The best events happening in Merseyside this month
NEW YEARS DAY PROMS | PHILHARMONIC HALL | SUNDAY 1 JANUARY
Featuring baritone James Cleverton and the Manchester Concert Orchestra, welcome 2023 with a stirring celebration of uplifting music and a stellar selection of classics. Expect music by Mendelssohn, Strauss, Bizet, Ravel, Puccini and rousing performances of Pomp & Circumstance No.1, Rule, Britannia! and Land of Hope and Glory.
Hope Street, Liverpool L1 9BP (3pm, tickets from £18.50 at Liverpool Phil)
RED RIDING HOOD | EVERYMAN THEATRE | UNTIL 14 JAN
You might think you know the story of Red Riding Hood, but this is the tale told Everyman style! This year’s iconic rock ‘n’ roll panto features an ensemble of exceptional performers ready to sing, play, dance and sparkle in Red Riding Hood. Expect the most magical, musical Christmas with plenty of songs and silliness ahead.
5-11 Hope St, Liverpool L1 9BH (Tickets priced £16 to £41, with group and child discounts at selected performances, from The Everyman Theatre.)
BREATHE, SPIRIT & LIFE | BLUECOAT | UNTIL 29 JANUARY
A new group exhibition of six artists including Soojin Chang (In collaboration with Georgie Rei-n Lo, Jade O'Belle, and Aditya Surya Taruna a.k.a. Kasimyn), Sulaïman Majali, Thulani Rachia, Roo Dhissou, Kiara Mohamed Amin and Emii Alrai. Guest curated by Katherine Ka Yi Liu.
School Lane, Liverpool L1 3BX (11am-5pm, free entry. More info at Bluecoat)
BOWIE’S BIRTHDAY | CAMP & FURNACE | SATURDAY 7 JANUARY
The Classic Double Band perform Bowie’s greatest hits live in celebration of his Birthday. Let’s Dance and come together to celebrate the Picasso Of Pop, The Master of Reinvention and King of Glam Rock. A night of celebration, appreciation and adoration for one of the most influential, ever-changing icons in music history. Dress-up encouraged…
67 Greenland Street, Liverpool L1 0BY (8pm-1am, tickets from £11.55 at Skiddle)
ROB NEWMAN | ROYAL COURT STUDIO | 13 & 21 JANUARY
Fresh from his BBC Radio 4 series Rob Newman On Air, the award-winning comedian’s new show is a stand-up epic that goes from cave paintings to car-free cities to ask: Who are we? Where are we going? And how do spiders fly? Rob Newman tells a story of how dancing in step saved prehistoric humans and how new scientific discoveries may help us take the right steps to a life after oil.
1 Roe Street, Liverpool, L1 1HL (7.30pm, tickets from £15 at Royal Court)
DOGGY BRUNCH | NOVA SCOTIA | SATURDAY 14 JANUARY
Doggy Brunch is back with its first date of 2023. Every man and woman’s best furry friend is invited back to Nova Scotia to see what the restaurant and bar has un-leashed. Each paying adult receives a breakfast brioche and warm drink whilst their pooch is served a doggie breakfast and pupachino – as always, dogs eat and drink for free.
25a Mann Island, Liverpool L3 1BP (From 8.30am, tickets £10 from Nova Scotia. Bookings essential, head to Nova Scotia online)
GAZ COOMBES | PHASE ONE | TUESDAY 17 JANUARY
Brit pop legend Gaz Coombes plays a very special intimate show in support of his fourth album Turn The Car Around, out 13 January. The former lead singer and guitarist for Supergrass adds a second show for Jacaranda Records and Phase One, due to popular demand.
40 Seel Street, Liverpool L1 4BE (6.30pm, tickets from £15.65 at Skiddle)
THE CHER SHOW | LIVERPOOL EMPIRE | 17-21 JANUARY
Six decades of stardom, over a hundred million records sold. Legend, icon, Queen. She is Cher and this is her show. 35 smash hits – one pop goddess. Get ready to turn back time with this fiercely fabulous kick-ass new musical, from the writer of Jersey Boys.
1 Lime St, Liverpool L1 1JE, UK (Tickets from £13 at Liverpool Empire)
BONGO'S BINGO X SNOWBOMBING | CONTENT | FRIDAY 20 JANUARY
The original bingo rave phenomenon has rejuvenated a quintessentially quaint British pastime featuring nostalgia-soaked revelry, rave rounds, dance-offs, audience participation, en masse karaoke and crazy prizes in a dose of pure and unadulterated escapism. Kicking off 2023 is the annual Liverpool shindig with on and off piste party experts Snowbombing, ahead of Jonny and the crew embarking to Austria in April for the famed festival itself on the slopes.
Cains Brewery Village, Stanhope St, Liverpool, L8 5XJ (Doors 6pm, tickets £20+ BF from Bongo's Bingo)
ART OF THE TERRACES | WALKER ART GALLERY | UNTIL 12 MARCH
Combining fashion, football and art, as told from the terraces of the stadiums, this exhibition is the story of a movement that defined sports culture of the 1970s, 80s and 90s. Visitors will see artwork by leading contemporary artists such as Leo Fitzmaurice, Turner Prize winners Mark Leckey and Mark Wallinger, Pete McKee, Lucy McKenzie, Ross Muir and Dave White.
