MUSIC
Duran Duran, OVO Hydro, Glasgow, Tuesday
Who would have believed back in 1983 that 40 years after their pomp, eighties pop pin-ups Duran Duran would still be a going concern? And yet here we are. Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, John and Roger Taylor were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last year and have been telling everyone they want to play Glastonbury. Glasgow should be a decent alternative, though, for a band that has sold more than 100 million records. Yes, you read that right, 100 million. Best Duran single? We’re saying it’s either Planet Earth or Come Undone.
COMEDY
Phil Wang, The Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, tonight
Recent Herald Magazine interviewee Phil Wang returns to Scotland with his Wang In There, Baby! Tour after his appearance at the Glasgow International Comedy Festival in April. “I’m trying to allow myself to be sillier,” he told us in March. Here’s your chance to see if he has succeeded in that ambition.
BOOK FESTIVAL
Boswell Book Festival, Dumfries House, Ayrshire, from Friday
This year’s Boswell Book Festival, the world’s only festival of biography and memoir, kicks off this Friday with a programme that covers everything from canines to celebrities. Amongst the guests are Barbara Dickson, Susannah Constantine, Val McDermid, Paterson Joseph, Michael Morpurgo, Andrew Cotter (plus his dogs Olive and Mabel), Esme Young and Ayrshire boy turned hairstylist to royalty and the stars, Sam McKnight.
The work of one of the most controversial and compelling photographers of the 20th century is currently on display in Dumfries as part of the Artist Rooms touring collection jointly owned by Tate and the National Galleries of Scotland. Even now, more than 50 years after her death, Arbus’s portraits of the people she met can shock with their directness and intimacy.
MUSIC
Project Smok, Tolbooth, Stirling, Thursday
Later this summer the neo-trad trio of Ali Levack, Ewan Baird and Pablo Lafuente will be playing the Edinburgh International Festival, but you can jump the gun and see them when they play Stirling’s Tolbooth next week. It is well worth making the effort because they are genuinely compelling live performers. And if you think you don’t like the bagpipes, Project Smok may well change your mind.
FESTIVAL
PLUG, Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Glasgow, from Monday
Eight concerts of contemporary new music in five days is the promise of this festival for emerging composers. Performed by RSC musicians and guest artistes, PLUG has premiered more than 300 works since it began 17 years ago. This year’s event kicks off on Monday with Calum Huggan and vocalist Stephanie Lamprea, while on Wednesday Zeo Fawcett, winner of the Craig Armstrong Prize, will share his winning composition. Visit rcs.ac.uk for details.
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