1. T-SHIRT FRENZY – STEWART LEE “I DON’T THINK THAT’ T-SHIRTS

WAX FACE return to the crowded official Stewart Lee t-shirt marketplace with their most self-consciously cool design yet, cynically targeted at the ageing indie-hipster audience that make up Stewart’s delusional following.

“I don’t think that. I think the opposite of that.“, is Stewart’s philosophy of comedy boiled down to one zen-sized nugget, serving as a chest-sized signal to other secret adepts, and offering protection against psychic attack.

‘I Don’t Think That, I Think The Opposite Of That’ is the Stewart Lee T-Shirt available on Pre-Order now via https://wax-face.com/stewart-lee

The T-Shirt available in two colourways.
Silk Screened and hand printed on Anthem Organic t-shirts. Shipping starts on April 21st

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.

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

January 2024

Monday 22nd January 2024 – Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham
Tuesday 23rd January 2024 – Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham
Wednesday 24th January 2024 – Everyman Theatre, Cheltenham
Thursday 25th January 2024 – Westlands, Yeovil
Friday 26th January 2024 – Westlands, Yeovil
Saturday 27th January 2024 – The Forum, Bath – TICKETS
Sunday 28th January 2024 – Grand Theatre, Wolverhampton – TICKETS
Monday 29th January 2024 – The Marlowe, Canterbury – TICKETS

February 2024

Friday 2nd February 2024 – The Hawth, Crawley – TICKETS
Saturday 3rd February 2024 – Symphony Hall, Birmingham – TICKETS
Tuesday 6th February 2024 – Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool – TICKETS
Wednesday 7th February 2024 – Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool – TICKETS
Sunday 11th February 2024 – Theatre Royal, Newcastle
Tuesday 20th February 2024 – Harrogate Theatre, Harrogate – TICKETS
Wednesday 21st February 2024 – Harrogate Theatre, Harrogate – TICKETS
Thursday 22nd February 2024 – The Baths Hall, Scunthorpe
Friday 23rd February 2024 – Opera House, Buxton
Saturday 24th February 2024 – Belgrade Theatre, Coventry – TICKETS
Sunday 25th February 2024 – Belgrade Theatre, Coventry – TICKETS

March 2024

Sunday 3rd March 2024 – Theatre Royal, Plymouth
Thursday 14th March 2024 – Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield
Friday 15th March 2024 – Lyceum Theatre, Sheffield

April 2024

Monday 22nd April 2024 – The Lowry, Salford – TICKETS
Tuesday 23rd April 2024 – The Lowry, Salford – TICKETS

4. EDINBLUR

I will be doing a truncated, compacted 70 min version of BASIC LEE, stripped of nuance and heavy on laffs, in the Edinburgh Fringe at The Stand’s New Town Theatre from Aug 11-20th at 1.50pm

edfringe.com/whats-on/stewart-lee-basic-lee

Other top shows in the same space include Bridget Christie’s Who Am I?, Danny Bhoy’s Now Is Not A Good Time, the always exceptional Paul Sinha’s Pauly Bengali, Robin Ince’s Melons, and Heard It, by the mighty sin-eater of manly stand-up Seann Walsh.
And remember, because of the unique way The Stand is run, none of the less visible August acts go home financially ruined for ever, even the ones whose politics I disagree with.

5. THE QUIETUS

Obviously everything is fucked and if we want to have nice things now we are going to have to help out.
The weekly music press I read as a teenager had better written and more thoughtful long form criticism than any 21st century Sunday Newspaper, and the online outlet The Quietus has been quietly keeping that tradition alive, saving us from enslavement by algorithm by exposing readers to recommendations and insights from people who actually know what they are talking about.

But it’s hitting the buffers unless we all start taking out subscriptions, so, if you can,
PONY UP BY CLICKING HERE.

