It’s the end of January! It’s one day closer to springtime! It’s another step in the road to wearing that discounted culotte jumpsuit bought in the sales! And best of all, there’s plenty to do this weekend including taking a visit to a mafia-themed meatball restaurant, casting an eye over a sound of 2015, rummaging for vintage treasure or watching one of the best plays you’ll see all year.
**The meatballs that will make you feel like you’re in the mafia **
*Forza Win present Marcos Meatballs @ VAULT Festival *
Jan 28 onwards
The South London Italian banquet takes a guest spot at 2015’s experimental comedy and drama festival VAULT. They’ve transformed a space on Leake Street into an imagined South London via NYC mafia-restaurant with plenty of meatballs served at dimly lit tables with those classic red-check table cloths. Tickets are £15 for a meal, glass of wine and a side of murder. Could be a way to innocuously bump off your Tinder date if it’s going badly? Get tickets here.
The wardrobe refresh that won’t plunge you straight back into your overdraft
VVV Rummage Sale@ Bussey Building,
Jan 31st
Peckham Singer VV Brown (remember her) has also run VVVintage since 2006 - selling second hand clothes online and now at grab-it-quick rummage sales. This weekend she’s pitching up at the Bussey Building in Peckham, where you can grab a whole bag of clothes for just £20. Start practising folding up jackets really really small for added value..
**The tour featuring one of ‘the sounds of 2015’ (apparently)… **
Rae Morris @ Kazimier, Liverpool
Feb 1
She didn’t make the important top-5 but curly haired pop-pianist and singer-songwriter Rae Morris was officially named one of the Sounds of 2015 by the BBC in January. While the people doing the predicting often jump the gun (the lists have had as many duds as proper stars) the Blackpool based 21 year old has started the year well with her debut album ‘Unguarded’ currently in the midweek top 5. Like the sound of “coming-of-age tales… documenting those important year of growing up and learning”? Then check her out in Liverpool (Sunday), Glasgow, (Feb 3), Leeds (Feb 4), Birmingham (Feb 5), Manchester (Feb 6), Oxford (Feb 8) Brighton (Feb 10), Portsmouth (Feb 11), London (Feb 12), Bristol (Feb 14), Nottingham (Feb 15) and Norwich (Feb 16) as she heads out on tour.
The play that you don’t want to miss this time around…
*The Nether @ Duke Of York Theatre, London *
From Jan 30
US playwright Jennifer Haley’s much loved piece (that ran at the Royal Court last year) transfers to the grander Duke Of York theatre for another 12 weeks. A sci-fi thriller set in a dystopian future where people spend most of their time on a creation named the Nether (and in a reverse Matrix-like way some decide to cross over and spend all their time in virtual worlds) it turns dark(er) when a young detective uncovers users indulging the darkest of their desires. Get tickets here and don’t miss it this time.
The film that will make you rethink your entire wardrobe
*Inherent Vice@ UK Cinemas *
From Jan 29
Joaquin Phoenix covers his handsome face and stars as a stoned private investigator in incredibly questionable sideburns in this adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s sprawling novel. Reviews have been patchy but the cast is great (Owen Wilson, Benicio Del Toro, Katherine Waterston, Maya Rudolph, Reese Witherspoon all feature) so best to just go in and get lost in the plot (everyone is having an affair, involved in dodgy police dealings) while taking some style inspiration. Army jacket, slight flares and sandals looks like a comfy way to spend spring/summer 2015.
The event that proves Crowdfunding isn’t just men-funding-dates
V&A Lates: Crowdfunding @ The V&A, London
Fri 30 Jan
Although crowdfunding gets given a bad name by bearded ‘poets’ in Mumford waistcoats looking to pay for wildly overpriced dates and shit like this, Friday’s late session at the V&A promises to show the brighter side of the ‘sharing economy’ with presentations from more successful pitches. Take it in with a glass of wine and a catch up with the museum’s regular displays.
**The event that combines sport, Katy Perry and chicken wings. **
*The Superbowl *
Feb 1
Has Britain started to embrace American Football? As with the NBA for basketball, there are games hosted here and there are plenty of Super Bowl parties being thrown in London, Manchester, Liverpool (& more) this weekend. If an American friend insists you go along, ignore the game completely and concentrate on the chicken wings instead . Mmmmm….
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Picture: Eugenia Loli
This article originally appeared on The Debrief.