- Culture Club and Bananarama play Kenwood House
This is shaping up to be 1 of our 1st gigs proper since Madonna at the Palladium pre-lockdowns in February 2020 and we couldn’t be more thrilled. The occasion is Heritage Live and the setting is north London’s beautiful Kenwood House. We’ve seen Rufus Wainwright here before and we know we’re in for something special because Culture Club and Bananarama always deliver live. Tickets
- Read on for reasons including new albums from Lorde and Will Young and the Victorious festival
2. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Cinderella
Can there have been a show to have a more delayed opening night? Cinderella was our album of the month in July and finally opens this month. We’ll be reviewing a 22 August preview ahead of its actual, as we write this, 25 August opening. Tickets
3. Lorde releases Solar Power album
The title track of this 12-song LP was our song of the month in July and this 3rd album already has a great deal to live up to. Lorde’s 2nd collection Melodrama was our favourite LP of 2017 and her performance at that year’s Glastonbury our highlight. The album is out 20 August and next year Lorde plays a UK tour including London gigs at Camden Roundhouse and Alexandra Palace. Tickets
4. Will Young is Crying On The Bathroom Floor
Young’s 8th album proper finds him covering songs made famous by female singers and so far we’ve heard his interpretations of Bat For Lashes’ Daniel (a song of the week for us in May), Claire Maguire’s Elizabeth Taylor and MUNA’s Crying On The Bathroom Floor. The material performs the dual trick of lending Young a credibility he perhaps feels he has yet to be afforded while bringing material from a diverse range of artists to fresh ears. We can’t wait to hear his interpretation of Robyn‘s Indestructible for example. Out 6 August, there’s also a scaled-back series of UK dates including gigs in London soon. Tickets
5. Gorillaz play The 02 for NHS workers
Damon Albarn’s comic book band play 2 gigs at The 02 in August including 1 on 10 August which is free to NHS workers. We’ve never seen them live before but are looking forward to this 15-date European tour. Tickets
6. Nile Rodgers and Melanie C play Portsmouth’s Victorious
In 2018 we described this as a rival to Glastonbury by the sea and our pick of the acts playing this year over 3 days from 27 to 29 August includes Melanie C (whose Colour And Light album was a highlight of last year) and Chic’s Nile Rodgers whose most recent greatest hits set has included his work with Madonna and Duran Duran. Tickets
7. Fyr & Flamme release debut album
3rd single Øve os på hinanden topped the chart back home in Denmark, was a single of the month for us and was selected to represent the country in this year’s Eurovision. Its rather stilted performance was surely the reason it finished 11th and narrowly missed out on the final but it’s the 80s-infused schlager pop that we were loving. Their Debutalbum is out 13 August. Tickets
8. Limahl plays Rewind
In 2015 we visited Rewind South in Henley-upon-Thames, Oxfordshire, and for those looking for a festival where time has seemingly stopped still in the 80s, it’s the place to be. Looking at this year’s line-up, the reunion of Jimmy Somerville and Sarah Jane Morris for Don’t Leave Me This Way will be a thrill on the Saturday 21 August. But it’s monstagigz favourites Bananarama, Marc Almond and Limahl, fresh from Never Ending Story featuring in Stranger Things, that we’d most want to see. Tickets
9. Baptiste returns to BBC1
2014 drama The Missing was so beloved that after 2 series its titular detective, played by Tchéky Karyo, earned a spin-off series. The 2nd is airing on Sundays at 9pm on BBC1 now and is available in its 6-episode entirety to watch on BBC iPlayer. It stars Fiona Shaw as a British ambassador whose husband and 2 teenage sons go missing whilst on holiday in the Hungarian mountains. Watch
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