October Live

I love being in Brighton in October - well, aside from the plunging temperatures and the wind and rain, obviously - the students are back in town, and there's absolutely tons of live shows going on. For starters, the first week of the month is Brighton Live, a series of (mainly) free gigs in venues of every shape and size around the city, and then after that the Paramount Brighton Comedy Festival takes over the Dome for two weeks of fun and laughter. So, with all this choice, here's a few pointers to help you...

03/10 - It has to be Goldfrapp at the Dome tonight. They're gonna be recording the whole show and selling the live CD within thirty minutes of the gig finishing, apparently. Ooh la la... If you haven't managed to get a ticket (yes, it's a sell out) then I'd recommend seeing The Pipettes at the Komedia instead.

04/10 - The loveGods are launching their 'proper' debut album Audience Of One with a special performance at the Komedia.

05/10 - After her spellbinding show at the Komedia back in April, I shall be checking out Emiliani Torrini at the Concorde. Which is a bit of a shame as Good Morning Captain are playing a free gig at the Albert the same night, and Dom's band are always great live, especially with their viola player seemingly a permanent member of the band now.

06/10 - Lining up to be the gig of the month is the Radio Soulwax night at the Event, with Soulwax playing Nite Versions live, plus tunes from their alter-egos 2 Many DJs until 3am. Unmissable!

07/10 - The Paramount Brighton Comedy Festival begins with Bill Bailey doing three consecutive nights of sold out shows at the Dome. I'd recommend seeing Jerry Sadowitz who's doing two performances of his magic show at the Pavilion Theatre - and he's doing his extremely vulgar stand up show the following night.

10/10 - More Kitson comedy gold. Yup, Daniel Kitson returns to the Pavilion Theatre for his new stand up show about friendship. He's just added a third date on the 17th, so snap 'em up quick! Dan says, "It's not going to be full of c***s is it?"

12/10 - Choices, choices, choices! Sticking with the comedy you've got Noel Fielding (from The Mighty Boosh) at the Corn Exchange, whilst the excellent Will Smith (not that Will Smith) is over in the Pavilion Theatre - his 2004 show 10 Arguments I Should Have Won was my favourite show at last year's festival. If it's music you're after then there's The Subways at the Event, with support from The Kooks, whilst the Concorde have Hal playing live.

13/10 - Richard Herring is on at the Pavilion Theatre with his latest show, Someone Likes Yoghurt. I've still got fond memories of Fist Of Fun...

15/10 - Lots of gigs at the Event this month - this time it's the turn of Royksopp. Or if you want a chuckle on your Sunday night then you could always check out Ross Noble at the Dome... if he asks what you do for a living, just tell him you're a fork lift truck driver.

18/10 - Dave Spikey, the other genius behind Phoenix Nights returns to the Corn Exchange for some proper old-school stand up. Can't believe that tickets haven't sold out yet!

20/10 - Okay, this could be a bit of a gamble, but I'm going to check out Fozzy at the Concorde - the rock band fronted by WWE legend Chris Jericho. Could be hilarious, could be awful...

21/10 - I'm gonna do a double-bill of comedy; starting off with John Oliver & Andy Zaltzman at the Pavilion Theatre - John is always on The Comic Side of 7 Days on BBC Three and is also Kitson's flatmate. After that, it's Stewart Lee at the Corn Exchange - his new stand up show has been getting rave reviews in the quality papers, so should be a good one.

22/10 - It's the last day of the comedy festival, with Jimmy Carr now doing two performances at the Dome that night.

26/10 - Brighton's supergroup Brakes are playing at the Concorde - but I'm going to be up in London watching The Dandy Warhols at the Hammersmith Palais.

28/10 - Always a good night out - Fatboy Slim is doing the Boutique night at the Concorde. I had such a good time down there when he appeared there back in December last year...

31/10 - More choices! Turin Brakes are on at the Dome presenting their stripped-down acoustic sound, whilst Athlete are on at Brighton Centre supported by the lovely Gemma Hayes, and The loveGods are playing at the Concorde. Hmmmm.

It's going to be a long, hectic month... I'll do my best to post some photos and write a few lines about the shows that I manage to catch.

Sleep can wait until November.