William Brown St, Liverpool L3 8EL (Pay what you think; more info at National Museums Liverpool)
CHINESE NEW YEAR | VARIOUS VENUES | 22 JANUARY
2023 is the year of the water rabbit. Let’s hope it brings some luck. Liverpool’s Chinese community will celebrate the new era with dragon, unicorn and lion street parades and a firecracker display to send the new year in louder than ever. Events are planned for Chinatown as well as Festival Gardens, including the traditional lanterns around the city streets with illuminated buildings to mark the occasion.
Chinatown, Great George St, Liverpool L1 5EW (More info from Visit Liverpool)
VARNA INTERNATIONAL BALLET & ORCHESTRA | LIVERPOOL EMPIRE | 23-25 JANUARY
Raymond Gubbay Limited will present Varna International Ballet and Orchestra visiting the UK for the very first time in their 75-year history with classical performances of The Nutcracker, Swan Lake and Giselle. Renowned for its award-winning soloists and magnificent corps de ballet, the company has been delighting audiences for decades at home in Bulgaria and abroad with its performances.
Lime St, Liverpool L1 1JE (Tickets from £13 at ATG Tickets Liverpool Empire)
GRANT-LEE PHILLIPS | LEAF BOLD ST | WEDNESDAY 25 JANUARY
Music will be celebrated at all three LEAF venues through January and to open the new year the open mic sessions return every Tuesday from the 10th. A highlight of LEAF's 'All About Music' season sees a performance from Grant-Lee Phillips on 25 January. Audiences first discovered Phillips' songwriting via rock band Grant Lee Buffalo. His 2000 solo debut Ladies' Love Oracle, opened another chapter in his career, as a folk artist crafting songs and stories rich with details and humanity.
65-67 Bold St, Liverpool L1 4EZ (8pm, tickets £19.80 from See Tickets)
THE VAPORS | THE CAVERN CLUB | THURSDAY 26 JANUARY
The Cavern Live Lounge presents The Vapors, probably best known for their classic new wave hit single, Turning Japanese. Since re-forming the band in 2016, The Vapors have toured to enthusiastic crowds and have supported The Skids, Stiff Little Fingers and From The Jam amongst others. 39 years after their last LP, The Vapors released a new LP Together in 2020 and have a new single Novocaine out now.
10 Mathew St, Liverpool L2 6RE (7pm, tickets £22 at See Tickets)
EX-EASTER ISLAND HEAD | INVISIBLE WIND FACTORY | FRIDAY 27 JANUARY
The Liverpool experimental collective has been busy recording their first new album since 2016, for release in 2023. For this special show, the band will perform in the centre of the IWF floor with 360 degree seating, quadraphonic sound and bespoke lighting. We’d expect nothing less.
3 Regent Rd, Liverpool L3 7DS (6.30pm-10pm, tickets from £15+bf at Skiddle and IWF)
AN EVENING WITH ANGELA GRIFFIN | SHAKESPEARE NORTH | SATURDAY 28 JANUARY
Picking up the baton from her interview with Johnny Vegas in July, actress and television presenter Angela Griffin will be chatting about her brilliant career, from Waterloo Road to Bake Off to Postman Pat. Leeds-born Angela is a firm favourite with audiences around the world. Her road to success began in 1993 when, as a 16-year-old, she assumed the role of hairdresser Fiona Middleton in ITV’s Coronation Street. Since then Angela has appeared in a wide variety of much-loved dramas from Cutting It, Lewis and Holby City to Netflix series White Lines and more recently Irvine Welsh’s Crime.
Prospero Place, Prescot L34 3AB (7.30pm, tickets £15-£35+ booking fee. Pay What You Decide also available. Book at Shakespeare North Playhouse)
JW FRANCIS | PHASE ONE | SUNDAY 29 JANUARY
NYC’s self-styled "lofi jangle dream slacker bedroom pop" artist is back with his third album, Dream House. A laid-back and loved-up affair, it comprises 12 romantic tracks he has written on behalf of fans who have requested a special song for their valentines. Expect blissful melodies, dreamy instrumentation and JW's trademark laconic vocals. For fans of Mac DeMarco, Julian Casablancas and Darwin Deez.
40 Seel Street, Liverpool L1 4BE (5pm-7pm, tickets from £15.65 at the Jacaranda Record Store)
TURNER PRIZE | TATE LIVERPOOL | UNTIL 19 MARCH 2023
This year’s Turner Prize is back in Liverpool for the first time in 15 years. Four outstanding artists - Heather Phillipson, Ingrid Pollard, Veronica Ryan and Sin Wai Kin - are showing their work at Tate Liverpool in this free exhibition ahead of the winner announced in December.
Royal Albert Dock, Liverpool L3 4BB (Free entry, tickets from Tate Liverpool)
Read next: Shakespeare North Playhouse, Prescot: a 2022 must-visit
Read again: Turner Prize 2022 review: a mind bending post-COVID splash
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