigans.

THE DELIGHTFUL SAUSAGE, 19:45, £4

The Railway

WEDNESDAYS (EVERY THIRD OF THE MONTH)

The Delightful Sausage brings together the finest names in alternative comedy for an evening of silly, surreal fun. Already building a cult following.

Solomons

TUESDAYS (EVERY SECOND OF THE MONTH)

TRAPDOOR COMEDY, 19:30, £5

Literal underground comedy night with stellar line-ups.

Soup Kitchen

THURSDAYS (EVERY FIRST OR SECOND OF THE MONTH)

SHAM BODIE, 19:30-22:00, £5

A-grade gags from the Sham Bodie crew and local and touring comedians, bound together by live music and hotdogs.

The Comedy Store THURSDAYS

MONDAYS (EVERY SECOND OF THE MONTH)

TRAPDOOR COMEDY, 19:30, £5

Big acts, small price, tiny room. Bosh.

Waterside Arts Centre

SATURDAYS (EVERY THIRD OF THE MONTH)

BEST OF BUZZ COMEDY, 20:00-00:00, £10-£12

The Waterside's regular comedy night, featuring one of the UK comedy circuit's up and coming stars. SATURDAYS (EVERY LAST OF THE MONTH)

COMEDYSPORTZ, 19:30, £5-£7

Comedy improv show with two teams battling it out for the biggest laughs, serving up sketches, songs and scenes with audience participation playing a key role in the development.

Regular night of standup with a line-up of five top circuit comedians. FRIDAYS

THE BEST IN STAND UP, 20:00-23:00, £12-£18

Regular night of standup with a line-up of five top circuit comedians. SATURDAYS

THE BEST IN STAND UP, 19:00-21:30, £16-£22

Regular night of standup with a line-up of five top circuit comedians.

SUNDAYS (EVERY FIRST OF THE MONTH)

KING GONG, 19:30-22:30, £4-£6

A night of standup from some fresh-faced comics trying to break on to the circuit – be nice.

Find full listings at theskinny.co.uk/whats-on

Leeds Art Abbey House Museum FAIRY TALES & FANTASY

21 JAN-31 DEC 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

An immersive world of magic and mystery, showcasing some familiar fairy tales including Aladdin, Little Red Riding Hood and Cinderella, as well as traditional fables from around the world.

Duke Studios

ANTHEA HAMILTON REIMAGINES KETTLE’S YARD

UNTIL 19 MAR 17, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

While Kettle’s Yard in Cambridge is closed for renovation, 2016 Turner Prize nominee Anthea Hamilton - known for her art-pop, culture-inspired sculptures and installations - reappropriates objects that were on display, using unexpected details as starting points for new works. THE HEPWORTH PRIZE FOR SCULPTURE

the everyday objects you find in your home, as designer Jason Taylor takes everything from a Biro pen to the Ikea Billy bookcase and tinkers with them to create bizarre new pieces that play on our imagination.

An exhibition of work by Phyllida Barlow, Steven Claydon, Helen Marten and David Medalla - the four shortlisted artists for The Hepworth Prize For Sculpture, a new £30,000 biennial award.

1 FEB-10 MAR 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

UNTIL 30 SEP 17, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

#WEXMONDAYS

Wex Photographic is the biggest indie online photographic retailer in the UK, which each year runs an photographic exhibition showcasing the winners from their online competition, #WexMondays. FIGURE, PROCESS, MATERIAL

23 JAN-27 JAN 17, 8:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

The resulting body of work from the latest project by the Yorkshire Sculpture Triangle outreach and engagement programme, which used Rebecca Warren’s bronze sculpture Man and the Dark as a starting point for sculpture and drawing workshops by artists Paul Digby, Jo Lee, Gillian Brent and Mandy Williams.

Henry Moore Institute

CITY SCULPTURE PROJECTS 1972

UNTIL 19 FEB 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

Re-visiting an ambitious public sculpture scheme from 1972, including – for the first time since its original showing – Nicholas Monro’s 5m tall King Kong. CARVING: A TRADITIONAL SCULPTURE

UNTIL 3 JAN 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

A landmark work in the history of conceptual art, Eleanor Antin’s Carving: A Traditional Sculpture saw the artist reduce her food intake over a period of time, while photographing herself naked each day.

Leeds City Museum IN THEIR FOOTSTEPS

UNTIL 8 JAN 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

The Preservative Party (Leeds City Museum’s group of young curators) pays tribute to those involved in WWI with a unique exhibition exploring how those from the region were affected, showcasing the impact on local civilians, soldiers, nurses and industrial workers. FOR ALL SEASONS

10 FEB-27 AUG 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

An exploration into how the world around us changes with the seasons, from storing food away for a long winter to packing clothes to keep you cool while on your summer jollies.

