1. T-SHIRT FRENZY

STEWART LEE 100% PEAR T-SHIRTS. Thrill your friends, and your own body, in 2023! Relive the glory days of 2008/9 by wearing a t-shirt with a line from Stew’s If You Prefer A Milder Comedian tour, from back when he was still good, rather than simply complacent and reliable. 100% pear! 100% PEAR CIDER Tee Shirts.
Two versions in Navy Blue or Purple on Anthem Organic Tee Shirts.
A UK based ethical Tee Shirt Manufacturer. £20.00 each plus shipping. https://wax-face.com/stewart-lee

2. TV SNOWFLAKE TORNADO

Snowflake and Tornado are both on the BBC iplayer now.

Snowflake is here. & Tornado is here.

3. BASIC LEE

The new stand-up show, BASIC LEE hits the road and the Royal Festival Hall.

February 2023

Wednesday 1st February 2023 – Playhouse, Oxford – TICKETS
Thursday 2nd February 2023 – Playhouse, Oxford – TICKETS
Friday 3rd February 2023 – Playhouse, Oxford – TICKETS
Saturday 4th February 2023 – Playhouse, Oxford – TICKETS
Monday 6th February 2023 – Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham – TICKETS
Tuesday 7th February 2023 – Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham – TICKETS
Wednesday 8th February 2023 – Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham – TICKETS
Thursday 9th February 2023 – DeMontfort Hall, Leicester – TICKETS
Friday 10th February 2023 – DeMontfort Hall, Leicester – TICKETS
Saturday 11th February 2023 – Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool – TICKETS
Sunday 12th February 2023 – Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton – TICKETS
Wednesday 22nd February 2023 – Belgrade Theatre, Coventry – TICKETS
Thursday 23rd February 2023 – Belgrade Theatre, Coventry – TICKETS
Friday 24th February 2023 – Wycombe Swan, High Wycombe – TICKETS
Saturday 25th February 2023 – Palace Theatre, Southend On Sea – TICKETS
Sunday 26th February 2023 – Palace Theatre, Southend On Sea – TICKETS
Tuesday 28th February 2023 – Grand Theatre, Swansea – TICKETS

March 2023

Wednesday 1st March 2023 – Northcott Theatre, Exeter – TICKETS
Thursday 2nd March 2023 – Northcott Theatre, Exeter – TICKETS
Friday 3rd March 2023 – Theatre Royal, Plymouth – TICKETS
Saturday 4th March 2023 – Theatre Royal, Plymouth – TICKETS
Monday 6th March 2023 – Rose Theatre, Kingston – TICKETS
Tuesday 7th March 2023 – Rose Theatre, Kingston – TICKETS
Wednesday 8th March 2023 – Milton Keynes Theatre, Milton Keynes – TICKETS
Thursday 9th March 2023 – Milton Keynes Theatre, Milton Keynes – TICKETS
Friday 10th March 2023 – Opera House, Buxton – TICKETS
Saturday 11th March 2023 – Opera House, Buxton – TICKETS
Monday 13th March 2023 – Eden Court, Inverness – TICKETS
Tuesday 14th March 2023 – Tivoli Theatre, Aberdeen – TICKETS
Wednesday 15th March 2023 – Tivoli Theatre, Aberdeen – TICKETS
Thursday 16th March 2023 – King’s Theatre, Glasgow – TICKETS
Friday 17th March 2023 – King’s Theatre, Glasgow – TICKETS
Monday 20th March 2023 – Theatre Royal, York – TICKETS
Tuesday 21st March 2023 – Theatre Royal, York – TICKETS
Wednesday 22nd March 2023 – Theatre Royal, York – TICKETS
Monday 27th March 2023 – The Lowry, Salford Quays – TICKETS
Tuesday 28th March 2023 – The Lowry, Salford Quays – TICKETS
Wednesday 29th March 2023 – The Lowry, Salford Quays – TICKETS
Thursday 30th March 2023 – The Lowry, Salford Quays – TICKETS
Friday 31st March 2023 – The Lowry, Salford Quays – TICKETS

April 2023

Saturday 1st April 2023 – The Lowry, Salford Quays – TICKETS
Monday 3rd April 2023 – Hippodrome, Bristol – TICKETS
Thursday 13th April 2023 – Theatre Royal, Newcastle Upon Tyne – TICKETS
Friday 14th April 2023 – Theatre Royal, Newcastle Upon Tyne – TICKETS
Saturday 15th April 2023 – Theatre Royal, Newcastle Upon Tyne – TICKETS
Tuesday 18th April 2023 – Forum Theatre, Malvern – TICKETS
Wednesday 19th April 2023 – Forum Theatre, Malvern – TICKETS
Thursday 20th April 2023 – Westlands, Yeovil – TICKETS
Wednesday 26th April 2023 – Brighton Dome, Brighton – TICKETS
Thursday 27th April 2023 – Brighton Dome, Brighton – TICKETS
Friday 28th April 2023 – Brighton Dome, Brighton – TICKETS
Saturday 29th April 2023 – Brighton Dome, Brighton – TICKETS
Sunday 30th April 2023 – Brighton Dome, Brighton – TICKETS

