​MONDAY 25TH JUNE
FLIGHT OF THE CONCORDS
Appropriately enough for the comedy two-piece, this show has been rescheduled from April 1. One half of Kiwi duo Flight of the Conchords Bret McKenzie sustained what he called “a very rock ‘n’ roll injury”in the weeks preceding the original date, when he fell down a flight of stairs, breaking two bones in his hand.
 
WEDNESDAY 27TH JUNE
WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM
Wolves in the Throne Room re-imagine black metal as an ode to rain storms, wood smoke and the wild energies of the Pacific Northwest. Their first studio album, Diadem of 12 Stars came out in 2006 and since that time, Wolves in the Throne Room have become one of the most potent and highly regarded bands in extreme music.
Plus support from WODE and Dawn Ray’d
IWF. 19:30
 
THURSDAY 28TH JUNE
REAL TERMS
Real Terms release new single 'Padlocks' on June 29th through Superstar Destroyer Records. To celebrate, we're throwing a right old shindig with some wonderful friends from across the North.
+ Bearfoot Beware, Playacting, Neverbody
 
81 renshaw st 19:00
Go-Kart Mozart (Felt/Denim)
+ Swedish Magazines
The White Hotel, Salford, Manchester.
 
FRIDAY 29TH JUNE
Rakhi + Katya
Intimate Sonatas feat Katya Apekisheva
RAKHI / KATYA is a huge sound world from just two instruments.
RAKHI / KATYA is international artists in the north.
RAKHI / KATYA is chamber music at the highest level.
IWF 7pm
 
 
 
 
SATURDAY 30TH JUNE
Disco Socrates: Constellations, Saturday June 30
The Art of Football exhibition in the Baltic Triangle continues apace! Companion of the World Cup, a day of music takes place in Constellations this weekend.
Disco Socrates (celebrating the life of the impressively ‘froed anti-footballer and activist) features live sets from Nigerian Wayne Snow, France’s Oko Ebombo, Rozzma from Egypt and Iranian Lakiesha Goedluck. There will also by DJ sets from the likes of Andy Votel’s Subtrópical Psychout, Anti Social Jazz Club, Melodic Distraction and Radio Exotica. All of this accompanies film screenings and much more, including screenings of the first two Round of 16 World Cup matches.
 
 
LOOKING FORWARD
7TH July-
 
LAAF is delighted that Emel Mathlouthi will be part of this year's 20th anniversary celebrations!

Our enhanced musical programme will enjoy a spectacular opening weekend with a performance from internationally acclaimed singer-songwriter and the “voice of the Tunisian revolution”, Emel Mathlouthi on Saturday 7 July at the Invisible Wind Factory. 

We'll be hosting Emel as she enters a new phase of her extraordinary life, with a powerful, heartfelt performance of tracks from her sophomore album Ensen (Human), as well as her 2007 recording and viral anthem of the Arab Spring, Kelmti Horra (My Word is Free).
IWF

​Monday 18th
David Byrne, Laura Mvula – o2 Apollo (Manchester) – 7pm
David Byrne has just announced an extensive world tour in support of his forthcoming solo record, American Utopia. He will perform songs from the new album, as well as classics from his solo career and his days with Talking Heads.
A twelve-piece band will also join Byrne on stage for a choreographed concert that he has called “the most ambitious show I’ve done since the shows that were filmed for Stop Making Sense.”
 
Tuesday 19th
Mai Mai Mai, Branton Mawdsley & Metcalfe, Gunnther – 81 Renshaw Street – 8pm
Another industry-night concert delight brought to us by polymath local guitarist Luke Mawdsley. Consisting this time of Italian synth noise from genreless musician Toni Cutrone (Mai Mai Mai), plus Luke’s new quasi-improv trio with Nick Branton and Michael P Metcalfe of Dead Hedge.
https://www.facebook.com/events/327570241100834/
 