Leeds Industrial Museum WOMEN, WORK AND WAR

UNTIL 24 SEP 17, TIMES VARY, £3 - £3.80

STAND UP THURSDAY, 20:00-23:00, £8-£12

The Hepworth Wakefield

Honouring the vital role women played in the First World War, through stories of women working in the city’s munitions manufacturing - which began in Armley and expanded to the Barnbow site in East Leeds.

Royal Armouries Museum IN MEMORIAM

UNTIL 30 APR 17, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

An exhibition inspired by the family history research executed by museum staff, who have been busy delving into the lives of members of their families who served in WWI.

UNTIL19 FEB 17, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

A CONTEMPORARY COLLECTION

Continuing Wakefield’s tradition of supporting contemporary artists through exhibitions and acquisitions, and of the legacy founded in 1923 with The Wakefield Permanent Art Collection, which sought to champion those who used art to reflect contemporary experience.

The Stanley & Audrey Burton Gallery

GYÖRGY GORDON: JOURNEY OF A WAILING HEART

UNTIL 25 FEB 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

60 years since the violence of the Hungarian Uprising in 1956, this exhibition celebrates the life and work of Hungarian-born painter György Gordon, who settled in Wakefield after escaping as a refugee from the violence in Hungary.

The Tetley

THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD

UNTIL 15 JAN 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

Bringing together recent moving image works by artists such as Amelia Crouch, Patricia Esquivias, Sian Robinson Davies, Liz Magic Laser, Kate Liston and Yuri Pattison, alongside works by KP Brehmer, John Latham, Semiconductor and John Smith.

Treasures of the Brotherton Gallery FOR ALL TIME: YORKSHIRE AND SHAKESPEARE

UNTIL 31 JAN 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

Displaying, for the first time in one place, the rare Shakespeare materials left to Leeds University Library by Lord Brotherton, to explore how Shakespeare dramatised Yorkshire history and how today his work is still used to ask questions about regional identity.

Yorkshire Sculpture Park ANGELA HARDING: FLIGHTS OF MEMORY

UNTIL 26 FEB 17, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Painter and printmaker Angela Harding works principally in block print, combining vinyl or lino with layered coloured silkscreen to express the mood and atmosphere of the changing seasons and the flora and fauna of the British countryside. JAMES WEBB: WE LISTEN FOR THE FUTURE

UNTIL 26 FEB 17, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Interdisciplinary South African artist and sound art pioneer James Webb showcases We Listen for the Future, an exhibition comprising of four sound pieces. BEYOND BOUNDARIES: ART BY EMAIL

7 JAN-5 MAR 17, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Giving a platform to those who can’t physically visit the Park – due to political situations and immigration conditions – and celebrating the notion that ideas and art can travel even if people cannot.

VINTAGE DISCO BISCUIT

5 FEB 17, 10:00AM – 6:00PM, FREE

A creative photographic art concept centering on a collection of ecstasy tablets from the mid 1990s onwards.

Listings

Art

Merseyside Maritime Museum

Liverpool Art

UNTIL 31 MAR 17, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

A Small View A HOLE, A MOUNTAIN

UNTIL 28 JAN 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

An exhibition by Michael Lacey, an artist based at The Royal Standard.

FACT

NO SUCH THING AS GRAVITY

UNTIL 5 FEB 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

Curated by Rob La Frenais, No Such Thing as Gravity features new commissions and existing works by local, national and international artists including Tania Candiani, Yin-Ju Chen, Gina Czarnecki / John Hunt, Nick Laessing, Agnes Meyer-Brandis, Helen Pynor and Sarah Sparkes, with artworks including a car fuelled by water, a ghost-inducing robot and portraits made of skin cells.

Huyton Central Library 16TH KNOWSLEY OPEN ART EXHIBITION

UNTIL 7 JAN 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

Celebrating local talent by people who live, work, volunteer or study in Knowsley, who’ll be showcasing their 2D artwork at Huyton Gallery, with the Young Artists Open (for those ages 17 and under) also part of the overall exhibition.