6. I ARROGANTLY RECOMMEND SOME 2023 HAPPENINGS AND THINGS

KEVIN MACALEER

I’ve found myself watching a lot of Kevin’s stand-up in the snall hours lately, and reminding myself if just how exceptional he is.
You know his as OLD MAN ONE in Derry Girls, of course.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04vhyDxGlD8

ALASDAIR ROBERTS Songwriter re-wiring Scottish folk tradition
JUNE 23^RD London West Hampstead Arts, 24^th London Barbican

ALASDAIR BECKETT-KING – The Interdimensional Alasdair Beckett-King.
I saw this sharp absurdist show in Edinburgh and it is brilliant.
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

TONY! Tony Blair rock opera by Harry Hill and Steve Brown.
Continues until MAY 21^ST London Leicester Sq Theatre

BEN MOOR/JO NEARY The superbly gifted performance art comedian and the character comedian Jo Neary offer their amazing Russian Doll of a show BookTalkBookTalkBook, a sublime parody of literary events, at The Hen and Chickens, Islington, London, on Tuesday 23rd May. I cannot recommend it enough.

RICHARD DAWSON Genius art-folk-noise songwriter
MAY 3^rd Cardiff Gate, 5^th London Barbican

HAWKWIND This current Hawkwind iteration channels their classic ‘70s space rock sound unashamedly, with keyboardist Thighpaulsandra of Coil, Cope and Spiritualised clearly living out a childhood dream. APRIL 28th Manchester Academy I, 29th April – Rock City Nottingham, 30th – Northern Kin Festival Durham, JUNE 16th – Hall for Cornwall, AUGUST 28th – Castell Roc, Chepstow Castle

ROSIE HOLT Satire’s Rosie Holt will be satirising the shit out of shit at the following places in 2023;
MAY 4^th & 5^th Bristol Hen & Chicken,
May 7^th Salford Lowry,
JULY 1^st Oxford Festival Marquee

ROBERT LLOYD (Nightingales), JANET BEVERIDGE BEAN (Eleventh Dream Day/Freakwater), LINDY MORRISON (Go-Betweens), MARK BEDFORD (Madness) & PETE BYRCHMORE (Membranes)
LONDON BUSH HALL, MAY 2ND
This is the event of the year in my mind – and I can’t go.
Nightingales frontman and post-punk steamroller Robert Lloyd (the star of the doc King Rocker that Michael Cumming and I made) has a long term sideline in brilliant blue collar country songs, like a Cannock Lee Hazelwood offering black country country and western.
Under lockdown he hatched a plan to document this other facet of his talent with Janet Beveridge Bean, of the legendary Chicago bands Eleventh Dream Day and Freakwater, on vocals.
And for one night only – May 2nd – they are performing this amazing soon-to-be-released set of tearjerkers at London’s Bush Hall, accompanied by a veritable Blind Faith made up of members of many of the bands I love the most in the world.

The Go-Betweens’ rightful drummer Lindy Morrison sits behind the traps with her trademark fills, Pete Byrchmore of The Membranes is on guitar, and the bass is Mark Bedford from Madness – and if you remember his playing on Robert Wyatt’s Shipbuilding you’ll know he’s adept at the sensitivity required here as he is at holding down a rocksteady rhythm.

DO NOT MISS THIS. IT CAN NEVER BE REPEATED.
Here’s a flyer. Tell your friends. 0208 222 6955. Or the Dice.fm ticket ap.

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

BORIS Japanese shoegaze-metal-progists of impossible heaviosity.
MAY 2nd Cork Cyprus Av, 3rd Dublin Button Factory, 4th Belfast Black Box, 5th Glasgow Drygate, 6th Settle Victoria Hall, 7th London Roundhouse

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

PAUL CURRIE The euphoric Belfast surrealist is at Soho theatre with his latest Show May 8th-11th

JOSIE LONG
The absolutely brilliant stand-up is on tour

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

THE FALLEN LEAVES
Gentleman mod-punks
MAY 13th Camden Dublin Castle,
SEP 9th Camden Dublin Castle.

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!

HEAVENLY The Tallulah Gosh descended indie superstars of the ‘90s have reformed and are at Bush Hall in London on May 19th and 20th

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

SHIRLEY COLLINS What looks like the only album launch show for Shirley’s new record, Archangel Hill, is at Brighton Dome on May 21st.

