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Whip your week into shape by injecting some of the fun stuff below into it. London's got rooftop gin parties, outdoor film screenings, yoga lessons high above Oxford Street and a brand new exhibition at the Tate Modern to get stuck into. Life's looking good, gang!
Things to do
Under the Influence: Perception and the Brain, The Royal Society, TONIGHT, free. Find out how the brain reacts to alcohol and other drugs, breath in pathology perfumery, ultra-sound your own tongue or get merry at a science-themed ceilidh in the basement.
Gimme Shelter with PJ Harvey, various locations, Mon, Wed, £10. PJ Harvey, Ben Wheatley, Shura and Richie Culver present a series of talks about their work in aid of the homelessness charity Shelter.
Christie’s Lates, Christie's South Kensington, Tue, free. Take part in life drawing classes with James Vaulkhard, let specialists school you in valuing artwork, try on floral headdresses and watch a Wimbledon live stream at tonight's late.
Is Pop Music the New Feminism?, The House of St Barnabas, Tue, £15. For the fifteenth event in an ongoing collaboration between BUG and the House of St. Barnabas, a panel led by Miranda Sawyer, with Clara Amfo and Lulu LeVay, explores the question of pop music's sometimes fractious relationship with feminism.
Mouthy: Into the Orifice, secret London location, Tue-Thu, free. Find out more about the spittle-ridden depths of your mouth in ‘The Orifice’, a festival hub in a London Bridge railway arch that was set up by KCL’s Science Gallery London.
Flamenco Night, Trangallan, Wed. This Stokie restaurant will be putting on a night of tapas, hand clapping, guitar-playing and Flamenco dancing.
New Designers, Business Design Centre, Wed-Thu, from £7.50 advance. Around 3,000 of the year's best UK-based design graduates will be exhibiting work at this huge annual design show.
Fat Buddha Yoga on the Roof, John Lewis, Thu, £10. Stretch it out above Oxford Street before shoppers descend at these weekly yoga classes that bring a sense of calm to London's centre. The sessions held on the roof of John Lewis are suitable for all levels and are available on a drop-in, pay cash basis.
British Summer Time Hyde Park’s Open House, Hyde Park, all week, free. The annual BST weekend gigs have a weekday of fun sandwiched between them in 2016 with events including Wimbledon screenings, street food stalls, day-time DJs and free badminton classes.
…or check out more events happening in London this week.
© Steve Joyce
Eating and drinking
Fourth of July Celebrations at Balthazar, Balthazar, TONIGHT, £20. Balthazar are going all-out this Independence Day, with a special set menu that includes burgers, fries, mac and cheese, apple pie and even Budweiser.
The Harrods Gin Journey, Harrods, Thu, free. An interactive Gin Journey through the extensive Spirits' Room at Harrods. Derren King, Bar Manager at the Green Bar will be talking gin history, choosing the right gin, and teach you how to mix the perfect martini.
Gin Mare Med Rooftops, secret London location, Thu, free. A rooftop in Knightsbridge becomes a Mediterranean retreat. The exclusive city soirée will feature a Mediterranean menu by Mark Hix, new and unique cocktails, and music by Pacha resident DJ Jacob.
…or check out the latest restaurant reviews.
Live music and nightlife
Bat For Lashes, Rough Trade East, TONIGHT, w/wristband free. Natasha Khan returns as Bat For Lashes, balancing minimal electronic and orchestral elements with her affecting, otherwordly vocals.
Blood Orange, Koko, Tue, £17.50. The artist formerly known as Lightspeed Champion has a new LP called ‘Freetown Sound’, inspired by his parents’ immigrant stories, the Black Lives Matter movement and the hip hop, jazz and ballroom history of his adopted hometown NYC.
Kelis, Jazz Cafe, Tue-Wed, £25. Catch the 'Milkshake' star in Camden tonight.
Motown Mondays, Prince of Wales, TONIGHT, free. Get ready for a soul party on the double-decker roof terrace at the Prince of Wales, with DJs playing Motown classics, edits and remixes till late and a smoky (Robinson?) barbecue.
…or take a look at all the live music events in London this week.
Film
Anachron Film Club: ‘Story of a Prostitute’ + ‘Red Angel’, Muse Gallery, Tue, free. Another terrific double bill from this bold and unpredictable film club, focusing on the struggles of Japanese women during World War II.
The Nomad: ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’, Grosvenor Square, Thu, £15. Outdoor cinema experts The Nomad kick off two weekends of screenings in Grosvenor Square by the IUS embassy.
‘The Hard Stop’ + Q&A, Bernie Grant Arts Centre, Thu, £12. Join filmmaker George Amponsah, writer-producer Dionna Walker and prominent members of the Tottenham community for this early screening of ‘The Hard Stop’, an intimate documentary about the shooting by police of 29-year-old Tottenham resident Mark Duggan, whose death sparked riots across London.
Or at the cinema...
Notes on Blindness ★★★★☆ This moving doc is built on audiotapes made by an academic as his eyesight failed.
Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie ★★★☆☆ A funny-as-ever Patsy and endless boozy pratfalls keep the energy levels high in this just-funny-enough reboot of the 1990s comedy TV series.
Central Intelligence ★★★☆☆ This average action comedy is rescued by the seriously loveable Dwayne Johnson.
…or see all of the latest releases.
© Johan Persson
Theatre
Faith Healer, Donmar Warehouse, all week, £7.50-£37.50. ‘Faith Healer’ is formed of four monologues, spoken by three characters whose lives are inextricably linked but who never meet on stage.
The Truth, Wyndham's Theatre, all week, check website for prices. 'The Truth' is painfully funny in Florian Zeller's drama.
Henry V, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, all week, £25-£60. Michelle Terry brings a touch of danger to Shakespeare's warrior king.
…or see our theatre critics’ choices.
This week's best new art
Georgia O'Keeffe, Tate Modern, Wed-Thu, £17. Landscape painter, flower painter, feminist artist… Georgia O’Keeffe (1887-1986) was all of these and more. She is also one of the most popular and accessible artists on the planet.
Jorge Otero-Pailos: The Ethics of Dust, Westminster Hall, all week, free. The idea is simple: in the process of cleaning this Unesco world heritage site’s walls, the artist covered them in latex and peeled it off to trap centuries of pollution, dust and dirt.
David Hockney RA: 82 Portraits and One Still-Life, Royal Academy of Arts, all week, £11.50. As one big work of art, this is a massive statement, it’s Hockney stamping his presence over everything, screaming ‘I’m still here!’ And we should all be pretty glad that he is, even if this really isn’t him at his best.
Painters’ Paintings: From Freud to Van Dyck, National Gallery, all week, £12, £10 concs. Great paintings once owned by other painters.
…or see all London art reviews.
And finally
Win... an Algarve getaway with 'Now You See Me 2' or the ultimate summer party with £1000 bar tab
Book… these gigs while you still can
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