The Divine Comedy

AWARDS SHORTLIST: MONSTAS: Best Gig of 2022

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It’s been quite the year, it’s almost Christmas and what would the festive season be without some recognition of the best of 2022? Over the next month we’ll shortlist five nominees in each of 16 categories for our 8th annual Oscars, or monstas if you will, of 2022.

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GIG REVIEW: The Divine Comedy at the Barbican Centre (5-night residency overview)

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

WHEN?: Wednesday 31 August to Sunday 4 September 2022

‘Same time, same place – this is starting to feel like a full-time job,’ reflects The Divine Comedy frontman Neil Hannon as he arrives on stage at this prestigious venue at 7.30pm for a 5-night residency that will see his band play a total of 113 different songs.

  • Read on for reasons including how Hannon would do a 6-night residency once the band’s released a new album
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9 reasons why we can’t wait for August 2022 starring Divine Comedy

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

  1. The Divine Comedy at the Barbican

Frontman Neil Hannon celebrates 30 years of his band by performing 10 of his albums in full across this 5-night residency in the Barbican in central London. The run begins on 31 August and continues on successive nights until Sunday 4 September. We last saw the band at the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith in 2019 at a show which won our Best Gig monsta that year. Barbican residency review Tickets

  • Read on for reasons including Victorious Festival, a new play by Andrew Pollard and Bananarama gigs
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SONG OF THE MONTH: The Best Mistakes by The Divine Comedy (December 2021)

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

By Neil Durham

WORTH A LOOK?: *****

It’s quite the feat for a band that has been releasing records for 4 decades to put out a new single that sounds both quintessentially them but also with an understanding of what made supergroup ABBA’s return to the fold this year such a thrill.

  • Read on for reasons including everything we know about how to see The Divine Comedy live in 2022
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GIG REVIEW: The Divine Comedy at the Eventim Apollo

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHERE? Eventim Apollo

WHEN? 17/10, tour runs to 9/11/19

SETLIST: Europop; Queuejumper; Generation Sex; Commuter Love; Office Politics; Norman and Norma; Come Home Billy Bird; The Synthesizer Service Centre Super Summer Sale; Infernal Machines; You’ll Never Work In This Town Again; I’m A Stranger Here; At The Indie Disco; I Like; National Express; The Life And Soul Of The Party; A Feather In Your Cap;  A Lady Of A Certain Age; Absent Friends; When The Working Day Is Done; Something For The Weekend; Philip And Steve’s Furniture Removal Company; Your Daddy’s Car; Songs Of Love; Tonight We Fly

‘Sometimes I get a little nervous about London. I make myself less nervous by basically assuming that you’re … Nottingham,’ says Divine Comedy frontman Neil Hannon endearingly to audience cheers. ‘Excellent playing along.’

  • Read on for reasons including how this was a 5* performance not fully appreciated by your reviewer

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AWARDS: MONSTAS: Our Best Song of 2019 so far

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

We awarded 14 monstas for the best pop, theatre, TV and film of 2018 in December – and here we look at the cream of 2019 so far and what’s to come. Make Me Feel, New Rules, Can’t Stop The Feeling and Goodbye To Yesterday are previous winners in this category.

  • Read on for our top 5 best songs of 2019 so far and our hopes for the next half year

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PREVIEW: 6 reasons why we can’t wait for ONBlackheath

Posted on by mrmonstagigz

  1. Paloma Faith

We’ve lived in Blackheath for 18 years and this festival has a fun, family atmosphere and this year takes place on Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 September. We 1st saw Paloma Faith outdoors at Lovebox in east London in 2010. She’s always had a way with a crowd, particularly in her home city, and her back catalogue’s stronger than ever.

  • Read on for reasons including The Mariachis, De La Soul and Squeeze

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