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The Week Ahead from Monday 18th April 2011: Katie Melua, Neil Finn, Tim Booth, Andre Rieu, Bring Me The Horizon and more

Posted: 12 years ago
Katie Melua

There is certainly plenty to choose from for the coming week, especially with the Easter weekend so, to make things easier, we've included Easter Monday's highpoints, although on the whole it's the quietest day of the weekend.

Music-wise, the club-scene has the biggest hitters with Paul Oakenfold, Carl Cox and 2 Many DJs all wielding their best tunes for unforgettable experiences. We have an Easter Clubbing guide in the offing - watch this space!

The arts and theatre world is quieter than usual, however there is a brace of intriguing new plays opening throughout London, plus more familiar names from the world of comedy, musicals and sport.

All prices are exclusive of booking fees. For ticket availability, click on the images, below.

This week:

Tours

Katie Melua

Good Friday marks the first date of an extensive UK tour, which kicks off in Sheffield at the City Hall. Four shows have sold out already, including those in Liverpool, Cardiff, Leicester and Ipswich. Remaining nights will cost you £32.50 and you can expect a thorough revisit of her growing repertoire.

Neil Finn

The hugely-revered singer and songwriter from Crowded House will be making two very rare live solo appearances in Brighton (Tues) and London (Weds). Amazingly there are still some £25 tickets left for the Brighton show, but none for the Scala. Expect an intimate evening of Crowded House and Finn magic, bar none.

2 Many DJs [2manydjs]

Here come the Belgians once again, bringing some hedonistic Ghent magic to the UK throughout the Easter weekend, starting with Thursday at Manchester's Warehouse Project (which itself has an incredible weekend lined up), followed by Liverpool (Good Friday), Leeds (Sat) and Cardiff (Sunday) - the first night listed is sold out, the rest are £17.50/£18.

Carl Cox

Radio 1's diminutive DJing legend is also out and about for the Bank Holiday weekend, starting with a stint at London's Pulse with Layo & Bushwacka on Thursday, followed by Leeds (Friday) and Liverpool (Sunday with house-master Derrick Carter - sold out).

Paul Oakenfold

Another DJ maestro will be bringing a little bit of Ibiza to Cardiff on Good Friday, when he rocks the house at the Millenium Music Hall. Celebrating the venue's Enter The Dragon club night's 10th year anniversary, tickets are flying out at £10 each.

Bring Me The Horizon

Never mind all this clubbing, what about some good honest axe-wielding angst and anxiety? BMTH will spare no eardrums on tour, with support from Parkway Drive, Architects and The Devil Wears Prada and a reasonable ticket price from £15. Many dates are sold out, but Manchester's opening night (Fri) and Newcastle (Sat) are still up.

Aliases

If you want full-on technical metal played with a relentless power, head to Manchester's aptly-named Satan's Hollow on Monday for the opening night of much-fancied scream outfit, Aliases. Further dates include Leeds, Colchester, London and more, with tickets costing £6 - £7.

Johnny Foreigner

The Birmingham trio are gradually sneaking into the nation's psyche with plenty of props from the music press - their UK tour should strengthen their reputation with dates from Aberdeen (Tues) to Wimbledon (30th Apr). Tickets are ridiculously cheap ranging from £4 to £7.50.

Mount Kimbie

Heralded as a major name in the world of electronic and dubstep, Mount Kimbie will take their "Crooks and Lovers" album and recent EPs on the road, starting with Glasgow on Thursday and continuing to Edinburgh, Norwich etc until finishing up in Manchester on 29th. Tickets are £8 - £10.50.

Tensnake

Fast becoming a name to watch for is electro-funk magician Tensnake, who crafts beautifully funky-retro grooves with many a nod towards the '80s. Catch him at Fabric in London on Thursday and Newcastle on Sunday - tickets cost £10 - 311.

GZA

The man called The Genius leaves the Wu-Tang tag behind for a slew of rare dates, including London (Tues), Birmingham (Weds), Liverpool (Thurs) and Manchester (Fri). Ticket prices are pretty bizarre - £10 for Birmingham, £18 for Manchester - but you can be guaranteed the best in hip-hop wordplay.

Tim Booth

The James front-man heads off some solo action from Weds onwards, starting in Manchester and continuing around the country (including a rare stop in Wrexham), before landing in London on 3rd May. Tickets are £18 - expect tracks from recent album "Love Life".