International Slavery Museum CONTINUING THE JOURNEY

UNTIL 31 MAR 17, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

A multi media collection of oral histories, photography and film, exploring issues which affect people of African heritage, born, raised or living in Liverpool’s locality. ART OF SOLIDARITY: CUBAN POSTERS FOR AFRICAN LIBERATION 1967-1989

13 JAN-18 JUN 17, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

A collection of over 30 posters produced by the Organisation in Solidarity with the People of Africa, Asia and Latin America (OSPAAAL), revealing the idealistic spirit of the Cuban Revolution intent on fighting imperialism, globalisation and defending human rights.

Kirkby Gallery PANORAMA

UNTIL 21 JAN 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

A stunning exhibition and new photographic body of work featuring images of people and places from across Knowsley, submitted by the entrants to this year’s SPACES 2 Knowsley Wellbeing Photography Competition.

Lady Lever Art Gallery PICASSO LINOCUTS

UNTIL 8 JAN 17, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

17 large linocut prints by Pablo Picasso, being displayed for the first time outside of the British Museum to showcase the progressive process that Picasso explored in the late 1950s and early 1960s. FRESH PERSPECTIVES: ART FROM WIRRAL SCHOOLS

20 JAN-1 MAY 17, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

A selection of paintings, 3D works, textiles and digital images by GCSE and A-level students from South Wirral High School, St John Plessington Catholic College, Prenton High School for Girls and Weatherhead High School.

Listings

LUSITANIA: LIFE, LOSS, LEGACY

Marking the centenary of the sinking of the Lusitania, telling the story of the ship while also considering the role of Liverpool’s liners in WWI. TITANIC AND LIVERPOOL: THE UNTOLD STORY

UNTIL 31 MAR 17, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Exploring Liverpool’s central role in the Titanic story, where real life stories of those who sailed on the ship are told through film footage, images, costumes and interactive elements.

IN SAFE HANDS: LIVERPOOL PILOTS

UNTIL 4 JUN 17, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Exploring the development of the Liverpool Pilotage Service, from the explosion of growth in the 18th and 19th Centuries, decline in the mid to late 20th Century, through to the thriving port of the 21st Century.

Museum of Liverpool

REEL STORIES: LIVERPOOL AND THE SILVER SCREEN

UNTIL 3 SEP 17, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

As the UK’s most-filmed city outside of London, this exhibition shines the light on Liverpool’s cinematic history through around 40 original film posters from the 1950s and beyond. 1916 EASTER RISING: THE LIVERPOOL CONNECTION

UNTIL 31 MAR 17, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Community display spanning photography, medals and other archive material marking the 100th anniversary of the Easter Rising, exploring the roles that Liverpudlian men and women played in this pivotal moment in history.

FIRST WORLD WAR: CHARITY AND LIVERPOOL’S HOME FRONT

UNTIL 3 JAN 17, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Exploring the work of some of the charity organisations that formed during World War 1, giving much-needed assistance to returning soliders and their families, as well as looking at how these charities function today.

Open Eye Gallery

NORTH: IDENTITY, PHOTOGRAPHY, FASHION

6 JAN-19 MAR 17, 10:30AM – 5:30PM, FREE

Co-curated by Lou Stoppard and Adam Murray, North explores the way the North of England is depicted, constructed and celebrated in select photographs, artworks and fashion collections.

Sudley House PUTTING ON THE GLITZ

UNTIL 26 MAR 17, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Dazzling 1930s evening gowns take centre stage in this exhibition, revealing how the glitz and glamour of Hollywood was reflected in the fashions of the period.

Tate Liverpool

TRACEY EMIN AND WILLIAM BLAKE IN FOCUS

UNTIL 3 SEP 17, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Tate Liverpool directs its focus to the work of Tracey Emin and William Blake to reveal surprising links between the two famed artists, including a shared concern with spirituality, birth and death. The exhibition will welcome – for the first time in the North of England – Emin’s My Bed (1998), the unflinching self-portrait told through stained sheets and detritus that was to become the controversial and iconic artwork she’s most known for.

My Bed, along with drawings by Emin from the Tate collection, will be presented alongside pieces by visionary British poet and artist William Blake, including The Blasphemer (c.1800) and The Crucifixion: Behold Thy Mother (c.1805). YVES KLEIN

UNTIL 5 MAR 17, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, £8 - £10

ADHAM FARAMAWY: JANUS COLLAPSE (THE JUICE-BOX EDITION) UNTIL 22 JAN 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

Displaying the work of Dubaiborn, London-based artist of Egyptian origin Adham Faramawy, who uses technology to examine how identity is constructed in the twenty-first century. ART AT THE HEART

The UK’s first museum solo exhibition in over 20 years of Yves Klein, one of the post-war era’s most influential figures who was known for an artistic breadth that embraced painting, sculpture, performance, theatre, music, film and architecture.