May 2023

Tuesday 2nd May 2023 – Mercury Theatre, Colchester – TICKETS
Wednesday 3rd May 2023 – Mercury Theatre, Colchester – TICKETS
Thursday 4th May 2023 – Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford – TICKETS
Friday 5th May 2023 – Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford – TICKETS
Saturday 6th May 2023 – Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford – TICKETS
Friday 26th May 2023 – Playhouse, Nottingham – TICKETS
Saturday 27th May 2023 – Playhouse, Nottingham – TICKETS
Saturday 27th May 2023 – Playhouse, Nottingham – TICKETS
Sunday 28th May 2023 – Playhouse, Nottingham – TICKETS

June 2023

Wednesday 28th June 2023 – Royal Festival Hall, Southbank, London – TICKETS
Thursday 29th June 2023 – Royal Festival Hall, Southbank, London – TICKETS
Friday 30th June 2023 – Royal Festival Hall, Southbank, London – TICKETS

July 2023

Saturday 1st July 2023 – Royal Festival Hall, Southbank, London – TICKETS
Sunday 2nd July 2023 – Royal Festival Hall, Southbank, London – TICKETS
Sunday 2nd July 2023 – Royal Festival Hall, Southbank, London – TICKETS

4. BENEFIT SHOWS

SUNDAY FEB 19^TH Resofit, Bloomsbury Theatre, London. A benefit for arts radio station Resonance 104.4 FM “the best radio station in London” (The Guardian) with Matthew Highton, Rosie Holt, Stewart Lee, Ania Magliano, Shazia Mirza, Simon Munnery, and Bilal Zafar. MC: Daniel Kitson. 7pm £25/£20. https://tickets.ucl.ac.uk/bloomsburytheatre/website/ChooseSeats.aspx?EventInstanceId=335314&resize=true

WEDS MAY 17^TH NERVE TUMORS BENEFIT Union Chapel London.
Stand Up for Nerve Tumours UK Comedy Fundraiser with Stewart Lee, Paul Foot, Laura Lexx, Lara Ricote, Dan Tiernan, Celya AB, William Stone with MC Jessica Fostekew.
Doors 7pm 16+ https://unionchapel.org.uk/venue/whats-on/stand-up-for-nerve-tumours-uk-comedy-fundraiser

5. I ARROGANTLY RECOMMEND SOME 2023 HAPPENINGS/THINGS

BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE
The ‘90s American psychedelic band that sounds like an ‘80s British psychedelic band hit the road.

FEB 1^st Brighton Concorde 2,
2^nd Norwich Epic,
3^rd B’ham Academy 2,
4^th M’cr Ritz,
5^th Glasgow Barrowland,
6^th Edinbuirgh Bell Angelle,
7^th N’castle Riverside,
9^th Dublin Academy,
10^th Belfast Limelight,
11^th Liverpool Camp & Furnace,
12^th Nottingham Rock City,
14^th Leeds Stylus,
15^th London Forum

GINA SOUTHGATE From Live Music. Art exhibition by the abstract artist who paints, in real time, musicians improvising.
Riverside Studios, Hammersmith London FEB 1st – MARCH 9th.
There is a launch event on Thurs FEB 6th 6pm-9pm with live music.

ALAN DAVIE – PAINTING MUSIC FILM The artist and musician remembered FEB 2^ND London Café Oto. ABSTRACT JAZZ ART DIARY CLASH W GINA SOUTHGATE AT RIVERSIDE. Has this ever happened before?

SOFT MACHINE Prog-jazz monument, heard through the doorway at Pizza Express last year on my way to a gig and sounding good.
FEB 3^rd London New Cross Inn, 9^th Falmouth Princess Pavilion, 15^th M’cr Band On The Wall, 16^th Kinross Green Hotel, NOV 19^TH Exeter Phoenix

ELIZA CARTY/MARTIN CARTHY Wellsprings of English folk music FEB 4^TH London Barbican, APRIL 28^th Sevenoaks Otford Village Hall

CELYA AB I saw this stand-up in Edinburgh and she was really good, a deceptively strange world-view wrapped in a disarmingly reasonable persona. FEB 8^TH-11^TH London Soho Theatre