MARTIN CARTHY Venerable and invaluable folk veteran JUNE 1st Barnard Castle Witham,
JULY 2nd Leicester Musician, NIV 5th Scunthorpe Plowright Theatre, DEC 8th London Mycenae House

CHUCK PROPHET Chisel-cheeked Alt Country guitar-slinger of Green on Red fame
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

THE REBEL Shocking country-garage satirist. JUNE 5th, 12th, 19th & 26th Brixton Windmill, London

STEVE EARLE Galway Girl man.
JUNE 9th York Grand Opera, 10th Whitley Bay Playhouse, 11th & 13th Edinburgh Queen’s Hall, 17th Birmingham Town Hall, 19th Buxton Opera House, 21st Liverpool Philharmonic, 22nd Bristol St George’s, 25th London Barbican, 27th Belfast Usher Hall, 28th Sligo Knock Arena, 29th Dublin Vicar St

THE CHILLS Veteran New Zealand psyche-popsters of Pink Frost fame.
JUNE 10th M’cr Deaf Institute, 12th Newcastle Cluny, 14th Norwich Arts, 15th B’ham Hare & Hounds,16th London Earth, 19th Southsea Wedgewood Rooms

TREEBOY & ARC Televisionary young post-punks
JUNE 10th Bedford Esquires, OCT 18th London Moth Club

THE BOO RADLEYS Reformed 90s psychedelic Britpop era fish out of water
JUNE 13th Reading South Street Arts, 14th London Garage, 15th Tunbridge Wells Forum, 16th Birkenhead Future Yard, 22nd Dublin Grand Social, 23rd Belfast Limelight 2, 25th Glasgow Hug & Pint, OCT 32st B’ham Institute, NOV 4th Islington Academy

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

JOHN SMITH Anonymously named but musically distinctive acoustic guitar star – JUNE 19th London Union chapel

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

EX-EASTER ISLAND HEAD Plangent no wave influenced serial minimalists.
Have to be seen!
JUNE 23rd Nottingham National Justice Museum, AUG 31st Birkenhead Future Yard, SEPT 15th London St John on The Green

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

THE MEKONS Rare one off from countrified post-punks
JUNE 29th London Servant Jazz Quarters

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

TINARIWEN Always mesmerising Mali blues band JULY 13th London Somerset House, 15th Bristol SWX, 17th Glasgow St Lukes, 19th B’ham Institute,

EMIL KARLSEN, DOMINIC LASH, JOHN BUTCHER Free jazz trio, 100 Years Gallery London July 16th

MDC American hardcore punk legends AUG 1st New Cross Inn London

SUN RA ARKESTRA Cosmic Jazz institution AUG 10th & 11th Camden Forge, London

CHRIS CACAVAS Emotive Americana songwriter of Green on Red fame AUG 15th Green Note London, 17th Sheffield Dorothy Pax

DISCHARGE Hardcore punk pioneers SEPT 3rd Derby Victoria Inn, 8th Bristol Fleece, 9th Exeter Phoenix, OCT 20th London New Cross Inn, 21st Stamford Mama Liz’s, 28th Bournemouth Anvil, DEC 23rd B’ham Castle & Falcon

DAN STUART Fearsome legend of ‘80s alt countru, hard bitten novelist, and former Green on Red frontman SEPT 6th Stoke On Trent St Lawrence’s Church, 7th Nottingham Running Horse, 9th Edinburgh Voodoo Rooms, 10th Glasgow Glad Cafe

CODEINE Godfathers of slowcore reform and have one UK date, London Garage September 10th

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

DEATHCRASH Youthful slowcore revivalists SEPT 14th Leeds Mill Hill Chapel, 15th Glasgow CCA, 16th Salford White Hotel, 17th Bristol Cube, 23rd Dublin Workman’s Cellar, 28th London Fabric

BLUE AEROPLANES/WAVE PICTURES Superd double bill of classic indie intellectuals. SEP 29th London Electric ballroom

THE SONICS ‘60s garage punks of ‘Have Love Will Travel’ and Strychnine fame, still slogging on OCT 12th Bristol Fleece, 13th London garage, 14th Glasgow Room 2, 17th Leeds Brudenell

CALEXICO Tucson’s cinematic desert rock band NOV 1st Bexhill-on-Sea Pavillion, 2nd London Electric Ballroom, 3rd Sunderland Fire Station, 4th M’cr New Century, 5th Dublin Helix

SLEAFORD MODS Shouting men NOV 22nd B’ham Academy, 23rd Glasgow Academy, 25th Dublin Academy, 28th Leeds Academy, 29th M’cr Victoria Warehouse, 30th Bristol Academy, DEC 2nd London Alexandra Palace

