Gig Guide Monday 5th November 2018

​Monday 5th November
Aidan Moffat & RM Hubbert – Leaf – 8pm
Arab Strap frontman Aidan Moffat meets fellow post-rock Glaswegian guitar man RM Hubbert for a night reciting their collaborative record, full of tales of romantic surrender and epitaph-writing. Strong currents run through this Scotch duo’s bodies of work; should prove to be brimming with much-needed start-the-week/winter acerbicism.
https://www.seetickets.com/event/aidan-moffat-rm-hubbert/leaf-liverpool/1252393
 
Gaby Agis: Shouting Out Loud / Close Streams – Capstone Theatre – 4pm
Part of Leap Dance Festival, which sees MDI celebrate 25 years in Liverpool, Gaby Agis’ 1980s work is reconstructed here, full of apt socio-political reflection from the time, still baring relevance now. Shouting Out Loud will be performed by 13 intergenerational women from Liverpool, with a soundtrack by seminal female punks The Raincoats. Leap runs 2nd-12th November
https://www.ticketquarter.co.uk/Online/leap-2018
 
Tuesday 6th
Dietrich: Natural Duty – Unity Theatre – 7:30pm
As part of Homotopia festival, Peter Groom performs in this one-(wo)man show: a tribute to Marlene Dietrich that mixes drag, theatre and cabaret, coming hot off the back of an acclaimed run at the Edinburgh Fringe. “It is 1942. On the battlefields of North Africa in a gold sequin gown, Marlene Dietrich takes to the stage to fight the war her way; with an irresistible mix of songs, sequins, sex and sympathy.”
http://www.homotopia.net/festival-item/dietrich-natural-duty
 
Wednesday 7th
Duds, Yammerer – the Shipping Forecast – 7:30pm
Down into ‘the hold’ one goes to watch the astringent, wiry Duds, a Manchester band that performs a curiously elastic mix of echoey post-punk and weirdly clean no-wave in the tradition of acts like The Contortions, early Scitti Politti, Stump, Blurt, Dog Faced Hermans and a healthy amount of the grand prototype of this ‘challenging’ way of playing, the Magic Band. Opening for them are five-strong Fall/Can hybridisers Yammerer, a group that turn the same ‘new wave’ methodology on its head in terms of going for repetition over rhythmic complexity. It should prove interesting to veer from their 6-minute rants and screes into Duds’ sub-120-second manifesti.
https://www.seetickets.com/event/duds/the-shipping-forecast/1261686
 
Rent Party – Unity Theatre – 8pm
Billed as a 21st Century ‘austerity U.K.’ update of the Harlem Renaissance Parties of the 1920s, this commission by Homotopia has been put together by a string of young, gifted, and black, poor and gay artists for this year’s festival, on a two-night run over Wednesday and Thursday. The concept is thus: you pay (rent) to party (hosts), or in this case attend a night of kaleidoscopic entertainment performed by singers, musicians, poets, dancers and other ‘artist friends’.
https://www.unitytheatreliverpool.co.uk/whats-on/rent-party-2018.html
 
Thursday 8th
Organ Freeman, Loka, Ana Mae, The Indica Gallery, Bobhowla, Pharoahe Rocher – Jacaranda Records Phase One (40 Seel Street) – 7pm
A school-night smorgasbord of Merseyside-sourced uppers, downers, lefters and put-the-world-to-righters: out-rock, dream-psych, hip-hop, soloists, full band debuts, and Wirralien hijinks.
https://www.skiddle.com/e/13332567/
 
Mamadou & the Lekette Band – Constellations – 7pm
From the cosy corner of this Baltic area bar, free live music from accomplished Senegalese singer/percussionist Mamadou Diaw’s five-piece mbalax/afrobeat/jazz/calypso outfit, now with Spanish and US musicians amongst their ranks. Irresistible grooves to act as a body warmer.
 
The Prodigy – Echo Arena – 6:30pm
No introduction required for the Essex-born, original UK hardcore techno-punk act. Opening duo Ho99o9 tout a neo-horrorcore branch of hip-hop that will sit well alongside old new rave.
 
Friday 9th
Amelie Lens, Rebekah – Invisible Wind Factory – 11pm
One newcomer, one forerunner: two techno heavyweights on the same bill at this ‘electronic experience’ imports gifted a fresh round of DJs/producers to the North Docks.
 
Saturday 10th
Germanager, Territorial Gobbing, WHXRS, Syringe House, Me Present(s) – Factory Kitchen – 7:30pm
Spine come back with an Autumn heater featuring our good friend of the show Germanager alongside all manner of industrial, spoken word, and fantastically noisey racket at the top of IWF.
 
King Crimson – Empire Theatre – 7:30pm
The name be apt as the brain-rock staple’s ‘Uncertain Times’ tour presents three drummers, Bill Rieflin back on keys, Tony Levin on bass instruments, plus reeds and flute from Mel Collins (of an early ‘70s version of the band) and singer/guitarist Jakko Jakszyk; founder-guitarist Robert Fripp describes it as a “double quartet formation” – and not far off a trio of trios. This three-hour show will include the purported ‘live debut’ of 6 historic (n.b. never before toured) prog pieces from the Crim back cat.
 
Sunday 11th
Brix & the Extricated – Arts Club – 7pm
Brix Smith Start and Steve Hanley of The Fall head up this from-the-ashes re-incarnation, up in the Loft on Seel Street. Prepare for tour-testing of studio record number two, plus very possibly tributes to Mr Smith himself.
 
 
Looking Ahead:
Friday 23rd November
Yves Tumor – 24 Kitchen Street – 7pm
The only live gig besides a night in London for this Warp Records provocateur, P.A. system destroyer, shape-shifting sound collagist, songsmith, and all-round enigmatic performer Yves Tumor.
 
Manchester Collective: Pierrot Lunaire – IWF Substation – 7pm
Augmented string quartet goes bad here with their most unwieldy and challenging choice of work to date: a new translation of Schoenberg’s deeply dark, challenging and unsettling atonal song cycle. Surreal, serialist opera dealing with hard subject matter – another first from the contemporary classical pushers.
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