Words: Charlotte Cox
Is it just us, or does it finally feel like summer? Celebrate with well-attired cycling, weird and wonderful circus comedy and cocktails in an English garden in the sky. Yes, really!
COMEDY: Friday Night Freaks, Southbank
How many Friday nights can you describe as twisted, glitzy, shocking and downright bizarre? OK, don’t answer that… But no matter how unusual your Fridays may be (hey, we’re not here to judge), we’re betting this one will outdo ’em all. Back for a sixth run, Friday Night Freaks brings together the naughtiest stand up, the most darkly glamorous burlesque and all manner of speciality acts. Plus: circus performers! Because no freaky Friday night is complete without an acrobat, y’know.
Fridays until 3 July, £15.50 Southbank Centre, Belvedere Road, London SE1 8XX southbankcentre.co.uk
FILM: Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck
Compelling. Raw. Restlessly creative. And, ultimately, tragic. The same adjectives can be applied to both Kurt Cobain and his music, which came to define the 1990s grunge era. And here, for the first time, is a fully authorised look at the rock icon’s life. Director Brett Morgan blends Cobain’s personal archive of art, music and never-before-seen home videos with candid interviews with those who knew him best, including – oh yes – Courtney Love herself. Essential viewing for anyone who owned Nevermind (which would be pretty much everyone, then).
Out now at selected cinemas
FILM: Pillow Cinema, Shoreditch
Now, we like a trip to the multiplex as much as the next person. But don’t you ever find yourself thinking: ‘What’s with all this sitting upright? EFFORT.’ Well, good news, fellow lounging fans: the Pillow Cinema is here to free us from such vertical-chair-backed tyranny. Filling the former Shoreditch tube station with soft furnishings and squishy beanbags, this night is all about the reeeeeelax. Simply bring along your cosiest pillow from home (no pillow, no entry FYI) and bed down in the fluffy, squidgy goodness of it all. All you have to do is point your eyes at indie flick God Help The Girl (Fri 17th), Oscar-winner The Theory Of Everything (Sat 18th) or teen classic 10 Things I Hate About You (Sun 19th). We reckon you can just about manage that.
£10 for a beanbag for two Old Shoreditch Tube Station, Brick Lane, London pillowcinema.com
FOOD/DRINK: Eccentric English Country Garden Pop-Up at the Sky Pod
What’s better than a cocktail in an English country garden? We’ll tell you what: a cocktail in an English country garden 35 floors up. As part of the new pop-up at 20 Fenchurch Street (aka the Walkie Talkie building, the venue for ELLE Style Awards 2015), level 35 is now bedecked with daffodils, faux lawns, bright vintage bicycles and daisies aplenty. And then there are the cocktails: the Rooibos Tea Party (Bloom Gin, DOM Bénédictine, rooibos tea, lime juice, orange zest) and Pink Is The Question (Cîroc Vodka, green apple liqueur, fresh blueberries, lime juice), knock ginger beer well and truly out of the park. Oh, and did we mention the panoramic view…? Get there quick while the sun is still shining.
20 Fenchurch Street, London EC3M 3BY, skygarden.londo
MUSIC: SoFar Sounds at The Hippodrome
For years, SoFar Sounds have been secretly putting on ultra-intimate gigs in living rooms (yes, living rooms – we’re guessing other people must keep theirs tidier than ours). You sign up, get emailed the gig dates for the month ahead, then apply for a space. The band you’re seeing remains a surprise till the night itself – and previous performers have included Hozier, Staves and Bastille. But next week, SoFar is thinking small on a bigger scale, with a secret gig at The Hippodrome in London’s West End. And, of course, this is no ordinary gig – in true SoFar style, the auditorium will be closed, with the crowd sitting on stage with the band. Amazing access guaranteed – plus no one’s left with the hoovering up afterwards.
20 April, free Sign up at sofarsounds.com
EXHIBITION: Nothing Perishes at Soho Revue
So you reckon you don’t have the time for art appreciation? Well, the new Soho Revue brings you works by the most exciting young artists, without taking you off-route from your shopping day in Carnaby. It may be small, but this gallery has big ambitions, as proven by inaugural exhibition Nothing Perishes. Highlights include Scarlett Bowman’s abstract sculptures made from setting (bear with us) rubbish bags into iridescent concrete – it’s about finding beauty in the ordinary, don’tcha know. Then there’s Jessica Abessira’s bold, hyper-real photography, Wendy Bevans’ ethereal polaroids on hanging silks and – best of all – the hypnotic, poignant cinematic installation starring Ruth Wilson (that’s right, from Luther!). All this, in a space compact enough to visit in a lunch hour. No more excuses now.
Until 16 May, free 14 Greek Street, London W1D 4DP sohorevue.com<
EVENT: The Tweed Run
Why just go for a bike ride, when you can go for a ‘sartorially elegant’ bike ride? Well, why indeed? That’s why we’re dusting off our most dapper Harris blazer, mounting our Penny Farthing* and pedalling over to The Tweed Run, a terribly stylish cycle around London that has just one entry criteria: participants must be attired in 1920s/30s – you guessed it – tweeds. The well-heeled two-wheelers will follow a route from Trafalgar Square around the city, before finishing at a suitably genteel West End after party. Expect the streets to be filled with flat caps, plus fours and luxuriant moustaches – just the way things jolly well should be, Old Bean. *By Penny Farthing, we actually mean beaten-up Raleigh shopper - but we like to imagine.
18 April, £25 Start at Trafalgar Square tweedrun.com
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