Wednesday 20th
Film double bill: Grey Gardens & That Summer – FACT – 6:30pm
FACT and Liverpool Pride present a double bill of classic film Grey Gardens, and newly released That Summer.
This summer Liverpool Pride are exploring how LGBTQ+ people fit in with and expand the traditional ideas of what a family might be, in homage to the work of the Michael Causer Foundation, who work to make secure living and learning environments for young LGBTQ+ people.
Grey Gardens has become a phenomenon in the queer world for its warts and all portrayal of Big and Little Edie, the mother and daughter cousins of Jaqueline Kennedy/Onassis, who are living in self-induced squalor in the house of the same name. Their epic disregard for the norms of life has become a byword for seeing the world with heroic difference.
With the release of That Summer, our ongoing fascination with Big Edie and Little Edie is piqued once more. The film uncovers footage lost for decades shot by Andy Warhol, Peter Beard and the socialite sister of Jackie Onassis, Lee Radziwill, who formed a vibrant and profoundly influential creative community with the likes of Truman Capote and Mick Jagger in Montauk in the 1970s.
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/double-bill-grey-gardens-that-summer-tickets-46758812868
 
Thursday 21st
Exhibition Opening: Hassnat Sikander – Output Gallery (32 Seel Street) – 6pm
Liverpool-based Hassnat Sikander will be the second artist in the OUTPUT gallery exhibition programme. Her practice uses sound and performance to explore the trauma of forced marriage and domestic abuse. Sikander will return to the gallery on June 28th to give a performance within the space of the exhibition.
OUTPUT is a new gallery in the The Kazimier Gardens’ former workshop space at 32 Seel Street. OUTPUT gallery will exclusively show creatives from or living in Merseyside.
www.thekazimier.co.uk/output
 
Wild Fruit Art Collective – EBGBs – 7:30pm
Bido Lito! team up with Eggy Records for the July edition of the Bido Lito! Social at EBGBs. Headliners Wild Fruit Art Collective have made a name for themselves in recent years with raucous gigs and an inventive sound which sets them apart from other acts on the Liverpool scene. Fellow Eggy artist Beija Flo provides support and new comer Hannah And The Wick Effect open proceedings.
https://www.seetickets.com/tour/bido-lito-social-w-eggy-recs
 
Friday 22nd
 
New Music for Old Machines: Joasihno + Reality Goggles – The Well – 8pm
Two acts building fully contained electro-acoustic sonic worlds in which to present idiosyncratic, shape-shifting psychedelic music, performed in the intimate confines of the Well space, Roscoe St.
JOASIHNO (GER)
The duo of Cico Beck and Nico Sierig bring a battery of motorised, electric and acoustic instruments to create a musical landscape of robot-controlled mallet percussion, kinetic sound sculptures and colourful exotica. The pastoral pulses of early Cluster, the vibrant energy of Moondog and Harry Partch, and the 4th World collages of Visible Cloaks are all to be found in their unique alignment of experimental sonics and heady experimental pop
REALITY GOGGLES (UK)
RG presents post-religious devotional music. A refiguring of wilful designs and perhaps-happy accidents, circuit-bent pedals and looped trumpets invoking a shimmering amalgamation of Terry Riley, GAS and Robert Wyatt
https://www.facebook.com/events/218307118898184/
 
Eat Me: The Punk Edition – Sound Food & Drink – 8pm
This June EAT ME will be paying homage to our favourite (ongoing) era of scabs, (delicious) body odour, tall spiky hair and screaming… to the powers that be!
Think burning effigies of Our Dear Leaders, sweaty kisses, cigarette burns and giving less of a shit – but, with more Drag Queens and Queers! Sounds down right medicinal to us!
We’ll be asking you what PUNK means today and collectively transporting ourselves to a better world of stanky pits, thrashing, rage, protest and unbridled self-expression!
Hosted by the original trash potato AUNTIE CLIMAX and her bouncy friends:
BABS DARLING, MIDGITTE BARDOT, THE HUNGRY B(R)ITCHES, MARILYN MISANDRY, KEVIN LAGRANDE, EDDI PILCHER & much much MORE
https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3482444
 
