The Week Ahead from 5th September 2011: Brian Wilson, The Drums, Scott Matthews, White Wizzard, Owl City and more
Posted: 12 years agoNot surprisingly, September starts rather quietly on the music front, although top-name shows from Brian Wilson, The Drums and Katherine Jenkins will pack in loyal audiences, for sure. This year's Bestival has an enviable line-up with The Cure and Björk in tow, while other festivals worth noting involve either Americana or belly-laughs by the boat-load, such as Greenwich Comedy Festival 2011.
All prices are exclusive of booking fees.
This week:
Tours
Legends don't get much bigger than The Beach Boys' Brian Wilson - just ask MOJO Magazine who have just furnished his mantelpiece with their Hall of Fame Award 2011. He plays Dublin on Wednesday, before heading to the UK - Gateshead on Saturday, then a handful more until a trio of Royal Festival Hall shows from 16th to 18th. £35-£50.
You can pick up their second album, "Sacrimento", from 12th September which is at least some consolation for missing out the band's trio of London shows from Monday to Wednesday. Face value tickets sold out long ago (only resale tickets available), but their November tour is still up for £13.50-£15.
You know you want to see an Ivor Novello-winning and Robert Plant-contributing singer and songwriter - and you can with Scott Matthews' UK tour, starting in Cambridge on Sunday 11th and finishing in Colchester at the end of October. £12.50.
Any band that releases an album called "Flying Tigers" and cranks up the amps, deserves a viewing - and that's precisely what's happened. The classic heavy-metal LA-rockers have sold-out their four shows in Exeter, Southampton, Cardiff and London - try the venues for tickets.
Songwriter Adam Young returns to the UK with new songs from "All Things Bright and Beautiful", starting with Glasgow on Wednesday night, followed by Manchester, Shepherd's Bush, Leeds and Birmingham - tickets are £16.50 - £19.50.
Psychedelic garage-rocker Kurt Vile and indie-band Woods share the spoils for a few shows from Monday onwards. That first stop is in Manchester, followed by Glasgow, Bristol and London's Scala on Thursday. £10 - £12.50
Hip-hop and turntablism comes to three very different locations and, as the blurb says, there is only one Grandmaster Flash. Cardiff is first stop on Wednesday, followed by Manchester on Thursday and the Seal-Hayne college in Newton Abbot. £15 - £17.
Saturday sees the annual Hyde Park gathering for the popular Proms season's conclusion with big names and big voices joining in the party taking place across the UK. Katherine Jenkins, Russell Watson and Josh Groban feature at London's big bash. £32.50.
Glasgow hosts this Americana, roots and blues festival for two weeks from Monday. Some big names from those genres include Ron Sexsmith, Caitlin Rose, Wilko Johnson, Scott Matthews and Po'Girl all play during the next 14 days - tickets vary from £6 upwards.
Theatre, Comedy and Arts
London's Church Theatre will host this darkly-humoured tale set in '50s Peru about a group of hard-drinking gigolos, hell-bent on impressing the new beautiful barfly on the block. Tickets for the show, which starts on Monday, cost from £10.
So, what do you do when you've led a life as an American Mormon, unhappily-married and eventually lured into a world of same-sex sex, drugs and escorting. No, you don't join CBBC - instead you create your own autobiographical stage show! Plays for 3 weeks at the New Players Theatre from Monday - £12.99 (Allgigs Special Offer tickets).
![Of Mice and Men [Steinbeck]](https://www.allgigs.co.uk/images/object/artist/68847/Default-1-200-200-85-nocrop.png)
John Steinbeck's panoramic backdrop of the American West and the Great Depression forms his acclaimed stage-play, "Of Mice and Men", gamely adapted by the Brockley Jack Theatre in SE London. The production starts on Tuesday and tickets until 24th September cost £10 - £12.
Verity Rushworth heads up this adapted version of this family show which plays at Manchester's Palace Theatre from Tuesday onwards until 17th September. No doubt the tills will be alive with the sound of ringing as this Rodgers and Hammerstein classic packs them in. We have tickets from £17.50 to £43.50.
You write great musicals and plays for years and you don't have a hit. A young uncouth upstart does the same with his debut play and fills theatres. Naturally, you try to come up with a plan that involves getting your hands on the youngster's good fortune - and, naturally, you'll want to head to the Oldham Coliseum to see this comedy-thriller by Ira Levin, starting on Saturday. Tickets start from just £5.
We all need a good laugh as the summer comes to an end and this annual gathering will provide just that with full shows from Tim Minchin, Omid Djalili, Micky Flanagan, Sean Lock and more all vying for chuckles. Tickets cost from £18.50 but are selling fast.
The East End of London will resound to the laughs, music and cultural events associated with the one off Olympics awareness and fund-raiser from Thursday onwards. Jo Brand, Michael Legge, Jonny Woo, Sean Hughes, Ed Byrne and Paul Daniels all feature during the next two weeks or so. Click on the image for the line-up.
Happy clicking!