28 JAN-9 APR 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

UNTIL 5 MAR 17, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, £8 - £10

4 FEB-23 APR 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

EDWARD KRASIŃSKI

The first UK retrospective of Edward Krasiński (1925–2004), one of the most significant Eastern European artists of the 20th Century, featuring works from across his career. CÉCILE B. EVANS

19 MAR 17, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

The first solo exhibition in a UK public institution of Londonbased artist Cécile B. Evans, exploring the movement of data, artificial intelligence, and the possibilities of collaboration between humans and machines.

The Atkinson VICTORIAN DREAMERS

UNTIL12 MAR 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

Drawn from The Atkinson’s own collection of Victorian art, this exhibition looks at the themes of travel, storytelling, the antique past and nature. PANTHEON: ROMAN ART TREASURES FROM THE INCE BLUNDELL COLLECTION

UNTIL12 MAR 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

Highlights from a collection of Roman portraits, classical subjects and funerary sculptures that local landowner Henry Blundell of Ince Blundell Hall amassed in the late 18th Century. MAY THE TOYS BE WITH YOU

UNTIL5 MAR 17, TIMES VARY, £3

A Star Wars collections of memorabilia, toys and posters owned by collector Matt Fox. THE LANDING: LIGHT AND SHADOW

7 JAN-5 FEB 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

Exhibition from Sue Aigelsreiters, whose work has been exhibited at prestigious local and regional exhibitions and was shortlisted for the John Moore’s Painting Prize in 2004. THE LANDING: COLOURFIELDS

11 FEB-19 MAR 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

Exhibition from Southport-based Frank Barnes, who uses acrylic and oil paints, dichlorotriazine dyes and fragments of sea shells on a base of un-primed canvas and canvas paper to create his works. WINTER VINTAGE AND MAKERS FAIR

Exploring the central role of art at Bluecoat through key personalities, exhibitions and organisations that found a home there, contributing to the unique history of the UK’s oldest arts centre. PUBLIC VIEW

Bringing together works by 100 artists who have previously exhibited at Bluecoat, including the likes of John Akomfrah, Sonia Boyce, Jeremy Deller, John Latham, Mark Leckey, Elizabeth Magill, Yoko Ono and Yinka Shonibare.

The World Museum

ANIMAL MUMMIES REVEALED

UNTIL 26 FEB 17 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Featuring mummified specimens such as jackals, crocodiles, cats and birds, this exhibition explores ancient Egyptian animal mummies, and unveils the background of the religious practices behind their role as votive offerings to the gods.

Walker Art Gallery

TRANSFORMATION: ONE MAN’S CROSS-DRESSING WARDROBE

UNTIL 2 FEB 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

A stunning collection of 16 garments from the collection of Peter Farrer, who has been crossdressing since he was 14, with a particular focus on women’s period costume including evening dresses made between the 1930s and 1980s. BENEDICT DREW: KAPUT

UNTIL 26 FEB 17, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Using a mix of video, audio and sculptural elements, artist Benedict Drew reflects on society’s uncertain relationship with technology through a large, fluorescent image of Richard Branson. ZOO LOGIC

UNTIL 26 FEB 17, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Two installations by Turner Prize-winning artist Mark Leckey, representing his long-standing interest in moving image and broadcast technology - and, specifically, in Felix the Cat. LOOKING NORTH

UNTIL 26 FEB 17, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

The Bluecoat

A new exhibition of new work by artists from the Northwest, including drawings, paintings, video and sculpture from Mary Griffiths, Joe Fletcher Orr, Paul Rooney, Jason Thompson and Jesse Wine.

UNTIL 22 JAN 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

27 JAN-7 MAY 17, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

25 FEB-25 FEB 17, 11:00AM – 4:00PM, FREE

Pillbox Vintage transforms The Atkinson into a haven of vintage and crafts. KEITH PIPER: UNEARTHING THE BANKER’S BONES

New solo show from renowned British artist Keith Piper, addressing contemporary anxieties about race and class through the perspective of a fictional future, featuring the premiere of a three-channel video installation from which the show takes its title. AUTO AGENTS

UNTIL 15 JAN 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

An exhibition curated by the AaA collective - a group of five people with learning disabilities - exploring what it means to be independent by making your own decisions, drawing on the collective’s personal knowledge and experiences around the continued lack of choice and control.