JOSIE LONG
The absolutely brilliant stand-up is on tour

FEB 9TH Lancaster Dukes,
10th Leeds City Varieties,
11th Liverpool Royal Court,
18th York Crescent,
24th Birmingham Old Rep,
25th Blackheath Halls
MARCH 2nd Hackney Earth,
3rd M’cr Contact,
MAY 12th Berwick-Upon-Tweed Maltings,
14th Salford Lowry,
18th Trebah Ampitheatre,
19th Ivybridge Watermark,
20th Clevedon Curzon,
27th Warwick Arts,
30th Lawrence Batley Huddersfield,
JUNE 3rd Giffnock Eastwood Park,
21st Wigan Old Courts,
22nd Halifax Square Chapel,
23rd Oxford Old Fire Station,
27th Druimfin Mull Theatre,
30th Cambridge Junction,
JULY 1st Folkestone Quarterhouse,
7th Stirling Tolbooth,
9th Exeter Phoenix
TICKETS HERE

PETER BROTZMANN German free jazz sax pioneer FEB 10^TH/11^TH London Café Oto

THE PRIMEVALS Authentic Glaswegian garage rock veterans
FEB 10th North Shields Engine Room, 11TH West Hampstead Arts Club London

BENEFIT FOR DAN TREACY OF TELEVISION PERSONALITIES
Feb 11th, Oslo, Hackney, London.
Indie celebs raise cash for the troubled art-pop-punk-mod innovator.

SIMON MUNNERY The Peter Cook of our generation of comics, but better.
FEB 11^th LEICESTER, Firebug,
23^rd LONDON, Leicester Square Theatre,
25^th – LIVERPOOL, Royal Court Theatre,
26 – SALFORD, The Lowry,
28 – EDINBURGH, Monkey Barrel,
MARCH 1 – GLASGOW, The StanD,
2 – NEWCASTLE, The Stand,
11 – CAMBRIDGE, Junction,
16 – BRIGHTON, The Old Market,
23 – BRISTOL, Hen & Chicken,
11 – NORWICH, Arts Centre,
13 – BATH, Rondo Theatre,
18 – LEEDS, The Old Wollen,
JUNE 9 – ALDERSHOT, West End Centre

https://www.simonmunnery.com/tour-dates

THE FALLEN LEAVES
Gentleman mod-punks
FEB 11TH Brighton Prince Albert, 25th Guildford Holyrood Arms,
MAY 13th Camden Dublin Castle,
SEP 9th Camden Dublin Castle.

DRY CLEANING Sing-speak post-punks tour difficult second album FEB 14^th Dublin Vicar St, 15^th Belfast Mandela Hall, 17^th Glasgow Barrowlands, 18^th Leeds Uni, 20^th Liverpool Invisible Wind, 21^st Nottingham Rock City, 22^nd Sheffield Academy, 24^th M’cr Albert Hall, 25^th B’ham Academy, 26^th Bristol Academy, 28^th Cardiff Tramshed, MARCH 1^st Brighton Chalk, 3^rd London Academy

SECLUDED BRONTE
The Goodies of extreme improvised music/events hit the road. Needs to be seen by all squares.

The Rising Sun Arts Centre, Reading on Friday February 17th https://www.risingsunartscentre.org/events/evening-secluded-bronte
Fuel Bar, Withington, Manchester on Monday February 20th https://ra.co/events/1637321
Full of Noises, Barrow-in-Furness on Tuesday February 21st https://fonfestival.org/about/
The Old Hairdresser’s, Glasgow on Wednesday February 22nD http://www.theoldhairdressers.com
The Gardener’s Rest, Sheffield on Thursday February 23rd https://www.facebook.com/GardenersRestSheffield/

LEN PRICE 3 Punk-mod beatniks FEB 18^th London Lexington

LAETITIA SADIER
Marxist chanteuse w Bruce Gilbert of Wire, FEB 21ST Café Oto, London

ROBYN HITCHCOCK Psychedelic troubadour FEB 25^th London Alexandra Palace, 28^th Liverpool Philharmonic.

DOLLY COLLINS’ ‘Missa Humana’ World Premiere (words Maureen Duffy, music Dolly Collins).
FEB 25TH Conway Hall, London. The musical mediaevalist memorialised.

