Pick of the Week: 6 - 12 April

Malt Cross Secret Garden

Kids’ Easter Fun 
For those with little nippers, it can sometimes be a chore to keep them suitably entertained for not a lot of cash over the school holidays. Fear not, whether you’re looking after them yourselves or have coerced someone else to while you earn a crust, the Malt Cross has some fun, messy and downright creative stuff going on over the break. Help create a magical secret garden beneath the music hall with glitter, glue, paint and more; let out your inner Picasso with a blush-free life drawing class – all the models are fully clothed; and get ready to make a racket by creating percussion instruments out of recycled material and ending the day with a performance. Easy!
Tuesday 7 – Thursday 16 April, various times, free/£4, Malt Cross

The Gorgeous Chans

The Gorgeous Chans 
They’ve won the Nusic Future Sound of Nottingham award, and we previously described them as akin to Vampire Weekend and Paul Simon. So far, these Hood Town lads are doing pretty well for themselves. They’ve only gone and topped it, though, with their headline gig at Rescue Rooms this month. A surefire way to have you groovin’ as much as the sticky floors will allow, the six-piece band of baby-faced musicians come fully inclusive of the odd horn or two in their sound. Supported by the likes of The Breakfast Club and everyone’s favourite friendly face, Josh Kemp, we want to be on the guestlist, for sure. Book yer tickets online, folks to avoid disappointment.
Tuesday 7 April, 6.30pm, £6, Rescue Rooms

Beeston Tales
The art of storytelling has existed for bleedin’ centuries. Back in the day, it was the only way to teach kiddies right from wrong, to pass news from town to town, and simply to give folks summat to do of a Friday eve. The lovely chaps of the Beeston Tales have put together an extra special evening of storytelling for you all, bringing the magic and mystery of the Amazon to Hood Town, with Brazillian storyteller Anamaria Lines. Her set, entitled Barbecued Husbands, was created after anthropologist, Betty Mindlin, collected stories from the indigenous tribes of the Amazon. Bringing the magic, mayhem and wilderness to life, Beeston’s never seen nuffin’ like it. All this, plus a selection of Brazilian and Portuguese tapas on standby for all you nibblers.
Wednesday 8 April, 7pm, £5, The White Lion

Acting Out
An important festival celebrating all forms of art while examining the links between mental health and the arts. Particularly looking at the boundaries between acceptable and abnormal behaviours, the programme deciphers how the arts can offer a therapeutic role, and challenges us to question societal norms. Mental health treatment is looked at through the history of the Lincoln Detox Center in Brooklyn in a performance at Nottingham Contemporary, and there’ll also be a dance piece that reinterprets Mary Wigman’s Witch Dance from 1926. Broadway will be showing a series of films, short and feature length, for a bargain price, and there will also be Q&A sessions after some of the screenings. One of our picks is Creativity and Inner Vision, a selection of short films that seek to expose and explore themes of psychosis. The director of the Institute of Inner Vision, Sal Anderson, will be introducing the films and asking audience members to participate by sharing ideas about exactly what it says on the tin. There’s loads more, so check out the individual venue websites for full details.
Wednesday 8 – Saturday 18 April, various times, free/£3.50/£5, Nottingham Contemporary, Primary, Lakeside and Broadway

Giggle on down

Big Value Comedy Show
Are your loved ones not entertaining you enough? Do your colleagues think that knock knock jokes are the height of hilarity? Do you sometimes wonder when you last had a really good laugh that make your sides ache or a little bit of wee come out? You are not alone, and help is at hand. Just The Tonic can get you giggling for free with their Edinburgh showcases, a series of auditions where they scoop the cream off the top of the comedy world’s milk bottle. They’ve moved them back to their original stomping ground, Das Kino. Help the judges out and top up on those much needed chuckles.
Thursday 9 April, 7.30pm, free, Das Kino