VICTORIAN TREASURES

Exploring the work of leading 19th-century classical artists such as Frederic Lord Leighton, Lawrence Alma-Tadema and Edward John Poynter, as well as pioneering Pre-Raphaelite artists including John Everett Millais, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Holman Hunt, to show how the Victorian period marked an important change in the way people used and viewed art.

Manchester Art Castlefield Gallery MINIATURE WORLD

UNTIL 22 JAN 17, 1:00PM – 6:00PM, FREE

An exhibition of film, sculpture, 2D work, astronomical artefacts, miniature models, and diagrams of the finite-infinite relation, together acknowledging our relentless pursuit for knowledge while also considering the potential of things in small-scale.

Central Art Gallery

TOWARDS THE EDGE: PAINTINGS OF THE PEAK DISTRICT

UNTIL 4 FEB 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

Following his vibrant India series two years ago, artist Simon Parkin returns with work inspired by the landscapes of the Peak District.

Central Library CHANGING THE LANDSCAPE

UNTIL 3 MAR 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

An ambitious visual arts project from British painter Sarah Kogan, who takes a profoundly personal and deeply poignant dive into the physical, emotional and psychological destruction of the First World War, after journeying to France to trace the footsteps of her great uncle Barney Griew, a map maker and scout who died in the Battle of the Somme - and whose extraordinary archive of letters, drawings, and photographic postcards are the inspiration behind the project.

Centre For Chinese Contemporary Art

HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING

UNTIL 22 JAN 17, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Yorkshire born artist Kirsty Harris explores the notion of nuclear explosions as cultural, historical and aesthetic objects. EXTRASTELLAR EVALUATIONS II

UNTIL15 JAN 17, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Taiwanese artist Chen Yin-ju presents an exploration of cosmic events and human behaviour through the processes of mythology, scientific research and artistic response, marking Manchester’s position as European City of Science this year.

Colin Jellicoe Gallery

COLIN JELLICOE GALLERY ARTISTS

UNTIL 25 MAR 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

A changing mixed exhibition of drawings paintings and graphics by gallery artists including Sheila Dewsbury, David Ainsworth, Diana Terry, John McCombs, Janice Powell and Tricia Warrington.

HOME

BEARDED BRUTES

UNTIL 22 JAN 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

An exhibition by photographer and filmmaker Mark Leeming, fusing masculinity with flamboyance to blur the binaries of femme vs masc, via the avenues of digitally enhanced imagery, colour, sparkle and all-out kitsch. WOT U :-) ABOUT? UNTIL 8 JAN 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

Solo exhibition of new work by acclaimed Scottish artist Rachel Maclean, using the fairytale genre to examine the murky boundary between childhood and adulthood. PUSH FESTIVAL 2017: LAY OF THE LAND (AND OTHER SUCH MYTHS)

27 JAN-2 APR 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

A new project and exhibition from Victoria Lucas, investigating connections between gender and geographical place. ROCK ART

4 FEB-29 MAR 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

New solo exhibition from artist, musician, scientist and irrepressible explorer John Hyat, who peels back the layers of his identity, through a set of unique collaborations involving his own objects, narratives and live performance.

Imperial War Museum North FASHION ON THE RATION: 1940S STREET STYLE

UNTIL 1 MAY 17, 10:00 - 16:00, 4.50-£6

Exploring how men and women found new ways to dress as clothes rationing took hold in 1940s Britain, featuring original clothes from the era including military uniforms and functional fashion.

Instituto Cervantes

ROOTED: PIERRE GONNORD’S PHOTOGRAPHS

UNTIL 31 JAN 17, 9:30AM – 5:30PM, FREE

A selection of portraits by self-taught photographer Pierre Gonnord, celebrating the strength of the human condition.

Manchester Art Gallery MODERN JAPANESE DESIGN

UNTIL 15 JAN 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

Thirty two designers display over one hundred pieces in a dynamic display conveying the essence of the unique Japanese design ethos.

AFTER THE BEES UNTIL1 JUL 17, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

A series of artworks exploring a poignant narrative of loss, responding to Einstein’s chilling words: ‘If the bee disappeared off the surface of the globe then man would only have four years of life left.’

Museum of Science and Industry

WONDER MATERIALS: GRAPHENE AND BEYOND

UNTIL 25 JUN 17, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Combining science, art and history, Wonder Materials tells the story of graphene - the world’s first two-dimensional material that was isolated by scientists in Manchester, and is one of the strongest, lightest and most conductive materials in the world.