THE BLACK ANGELS Austin’s avatars of acid rock FEB 25^th Bristol SXW, 26^th Liverpool Invisible Wind, MARCH 1^ST Glasgow QMU, 2^nd M’cr New Century, 3^rd London Shepherd’s Bush Empire

ALFIE BROWN is woke-as-fuck whilst at the same time interrogating the thinking behind his values. Sensitive Man. A brilliant stand-up FEB 27^TH – MARCH 4^TH LONODN Soho Theatre

ROSIE HOLT Satire’s Rosie Holt will be satirising the shit out of shit at the following places in 2023;
MARCH 2^nd Maidenhead Norden Farm,
3^rd Salisbury Arts Centre,
9^th Cambridge Corn Exchange,
16^th Sheffield Leadmill,
17^th B’ham Old Rep,
22^nd London Leicester Sq Theatre,
24^th Southend On Sea Palace,
25^th Swindon Wyvern
APRIL 29^th Ipswich Corn Exchange,
30^th Leeds City Varieties,
MAY 4^th & 5^th Bristol Hen & Chicken,
May 7^th Salford Lowry,
JULY 1^st Oxford Festival Marquee

BRIDGET CHRISTIE A cluster of delayed covid-era reschedules of the acclaimed Who Am I? show from the soon-to-be-televised comedian and writer
MARCH 4^th Leeds City Varieties,
5^th Basingstoke Haymarket,
12^th Wavendon Stables,
17^th and 18th Cambridge Junction.

DREAM SYNDICATE/RAIN PARADE Unmissable double header of Paisley Underground Survivors – Dream Syndicate are currently magnificent!
MARCH 7^th Bristol Fleece, 8^th L’pool District, 9^th Leeds Brudenell, 10^th/11^th Glasgow Hug & Pint, 12^th N’castle Cluny, 14^th M’cr Band On The Wall, 15^th London Lexington, 16^th London Colours

MARK EITZEL American Music Club songwriter returns MARCH 10^th London St Pancras Old Church.

ONEIDA Krautrockin’ Brooklyn hipsters MARCH 11^th Bristol Crofters, 12^th London Studio 9294

ROBERT FORSTER The silver fox of Australian indie rock MARCH 11^th Strathaven Frets, 12^th Edinburgh Mash, 14^th York Crescent, 16^th W’hampton Newhampton Arts, 17^th Oxford Bullingdon, 20^th London Lafayette, 21^st Brighton Komedia, 23^rd Belfast Empire, 24^th Dublin Button Factory

BRITISH JAZZ FILM ARCHIVE SHOW AT CAFÉ OTO LONDON March 12th

FREE TO AIR: IMPROVISED AND EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC ON BRITISH TV, 1973-1983 Café OTO, in association with the British Film Institute, presents a day-long immersion in another era: one in which there were only four TV channels, and a music community that was struggling to be seen and heard. We bring together four extremely rare programmes, scarcely seen at the time and never repeated, which show Café OTO regulars and other legends of the improvisation/jazz scene at work and in concert. Marvel at the earliest known film of Derek Bailey (Omnibus: British Jazz, 1973), Spike Milligan introducing The Tony Oxley Unit (Open Door, 1974), wild film of Evan Parker and Paul Lytton in performance (Aquarius, 1975), and Fred Frith giving a comic demonstration of his approach to sound (Jazz on 4, 1983). This event is a reflection on the struggle to get heard in the mainstream – is it better to reject a public service broadcaster, or a great way to reach the unsuspecting listener?

The Musicians’ Action Group, who made the Open Door programme, fought for better exposure for jazz musicians – but it remained a struggle, and is even more so today.

These four programmes show how sympathetic producers, often fans of the music, made it possible for viewers to discover it for themselves. Our two panels will feature musicians who appeared in the programmes, viewers who saw them at the time, those who worked behind the scenes, and jazz critics then and now. Together we will dissect what we’ve lost and what we’ve gained. Above all join us for a day of great music and eye-catching films, a true blast from the past. This is a one-off reappearance for these programmes which is not to be missed.

PROGRAMME ONE From the venerable BBC1 arts show Omnibus, we present British Jazz (1973). Charles Fox (Jazz in Britain), Benny Green, Humphrey Lyttelton and others take us on a journey around the scene, all the way from trad to free. We meet Ian Carr’s Nucleus, as well as Iskra 1903 who deliver a performance on film that is almost too fast for the cameras. Open Door: Jazz… Nobody’s Child (1974) saw the takeover of BBC2 by the Musicians’ Action Group, gaining a platform to make their case for better jazz coverage on TV. Charles Fox and Spike Milligan (The Goon Show) introduce films of Stan Tracey, The Tony Oxley Unit, Maggie Nicols’ Matter in Motion, Tony Levin, and Paul Rutherford. Norma Winstone and Gordon Beck appear in the studio. + Panel TBC

PROGRAMME TWO Sounds Amazing! (London Weekend Television, 1975) is one of the most unusual programmes to go out on ITV, let alone at teatime. As TV Times put it, ‘This Aquarius film is about musical explorers who are extending the language of music in unusual ways.’ Our ‘sound poets’ are Max Eastley, David Toop, Paul Burwell, Hugh Davies, Evan Parker and Paul Lytton. In Crossing Bridges (Channel 4, 1983), a midnight special for Jazz on 4, six innovative guitarists talk about their ideas and give a studio demonstration of their music. Spend an unforgettable hour with Fred Frith, Brian Godding, John Russell, Ron Geesin, Hans Reichel and Keith Rowe. + Panel TBC

Thanks to the British Film Institute for permission to screen these programmes as part of the Performers Alliance Agreement. There is a 25% discount for entry to members of Equity, Writers Guild and the Musicians’ Union. Please present your membership card on arrival.

