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Show Blue Monday and the week ahead who’s boss by cramming as much fun into the next four days as humanly possible! Enter a hip hop pub quiz, work your way through a tasty dram or two at the Whiskey Tide Wave, or get down to five hours straight of Beyoncé tunes at XOYO this Wednesday. 10/10!
Things to do
Young's House of Happiness, Finch's, TODAY, free. There's tea blending, cake decorating, massage sessions, mindfulness talks, a swap shop and whisky tastings to get you feeling merry on what's meant to be the most miserable day of the year.
West End Musical Choir Free Singing, Sylvia Young Theatre School, Mon, Wed-Thu, free. Fancy starting the year by trying something new? Join the West End Musical Choir and sing songs from your favourite musicals, while exploring your voice, building your musical repertoire and meeting new Londoners.
London Stories: Gay London, Second Home, Tue, £3 + booking fee. This evening hosted by Bill Brewster about London's vibrant club culture and incredible gay scene it has fostered. Discover more about legendary DJs and clubs and the changes that have taken place over the last 60 years.
Strange Worlds: The Vision of Angela Carter, Waterstones, Wed, free. This evening with Marie Mulvey-Roberts and Fiona Robinson discuss the work and legacy of Angela Carter in light of their recent book Strange Worlds: The Vision of Angela Carter.
Spin Doctor's Hip Hop Pub Quiz, The Book Club, Thu, £3 per player, £2 adv. Teams of hip-hop heads will compete for prizes, as well as the coveted Champions' Belt in this quiz based around MCs, DJs, producers, artists and albums.
Tour Bus For Dogs, various, all week, free. Grab your pooch and whisk them around the city in the first ever bus tour for dogs.
…or check out more events happening in London this week.
Eating and drinking
World's Best Martini Challenge, Three Six Six, Tue, £10. Bartenders representing a variety of gin brands battle it out creating 'classic' gin martinis with an innovative twist.
Whisky Tide Wave, various, Tue-Thu, prices vary. A series of booze-fuelled events giving guests the chance to samples some fine whiskies.
Chef Residencies at Carousel, Tue-Thu, £37.50. The Carousel team collaborate with a changing roster of top guest chefs, including emerging and established international kitchen wizards.
Welcome Cinema Supper Club, Amnesty International UK, Thu, £15-£25. Refugees, asylum seekers and UK citizens are invited to come together over a shared passion for food and film at Welcome Cinema’s new supper club.
Camden Pizza Jam, Voodoo Ray's, Thu. A weekly pizza collaboration with some of Voodoo Ray’s favourite local street food traders and their chefs.
…or check out the latest restaurant reviews.
The Yoncé Experience
Live music
Stick In The Wheel, Green Note, TONIGHT, £10. 'There are no waistcoats' promise headliners SITW, that's something we can all get behind. Their dobro-driven Americana rings (and occasionally bangs and stamps) with authenticity.
Jolie Holland And Samantha Parton, The Lexington, Tue, adv £16. The founding members of The Be Good Tanyas join forces to perform newly written originals, fresh arrangements of The Be Good Tanyas material, and songs from their individual catalogues.
Sweaty Palms, The Waiting Room, Tue, free. Indie rock outfit from Glasgow comprising vocalist and guitarist Robbie Houston, guitarist Ronan Fay, bassist Shaun Montgomery and drummer Alex Abate play garage with rabble-rousing riffs.
Insomnium, O2 Academy Islington, Wed, £15. The Finnish quartet performs melodic death metal from their album Winter's Gate.
The Yoncé Experience, XOYO, Wed, £5. If you absolutely cannot wait until megastar Beyoncé returns to London, or can't afford to fork out £50 for the pleasure, The Yoncé Experience may just be the next best option for you.
Werk Wednesdays, Proud Camden, Wed, free. The selectors on site drop the top grime, hip hop and trap tunes.
Stop Making Sense, The Lexington, Thu, free. Guests and residents supply glam, post punk, pop, indie and electronica.
…or take a look at all the live music events in London this week.
Film
Cinema Matters: ‘Pan’s Labyrinth’, Barbican Centre, Wed, £9.50, £8.50 concs. Another in the Barbican’s year-long series exploring the art and wonder of cinema.
‘Full Metal Jacket’ + talk, JW3, Wed, £15. Dr Nathan Abrams of Bangor University will introduce this screening of Stanley Kubrick’s remarkable war movie, exploring how the film relates to Kubrick’s own life and specifically his Jewishness.
Or at the cinema...
Manchester by the Sea ★★★★★ Actor Casey Affleck joins the ranks of giants in a tremendously moving portrait of grief from American writer-director Kenneth Lonergan.
La La Land ★★★★☆ Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling sing and dance their way through a joyous modern-day musical about the ups and downs of love and life in Los Angeles.
…or see all of the latest releases.
© Laurent Liotardo
Theatre
Giselle, London Coliseum, Tue-Thu, £14-£79. English National Ballet brings back this haunting 1971 production.
Wish List, Royal Court Theatre, all week, £20-£25, £5-£15 concs. A sad, beautiful drama about austerity Britain from new talent Katherine Soper.
BU21, Trafalgar Studios, all week, £15-£35. Brilliantly provocative drama about six Londoners who survive a terrorist attack.
…or see our theatre critics’ choices.
This week's best new art
Josef Albers: Sunny Side Up, David Zwirner, Tue-Thu, free. Modernist master and Bauhaus pioneer Josef Albers painted a lot of geometric abstract square stuff, and this show is dedicated to his particular obsession with yellow, orange and gold.
Peter Liversidge, Kate MacGarry, Wed-Thu, free. Turns out, seeing faces staring back at you from inanimate objects isn’t a sign that you’re losing your mind, it’s just proof that your brain is working. It’s called pareidolia: the phenomenon of seeing familiar patterns where none exist, and it looks like Peter Liversidge sees faces everywhere.
War In The Sunshine: The British In Italy 1917-1918, Estorick Collection, Wed-Thu, £6.50, concs £4.50. Spruced-up after a five-month renovation, Islington’s Estorick Collection reopens with a rather leftfield show.
…or see all London art reviews.
And finally
Win... tickets to the sold out launch of Printworks featuring Seth Troxler
Book… these gigs while you still can
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