Saturday 23rd
The Life and Rhymes of Benjamin Zephaniah – RNCM (Manchester) – 7:30pm
He befriended Nelson Mandela, fought in the 1980s race riots and recorded radical and relevant reggae music with Bob Marley’s former band. Benjamin Zephaniah was unable to read and write at school but became one of Britain’s most remarkable poets. And now he’s back with his first tour in eight years, to coincide with his remarkable autobiography, The Life and Rhymes Of Benjamin Zephaniah. In a compelling and inspiring show, Zephaniah will explain how he fought injustice and discrimination to lead a remarkable life, while sharing a selection of favourite stories and poems. Signed copies of The Life and Rhymes of Benjamin Zephaniah will be available after the show.
https://www.rncm.ac.uk/performance/benjamin-zephaniah/
 
Upitup Records Rave – Rat Alley (Kazimier Garden) – 11pm
The netlabel-turned crucially vital Liverpool function recently celebrated their 15th birthday – and so continue the festivities with a ‘Rat Alley Rave’. Taking place in the former smoking area of the Kazimier club, this outdoor space behind the Kazimier Garden is a truly anarchic nightspot that has somehow eeked out an existence in the face of overwhelming redevelopment all around it. Merseyside representatives Jacques Malchance, Isocore, and EA Moon will all take turns before piling in for a back-to-back DJ moment. Novelty factor: they have a phone line set up, in true old school raving style, to ring up during the week in order to get cheap entry – try it yourself – 07707096449…
https://www.facebook.com/events/186449978716864/
 
Sunday 24th
The Ex + Crumbs – Soup Kitchen (Manchester) – 7:30pm
The adventurous, innovative Dutch band The Ex exists 38 years this year and is still going strong. New projects, new adventures, new songs and new sounds are the norm.
The Ex has defied categorization ever since they started playing in 1979. Born out of the punk explosion, when anything and everything was possible, the band have still managed to retain both curiosity and passion for their music. Using guitars, bass, drums and voice as their starting point, The Ex have continued to musically explore undiscovered areas right up to the present day.
https://www.facebook.com/events/549657035405126/
 
Looking ahead: Thursday 28th
Real Terms, Bearfoot Beware, Playacting, Neverbody – 81 Renshaw Street – 7pm
Real Terms release new single 'Padlocks' on June 29th through Superstar Destroyer Records. To celebrate, we're throwing a right old shindig with some wonderful friends from across the North.
REAL TERMS used to be in Liverpool math rock faves Vasco Da Gama and now have a sound that they like to think of as more melodic, groovy and spacious. Helpfully described by Playacting as "the smoothest math-groove power-trio in the world." We'll take it.
https://www.facebook.com/events/205182803627852/
 
Saturday 7th July
Emel Mathlouthi – Invisible Wind Factory – 7pm
Voice of the Tunisian revolution and a sensation during 2007’s Arab Spring (for her song “Kelmti Horra” – ‘My Word Is Free’, which went viral during the tumult) Emel Mathlouthi performs as part of Liverpool Arab Arts Festival’s 20th anniversary celebration.

Monday 11th
Palm – The Castle Hotel, Manchester – 7:30pm
Art rock and prog meet as this affected NY quartet play ‘rock music backwards’. Rhythmic, alien guitar parts leave room for the drummer and bassist to meander. Strange, upside-down music influenced by sounds form the world over, for fans of Abe Vigoda and other guitar-pedal mis-users.
https://www.facebook.com/events/494568740936927/
 
Thursday 14th
Skeltr – Kazimier Garden – 7pm
Tipped by Jazzwise magazine as ‘ones to watch’ in 2018, Skeltr is a sax/drums duo that comes from a spiritual jazz persuasion, utilising sampling and electronic elements to create a dense musical bed upon which they live-perform drum patterns and soaring saxophone lines. Stylistically the pair takes in emotional balladry, punk funk and effect-pedal manipulations in real time. Recently toured with Californian jazz-funk polymaths Knower, another duo whose member Louis Cole described Skeltr as ‘hot as hell’.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1049917381851423/
 
