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Gig review: Spear of Destiny at Rescue Rooms

Still going strong since the band's original formation in 1982, Spear of Destiny have had many incarnations and permutations over the years. Back with a new album Janus, and plenty of energy to tour it, the band are proving themselves - once again - to be legends of the British rock scene...

Theatre Review: Ghost Stories

Three tales which will have you leaping out of your seat

We catch up with Moonlit, winner of the 2025 Ultimate Battle of the Bands competition

Following their triumph at the Ultimate Battle of the Bands this year, and ahead of their Rough Trade appearance, we caught up with all six members of Moonlit to find out what the win meant to them, how they feel about playing Splendour Festival, and what else is on the horizon for them as a band…

Exhibition Review: Money Talks: Stories from the Coins at Mansfield Museum

An exhibition about money featuring, amongst other things, a hoard of Roman coins that have gone on public display for the first time and date back to the BC era...

Film Review: Sinners

Director Ryan Coogler has graced us with a feature you can really sink your teeth into… 

Gig review: Seas of Mirth, Bethlehem Casuals and The Barnacles at The Old Cold Store Nottingham

The merry-makers of Nottingham were out on Friday night as promoter I’m Not From London presented local legends Seas of Mirth, with support from The Barnacles and Bethlehem Casuals at The Old Cold Store...

'Bad Betty Live' Returns to Peggy's Skylight

This Sunday, watch the best live poetry with a daiquiri in hand.

Gig review: Chris Miggells at Sherwood Observatory

At the age of 12, Chris Miggells began to play the piano – something which was encouraged by his parents to keep him out of mischief. From that point on, the Mansfield composer fell in love with the instrument, channelling his synaesthesia into writing classical works and performing candlelit concerts across the county and beyond. With word out about his incredible talent, Chris brought “The Piano Experience” concert series to the recently renovated Sherwood Observatory for three sold out shows in their new Planetarium. A candlelit concert under the moon and stars? This is one show we simply couldn’t miss…

Stage plays, Stewart Lee and vegan food at Sneinton Market: Here's what's on this week in Nottingham 28 April - 4 May

This week in Nottingham it's all about the stage, as legendary productions like Les Misérables coincide with experimental, modern shows like Ghost Stories. Meanwhile, the Sneinton Market Avenues host one of our city's most loved markets...

In Photos: Goya Gumbani at Mimm Studios

The last Let's Build Fam event in a 10-part series saw Mimm Studios host a Q&A and performance from Goya Gumbani. Support came from Loud Planet...

Theatre Review: Murder She Didn't Write

A hilarious evening of improvised murder mystery mayhem

Gig review: Self Esteem at Rescue Rooms

With the launch of the new album A Complicated Woman, there's plenty to celebrate for Self Esteem. We dropped in to one of her very special Rescue Rooms shows and found the pop artist on exceptional form, despite some tiredness...

Soul Survivor: veteran DJ Jonathan on cutting his teeth at The Palais in the 1970s

Jonathan (aka Jonathan Woodliffe) has a long history of DJing in Nottingham. To many his name is synonymous to many with the early days of Rock City, but before that he cut his teeth as a DJ at The Palais. We asked Jonathan about his experiences of the Palais back in those halcyon days of the 1970s…

Film Review: The Penguin Lessons

The Penguin Lessons is the latest in that oh so recognisable cinema sub-trope, British people doing slightly quirky things in the face of adversity...

Film Review: The Return

We review The Return, a stripped back take on Homer’s classic The Odyssey…

Musicals, exhibits, legendary bass players and groovy deep sea gigs: Here's what's on this week in Nottingham 21 - 27 April

From a musical adaptation of British TV classics to giant replicas of Earth, take a look at what's happening in Nottingham this week...

LeftLion's Latest Listens #20: Notts music we're currently spinning

In this Easter weekend edition of LeftLion's Latest Listens, our music team reviews recent releases from Katie Keddie, Joey Collins, Blu Syrup, Lace Thief and Karen Macleod...

Review: Record Store Day 2025

Last weekend, Rough Trade Nottingham hosted the 18th consecutive Record Store Day, with local bands and international acts hitting the stage for a series of exciting live performances from the likes of Bored Marsh, Chloe Rodgers, Sancho Panza, Airport Dad and more...

Interview: The Northern Rascals present Sunny Side at Lakeside Arts

Northern Rascals are bringing their dance drama Sunny Side to Nottingham, a painfully honest account of male mental wellness, or the lack if it.  Founders Anna Holmes and Sam Ford talk to Left Lion about their work championing those outside the mainstream...

Lost in the Stacks: we visit Nottingham’s secret Library, Bromley House

Every city has their hidden gems, for those who are curious enough to seek them out. Just off the Market Square, Nottingham boasts its very own secret library in a preserved Georgian townhouse. A cornucopia of local history, volumes of fiction and non-fiction, and one of the only walled gardens left in the city, Bromley House Library is a bibliophile’s dream waiting to be explored…

By the willows: Refugee Roots and Red Sea FC bring the beautiful game to Attenborough

Refugee Roots a local charity helping refugees build friendships and find a place to call home recently sponsored the Red Sea FC, a team largely made up of refugees whose goal is to ‘bring together sport-loving youth from all over the globe.’ The team made up of members of the refugee and migrant communities that have recently arrived to Nottingham and consider this city their second home entered the development league and proudly wear the kit sponsored by Refugee Roots. 

At the game where the team premiered wearing their new kits, volunteer befriender and language teacher Dr Christopher Towers, a poet, academic and football lover who also has a particular passion for football poetry and written collections such as Hinterlands made sure he wasn’t on the bench for this game and came to experience it all.

Gig review: Primal Scream at Rock City

Primal Scream are stone-cold legends of British music. From fusing rock-and-roll with the burgeoning acid-house scene to delirious effect on 1991’s masterpiece Screamadelica, through the brash vitriol and anger of 2000’s XTRMNTR and the pop-flecked Chaosmosis, their restlessness and ability to wrap disparate genres around their inimitable core of emotionally weighty songwriting has secured their position as one of the most vital bands of their generation...

Stage Review: Jeff Wayne's The War of The Worlds at Motorpoint Arena

"The chances of anything coming from Mars, was a million to one they said!"

Despite that fact, H.G. Wells’ classic work of science fiction, The War of the Worlds, continues to resonate 130 years later, seeing multiple adaptations over the last century. Today, it lives on through Jeff Wayne’s iconic musical and rock opera, which itself has been around since 1978 and touring the world in various forms since 2006. With this year’s The Spirit of Man tour boasting an intriguing cast with some familiar faces from the worlds of pop and rock, we went along to check out the show at the Motorpoint Arena and learn more about this story’s enduring appeal…

Dom Joly, Spontaneous Potter, Phat bass therapy and theatre: here's what's on this week in Nottingham 14-20 April 2025

Here in Notts this week we've got plenty happening, from theatrical twists on classic stories to delicious Cuban dining, and comedy. Here's our top picks...

We speak to Alabama 3 about nicknames, The Sopranos theme song, and keeping it very real

Our writer Ria was thrilled - and a little nervous - to speak with Alabama 3 frontman Rob Spragg following the band's triumphant Rescue Rooms show. But nerves were quickly put aside as the conversation turned to nicknames, storytelling and The Sopranos...