Pick of the Week: 16 - 22 February

 

Hey Colossus, Grey Hairs and Nadir 
February is the coldest, most miserable month. There are no bank holidays to look forward to, and not a drop of sunshine around, which means that even when it’s slinging it down you can’t fill Instagram with spirit-lifting rainbow snaps. But whatever, the gods of hardcore have heard your prayers and are answering them with an evening of all-out carnage, brought to you by Damn You!. Not only will it be loud, it will more than likely be wonderfully messy and epic. Hey Colossus promise to project calculated chaos through their outrageously loud sound system and Grey Hairs, on the verge of releasing their EP, will be grinding their fingers to the bone with their incredulously fast riffs. You can even bring your own booze to make things a bit merrier.
Saturday 21 February, 8pm, SOAN Studios

Graham Sutherland's Cricifixtion

In the Shadow of War
In celebration of the seventieth anniversary of WWII, you lot are being invited to broaden your horizons and deepen your cultural knowledge with an exhibition of post-war art. Define the difference between abstraction and realism for yourself by taking in works by artists such as Francis Bacon,  Elisabeth Prink and Lucian Freud - the artist famous for his portrait of the Queen, which was not her favourite, to say the least. Within the works on display, you will find several references to the war, including Nazi imagery within Bacon’s work, and Holocaust references in Graham Sutherland’s Crucifixtion. You don’t need to be a top art boff to go and have a peek at the work on show, and you won’t have to dig into your pockets either. The free event is bound to be a wicked conversation starter down at your local, too.
Monday 16 - Sunday 22 February, 11 - 5pm, free, Djangoly Art Gallery

Detonate – Hot Damn 
Back with a bang and not taking any prisoners, the good ol’ Bodega is on hand to spice up your month with an event to shake the core of your soul. Detonate is ready, and with a lineup like this one, it’s going to go off. Along with your coat, you can slip off your winter blues at the door and prepare to call in sick on the Friday – this school night shindig won’t let you leave early. JiKay, Mr Carmack and Massappeals are on standby to provide the soundtrack to the night, with more electronic beats than you can shake a glow stick at (there seem to be a lot of those this month). Get online to book your tickets to guarantee entry, they’re expected to fly off the digital shelves. Dust off your party hat and away you go, young reveller.
Thursday 17 February, 10pm, £7, The Bodega

They've got no idea - they're clueless

Beyond Clueless 
Like a giant hot pot of all your favourite American coming-of-age movies,  with the recipe book presented alongside it. Ooh we do love a good food analogy here at the ‘Lion, must be lunch time. Broado’s new feature coming this week lets you have a gander at the Hollywood movie high school under director, Charlie Lynne’s microscope. Narrated by teen movie alumni Fairuzi Balk (The Craft and American History X) take a journey through the puberty of the movie industry, and work out whether there is more to our cult favourites than pulsating pimples and embarrassing crushes.
Monday 16 February, 8.45pm, £8, Broadway

PhD in the Pub 
It’s been a long week, hasn’t it folks. Springtime feels like it will never arrive, and we’ll be stuck in eternal darkness forever more. You wake up in the dark, and you leave work in the dark. Pull open the curtains in protest at the gloomy time of year and enlighten your mind with a pint in your hand. The smarty-pants PhD kids from our lovely universities are preparing their final notes to give you a glimpse into the worlds they are studying. This week’s lesson plan includes a study of the hunter-gatherer diets in Jordan, an insight to Polish immigration beyond immigration statistics and the detection of dark matter. Oo-er. Your mates will never call you dim again.
Wednesday 18 February, free, 7.30pm, The Vat and Fiddle

Three in the bed and the little one said...

Bedroom Farce 
Valentines day doesn’t run smooth for everyone and if yours resulted in your date puking up all over your best bed-linen in between instructing you to "do it like their ex", then you may be feeling a little down on your luck. Don’t be so hard on yourself, my friend, it happens to the best of us. Treat yourself to an evening of theatre to lift yourself from your romantic woes, and make yourself feel better by watching other relationships crumble before your very eyes. In an entirely comedic fashion, of course. Enter three couple’s bedrooms from behind the fourth wall, sit back, and relax as the drama unfolds in true farcical fashion. Your love troubles won’t seem so bad after all.
Monday 16 - Saturday 21 February, 7.30pm, Lace Market Theatre

A Tale of Two Women 
We’re inundated with theatre this week, and in a day and age where women on both the stage and the screen are valued by their youth and beauty, we’re pleased to see a play which turns these ideas on their head. The two-woman show written and directed by Lisa Jackman depicts the effects of one man’s death on two elderly women from entirely different economic and cultural backgrounds. It’s set to launch female actors straight back into the spotlight they deserve. With a three day run with both evening and matinee performances, the performance explores the themes of belonging, identity, wellbeing and the cultural differences between Jamaica and Britain.
Thursday 26 - Saturday 28 February, 1pm - 7pm, £5/£7, New Art Exchange

Made of paper, still chuffin' scareh

Chinese New Year 
The year of the Ram is fast approaching us, so get yer red envelopes full of cash money at the ready and get yer bums down Lakeside for some good, old-fashioned Eastern celebrations. There’ll be fireworks a-plenty - and no doubt some sort of dragon - as we celebrate the New Year and the tenth anniversary of the University of Nottingham in China. A selection of films created by Chinese students at the university will be shown, along with several workshops and art galleries for you to take in. It’s an all out family affair, so bring the little ones along and wrap em up in their cosiest hats for the outdoor firework event at Highfields Park.
Sunday 22 February, various times and prices, Lakeside Theatre & Highfields Park

Rammel Club 
February 28. Birthday of Clifton crooner Jake Bugg, and the day the first Gulf War ended back in 1991. This year, the day is home to none other than the Rammel Club. Experimentalist music will fill the walls of the Reaktor Studio for an afternoon of collaboration and exploration, courtesy of artists such as Dale Cornish and Marlo Eggplant, who uses sparse instrumentation including processed harp notes. It’s definitely not your run of the mill musical event, and who knows, the twenty eighth could become the day you fall in love with the dulcet tones of shortwave radio static, courtesy of Melanie O’Dubshlaine.
Saturday 28th February, 2pm, £3, Reaktor Studio

Youthoracle

Youthoracle VS Chronikill
Something is brewing in the undertones of our fine city, and we sense it’s about to boil over. Youthoracle is working up a storm with his new rap battle league, Rebellion, which is set to take over the underground scene like wildfire. To prepare you all for the chaos that’s about to ensue, ‘Oracle has kindly organised a warm-up battle against able competitor, Chronikill, to prepare you for the main event to come. Cramming you all into the Bodega will be no mean feat, so you’d best get there early to make sure you get in. It’s expected to go off.
Saturday 21 February, 12 - 7pm, free before 1.30pm, £8 on the door, The Bodega

For the motherload of everything else going on this week check out our comprehensive Nottingham events listings.

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