UNTIL 23 APR 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

A display of art of the First World War, commemorating the centenary of the Battle of the Somme. UNTIL 24 SEP 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

Paper Gallery

UNTIL 15 JAN 17, 10:00 - 17:00

JAI REDMAN: PARADISE LOST

A selection of new and existing oil paintings and watercolours, which function as contemporary interventions within the historic collections, from Jai Redman, whose work combines modern materials with a passion for traditional painting techniques. STRANGE AND FAMILIAR: BRITAIN AS REVEALED BY INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHERS

UNTIL 29 MAY 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

Curated by iconic British photographer Martin Parr, this exhibition celebrates work from the likes of Henri Cartier Bresson, Bruce Davidson, Rineke Dijkstra, Bruce Gilden and Evelyn Hofer to consider how international photographers from the 1930s onwards have captured the social, cultural and political identity of the UK. MARY QUANT: FASHION ICON

UNTIL 5 NOV 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

Featuring 22 outfits dating from the late 1950s to the early 1970s, illustrating how Quant’s designs exemplified a shift in fashion’s focus and inspiration to a younger consumer through bold mini dresses, PVC, patterned tights and more. WYNFORD DEWHURST: MANCHESTER’S MONET

UNTIL 23 APR 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

The first retrospective of the controversial English impressionist painter and art theorist Wynford Dewhurst since his death in 1941.

Manchester Craft and Design Centre

HEATED EXCHANGES: INNOVATIVE APPROACHES TO COLLABORATION IN CONTEMPORARY GLASS

UNTIL 4 FEB 17, 10:00AM – 5:30PM, FREE

Materials, makers and ideas meld together in this cutting edge exhibition that defies expectations of contemporary glass, showcasing three UK artists who collaborate with the unique material to capture its elemental power. MODERN TWIST: STEAM BENT FURNITURE BY JOSHUA TILL

16 FEB-20 MAY 17, 10:00AM – 5:30PM, FREE

Joshua Till puts a contemporary twist on a traditional craft with his nature-inspired steam bent furniture.

Manchester Museum

EXTINCTION OR SURVIVAL?

UNTIL 20 APR 17, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Focusing on examples where humans are known to have influenced the survival of animal and plant species, including iconic species such as the dodo, along with lesser-known stories such as the giant earwig.

PERPETUAL MOVEMENT

UNTIL 26 FEB 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

Five international artists explore convergences between contemporary visual art and dance, their works inspired by the Rambert Archive and by Marie Rambert’s call for ‘perpetual movement’ - ceaseless change in the search for new art and ideas.

Waterside Arts Centre

PUPPET MASTERS RETURN WITH AARDMAN STUDIOS

UNTIL 14 JAN 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

Featuring puppets, props and production artwork from a range of Aardman titles including Wallace and Gromit, The Pirates and more, following the success of last year’s Puppet Masters exhibition at Waterside.

National Football Whitworth Art Museum Gallery 1966 WORLD CUP EXHIBITION 50 years on from England’s golden summer, the National Football Museum pays homage to the 1966 World Cup with an immersive exhibition, which features the 1966 Jules Rimet trophy and ball from the final among much, much more.

GOODBYE TO ALL THAT

The Lowry

THE LAND IS

7 JAN-18 FEB 17, 11:00AM – 5:00PM, FREE

Ruby Tingle’s solo exhibition, combining new artworks and a living portrait, alongside a new album of original music.

People’s History Museum THE LMS-PATRIOT PROJECT: RAIL AND REMEMBRANCE

UNTIL 8 JAN 17, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, £DONATIONS

An exhibition exploring the lives of those who worked on railways during WWI, as well as the LMSPatriot Project - the building of a new national memorial engine. PROMISING HOME

UNTIL 15 JAN 17, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, £DONATIONS

Urging us to consider the value of a council estate, this exhibition examines the economic and social role of housing by drawing on a range of responses to the Pendleton estate in Salford, through video, photography, artworks, texts, textiles and everyday archaeology.

DEDICATED TO ALL DEFENDERS OF HUMAN FREEDOMS. THE ART OF PAUL PETER PIECH

UNTIL 12 FEB 17, 10:00AM – 5:00PM, £DONATIONS

A major retrospective of the career of artist, humanitarian and campaigner Paul Peter Piech, whose influences included politics, equality, jazz and poetry.

The International 3 NOT FOR NAVIGATION

UNTIL 24 FEB 17, 12:00PM – 5:00PM, FREE

Solo exhibition by Hondartza Fraga, taking its title from inscriptions found on illustrative rather than functional maps, and demonstrating the artist’s ongoing exploration of our individual and collective relationship to landscape.

