Wednesday, January 04, 2012

Out to Lunch 2012 - 4th to 29th January

Out to Lunch 2012 festival banner

If you’re feeling those New Year blues, then the annual Out To Lunch festival in Belfast’s Cathedral Quarter may be just the tonic you need.

Running from 4 January (today) right through to 29 January, there’s music, spoken word, drama, comedy, film and nearly all the events are based in the Black Box in Hill Street.

While there’s a big increase in the number of evening events (maybe next year’s festival will be Out to All-Day Brunch?), tickets for the weekday 1pm lunchtime shows are mostly priced at £6 including your lunch.

What could you look forward to over the next few weeks?

SOLD OUT Fri 6 Jan at 1pm & 8pmRoy Walker.

Sat 7 Jan at 2pmWill Kaufman “highlights the blending of music and radical politics that marks Woody Guthrie’s most powerful work”.

Sun 8 Jan at 3pm – Jazz veteran, Derry alto saxophonist and clarinettist Gay McIntyre and the Linley Hamilton Quartet.

Minute after Midday play

Tue 10 Jan at 1pm & 8pmMinute after Midday is a play written by Ross Duggan that tells the interwoven story of three people standing in Lower Market Street on Saturday 15 August just after noon in the town centre of Omagh, seconds before the explosion. (reviewed)

Wed 11 Jan at 1pm & 8pmPerforming Piaf is Christine Bovill’s “heartfelt and loving homage to the legendary singer” through stories and song.

Biddy O’Loughlin - The Girl Who Thought She Was Irish

Thu 12 Jan at 1pmBiddy O’Loughlin’s debut show The Girl Who Thought She Was Irish telling and singing “the story of a girl who grew up in the middle of the Australian desert thinking she was Irish and then set out to discover Ireland for herself”. (reviewed)

Fri 13 Jan at 1pmGuy Pratt’s Wake Up Call recounts his life as a touring musician waking up in strange rooms at strange hours.

SOLD OUT Sun 15 Jan at 3pmLuka Bloom, songwriter, singer, guitarist.

SOLD OUT Sun 15 Jan at 8pmAn Evening with Jon Ronson, documentary film maker and writer, whose book Them: Adventures with Extremists (available on the Kindle for a mere £1) is a must-read (and includes his time spent with Dr Ian Paisley before be became First Minister and Lord Bannside).

Sarah Savoy and the Francadians

Wed 18 Jan at 1pm & 8pmSarah Savoy and the Francadians are “a group of hard-working and hard-living Cajun musicians based in Paris”. Raised in Louisiana, Sara “sings in celebration of the modern woman” strong, independent, and fun-loving, rather than only lamenting the traditional position of the abandoned woman”.

Thu 19 Jan at 1pm – Classical and steel sting acoustic guitar player David Browne Murray along with Charlie Reilly on oboe. (reviewed)

SOLD OUT Fri 20 Jan at 1pmSwingabella are a close-harmony vocal trio “bringing back the sassy sound of the 30s and 40s” with their intimate and intricate harmonies.

Sun 22 Jan at 2pmCheap Date is a afternoon showcasing the best new local music the festival organisers have come across in the last six months: Morgan McIntyre, Best Boy Grip and Rainy Boy Sleep.

Tue 24 Jan at 1pmOpera for Lunch with NI Opera’s Young Artists’ Programme performing classic arias from Mozart to Rossini, Verdi to Puccini. Figaro, Figaro, Figaro, Figaro, Figaro … (reviewed)

Wed 25 Jan at 1pmBernadette Morris with her blend of “sultry folk/Irish sound with bluesy undertones” – recommended for fans of Kate Busby, Karine Polwart and Cara Dillon. (reviewed)

Thu 26 Jan at 1pmMaeve Higgins studied photography and worked in a clothes shop before discovering her vocation as a stand-up comedian. (reviewed)

Ruth Moody

Sat 28 Jan at 3pmRuth Moody, Juno Award winning songwriter and founding member of The Wailin’ Jennys trio, “ethereal songwriter” and player of guitar, banjo, accordion, piano and bodhrán.

Sun 29 Jan at 2pm – For a mere £3, watch the film Sound It Out, “a documentary portrait of the very last surviving vinyl record shop in Teeside”.

If you had an endless supply of six pound notes – and had booked on time – every lunchtime in January could be a delightful one!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Sarah Savoy and the Francadians were brilliant today, I'm very glad I went.