MUSIC
Beverley Knight, SEC, Glasgow, Thursday
Celebrating her 50th birthday, Knight, right, is a proper bona fide British soul singer straight outta Wolverhampton. She recently performed at Radio 2 in the Park wearing a skin-tight jumpsuit and a foot in an orthopaedic boot so there’s no doubt she’s a trouper and she has a new album, The Fifth Chapter, to promote. We’re not sure if Rylan will turn up for a duet (as they did recently on his Radio 2 show), but you never know.
Withered Hand, Tolbooth, Stirling, Wednesday; MacArts, Galashiels, Thursday; St Luke’s, Glasgow, Friday; Lemon Tree, Aberdeen, October 28
Earlier this year Withered Hand’s Dan Willson, above, gave The Herald Magazine a remarkably honest interview about his recent battles with alcohol and his mental health, all in aid of his joyous latest album How To Love. These gigs in Stirling, Galashiels, Glasgow and Aberdeen this week are a wonderful opportunity to remind ourselves of what a talent he is. Willson is accompanied by his band for the tour. And the news that Trashcan Sinatras’ John Douglas is his support act for the entire run is the cherry on the cake.
CLASSICAL
Carolyn Sampson & Joseph Middleton, Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Monday
Soprano Carolyn Sampson is joined by pianist Joseph Middleton for a performance of songs by the likes of Schubert, Wolf, Poulenc, Bernstein, Barber and Strauss. This is the first of four New Town Concerts for the 2023/24 season, with performances by the Elias Quartet, the Barbican Quartet and the Nash Ensemble to follow.
CINEMA
Young Soul Rebels, Glasgow Film Theatre, Monday, 8pm
Isaac Julien’s 1991 movie – something of a landmark in Black British and queer cinema history – gets a rare big screen outing in Glasgow on Monday.
Set in 1977 during the Queen’s Jubilee, it’s the story of two soulboys with their own pirate radio station who also get mixed up in a murder. Julien’s debut movie also marks the first screen appearance of Sophie Okonedo, who has done quite well for herself in the years since.
BOOKS
Diaries of War, Nora Krug, Particular Books, £20
Nora Krug’s Diaries of War, which is published on Tuesday, is a compelling graphic account of life on both sides of the war in
Ukraine. Speaking on a weekly basis to two anonymous correspondents, one a Ukrainian journalist, the other a Russian artist, Krug, below, offers two raw, powerful, first-hand accounts of the impact of the conflict. What emerges is a vision of the trauma of war even for those not always in the front line. In a world where empathy seems to be in short supply, here it is in abundance.
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