COMEDY
Glasgow International Comedy Festival, various venues, from Wednesday to April 2
Birthday cake at the ready. After Covid’s unsporting interruption, this year sees the 20th Glasgow International Comedy Festival since it launched back in 2002 and there are already several shows that have sold out. But there are still plenty of options for anyone seeking a good night out.
Among this year’s guests are Phil Wang, Ardal O’Hanlon, above, Zoe Lyons, Andrew Maxwell and Stuart Lee. Judy Murray and her “other” son Duncan [aka Chris Forbes] will be at the King’s Theatre on March 19 after a sellout show at last year’s Edinburgh Fringe and Shaun Williamson, aka Barry from EastEnders, is hosting Barrioke Glasgow! at Saint Luke’s on March 18. Our shout is up-and-coming Marjolein Robertson, the neurodivergent Shetland comedian who is playing The Stand Comedy Club on March 22 and April 22. Catch her before she starts playing bigger venues.
For more details, visit glasgowcomedyfestival.com
MUSIC
Suede, 02 Academy, Glasgow, Tuesday
“Here they come, the (slightly older) beautiful ones …” Ah Suede, right, the greatest Britpop band (well, it’s them or Pulp). Age has not withered them. If anything, they’re as fierce and thrilling a live proposition as they were back in their pomp. And front man Brett Anderson has aged spectacularly well. They’re back in Glasgow to promote their latest album Autofiction, which is a fine thing. But there will be more than a few throwbacks to the 1990s in the mix too. “She sells hearts …
EXHIBITION
Vermeer, edited by Pieter Roelofs and Gregor JM Weber, Thames & Hudson, £50
Getting a ticket for the once-in-a-lifetime Vermeer exhibition, above, at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam this year might frankly be a bit of a challenge, but you can at least console yourself with the exhibition catalogue, published by Thames & Hudson, which is a gorgeous thing. Nothing matches seeing a painting in the flesh, but this comes mightily close.
CLASSICAL
Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, St Giles Cathedral, Edinburgh, Friday
St Giles Cathedral hosts London Concertante for this candlelight concert of one of the most beloved set of violin concertos in the history of music. Bach and Mozart are also on the evening’s setlist. As good a way as any to welcome in spring (well, here’s hoping).
BOOK EVENT
Peter Frankopan: The Earth Transformed, Pleasance Theatre, Edinburgh, Monday
The Professor of Global History at Oxford University (and author of The Silk Roads) is in Edinburgh, courtesy of Blackwell’s, to launch his new book which looks at humanity’s relationship to the natural world. The Earth Transformed takes us from the Big Bang to the present day and examines our impact on the planet we live on.
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