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Theatre Review: Only Fools and Horses: The Musical

Why do only fools and horses work? Well, perhaps Del Boy and Rodney can answer that as Britain's most beloved market traders ride again... 

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...

Gig review: Cliffords at The Bodega

A double bill from Ireland - Cliffords and Bold Love - took to The Bodega on Wednesday night. The next two great bands to emerge from the country? We certainly think so…

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...

Gig review: The essence of "____" at The Bodega

When Corder, co-founder of local promoters Nottalott, set up his first event in March of last year entitled 'The Essence of Punk', the feedback and support for the event was overwhelmingly positive. It was only honourable that 12 months later he would put on a second - more enigmatically titled - event, not only to mark the anniversary, but to celebrate what the first event achieved: a platform to champion local talent, as well as to support local causes...

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…

Gig review: Panchiko at Rough Trade Nottingham

Going from an internet mystery that looked like it was never going to be solved to a well-known cult classic band across the UK, there isn’t any other Nottingham outfit that has been on as much of a journey as Panchiko…

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.

Our picks from the 2025 event calendar of the Malt Cross: Nottingham's preserved Victorian music hall

There are few locales near Old Market Square quite like the Malt Cross. As a nearly perfectly preserved Victorian music hall, the building toes the line between its status as a treasure trove of architectural history, and an epicentre of some of the city's most enjoyably 'out-there' occasions. Below, we've provided a rundown of what they have coming up this year...

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...

Pick Six: Tom Towle of Running Circle Records

Record Store Day takes place on Saturday 12 April this year, so we put some questions to Tom Towle, the boss of Running Circle Records on Freckingham Street…

Exhibition review: The Lovers at New Art Exchange chronicles LGBTQI+ couples over the years

New Art Exchange presents The Lovers, an exhibition of photographic works by Sunil Gupta and Charan Singh. Bringing together two collections of photographs taken forty years apart, the exhibition depicts LGBTQIA+ couples alongside a slideshow of images and a vitrine of publications featuring Gupta’s work.

Gig review: Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls at Rock City

From the moment our writer Bassey joined the large queues to get into Rock City, he knew this was going to be a special night. When Frank Turner's playing it always is. The hard-working troubadour was in town with his band The Sleeping Souls to promote the aptly-named album Undefeated, and the atmosphere was electric with eager anticipation...

Gig review and interview: Pale Blue Eyes at The Bodega

Following the release of their third album New Place, Pale Blue Eyes have been bringing their new record, carefree charm and hypnotic energy to the stage. The innovative Totnes-Sheffield shoegaze trio have travelled far and wide, and we were lucky to be graced with their surreal presence yet again at The Bodega in Nottingham, and have the chance to chat to the band, too...

Corner Cafe brings an ethnically diverse menu to New Art Exchange

Opened at the end of February 2025, the Corner Café is a brand new rejuvenation of the coffee and food spot attached to the New Art Exchange, the UK’s largest gallery dedicated to contemporary visual arts from the Global Ethnic Majority. With a lack of community-led food, drink and social spaces present in the Hyson Green area, the NAE team sought to provide that, enlisting community on everything about the venue, from the decor, to the food, to the events. We popped down to see the colourful results.

We chat to Cliffords ahead of their Bodega headline show

In this part of the world, it feels as if Cork five-piece Cliffords have come out of nowhere. They broke through onto the scene with their EP Strawberry Scented followed up by the powerhouse single Bittersweet, packed with a gorgeous blend of melody and layered guitars, shoegaze and grunge influences abounding. But as LeftLion found out when chatting with vocalist Iona Lynch, the band have a rich history…

Gig review: Skunk Anansie at Rock City

The force of nature that is Skunk Anansie are on tour promoting their new album The Painful Truth. Three decades since he first witnessed Skin and the rest of the band in action, Mike Hazeldine went down to their sell out gig at what must be one of the best live music venues in the country, Rock City...

Gig review: The Zutons at Rock City

Do you wanna stay out all night? Are we gonna hang ’til it’s light? Do you wanna get outta your mind..? The Zutons have got the Rock City crowd Creepin’ on the Dancefloor…