ROB AUTON Gifted poet/stand-up MARCH 13^TH – 18^th London Soho Theatre

KIM NOBLE – LULLABY FOR SCAVENGERS Rend your heart and mind once again with more of Noble’s art-comedy genius
MARCH 15^TH – APRIL 8^TH London Soho Theatre

ORBITAL Rave era visionary architects of sound
MARCH 16^th Limerick Big Top, 18^th Belfast Mandela, 28^th Glasgow Galvanisers, 29^th Newcastle NX, 30^th M’cr Albert Hall, 31^st Bristol Academy, APRIL 1^st London Brixton Academy, 5^th Leeds Academy, 6^th Cambridge Corn Exchange, 7^th Nottingham Rock City, 8^th Brighton Centre.

TONY BUCK AT 60 Drummer’s birthday celebration with guests MARCH 21-23 London Café Oto

THE WAVE PICTURES Indie classicists
MARCH 22^nd Edinburgh Voodoo Rooms, 23^rd Sheffield Yellow Arch, 24^th Preston Ferret, 25^th Southampton Joiner, 26^th Lewes Con Club, 30^th Cardiff Clwb Ifor Bach, APR 1^st Stowmarket John Peel Centre.

THE POPGUNS 80s indie-popsters return MARCH 31^ST London 229

THE DAMNED/THE NIGHTINGALES 2 punk era legends of wildly differing levels of fame in one double bill.
MARCH 31^ST Cardiff Great Hall, APRIL 1^st Southend Cliffs, 4^th Nottingham Rock City, 5^th Liverpool Academy, 7^th Newcastle NX, 8^th Glasgow Academy, 10^th Leeds Academy, 11^th M’cr Albert Hall, 13^th B’ham Town Hall, 15^th Norwich Nick Rayns, 17^th Brighton Dome, 18^th S’hampton Guildhall, 20^th/21^st London Alexandra Palace,

ALASDAIR ROBERTS Songwriter re-wiring Scottish folk tradition
MARCH 28^th London Sutton House, APRIL 1^st Cambridge Blue Moon, 6^th W’chester Hyde Tavern, 7^th Oxford Florence Park Community Centre, JUNE 23^RD London West Hampstead Arts, 24^th London Barbican

DISCHARGE
Hardcore ‘77 survivors.
APRIL 7TH Newcastle Anarchy Brewery, 8th Edinburgh Bannermans, 28th Swansea Bunkhouse, 29th Corby Clubhouse,
MAY 5th London Desertfest,
DEC 23rd B’ham Castle & Falcon

ALASDAIR BECKETT-KING – The Interdimensional Alasdair Beckett-King.
I saw this sharp absurdist show in Edinburgh and it is brilliant.
APRIL 8^th Bath Rondo,
13^th Oxford Glee,
14^th Birmingham Glee,
20^th Aldershot West End,
21^st New Milton Forest Arts,
22^nd Brighton Komedia,
27^th Norwich Arts Centre,
28^th Bristol Comedy Box @ Hen & Chicken,
29^th Tiverton Community Arts Cent
MAY 5^th Maidstone Hazlitt,
6^th Cambridge Junction,
11^th Fareham Ashcroft,
12^th Winchester Arc,
13^th Swindon Arts,
16^th Newcastle Stand,
17^th Edinburgh Stand,
18^th Glasgow Stand,
19^th Belfast Limelight,
20^th Derry/Londonderry Nerve,
27^th M’cr Home,
28^th Leeds Wardrobe
JUNE 27^th London Leicester Sq Theatre

YO LA TENGO Gods of American indie APRIL 10^TH Dublin 3Olympia, 12^th M’cr New Century, 13^th Bristol SWX, 14^th London Palladium,

SHONEN KNIFE Distaff Japanese Ramones
APRIL 12^TH Guildford Boileroom, 13^th Reading Sub69, 14^th Cambridge Portland Arms, 15^th London Garage, 16^th Lewes Con Club, 18^th Nottingham Rescue Rooms, 20^th Edinburgh Summerhall, 21^st Newcastle Cluny, 22^nd Carlisle Brickyard, 23^rd Hull Adelphi, 25^th Leeds Brudenell, 26^th Cardiff Moon, 27^th B’ham Hare & Hounds, 28^th M’cr Night & Day, 29^th Bristol Exchange, 30^th Bedford Esquires

