- Suede live and new album Autofiction
Suede may have reformed in 2010 but they’ve never mattered to us in the same way as they did when we 1st saw them at Portsmouth Pyramids in 1993 – until now. Singles She Still Leads Me On and 15 Again show a flair and consistency we’ve not seen this century. New album Autofiction is released 16 September and we see them the night before at a special gig at PRYZM, Kingston. Tickets
- Read on for reasons including The P Word, The Band’s Visit, Eureka Day and Self Esteem
2. The P Word at Bush Theatre
Waleed Akhtar’s new play charts the lives of 2 gay Pakistani men. Zafar flees homophobic persecution in Pakistan to seek asylum in the UK while Londoner Bilal, or Billy as he prefers to be known, is ground down by life. Runs 9 September through 22 October. Tickets Preview review
3. The Band’s Visit at the Donmar
The winner of 10 Tonys in 2018, this original musical finally makes its way to the West End to tell the story of a band of musicians who are lost, arrive in a town and bring it to life in many unexpected ways. Directed by this venue’s artistic director Michael Longhurst (Caroline, Or Change) this runs 24 September to 3 December. Tickets
4. Eureka Day starring Helen Hunt at the Old Vic
Hunt makes her London theatre debut in what the venue describes as an ‘explosive new comedy by Jonathan Spector’ about a mumps public health scare at a California school. Hunt won a Best Actress Oscar for As Good As It Gets in 1998 while the bulk of her 4 Golden Globe and Emmy wins were for 90s sitcom Mad About You. We’re excited that the cast also includes the lead in our favourite ever film, Matthew Warchus’ Pride, Ben Schnetzer who we see on stage for the 1st time. Runs 6 September through 31 October. Tickets Preview review
5. Mercury Prize starring Self Esteem and Buckley and Butler
It took us a while but Self Esteem’s 2nd LP, shortlisted here, Prioritise Pleasure was an album of the month for us this year despite being released in 2021. Jessie Buckley won our Best Theatre Actress monsta last year and the monsta for Best Performance Of A Song for the titular Cabaret, which continues to run without her at The Kit Kat Club at the Playhouse Theatre. Her album with Bernard Butler is also shortlisted but it’s a little leftfield for us. The Prize is awarded 8 September 2022. Update: The Queen’s death meant the ceremony was postponed.
6. 2nd Rina Sawayama album
Lead off single This Hell was a song of the month for us in June. We’ve heard 2 other songs from the new album including the title track and it’s shaping up to be a more mainstream affair than her surname-titled debut which won our Best Album monsta in 2020. We saw her live at Electric Brixton last year and she tours including a London date after the release of her Hold The Girl album on 16 September 2022. Tickets
7. Kim Wilde live at the Palladium
While some 80s stars mellow with age, others seem to absolutely embrace it and so it is with Kim Wilde who we saw captivate the Mighty Hoopla audience in south London earlier this summer. Her much-postponed 11-date UK greatest hits tour calls in at London’s Palladium this month. Tickets
8. Tears For Fears live
We saw the band at an intimate 02 Shepherd’s Bush Empire gig in July before an injury for Curt Smith cut short the boys’ UK summer tour of stately homes and outdoor venues. We think Curt’s recovered and hope this similarly intimate nightclub gig in PRYZM in Kingston, Surrey is going ahead. Tickets
9. Greenwich Comedy Festival starring Sarah Keyworth
Keyworth was 1 of the best things about this year’s Glastonbury Festival and she joins an extensive bill at this celebration of comedy in south-east London near the banks of the Thames between 14 and 18 September. Tickets
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