ZINE SCENE
The Brighton Zine Fest is back, celebrating all that’s great about the photostat’n’staples DIY publishing scene. Saturday 19th will see fans get together at the Cowley Club (10am – 6pm) for collaborative zine making and workshops. The evening gig at the Cowley will feature zine-making bands, and Sunday’s fair at the Hanover Centre will be a place to spend a couple of quid, swap the fruits of your labour, and drink some more tea with like-minded zinesters.
PINK PAST
Lip Schtick have put together a whole host of events this February to celebrate LGBT History month. Setting up shop at the Marlborough Theatre, as part of the Pink Fringe, performers new and legendary will be taking to the stage; including performance artist Lavinia Co-Op, an original member of comedy troupe the Bloolips, rising spoken word star Nick Field, NY drag king Diane Torr reflects on Dusty Springfield and Time Out critic’s choice, intellectual drag queen Timberlina. See pinkfringe.org.uk.
SOWING AND GROWING
Seed-swapping has become a bit of a cult trend with gardening enthusiasts for swapping ‘outlawed’ plants and commercially unavailable fruits, helping strains of lesser-known vegetation to thrive. Hove’s Seedy Sunday community meet-up is turning 10 this month, celebrating with a day of workshops, stalls and talks on biodiversity. Pick up tips on beekeeping, composting and chat to the seed doctors at hand for some germinating know-how. Head to Hove Town Hall on Sunday 6th, 10am – 4.30pm.
NIPPON NIGHTS
London’s most authentic Japanese club night is coming to the Hobgoblin on Friday 4th. Hear the likes of Polysics, Mad Capsule Markets, Dir En Grey, with eclectic Tokyo pop act Hibari making their UK live debut – a bit like a softer, even more playful version of DJ Scotch Egg. They’re also bringing along the ultimate photo opportunity, a purikura booth. Instead of all cramming into a tiny Photo-Me booth, Japanese teenagers are getting papped in these spacious sticker-slash-photo booths crammed with hundreds of schmaltzy backgrounds of kittens and love hearts – take away a photo to remember.
DON’T ESCAPE TO THE BAR
The first music festival on the Brighton calendar springs into action over three days in May – yes, The Great Escape is back. The first of over 300 bands playing across 30 venues have been announced, including Friendly Fires, Warpaint, Katy B and many more. Early bird tickets are available for just £35 until Tuesday 15th February from www.escapegreat.com or local outlets Resident and Rounder. Some shows, including Friendly Fires, are at The Dome, requiring a £6 wristband top-up – but it’s still big music for small money.
FRANCLASSIC COIN IT IN
Once again proving that Brighton’s got talent, funky acoustic trio FranClassic have won the revered Open Mic UK 2010 competition, beating 5,000 other entrants to claim the top spot at London’s indigO2. The likely lads as overall winners have it made, with a record contract and professional management from Future Music Management, a UK tour, £15,000 towards a single release, national press coverage and a complete repackaging of their ‘look’. Expect to see a lot of these guys. can it be?
DAMO’S DOWN
New night Yeah Yeah Industrial Estate at the Green Door store is the most densely cultural event we’ve seen listed in ages. Cult music figure Damo Suzuki, of the legendary krautrock band Can, is coming to town with the Damo Suzuki Network, together with Brighton ‘sound carriers’ AK/DK and VJs Metaluna in what will be a live, totally improvised set. Loads of other offbeat arty stuff will be taking place at the opening on Friday 11th – sound installations, film screenings and interviews.
FESTS GOING GOOD
No financial setbacks in sight for these homegrown festivals: Playgroup is rounding up talent and volunteers for their three-day event at their now trademark secret location. They’ll be getting everyone into the spirit for their 150 artist fun-fest at their Concorde 2 launch party on Friday 4th (see Club Previews). Meanwhile, the comparatively serene Meadowlands festival in Lewes will be adding comedy and spoken word tents, curated by London’s Bang Said The Gun troupe.
WORDS BY DANI COLYER, NICK COQUET AND LYDIA STOCKBRIDGE
2011