JAYHAWKS Alt country originators APRIL 14^th London Shepherd’s Bush Empire

GOAT Psychedelic Scandinavian shamans APRIL 15^TH Bristol SWX, 16^th B’ham Digneth Mill, 17^th Leeds Brudenell, 18^th Glasgow Garage, 19^th N’castle Boiler Shop, 20^th M’cr Gorilla, 21^st Brighton Chalk, 22^nd London Electric Ballroom

TONY! Tony Blair rock opera by Harry Hill and Steve Brown.
APRIL 15^TH – MAY 21^ST London Leicester Sq Theatre

SONIC BOOM A middle class man ruins his mind so you don’t have to.
APR 19th M’cr Band On The Wall, 20th Glasgow Room 2, 22nd Leeds Brudenell, 27th London Studio 9294

IMPRESSIONS OF JOHN COLTRANE w Alan Skidmore, Dominic Lash
APRIL 21^ST London Café Oto

RICHARD DAWSON Genius art-folk-noise songwriter
APRIL 25^th M’cr New Century, 26^th Glasgow St Luke’s, 27^th L’pool Tung, 28^th Leeds City Varieties, MAY 3^rd Cardiff Gate, 5^th London Barbican

BLUE AEROPLANES Bristol beat poets APRIL 28^TH London Electric Ballroom

SWELL MAPS C21 Surviving Swell Maps augmented w celebrity guests APRIL 29^TH London Café Oto

OTOBOKE BEAVER Japanese noise-girls
MAY 2^nd London Electric Ballroom,
4^th M’cr Club Academy,
5^th Glasgow St Luke’s,
7^th Belfast Empire,
8^th Dublin Button Factory,
10^th Bristol Fleece

LAUREN CONNORS & ALAN LICHT – Lucid guitar duo MAY 5^TH/6^TH London Café Oto

GAVIN BRYARS never failed us yet MAY 15^TH/16^th London Café Oto

HOUSE OF ALL M’cr post-punk supergroup, a kind of 6 Music evening show Asia, hit the road.
HANLEY HANLEY GREENWAY BRAMAGH!

LONG RYDERS Alt country pioneers return, again
MAY 19^th Leamington Assembly,
20^th London 229,
21^st Leeds Brudenell,
22^nd Glasgow Oran Moor,
23^rd L’pool Cavern,
25^th Brighton Patterns

LOOP Heavy psyche survivors
MAY 20^th Dublin Wheelans, 21^st M’cr Deaf Institute, 22^nd Glasgow Room 2, 23^rd Leeds Brudenell, 25^th London Garage, 27^th Norwich UEA

AMON DUUL II ‘70s originators of commune krautrock. Can they really still rock?
MAY 29^th London Jazz Café, 30^th M’cr Blues Kitchen

CHUCK PROPHET Chisel-cheeked Alt Country guitar-slinger
MAY 31^st London Garage
JUNE 2^nd Nottingham Metronome,
4^th Oxford Bullingdon,
6^th Leeds Brudenell,
7^th Glasgow St Luke’s,
10^th N’castle Cluny,
12^th B’ham Hare & Hounds,
13^th Bristol Fleece,
14^th Southampton 1865

LAURA CANNELL Hypnotic fenland dronemadchen JUNE 17^th London King’s Place

THE CHAMELEONS Most convincing line-up for years of the always emotionally edifying Big Music should-have-beens.
JUNE 20^th Leeds Old Woollen,
21^st L’pool Hangar 34,
22^nd N’castle Riverside,
23^rd Edinburgh Liquid Room,
24^th Glasgow Garage,
26^th Aberdeen Lemon Tree,
28^th Norwich Epic,
29^th Cambridge Junction,
30^th Leamington Assembly,
JULY 1^ST London Islington Assembly,
3^rd Bristol Fleece,
4^th Brighton Chalk,
7^th Castleton Devil’s Arse,
8^th Holmfirth Picturedrome

MUSIC FROM SUMMERISLE Various artists play the Wicker Man s/track, including Magnet (!), and Alasdair Roberts JUNE 24^th London Barbican

BMX BANDITS Also-beens of classic Scottish indie JUNE 30^TH Edinburgh Voodoo Rooms

ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN Another tilt at the infinite horizon from the cosmic scallies SEPT 12^TH Nottingham Royal Concert Halls, 14^th Edinburgh Usher Halls, 16^th L’pool Bank Arena, 18^th London Royal Albert Hall

BRITISH CRYPTIDS ON YOUTUBE In 1974 the producer of Hereford Wakes, David Emlyn Edwards, made a series of films about unknown animals in the United Kingdom.
The films were presumably destined to be sold to a UK broadcaster – either BBC or ITV – but they seem to only have been shown at schools and ended up languishing in public libraries.
The music for the series was written and produced by Hereford Wakes’ Thorsten Schmidt, continuing his professional collaboration with David Emlyn Edwards.
The latest restoration to be released is ‘The Woodwose of Cannock Chase’. If you enjoyed Hereford Wakes, we’re sure you’ll enjoy this too!  https://youtu.be/loZwFNT8H_s

