A John Waters Christmas

5 December 2011 | Royal Festival Hall

“a night of anti-Xmas revelry”

Brigitte Aphrodite’s Merry Kissmass

8 December 2011 | The Slaughtered Lamb

“Mega good stuff!”

Loserville has been properly getting into the festive swing of things this December – first up was A John Waters Christmas at the Royal Festival Hall, where Baltimore’s finest cult film director took to the stage to share caustic one-liners, scabrous anecdotes, and general Xmas filth.

Loserville has got a bit of a thing for John Waters – we worship at the altar of Pecker (“Pubic hair causes crime”), Cry Baby (“God’s in her gullet. And he’s in yours, too!”) and Serial Mom (“Serial Mom is headed South on Ceswick. Proceed with caution. She is armed and fuckin’ nuts!”).

So it was great to spend a couple of hours in the  presence of the genius behind so many of our favourite films. And we weren’t the only ones – it felt like all the gays of London town had made the trip to the Southbank Centre for this night of anti-Xmas revelry.

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One of our Bestival highlights this year was definitely the stage invasion of the Bandstand stage, invited and encouraged by Brigitte Aphrodite. So we were really excited to celebrate Kissmass with her and her friends and The Slaughtered Lamb.

First up we had some ace piano tunes from Sean Pol McGreevy, and then some amazing beat boxing from Hectic. And then it was time for the star of the show…

Brigitte took to the stage with her amazing choir, and made our Christmas with a mix-up of some of our fave Brigitte songs, a Spice Girls cover, and a little bit of Stay Another Day and All I want For Christmas (Is You) thrown in! Mega good stuff!

It was all wrapped up with a rendition of Brigitte’s own Merry Kissmass, and we were all singing along by the end (it’s amazing what a combo of catchy music and a few pints of cider does to you…).

Perfect Christmas fun!

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Loserville thought it very necessary to bring these two offbeat documentary films to your esteemed attention. The first being about the kitsch-come-cool instrument of choice the Ukulele, and the second charting the history of the Alternative Miss World Pageant. Read on dear friend, read on!

Mighty Uke (The Amazing Comeback of a Musical Underdog)

Fri 25 Nov  - Hackney Picturehouse, London | Sat 26 November – Clapham Picturehouse | Sun 27 November – The Lexi, Kensal Rise  | www.mightyukemovie.com

We loved that this uniquely brilliant instrument is having a bit of a renaissance here in the U(ke)K, with star turns including Ukees at Bar Kick, the fab Brockley Ukulele Orchestra, and the rather super Ukulele events website Mighty Ukulele. Now, Tony Coleman and Margaret Meagher’s award-winning documentary Mighty Uke travels the world to discover why so many people of different nations, cultures and ages are turning to the phenomenon that is ukulele.

“From the Redwoods of California through the gritty streets of New York, from swinging London through Tokyo’s high rise canyons to Hawaii, MIGHTY UKE tells the story of the people’s instrument.”

Here’s the trailer for your amusement…

The British Guide to Showing Off

Until Thu 24th Nov at the ICA | http://www.ica.org.uk/30622/Film/The-British-Guide-to-Showing-Off.html 

After visiting the infamous Alternative Miss World show last year at the Roundhouse, where Fancy Chance won hanging from her hair (yeah, that’s right, HANGING FROM HER HAIR), we can’t wait to go to the cinema to discover the fabulous history of this cultural institution led by Andrew Logan.

Here’s what they say about it and the trailer is below…

“Andrew Logan. British Artist. Living legend. And creator of the anarchic and utterly outrageous Alternative Miss World Show, a spectacular costume pageant and fancy dress party for grown ups. In The British Guide to Showing Off, director Jes Benstock takes us under Logan’s glittering wing to take an joyous look at this most quirky and exotic subculture event.

Loved the world over by celebrities and misfits alike, Logan has hosted the Alternative Miss World Show since 1972. Memorable highlights include artist David Hockney judging the first one, musician David Bowie not being able to get into the second, film director Derek Jarman winning the third and triumphing in a court case against the Official Miss World (with a little help from a young Tony Blair).

Featuring contributions from Brian Eno, Ruby Wax, fashionista Zandra Rhodes (who designed all of Andrew’s hostess costumes), Richard O’Brien, Nick Rhodes and Grayson Perry, The British Guide to Showing Off was filmed over 5 years, charting the mounting of the 2009 Show, bringing to life its history through newly discovered archive, exuberant animation, and plenty of offbeat humour from contestants old and new.