The John Rylands Library OFF BEAT: JEFF NUTTALL AND THE INTERNATIONAL UNDERGROUND

UNTIL 5 MAR 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

A prolific artist, poet, musician, author and publisher, Jeff Nuttall was one of the few people in the early 1960s to publish William S. Burroughs’ most experimental writing. Yet, despite being one of the most pivotal figures in British counterculture, the Lancastrianborn polymath is little remembered today. The John Rylands Library’s provocative new exhibition is set to change that with this new exhibition, exploring Nuttall’s pioneering use of art as rebellion is a template for modern activism. Warning: rude stuff!

REVOLUTIONARY TEXTILES 1910-1939

UNTIL 29 JAN 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

Exploring the outburst of creativity that took place against the backdrop of political tumult in the early decades of the 20th century, when textile design took off in new directions. MARCANTONIO RAIMONDI AND RAPHAEL

UNTIL 23 APR 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

The first exhibition in over 35 years (and the first ever in the UK) featuring the works of Marcantonio Raimondi, one of the leading printmakers of the Italian Renaissance and best known for collaborating with Renaissance artist Raphael. IDRIS KHAN

UNTIL 19 MAR 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

Birmingham-born Idris Khan unveils his second exhibition at the Whitworth, drawing inspiration from the history of art, music, philosophy and theology by focusing on the mediums of painting, drawing and photography. ARTIST ROOMS: ANDY WARHOL

UNTIL 16 APR 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

Focusing on themes of death, politics and identity to present Warhol’s reading of the American Dream at a particularly crucial time in American politics, drawn from a collection of international modern and contemporary art called Artist Rooms. KATE DAUDY: THIS IS WATER

UNTIL 1 FEB 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

Inspired by an ancient Chinese literary practice of inscribing poems on to objects in order to understand the universe through art and nature, Daudy’s body of written interventions spans a variety of mediums. DEANNA PETHERBRIDGE

UNTIL 4 JUN 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

A solo show of pen and ink drawings from across the 45-year career of Deanna Petherbridge, who pioneered critical thinking on drawing and its place in art and architecture. ART FROM THE FRIENDS

UNTIL 8 JAN 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

A selection of works attained using the funds raised from The Friends of The Whitworth, founded back in 1933 for ‘enriching the collections through the purchase of works of art’. NEW SCULPTURE

UNTIL 12 JUN 17, TIMES VARY, FREE

Presenting a dynamic selection of contemporary sculpture recently acquired by the Whitworth, including works by leading contemporary artists such as Sara Barker, Brian Griffiths, Roger Hiorns, Michael Landy and Helen Marten.

THE SKINNY

And the winner is... The Women in Comedy Festival Writing Competition invites entries in two categories: a short sketch or monologue, and a short story. The Skinny North is pleased to publish the winning short story for 2016, with an introduction from our Comedy editor, who sat on the judging panel

here are several worries that go through one’s mind when asked to look at someone’s writing. First off, there’s the suspiciously humble ‘why me?’ garbage that you feel guilt about how serious you’re being, followed by the worry that the writing will be terrible and you’ll have to dash the submitter’s dreams. Add in to the mix that comedy is extremely subjective, and you’re in a mess of neuroses and anxiety. Thankfully, the entrants to the writing competition of the 2016 Women in Comedy Festival were all excellent, due in no small part to the sheer volume of applicants they had (from as far afield as Italy and New Zealand) – showing once more that this festival is a real boon both to comedy and the city of Manchester. The writing was original, interesting and, best of all, funny. Very, very funny. Below we publish the winner of the short story competition, 'The Mystery of the Second Olga' by Olga Wojtas. It’s a hilarious and bizarre tale that carries the whimsical nature of a Wes Anderson movie and the sensibilities of a tightly written British sitcom from days gone by. It was a pleasure to receive as part of the competition and is a delight to publish here. The Women in Comedy Festival 2016 Writing Competition winners in full: Category 1: 3-minute sketch or monologue First: Rachel Johnston with her monologue ‘Pushing the Envelope’ Second: Sally Hepplewhite with her sketch ‘Essential Oils’ Third: Jane Beaufore with her monologue ‘The Bride’s Grandmother Would Like to Give a Quick Toast’ Category 2: short story of under 1000 words First: Olga Wojtas with her story ‘The Mystery of the Second Olga’ Second: Jane Ayres with her story ‘Brief Encounter’ Third: Jane Postlethwaite with her story ‘Ducking Hell’