7. IN OUR LAMENTATIONS 2022

Vivienne Westwood (punk trousers, 1941)
Ruggero Deodato (Junk genius, 1939)
Kelly Monteith (Lucky pants stand-up, 1942)
Alan Rankine (Associate musician, 1958)
Michael Snow (Jazz filmmaker, 1928)
Darryl Hunt (Pogue bass, 1950)
Charles Simic (Serbian poet, 1938)
Jeff Beck (He happened ten years time ago, 1944)
Jane Suck (punk chronicler, 195?)
Yukihiro Takahashi (Sadistic Mika Man, 1952)
Ronald Blythe (Akenfieldsman, 1922)
Piers Haggard (hack genius of Claw and Quatermass, 1932)
Van Connor (sturdy psychedelic tree, 1967)
David Sutherland (Bash Street basher, 1933)
David Crosby (Byrdmaniac, 1941)
Tom Verlaine (Sui generis genius Televisionary, 1949)

7. TEESIDE

I’m pasting in this Times article so you don’t go through Murdoch’s paywall, but Jenni Russell explains in detail how the Brexit freeport construction has killed most of the marine life in Teeside, which the gvt are trying to cover up. Read here;

JENNI RUSSELL Monday January 09 2023, 12.01am, The Times
Sixteen months ago there was a mass die-off of marine life in the North Sea off Teesside. It was an extinction event: a catastrophe on a scale no one in Britain has ever experienced. Along 30 miles of coast, from Hartlepool to Whitby, the beaches were piled with hundreds of thousands of dead and dying crabs and lobster, some still twitching in agony.
The question haunting everyone affected by this disaster is the fear that the government’s preference has been to find simple explanations, rather than inquire too deeply into why it happened, and how human and industrial activity may have caused it. The official responses have been particularly dismissive of any theories that might threaten one of the government’s flagship policies: the digging out of historically polluted rivers to create freeports. Yet finding the causes couldn’t matter more. If we fail, we risk repeating such disasters round our shores, creating sea deserts.

The die-off ravaged the ecosystem beneath the water, emptying it. Within weeks it was evident that one of Britain’s most important fishing areas had been devastated and might never recover. Lobster pots which normally gathered six or seven animals were being hauled up with only tiny inedible shellfish and blood-sucking lampreys. Theories sprang up. Were the mass deaths the result of chemical discharges, or of some intensive dredging of the historically polluted Tees riverbed that had taken place two days before the die-off began? Within six months Defra had an answer: nothing to see here.

The deaths had been caused by large algae blooms, a natural if regrettable event. The crustaceans had died from toxic algae or lack of oxygen as the bloom sank. There was, they said, no link with dredging and dumping in the Tees. That was all licensed and monitored, and there was no evidence of dangerous chemicals being released. Defra’s report shrugged off the fact that the dead crabs contained extremely high levels of a toxic chemical, pyridine, which had been produced in large quantities in factories along the Tees until recently. Defra had found no pyridine in the water when they tested it a fortnight later. The chemical, they speculated, might be produced naturally in crabs as they died. The fishermen were incredulous. The algal blooms at the time had not been especially large, nor was there any evidence they had been toxic.

Distraught and disbelieving, the fishermen commissioned university scientists including marine biologists, toxicologists and oceanographers to carry out their own research. Meanwhile fresh waves of dead wildlife continued to be washed on shore and were found floating in the sea; mussels, limpets, octopus, clams, seals and seabirds. Crab catches in the area crashed by 95 per cent. The fishermen were right to be suspicious. In a report sent to Defra last September, the university researchers found that industrial toxins were the most likely cause. The argument for the algal bloom was full of holes. Their inquiry has exposed a shocking lack of curiosity and investigation on Defra’s part, if not worse. The gulf between the two sides is so serious that in October the environment select committee held a day’s hearing into it. The transcript is as riveting as a detective novel. Scientists and fishermen demolish the government and port authorities’ case for dismissing pyridine and dredging as a possible cause.