MICHAEL ROTHER Neu! noise man still motoring FEB 3rd 2024 London Barbican

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 2023

Ruggero Deodato (Junk genius, 1939)
Kelly Monteith (Lucky pants stand-up, 1942)
Alan Rankine (Associate musician, 1958)
Darryl Hunt (Pogue bass, 1950)
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)
Burt Bacarach (Musical cheesnius, 1928)
Eugene Cheese (chucklin’ cheesenius moocher, 1944)
Betty Boothroyd (croaky speaker, 1939)
Wayne Shorter (Shorter no longer, 1933)
David Lindley (Kaleidoscopic guitarist, 1944)
Keith Johnstone (Improvisational Canadian, 1933)
Rolly Crump (West Coast Pop Artist, 1930)
Paul O’Grady (Proudly woke drag act, 1955)
Peter Usborne (Generation-spooking publisher, 1937)
Tony Coe (Jazz panther, 1934)
Barry Humphries (Machenalian Australian, 1934)
Mark Stewart (Bristol pre-post-punk pioneer, 1960)
Gareth Richards (Comedian, 1979)
Johnny Fean (Horslips guitar bandit, 1951)

8. BARRY HUMPHRIES

I only met Barry Humphries once, which was at a memorial show for Barry Cryer last year, where he was hilarious of course.
I was surprised he knew my work but he did.

Barry and I are the only comedians to have written introductions to books about the Welsh mystic writer Arthur Machen, and had both been members of societies dedicated to preserving his klegacy, and I was keen to talk to him about his love of the author, which I think he really enjoyed.

Indeed, Barry said he first came to Britian specifically because of his enthusiasm for the very strain of decadent writing Machen represents.
We agreed that The London Adventure is Machen’s funniest book, and had both been inspired into discursive self-indulgent rambling in our writing by it.

We arranged to meet for lunch at some point to have a good Arthur Machen session, but, sadly, this never happened.
Nonetheless I feel very privileged to have had that conversation with him as his interest in Machen has always intrigued me.

9. GARETH RICHARDS

I didn’t know Gareth Richards, who died after a car accident last month, but I have enjoyed lots of his work on Youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aZkKLS6yo-s

It’s always worth remembering comedy is not a meritocracy and loads of great acts never quite achieve the exposure one might feel they deserve, while shit has a tendancy to float!

A trust fund has been set up for Gareth’s sons, so if you ever enjoyed his work, or even if you didn’t, maybe dig in.

justgiving.com/crowdfunding/gareth-richards-comedian

10.WHY WE ARE FAILING

Here is a piece from the blog of the writer/comedian Alice Hadland about how the current financial climate is killing the arts and the opportunities of our most vital voices.
It is great.

https://alicehadlandisdead.co.uk/2023/03/14/105/Here is the same uncomfortable truth in relation to how it affects authors, from The Guardian

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/apr/23/uk-rental-market-housing-crisis-writers-authors

11. ARMANDO ON THE CULTURE WAR

A great piece by TV’s Osmando Lanucci on The Culture War

https://www.newstatesman.com/comment/2023/03/armando-iannucci-right-secret-true-snowflakes-bbc-culture-wars

12. IAIN SINCLAIR

I am more than thrilled to appear as a fictional version of myself in the new novella by the fantastic Iain Sinclair, House of Flies.

“Arthur Machen once wrote ‘I think of these things as I pass along the interminable wandering of the London streets; of the strange things which may have been done behind the weariest, dreariest walls’. The shades of long-dead writers in the London streets, random meetngs, quests and journeys striking lines across the city, days of joy or woe, the past seeping through the pavements, glimpses of the fantastic in the everyday: London Adventures can be any or all of these. In House of Flies, the first in the series, the ghost of Arthur Machen peers from behind the veil, his visions pulling modern pilgrims through the portals of the Grays Inn Road and the groves of Stoke Newington…”

Limited edition, 250 numbered copies. Black cover of 245 gsm card, 36 pages of 80 gsm cream Bookwove paper, one illustration. Price £10.00, including postage and packaging (UK).
If you would like to own it you can’t because it is sold out.

https://www.threeimpostors.co.uk/HOUSE-OF-FLIES