Anda Union – Philharmonic Music Room – 8pm
‘AnDa’ means blood sibling in Mongolian; the musicians in this ‘union’ are all blood brothers and sisters of some kind. Exploring the folk musics of their varying nomadic ethnicities (the 9 members come from different Mongolian tribes united by Genghis Khan), Anda Union presents a first for Inner Mongolian traditional music in a project that utilises traditional string instruments, harps, bagpipes and percussion particular to the vast, far Eastern area.
http://www.liverpoolphil.com/whats-on/anda-union
https://andaunion.com/
 
Saturday 16th
Africa Oyé – Sefton Park – 12:30pm until 9:30pm
The best free cultural event in the city and the UK’s greatest celebration of the African diaspora & its music marks its 26th year with sure-to-be stand-out performances from Orchestra Poly-Rythmo (Sunday) and Mim Suleiman (Saturday).
https://www.africaoye.com/
 
The Psychedelic Furs – o2 Academy – 7pm
The last band to play Eric’s and a post-punk staple for many today, The Psychedelic Furs return to Liverpool to headline this central venue’s main room, with support from Richard Strange. https://www.facebook.com/events/148841525914345
 
Pardon Us, Don Blake, Rat Bit Kit, Katy McGrath – Maguire’s Pizza Bar – 7:30pm
Four live music acts ranging from pop-punk to squeeze-box-punk, including an acoustic set from the Snakes Everywhere frontwoman.
https://www.facebook.com/events/1307488876048852/
 
Sunday 17th
Klezmer-ish – Princes Road Synagogue – 7pm
This RLPO offshoot project performs four-piece iterations of pieces from the Klezmer, Gypsy Jazz, Irish Folk and Tango traditions. Clarinet, piano accordion, double bass, guitar and violin come together for pro interpretations and arrangements of rousing sounds from the world’s travelling communities.
https://www.facebook.com/events/580998575419746/
 
Tuesday 19th
Mai Mai Mai, Branton Mawdsley & Metcalfe, Gunnther – 81 Renshaw – 8pm
The city’s best guitar player arranges another mid-week concert delight for us to enjoy, serving up Italian synth noise from genreless musician Toni Cutrone, alongside an appearance of Luke’s new quasi-improv trio with Nick Branton and Michael P Metcalfe of Dead Hedge.
https://www.facebook.com/events/327570241100834/
 
Looking ahead: Friday 29th
Manchester Collective: Rakhi / Katya – Invisible Wind Factory – 7:30pm
“Intimate sonatas” is the tag-line as the augmented string quartet leads arguably their most ambitious project to date onto the ground floor of IWF – literally wheeling a Steinway into the industrial venue’s Main Hall for an unforgettable night of violin and piano.
https://manchestercollective.co.uk/rakhikatya/

 
Tuesday 5th June.
Ty Segall - Gorilla, Manchester.

Wednesday 6th:
Laura Viers – Manchester Deaf Institute.

Friday 8th June:
Positive Vibration – Festival of Reggae
Lee Scratch Perry & Subatomic Sound System
Roni Size
Dub Pistols

Saturday 9th:
Positive Vibration – Festival of Reggae
Macka B & the Roots Reggae Band
Sister Nancy & legal Shot Sound System
Misty in Roots.
http://posvibefest.com/

The Biggest Thing Since Powdered Milk, Takotsubo men, Enamel Animal, Purple merlin.
The Zanzibar

Sunday 10th:
Fairport Convention (final date of tour band’s 51st year
New Brighton Floral pavilion

Chas & Dave.
Liverpool Empire Theatre.

Tuesday 12th June:
Belly. Manchester Ritz. (third album Dove)
​
Saturday 16th/Sunday 17th:
Africa Oye, Sefton Park – Inner Circle (Jamaica), Grammy Nominated Rocky Dawuni (Ghana), orchestra Poly-Rythmo
https://www.africaoye.com/

Saturday 16th:
Jeff Beck -  Liverpool Philharmonic Hall
Saturday 14th July – Choir festival, St Bride’s Church.

https://www.facebook.com/events/637695086429139/
www.torridstarproductions.wordpress.com