Things To Do Northwest 3-10 Sep: Group Therapy

Zap by Simon Jay Catling | 03 Sep 2015

1. COMEDY | Group Therapy 3rd Birthday
Gorilla, Manchester. 5 Sep, 7pm, £14 here

Three years since launching as "a club by comedy lovers for comedy lovers," Group Therapy's list of bookings reads like a who's who of comedy greatness from our time. From Josie Long to David Cross, they’ve consistently mixed big names with local talent. Celebrate their third birthday tonight with Spencer Jones, Gary Delaney and headliner Adam Buxton! (This photo of him licking a fish by Rob Greig.) Advance tickets are sold out but we're hearing whispers of a handful on the door.
2. MUSIC | Festival No. 6
Portmeirion, Wales. 3-6 Sep, times and prices vary here

The coastal village of Portmeirion opens its gates for Festival No. 6, with music highlights including Glasgow janglers Belle & Sebastian, the enigmatic Grace Jones (pictured, photo: Paul Wesley Griggs), award-winning hip-hop trio Young Fathers and Skinny favourites Hookworms. Dutch Uncles, meanwhile, are curating a woodland spectacular, and there’s an impressive range of comedy and book/poetry readings – plus, of course, that truly spectacular setting.
3. ART | Clam Jam
The Royal Standard, Liverpool. 5 Sep-1 Nov, Sat-Sun 12pm-5pm, free 

The new group show at Liverpool's artist-led Royal Standard, Clam Jam features work made by emerging local female artists, including Glasgow School of Art grad Beth Shapeero (whose work is pictured above). The show hopes to uncover work that is gendered through construction, material and mass rather than through open dialogue with the body or gender construct. On 4 Oct, artists Amber Ablett and Stacy Brafield will host a performance event, serving food and drink as a catalyst for discussion.
4. CLUBS | RUBIX Summer Party #3
District, Liverpool. 5 Sep, 7.30pm, £12 here 

RUBIX are waving goodbye to a questionable British summer with their third and final summer party of 2015, where you can act like you’re all civilised in the District garden before proceeding over to the warehouse to begin the inevitable descent into carnage. Maidstone's own Mark Fanciulli will guide you along the way with support from Sam Neicho and the RUBIX residents. Fret not as summer wanes, however: RUBIX have another top party planned for October.
5. MUSIC | Girlpool
The Deaf Institute, Manchester. 8 Sep, 7pm, £8 here 


A couple of damn fine rock troupes from across the Atlantic pay a visit to the Northwest this month, not least Los Angeles garage rockers Girlpool, who appear at The Deaf Institute just a few nights after Montreal post-punkers Ought play the same venue. Out on Wichita a few months back, Girlpool's debut LP Before the World Was Big proved "testament to the fact that you can be precise and heartfelt at the same time."
6. CLUBS | Transmission Funk 1st Birthday
Gorilla, Manchester. 4 Sep, 11pm, £12.50 here

In what seems to be a month of birthday parties, Streatham's Oneman joins underground duo Kry Wolf to help celebrate Transmission Funk's first annum. Having come up through dubstep and cemented his reputation with his trusted Rinse show, Oneman is one of the most reliable club DJs on the circuit, and arrives in Manchester fresh off the back of a storming set at Notting Hill Carnival. Prepare to get sweaty despite the best efforts of Gorilla's formidable air-con.
7. THEATRE | Bagheads
The Lowry, Salford. 6-7 Sep, 7.30pm, from £12.50 here

Community theatre company Ard Knox don't hold back when it comes to taking on such direct writing as that of Karen Woods' Bagheads – unsurprising, given their motto is to "give people chances and change lives" through theatre. Offering an indictment of modern society, Bagheads follows the story of a heroin addict's family, who, while he lies in hospital, must come to terms with his life and their part in his downfall.
8. MUSIC | Tame Impala
Liverpool Olympia. 9 Sep, 6.30pm, £returns only

Undoubtedly the commercial success story of the psych revival, Australians Tame Impala have, ironically, made their greatest leap with an album of deftly orchestrated pop music. That record, this year's Currents, has songwriting nous in spades, making up for what it lacks in brain-frazzling wig outs. Find out why we dealt it the full five stars here. (Photo: Jassy Earl.) 
9. MUSIC | BEAK>
The Kazimier, Liverpool. 3 Sep, 7.30pm, £15 here 

Invada Records founder and Portishead member Geoff Barrow brings his motorik-inspired rhythm troupe BEAK> to The Kazimier. The Bristol group (Barrow is joined by Matt Williams, who also performs as Team Brick, and Billy Fuller, whose previous playing credits include Massive Attack) are true masters of sustain and release: expect pulses, drones, chug and weirdness. Basically, everything you'd want in the The Kazimier's trippy environs.
10. THEATRE | Narvik
Playhouse, Liverpool. 8-19 Sep, 7.45pm, from £10 here 


The latest production from Box of Tricks theatre company, Narvik allows playwright Lizzie Nunnery to bring together two of the many strings to her bow – she has written new songs as well as the play's script. Based around the tale of a Liverpudlian man and a Norwegian woman pulled together by the horrors of war, Narvik is a tale of love, guilt, heroism and betrayal, inspired by Naval veterans' true stories.

VIDEO OF THE WEEK: Andrew Haigh discusses his new film, 45 Years

Win tickets to Akram Kahn's Kaash! Win two tickets to a performance of Akram Kahn's Kaash at The Lowry, Salford, on either 6 or 7 Oct. Closes 27 Sep. 

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