Celtic Connections

We’re deep into a bleak January, so praise be that Celtic Connections returns 15 Jan to 1 Feb with its programme of trad, folk and world music to help brighten the wintertime. The annual two-week festival spills across Glasgow to venues big and small, from the grand Royal Concert Hall to the wee Hug and Pint, and the eclectic programme offers something for everyone. 

Look out for indie-folk and pop artist Katie Gregson-Macleod, who’s playing her first headline show for the festival at The Barony Hall (16 Jan); Pictish Trail celebrates his latest album Life Slime at St Luke’s with support from Callum Easter and Isa Gordon (17 Jan); and Kathryn Joseph and Lomond Campbell play Òran Mór with support from Dundee artist SHHE (18 Jan). And that’s just three highlights from the opening weekend! For the full lineup, head to celticconnections.com

KuleeAngee

King Tut's, Glasgow. 17 Jan, 7.30pm
 

King Tut’s New Year’s Revolutions series continues to deliver the goods this weekend with party-starters KuleeAngee, aka Keshav Kanabar and Duncan Grant. The duo are ridiculously entertaining live, blending infectious electronics, witty songwriting and boisterous onstage energy.

The Shawshank Redemption

The Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh. 20-24 Jan
 

Joe McFadden takes on the role of the wrongly convicted prisoner Andy Dufresne in this stage adaptation of Stephen King’s 1982 novella. Like the much-loved movie adaptation starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman, expect a moving tale of hope and friendship that blossoms in the most brutal of places.

Hot Comedy

Gilded Saloon, Edinburgh. 18 Jan, 7pm
 

Have you paid a visit to Edinburgh’s new year-round club The Gilded Saloon yet? If not, be sure to check out Hot Comedy, the club’s super inclusive night of laughs presented by Nicholas Elliott and Eva Peroni. Expect top headliners alongside the next generation of comedy talent, with tickets costing less than a pint. 

Ben Wheatley presents BULK

GFT, Filmhouse and DCA. 18 & 19 Jan
 

Ben Wheatley remains one of the UK’s most surprising filmmakers, as he proves with BULK, his wildly inventive new sci-fi made on a shoestring budget with only a handful of actors. Discover how he pulled the film off when Wheatley takes BULK on a Q&A tour to three of Scotland’s best indie cinemas this weekend.

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Advertisement: Discover Granite Noir: Aberdeen's International Crime Writing Festival

Various venues, Aberdeen. 17-22 Jan
 

Celebrate a decade of darkness in the Silver City at Granite Noir, Aberdeen's international crime writing festival. The festival marks its milestone anniversary with the very best author talks, exhibitions, special events, theatre, audio tours, family events, film screenings and more! Multi-buy discounts are available.

Tickets and information at aberdeenperformingarts.com/granite-noir

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↪ AhPro–Poe Dayfest

The Mash House, Edinburgh. 17 Jan

This brand new day festival from the University of Edinburgh Indie Music Society, bringing together some of the most exciting (and noisy) bands in the UK today, should definitely knock away the January blues. Glasgow duo Cowboy Hunters headline, with University, Martial Arts and My Rushmore, who have proclaimed themselves Scotland’s cutest boyband, in support. 

→ Natalie Wildgoose

Leith Depot, Edinburgh. 18 Jan, 7pm

Natalie Wildgoose brings her delicate folk music inspired by her native Yorkshire landscape to Edinburgh. Her latest EP, Come Into the Garden, has an uncanny, haunted quality, perfect for those dark January evenings.

→ Kill Bill: The Whole Bloody Affair

Glasgow Film Theatre. 17 & 19 Jan

There's a good case to be made that this version of Quentin Tarantino's epic martial arts films, Kill Bill: Volume 1 and Volume 2, which have been re-edited to play as one seamless movie, is his masterpiece. The film already screened in multiplexes last year, but these 35mm screenings at GFT are unmissable.