What’sOn
■ Books ■ Clubs ■ Comedy 36 40 48
■ Film ■ Kids ■ LGBT 52 65 68
■ Music ■ Theatre ■ Visual Art 69 101 111
AroundTown HITLIST MARKETS, ELECTIONS, PAGAN RITES
The Grassmarket Festival Enjoy your bank holiday in the Grassmarket, with a vintage clothing market, various cake and crafts stalls and an Avalanche Records-run live music stage. Fri 29 & Sat 30 Apr, Edinburgh, Grassmarket.
Beltane Fire Festival Paint-daubed pagans with an interest in nudity, your time has come again! Edinburgh’s legendary fire fest ushers in the rites of spring once more. Sat 30 Apr, Edinburgh, Calton Hill. A Hingmy in the Cafe Excellent Glasgow writer/performer Martin O’Connor is turning the Arches café into Govan Market this month. See soundcloud.com/martinspoken for a preview. Fri 6 & Wed 25 May, Glasgow, Arches.
Joyworks World Laughter Day Laugh-In Laughter therapy coaches Joyworks stage an event in aid of the Prince and Princess of Wales Hospice. Sun 1 May, Glasgow, Burgh Halls, 9 Burgh Hall Street.
Unholyrood: An Evening of Scottish Political Cabaret Politik poking with Vladimir McTavish (pictured), Tom Leonard and more. See preview, page 34. Voodoo Rooms, Edinburgh, Wed 4 May. Words Per Minute It’s the monthly spoken word, live music, film and performance gig’s first birthday celebration, featuring performers past and present. Sun 8 May, 4–6pm, The Arches, Glasgow.
Streetland The return of Govanhill’s ace music and arts festival and street party, organised by the art folks at the Chalet gallery. See streetland.net. Fri 29 & Sat 30 Apr, Glasgow, Westmoreland Street, Southside.
Words Auction Spoken word types show off their wares before being ‘sold’ off to the highest bidder, who’ll recieve a bespoke work of their own. Raising funds for Inky Fingers and the Forest Cafe. Sun 15 May, Edinburgh, Axo Gallery.
Neu! Reekie! Politics, poetry, music and film, most likley with a republican air, featuring Jock Scot, Roy Moller, RJ Thomson and a ‘Raffle of the Absurd’. Scottish Book Trust, Edinburgh, Fri 29 Apr.
It’s a dead liberty! Election- themed Mayfesto shenanigans, with Scottish theatre powerhouses Wildcat and 7:84. See Mayfesto feature, page 102, and theatre listings. Wed 4–Sat 7 May, Glasgow, Tron Theatre.
32 THE LIST 28 Apr–26 May 2011
list.co.uk/aroundtown
NEIGHBOURHOODWatch AROUND YOUR BIT OF TOWN
PARTICK GLASGOW
What’s it like? The bit of the salubrious West End that still feels properly Glaswegian: cool café bars, delis and boutiques sitting tooth by rough-shaven jowl with classic boozers, betting shops, greasy spoons and pound stores.
Where’s it, like? For the purposes of this column, it’s anything off the stretch of Dumbarton Road between the bottom of Byres Road and the Clydeside slipway.
Who’s from there? Only the most famous Glaswegian ever. Billy Connolly spent his childhood weekends reading and dreaming in Partick Library, and depending on your source grew up on either White Street or Stewartville Street. Why would I go there? For the banter or the food, probably. Eating-wise, we’d recommend Ichiban, Roastit Bubbly Jock’s, Bibi’s Cantina, and the vibrant trio of Criterion, Pinxto and the splendidly rock’n’roll Velvet Elvis. If you want to do more than just eat and drink, Rio Café on Mansfield Park, with its revolving rota of live music, cabaret nights and DJ sets from Glasgow’s indie aristocracy is a good bet.
What about shopping? You mentioned boutiques . . . Yeees, and there are many in Mansfield Park, but the real joy of shopping in Partick comes from the charity shops, which get progressively more, ah, eclectic the further up Dumbarton Road you go. Keep an eye out for excellent shopfront puns: our current favourites are Quali-Tea (they sell tea) and Partick-u-lar Dry Cleaning (they sell cleaning) .