January/February 2017

Words: John Stansfield Illustration: Aimee Chang

The Mystery of the Second Olga

he fourth Olga was making soup. The 17th Olga was balancing the accounts, totting them up on her fingers. She had taken off her shoes and socks in order to use her toes if necessary. Her right foot was size 6 and her left foot was size 5½. The 29th Olga was skimming the pages of the local newspaper, proofreading as she went, and tutting at the errors. The 55th Olga who, like the others, was possessed of a preternatural beauty, was making soup. The 36th Olga had spotted a group of youths approaching, kicking a ball from one to the other. They were followed by a tangle-haired mongrel with only three legs. “Be off with you!” she shouted. “This is private property! And take that awful thing with you!” One of the youths bent to pick up the animal. “Not the dog, the football!” yelled the 36th Olga. “The dog can stay and have some soup.” The 48th Olga was making soup. The third Olga was trying to remember how long it had been since the first Olga had founded their community. It was the first Olga who had realised that all Olgas shared the same characteristics. They were all preternaturally beautiful. They were all excellent soup-makers. Their right feet were size 6 and their left feet were size 5½. They knew the correct use of the apostrophe and the Oxford comma. And they hated anything to do with football. It was a joy to live among like-minded people, thought the third Olga. They were all so happy together. There had never been a problem, apart from that time they had been infiltrated by a Helga. She had been rumbled the moment she expressed an interest in watching Match of the Day. And the third Olga hadn’t reckoned much to her preternatural beauty. Occasionally, the third Olga attempted to calculate how many Olgas there were altogether. But even though she took off her shoes and socks so that she could use her toes, she kept losing count and left it at “a lot”.

One evening, they were sitting round the fire listening to a talk from the 12th Olga on the future perfect continuous and the conditional progressive, when the 30th Olga said: “Where’s the second Olga?” They all looked about them. “Remind me,” said the 54th Olga. “What does she look like?” “She’s preternaturally beautiful, and her right foot is size 6, while her left foot is size 5½,” said the 38th Olga. “Oh, her?” said the 54th Olga. “Lovely girl. No, I can’t say I’ve seen her recently.” Nobody could remember having seen her. It was agreed that the situation was so serious that it merited waking up the first Olga, who was dozing in the corner, something she felt entitled to do because of her great age. Once she had got her bearings, and things had been explained to her several times, she insisted that search parties be sent out immediately. Two Olgas should go north, two should go south, two should go east and two should go west. It took a while to calculate how many Olgas this made in total, but most of them worked it out reasonably satisfactorily without having to take their shoes and socks off. The two Olgas heading north went round a corner and saw a group of people wearing striped scarves. “I think these might be football supporters,” whispered the leading Olga. “I don’t like the sound of that,” said the other Olga. “Let’s go home.” The two Olgas heading south went round a corner and smelled a delicious aroma. “Someone’s making soup,” said the leading Olga. “Let’s ask them for the recipe and take it home,” said the other Olga. The two Olgas heading east went round a corner and found a notice which read: “Hard Hat’s Required Beyond This Point”. The leading Olga began to hyperventilate.

COMEDY

Words: Olga Wojtas “Don’t worry,” soothed the other Olga. “I’ll take you home.” The two Olgas heading west never reached a corner. “What is it we’re supposed to be doing?” asked the leading Olga. “No idea, I thought you knew,” said the other Olga. “We’d better go home,” they agreed. The third Olga was making soup. What a joy it was to live among like-minded people. She thought back to the day she met the first Olga, which was the very day on which the first Olga had decided to found the community of Olgas. The third Olga, who was preternaturally beautiful, had a right foot which was size 6 and a left foot which was size 5½. She impressed the first Olga with her soupmaking skills and her knowledge of the apostrophe and Oxford comma. “Great,” said the first Olga. “You can join. So I’m one and you’re two.” She counted on her fingers. “One and two are three, so you’re the third Olga.” Smiling at the memory, the third Olga put more coriander in the soup. From the kitchen window, she saw some Olgas who seemed to have been out somewhere. “Just in time,” she called. “Come and have some soup.” One of the incoming Olgas turned out to be hyperventilating, so the third Olga ladled soup into a plastic bag and set up an intravenous drip for her. Other Olgas finished washing up from the previous meal, and queued up at the cooking-pot to take brimming bowls to the rest of the community. Everyone sat contentedly round the fire, eating soup and listening to the calming sound of the first Olga snoring. Suddenly, the 37th Olga said: “Where’s the second Olga?” They all looked about them. “Remind me,” said the 41st Olga. “What does she look like?” womenincomedy.co.uk

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