14 h. ago "It shouldn’t be a luxury to be able to afford to go and see live music." The Anchoress offers concessionary tickets to November London show

"It shouldn’t be a luxury to be able to afford to go and see live music." The Anchoress offers concessionary tickets to November London show  Louder

Culture

42 h. ago ‘I get to do whatever I want in the moment’: why more people are going to gigs, festivals and clubs alone

The number of solo festivalgoers has jumped since the pandemic, and even safety concerns aren’t dissuading lone ravers. We speak to some to find out whyFrom solo travel to dining alone, people have increasingly been embracing social activities by themselves in the years since the pandemic – even in the ultra-social contexts of live music and club culture.A recent survey by Ticketmaster found that the number of people who have attended either a weekend or day festival by themselves has risen from 8% in 2019 to 29% this year. Reading and Leeds festival introduced a campsite area for solo attendees this year, joining Download’s longstanding “lone wolf” area, and there are a growing number of social media pages such as London Solo Ravers, and WhatsApp groups such as Untitled Rave Community Project, for people venturing to nightclubs alone. Continue reading...

Politics

61 h. ago Huge night market with hundreds of stalls to take over historic Greater Manchester location

The event this October will feature shopping, street food and live music

Politics

4 d. ago ‘No one makes money from them’: with MTV channels switching off, is the music video under threat?

Five MTV channels will close at the end of the year in the UK, leaving just one – which mostly plays reality TV. And with budgets pinched, directors say they are strugglingThe launch of MTV, in 1981, ushered in a new era of music. Showing music videos 24 hours a day, the television channel redefined artist marketing and launched the careers of artists such as Michael Jackson and Madonna, whose public personas became inseparable from the gripping, frequently controversial clips they produced to be played on the service.Now, that chapter of music history appears to be drawing to a close, with MTV’s parent company Paramount announcing last week that its five dedicated music channels in the UK – MTV Music, MTV 80s, MTV 90s, Club MTV and MTV Live – will cease broadcasting after 31 December. (The flagship MTV channel, which broadcasts reality programmes such as Catfish, The Hills and Geordie Shore, will remain in operation.) Continue reading...

Culture

5 d. ago Tax hikes will ‘devastate’ London’s live music venues and raise ticket prices, warns O2 boss

Tax changes could result in higher ticket prices, fewer concerts and some grassroots music venues closing down, with London particularly vulnerable

Events

6 d. ago Warning new tax plan will ‘devastate’ London’s live music venues resulting in ticket price hikes and closures

Tax changes could result in higher ticket prices, fewer concerts and some grassroots music venues closing down, with London particularly vulnerable

Events

6 d. ago Celebrate Halloween like an ancient Celt at the Scottish Crannog Centre

Expect fire performances, storytelling, live music from Celtic favourites Reely Jiggered, and the dramatic burning of the Wicker Bull, marking the turning of the seasons.

Politics

7 d. ago Remembering Mama Africa: struggle of fearless singer Miriam Makeba told in daring dance drama

Mimi’s Shebeen, choreographed by Alesandra Seutin, charts South African legend’s exile and ascendancy with ‘beautiful songs, strong messages and moments that hit’“You speak about Miriam Makeba in South Africa and it’s like speaking about a queen,” says Alesandra Seutin. The legendary singer Makeba was known as Mama Africa, and the Empress of African Song; but she also hung out in Greenwich Village with Miles Davis and Duke Ellington. She was a teenager sent out to work to support her family in Johannesburg who later became a diplomat for Ghana, then Guinea’s official delegate to the UN. An outspoken anti-apartheid activist, she was the wife of a Black Panther. And her rich life and legacy are the inspiration for choreographer Seutin’s latest work, Mimi’s Shebeen, about to get its UK premiere.Mimi’s Shebeen blends dance, live music and spoken word in a piece of theatre that’s no straightforward biodrama but draws on Makeba’s history, particularly her story of exile: after moving to N...

Events

8 d. ago Tell us: have ticket prices affected your love of live music?