Peter Hook

Tirelessly playing live with Joy Division tribute concerts, the bassist and singer plus The Light will be performing excerpts from the iconic JD catalogue, including the entire Unknown Pleasures album at London's Scala on Saturday. Tickets are £20. He'll also be appearing at Sankey's From Manchester With Love Japan Benefit the night before, priced at £15.

The British Pink Floyd Show

If you haven't seen Pink Floyd or any of Roger Water's subsequent The Wall shows, you could do a darn sight worse than see these boys. The Premier Floyd tribute show will take in Portsmouth (Mon), Cambridge (Tues), the Royal Albert Hall (Weds) and several more large venues until the end of May. Tickets start from £27.50.

Andre Rieu

The seasoned and world-class champion of the waltz returns after a health-wobble last year. First stop on this arena tour is Newcastle on Tuesday, followed by the usual suspects until Belfast on 27th. Birmingham's first show on Friday has sold out - the rest vary in price around the £40 mark.

London International Ska Festival 2011

Big names associated with the booming '60s ska scene and the '70s 2-Tone clique, come together over the Easter weekend at the Clapham Grand. Ken Boothe, Bob Andy, Dave and Ansell Collins, Dub Pistols and numerous others appear over the four days which starts from Thursday. Each day costs £39.50, for which you get at least 7 bands to watch.

Right Said Fred

Easter Monday is a quiet day, but there are a few artists out of the starting blocks, gig-wise. Right Said Fred are back with the album "Stop The World", due out this week along with gigs from Birmingham to Hull (14th May) - tickets are £12 - £15. Other acts on tour from Easter Monday include beatmasters Bonobo and metal stalwarts Corrosion of Conformity.

Theatre, Comedy and Arts

Jesus Christ Superstar

This familiar musical might prove to be an apt choice of entertainment for York audiences, what with Easter looming. The city's Grand Opera House is the first stop for this touring edition of the show which begins on Monday, before heading to Tunbridge Wells on 26th. Tickets in York cost £16 - £20.

Chekhov In Hell

So, you're a great Russian playwright, you nod off for an entire century and then wake up in hospital. What would you make of the 21st century if you came back to life as Anton Chekhov? The Soho Theatre Studio will present this light-hearted play by Dan Rebellato from Weds until mid-May - priced at £10.

Stockholm

The Network Theatre will host this relationship drama from Monday onwards (until the end of the month), in which a couple billed as Death and Destruction, finally face each other in reality during a break in Stockholm, minus the usual technological distractions like their iPods. Tickets cost from £8.

Sold

From Tuesday onwards for a month, Wandsworth's Theatre 503 will present this comical look at the life of an estate agents during the economic down-turn. Each staff-member is having a mid-life crisis, driven by a desire to sell, sell sell. Tickets cost £9 to £14.

Cardenio

The historic setting of Stratford-upon-Avon is apt enough to witness a 'lost' Shakespeare work, but the revered Swan Theatre is as good as it gets. The home of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre will host the story of lust and desire in 16th-century Spain from Monday onwards.

The Harlem Globetrotters

The greatest showmen in American basketball history will return to the UK for another brace of shows, designed to inspire and impress the whole family with their amazing skills and humourous delivery. Tickets cost around £40 - Dublin and Aberdeen are sold out.

Spelbound

The award-winning gymnastic troupe are heading out on tour from Good Friday onwards, starting with Portsmouth and continuing across the country throughout April and May. Tickets for the Britain's Got Talent winners will cost from £20.

Dylan Moran

This week will see the Irish Black Books writer back on the road with a new show entitled "Yeah, Yeah" which will get a nice warm-up start in Falkirk (Weds - sold out) and Perth (Thurs - still available for £15). He will then continue with larger venues during May.

5X15

Notting Hill's Tabernacle venue will begin hosting a special season of spoken-word shows, dedicated to one aim - to give 5 speakers just 15 minutes to talk about whatever subject they wish. This week sees author Amanda Foreman head up proceedings, while 4th May sees Melvyn Bragg and Mick Hucknall appear. Tickets are £15 - £20.

Kevin Eldon

You might recognize him from work with Chris Morris, but Eldon is very much part of the stand-up furniture these days. He begins a week-long Soho Theatre residency on Easter Monday, right up until Saturday 30th. You can expect plenty of 'Titting About' for your £12.50 - £15.

Happy clicking!

Paul Pledger