Little Bribes
Admit it. We all went through that ‘orrid emo stage at some point during our school lives, raiding our mam’s drawer for her eyeliner and practically supergluing our fringe to the sides of our face. No teenager would be the same without some kind of eighth-of-a-life crisis. Whether you’ve outgrown the phase or you’re nestled smack bang in the middle of it, you should pop down to the Fleece and celebrate all things emo with punky post-hardcore band, Little Bribes. Supported by Sunset Nebula, C.R.A.F.T and Venitianraj, the bath of rock 'n' roll has never been so bubbly. Plus, it won’t cost you a penny.
Thursday 9 April, 8pm, free, The Golden Fleece

Clash Money: April Duels 
Fresh from the success of Rebellion, Youthoracle’s battle rap empire is adding another string to its bow, in the form of the cleverly titled, April Duels. We love a good pun, so he’s got us on side from the word go. Not only will there be a performance from Youth himself, but seasoned battle rap professionals, Unanymous and Dialect will be spitting them bars in the form of Batman and Superman. Epic. There’s even gonna be a bashment battle and a beatbox battle with competition including our beloved Motormouf, so you’ll be able to get yer dutty whinin’ and yer fiercest screw face out all at the same time. You’ve gotta be over sixteen to get in, so bring some ID youth.
Friday 10 April, 6pm, £8, The Maze

Get yer schweng on

Rubberdub 
Rubberdub dub, bag of genres in a club. Summat else that ain’t too shabby is the return of Rubberdub Soundsystem to Hood Town, and they’ve doubled up with Tumble Audio to create the monster that will be known throughout the land as “The Easter Soundsystem Schweng Off”. Featuring a whole host of DJs including Dillinja, Spooky and Deadbeat UK, you can expect everything from garage to grime from the biggest bringers of good music vibes around. It’s a tenner a ticket, but the event goes on until 5am, so you’ll get yer money's worth.
Saturday 11 April, 10pm, £10, The Irish Centre

Ashmore 
There’s summat in the water in Hood Town. We sprout up new musical talent like it’s going out of fashion, and one of the newest buds is nineteen-year-old Ashmore. He may be young, but he don’t half pack some punch. He’ll be strutting his stuff and showing you what he’s made of with a gig showcasing his latest hip hop stylings. If you feel like you’re cut from the same musical cloth, you can sign up to sing, rap or hum in the open mic slots that begin at 6pm. Don’t let nerves get in the way, cos you get a free ticket if you sign up to perform.
Friday 10 April, 7pm, £4, New Art Exchange

These lot'll be waiting to paint yer faces

Caribbean Family Fun Day
If you over did it on the vino this bank holiday weekend, and left the kids to fend for themselves in front of the telly, then why not treat the sprogs to summat fun this weekend? Tek ‘em to Stonebridge for a day of culture, in celebration of the opening of the SKN Heritage museum. 8.2% of Nottingham’s population are of West Indian origin, so get up early this weekend and celebrate the diversity of our city by petting bunny rabbits, having yer face painted and learning a host of traditional Caribbean playground songs and games. It’s only gonna set you back six quid, and you even get a lunch thrown in for you and the kiddies. The museum will be tagging along to record oral histories from visitors about their journey to Nottingham, their families, and their heritage. 
Saturday 11 April, 10am, £6 incl. lunch, Stonebridge City Farm

Can Do Film Festival 
Short films are how Wes Anderson started. How George Lucas started. How pretty much all the big names started. Most shorts produced only get seen by a select few and that’s a shame. Can Do are on it, though and this Sunday, in the stunning grounds of Thoresby Courtyard no less, they’re whacking up a screen and showcasing independent filmmakers works from around Nottinghamshire, all with no or low budgets and under twelve minutes long. Be prepared to go through the whole spectrum of emotions, because there’s a little bit of everything in there. If you do go, say “Hi!” to our Screen Editor, who has a short in the selection which is rather good.
Sunday 12 April, 2 – 5.30pm, £5/£8, Thoresby Courtyard

For the motherload of everything else going on this week check out our comprehensive Nottingham events listings.

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