Amid rising, confusing prices and a cost of living crisis, we would like to hear your experiences of paying to see gigsSeeing live music is becoming increasingly expensive, thanks to the rise of dynamic ticket pricing and resale websites in addition to an ongoing cost of living crisis.With this in mind, we would like to hear about your experiences of paying to see live music. Have your gig-going habits changed due to rising prices? What’s the most you’ve spent on going to see an artist live? And was it worth it? Continue reading...

Politics

1 week ago ‘How is this possible?’: a new film looks inside the appalling abuses of the Alabama prison system

In the year’s most shocking documentary The Alabama Solution, prisoners share astonishing footage in a plea for helpWhen film-makers Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kaufman visited Alabama’s Easterling prison in 2019, they found a deceptively pleasant scene. Like Alabama’s 13 other prisons, Easterling largely prohibits media access, but allowed the documentarians to film its annual volunteer-run barbecue, a sunny day in which incarcerated men, most of them Black, ate fresh roasts to live music and sermons. On camera, men danced and smiled. But off camera, many more told a different story – horrific beatings, unreported stabbings, unimaginable violence swept under the rug and appalling conditions that “ain’t fit for human society”. Cries for help emerged from inside the sweltering, filthy dorms. When Jarecki approached the voices, a prison official shut down filming, claiming that it was unsafe for him to speak to the men without a police chaperone.“It was very clear that there were are...

Events

1 week ago How to celebrate Day of the Dead in the US: Six cities that bring the Mexican tradition to life

Expect to see the living transformed into skeletons, exotic floats and plenty of live music

Events

1 week ago Historic Cardiff building which once hosted Bob Geldof and Kelly Jones brings back live gigs

The Coal Exchange will once again stage live music

Politics

1 week ago Pubs could stay open longer under Starmer plan to revive British night out

PM’s initiative, which could lead to ‘bonfire’ of old licensing rules, aims to ‘bring the buzz back’ to high streets

Politics

2 w. ago Historic Greater Manchester location to host alternative Christmas Markets

Set beneath a spectacular glass roof of the Grade II-listed building, the event promises Christmas shopping, cosy vibes, festive food, and live music

Politics

2 w. ago ‘No reason not to be all in’: is Saturday Night Live ready to meet a major political moment?

The return of the long-running series lands at a difficult time for late-night comedy – and free speechPaul Simon sang The Boxer. New York mayor Rudy Giuliani appeared with firefighters. When producer Lorne Michaels asked: “Can we be funny?”, Giuliani replied: “Why start now?”It was September 2001 and, just 18 days after the worst terrorist attack in US history, Saturday Night Live’s blend of satire, silliness and live music was back on the air. “In bad times, people turn to the show,” Michaels told Rolling Stone magazine 20 years later. Continue reading...

Politics

2 w. ago Taylor Swift live: Star dishes on The Life of a Showgirl and wedding plans during Graham Norton Show appearance

Fans and critics unpack lyric meanings on album inspired by the pop star’s relationship with Travis Kelce, as some unnamed foes and the nature of fame

Society

2 w. ago Taylor Swift live: Star appears on Graham Norton Show as The Life of a Showgirl gets mixed reviews

Fans and critics unpack lyric meanings on album inspired by the pop star’s relationship with Travis Kelce, as some unnamed foes and the nature of fame

Politics

2 w. ago Taylor Swift live: The Life of a Showgirl released to mixed reviews ahead of star’s Graham Norton Show appearance

Fans and critics unpack lyric meanings on album inspired by the pop star’s relationship with Travis Kelce, as some unnamed foes and the nature of fame

Politics

2 w. ago Taylor Swift live: The Life of a Showgirl released to mixed reviews as pop star lands in the UK

Fans and critics unpack lyric meanings on album inspired by the pop star’s relationship with Travis Kelce, as some unnamed foes and the nature of fame

Politics

2 w. ago Taylor Swift live: The Life of a Showgirl released to fanfare and wildly mixed reviews

Album offers songs inspired by the pop star’s relationship with Travis Kelce, as well as some swipes at unnamed foes

Economics