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oh, livin’ on a prayer . . .’ Get ready to soft rock your socks off as Jon Bon Jovi prepares to bring his ‘Bad Medicine’ to Edinburgh next June. On another note, the Celtic Connections launch did little to disappoint either with Seth Lakeman, Raul Malo, Teddy Thompson, Ani DiFranco and the Blind Boys of Alabama just a handful of the names appearing between 13–30 Jan. For more see www.celticconnections.com TELEVISION Fans of current Beeb Three lesbian drama Lip Service can check out one of its co-stars at An Evening With Heather Peace on Wed 17 Nov at Sloans, Glasgow. The evening marks the opening date of Peace’s first ever solo tour around the UK. As well as singing, Peace will also hang around for a Q&A session at the end of the gig.
Channel Hopper
Dispatches from the sofa, with Brian Donaldson
■ In a bygone episode of Filthy Rich and Catflap, Rik Mayall’s hapless fool inadvertently murders a series of milkmen. Flash-forward a quarter of a century and, in marginally less slapstick a fashion, the BAFTA-winning ASBO cast of Misfits (E4, Thu 11 Nov, 10pm) are accidentally bumping off their probation workers. If you saw series one, you’ll know that this bunch of orange boiler-suited miscreants are no ordinary young crims. During a weird storm, a lightning strike handed them all superpowers, among them invisibility, the ability to hear thoughts and immortality. It was quickly dubbed Skins meets Heroes, but thankfully is way less annoying than the former and takes itself somewhat less seriously than the latter. And if you can sweep from your
mind the producers’ sweaty- palmed obsession with connecting the show to its base via Twitter, YouTube and Facebook, what you are left with is a comedy-drama with a lot of heart, swathes of wit and genuinely chilling interludes. Sure, the jerky chase sequences are straight out of Charlie Brooker’s zombie drama Dead Set and the grey haze that occasionally pops up on the edges of the frame might make you think you’ve been dropped into a Marilyn Manson video, but the show’s ingenuity makes you forget all that surface flim-flam. In the series opener, a disturbed shapeshifter threatens to split the group asunder while in the second episode, a grizzled Dexter Fletcher (44 years of age!?) shows up as one misfit’s long-lost father.
THEATRE And finally, in celebration of Bard in the Botanics’ 10th anniversary, audiences are being offered the chance to vote for one of their favourite Shakespeare plays to be performed in the programme. You can cast your vote until 26 Nov at www.bardinthebotanics.co.uk. In other theatre news, Julian Clary’s show Lord of the Mince has had its run extended at the King’s Theatre and will now run until Sun 14 Nov. Meanwhile, across in Dumfries, the Theatre Royal, the oldest working theatre in Scotland, is about to start work on repairs, the estimated cost of which could amount to £225,000. Last month the Nithsdale area committee (local authority) approved £30,000 to prevent deterioration of the site, but the theatre are still on the lookout for donations. Superpowers to the people
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AROUND TOWN For those loony enough fancy a dook, Edinburgh’s Hogmanay have announced that the annual New Year’s Day dip will be part of this year’s programme as usual. Started by a handful of swimmers in 1987, the Loony Dook now attracts over 1000 people to brave the cold chilly waters of the Forth. Those less inclined to get their thrills from a chill, can watch from the sides. Participants must enter in advance with a £6 registration See www.edinburghshogmanay.com from Tue 9 Nov for more. In other pre-Hoggers news there’s all kinds of the Glengoyne Distillery returns with its Christmas Food & Whisky Festival. Check it out on Sat 4 Dec. Alternatively, in the here and now, Victoria’s, one of The List’s favourite tippling holes has started a Language Café, with Spanish, English, French, Swedish, German, Polish, being spoken around the bar. Slainte! fun happening,
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BOOK In book news, Alex Preston’s The Bleeding City has picked up the top prize at the Edinburgh International Book Festival’s inaugural Readers’ First Book Award. Preston’s debut marks the start of an award aimed at spotting up-and-coming talent. CLUBS Revellers are advised to get their dance shoes at the ready following the news that French DJ David Guetta will perform for Colours! at Braehead on Wed 27 April next year.
MUSIC ‘Wooooaah, we’re halfway there, woah- 8 THE LIST 4–18 Nov 2010