The dead crabs contained 40 times more pyridine than control crabs. Gary Caldwell, a marine biologist at Newcastle University, discovered what Defra hadn’t: that pyridine in water is exceptionally toxic even in minute quantities to crabs, who die in convulsions within six hours. Smaller doses kill crustaceans’ nerves in weeks. Defra’s reasoning — that even if pyridine had been in the water it would be too little and too rapidly dispersed to matter — fell apart.
Caldwell used oceanography models, run for a month rather than Defra’s three days, to show how pyridine released in the Tees could spread down the coast, killing as it went. The model reflected exactly what had happened. He also refuted Defra’s claim that there was no plausible source of pyridine. This toxin had been pouring into the Tees from coking and chemical factories for more than a century. It had concentrated in sediment. York University found it at a depth of just 20cm (8in), implying reservoirs of it underneath. If dredging had released it, just a few thousand litres would have been sufficient to devastate the sea. The scientists’ evidence was petrifying. We hadn’t known what was in the Tees and what we might have unleashed because official bodies hadn’t been looking for it. Pyridine isn’t even routinely tested for in the UK as it isn’t officially a “chemical of concern”. The same dangerous ignorance holds true for all the eight planned freeports around the country, including Southampton and Liverpool. We don’t know precisely what decades of industrial waste have left behind.

The official explanations had been so weak and complacent that the committee instantly wrote to the environment secretary, Thérèse Coffey, calling for urgent action. They requested immediate investigations into pyridine in the Tees, extensive sediment sampling to map it, testing of all dredged material for it, a halt on all but minimal dredging until the research was complete, and the creation of an independent expert panel to review the two competing theories as fast as possible. The research must be done in “an open and collaborative way”. Coffey agreed. An expert panel would be set up under scientific advisers. That is where the good news ends. There has been no openness. University scientists have sent their research to Defra and heard nothing.
They have not been permitted to do their own deep sampling. Fishermen report dangerous sediment slopping out of the Tees dredging sites and no monitoring. The die-offs continue. The panel is a mystery. Defra refused to tell me who was on it, its remit, who it was hearing from, or when it would report.
This disaster has revealed a broken system. Our current safeguards are feeble fictions. The short-term goals of politicians are driving the careless poisoning of the only sea we have. It is torment. The 8 proposed freeport sites all have lethal chemicals, such as PCBs and heavy metals, hidden beneath. Once they enter the food chain that can never be reversed.

We could dredge with far more care and caution, as the environment committee outlines. The costs are tiny given the enormity of the destruction we will otherwise unleash. We have a choice. Sunak, Coffey, Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen; this is on you. Are we to be the deliberate vandals of our age?

8. TUFTON ST BULLSHIT

Here is a good piece about how the Tufton St lobbyists create fake astroturfed pressure groups to destabilise our cultural institutions. I might write a big show about this down the line.
Please spread far and wide.
https://goodlawproject.org/update/success-restore-trust-caves-in-to-legal-challenge/

9. ICEMAN BOOK

The brilliant Robert Wringham has written a new book about legend of the alternative comedy scene with an outro by me and an intro by Simon Munnery

Alternative comedy legend The Iceman has been immortalised in a new book. The performer, real name Anthony Irvine, was a regular on the comedy circuit in the 1980s and 1990s with an act that involved melting blocks of ice in a variety of ways –  including salt or a blowtorch – while delivering corny jokes to the audience.

Shrek star Mike Myers has cited the Iceman as one of his all-time comedy favourites; Bill Bailey describes him as ‘a legend’ and Jo Brand describes him as ‘a true performance artist’.
He played Malcolm Hardee’s Tunnel Palladium, Simon Munnery’s Cluub Zarathustra, and Ivor Dembina’s Red Rose Club as well as being a regular at the Edinburgh Fringe.
Now comedy historian Robert Wringham has compiled an extended pictorial interview with Irvine, entitled Melt It! The Book of the Iceman, which is published today by indie label Go Faster Stripe.
The author says: ‘I wrote a book about Cluub Zarathustra ten years ago. Everyone I interviewed remembered the Iceman but I couldn’t find him. Like so many other fringe acts, he was simply gone.
‘When [alternative comedy blogger] John Fleming put me in touch with Anthony, I suggested my book idea. We spent a day together at Battersea Arts Centre where I grilled him to see what made the Iceman tick.’
The book features a foreword by Munnery and an afterword by Stewart Lee, who says: ‘I am so glad this book exists … another of Wringham’s essential mini-masterpieces.’

Alongside the interview, Wringham, who calls the book ‘an alt-alt comedy history bonanza’ presents 56 Polaroid photographs of Irvine’s 1990s ice block.
Chris Evans of Go Faster Stripe said of the 168-page title: ‘It’s right up my street. And if it’s something I’d like to read, hopefully there’s more people like me’
Stand-up turned comedy historian Oliver Double says: ‘I’ve long known about the legend of the Iceman, but I’m sorry to say I’ve never seen his act nor shared a bill with him on the circuit.

‘As a teacher, I’m keen to give examples of speciality acts so I’m always scouring for stuff about the Iceman. This book sounds brilliant.’

Melt It! The Book of the Iceman is available from Go Faster Stripe, priced £15 for a physical copy or £5 as a download.
GET IT HERE.