Raucous, liberating and sexually charged, The British Guide to Showing Off speaks to the outsider in all of us. For anyone who has ever wanted to break out.”

Boy meets boy, boy tries to seduce boy at urinals, boys wake up together, boys do drugs… There’s not a travel bookshop or a blue door in sight – just a bitter-sweet tale of love lost and found. This is Weekend.

They say: “On a Friday night after hanging out with his straight mates, Russell heads out to a nightclub,
alone and on the pull. Just before closing time he picks up Glen. And so begins a weekend – in
bars and in bedrooms, getting drunk and taking drugs, telling stories and having sex – that will
resonate throughout their lives.”

We say: Loserville couldn’t believe it. The Covent Garden Odeon foyer was rammed, bursting at the seams with punters waiting to catch Weekend, the second feature film from director Andrew Haigh. Weekend premiered at the SXSW Film Festival back in March (winning the Emerging Visions Audience Award), and we’ve been hearing nothing but great things about it ever since. But this felt like the midnight screening of the latest Batman film – it was so great to see that essentially a low-budget, non-mainstream indie-film could attract such a massive audience. The cinema staff were clearly taken by surprise by the sheer numbers, and Loserville had to do a little sprint to get a good seat.

The signs were promising – during its US festival run, the film picked up the Grand Jury Prize and Best Actor Award at the Nashville Film Festival and the Grand Jury Prize at Outfest in Los Angeles, in addition to its initial success at SXSW.

And finally, with the fab Peccadillo Pictures distributing, Weekend made its UK theatrical debut this month.

In the words of director Andrew Haigh, the main characters Russell and Glen (relative newcomers Tom Cullen and Chris New) “are two people navigating through life in very different ways but both are looking for same thing – to find their place within the world around them. They are trying to work out who they are, what they want and how they should define themselves, in private as well as in public.”

This is an honest, intimate and authentic love story, in the way that Richard Curtis films (note: I’m actually quite partial to Notting Hill) aren’t. There is no glamorisation of love here. Instead, Weekend is love at it’s most recognizable – surprising, occasionally painful, confusing, intoxicating…  As Haigh puts it, “that feeling of both fear and excitement that comes with the possibility of something new.”

As Russell and Glen are thrown together by fate, and spend the weekend in each others company, we witness those awkward, tantalising moments as two people truly start to engage with one another, and through this engagement, begin to focus on the struggles each of them face.

This is a film with two central gay characters, but is not just a gay film. It is a story of two people coming to terms with difference, with not quite fitting in. Whilst this manifests itself in Weekend through sexuality, Haigh is clear that “you don’t need to be gay to be strugling with isses of authenticity and self-definition, and of course at the heart of Weekend is a story of two people falling in love with each other.”

For us, Haigh hits the target spot-on. This is a grown-up, honest, compelling account of love and life over the space of one (pretty drug-fuelled) weekend. Cullen and New are excellent as Russell and Glen, and the tone is refreshing – there are no last-minute chases to stop a wedding/stop someone from catching a plane/crash a press conference, although there are some witty references to such things.

Weekend is all about what actually happens, all the time. It’s about human nature, individuality, difference, and belonging. It’s about discovering who you are, and leaping into the unknown.

It’s pretty fucking great.

Weekend is showing now at Odeon Covent Garden, Apollo Piccadilly Circus, Brixton Ritzy & HMV Curzon Wimbledon

Also, from November 11th at Odeon Studio, Richmond, & Gate Cinema, Notting Hill

And finally, November 25th-December 1st at Hackney Picturehouse

Remember, remember the month of November

We believe November is shaping up to be slightly wonderful actually. This To Do List of joy includes Wunderbar Festival, Dracula: Sex, Sucking and Stardom, GFEST, Scottee’s ‘Violence’, La Soiree, Paintworks, EastEnd Cabaret and much more.

Wunderbar Festival @ Newcastle | Until 6 November | Various Times | £Various, inc. FREE stuff

 Ok so this is not strictly in London (in the same way that New York isn’t strictly in Mexico), but we believe the Wunderbar festival is totally worth a road/rail/air-trip! This year the odd and quirky performance festival is back with an interactive bang, it’s all about you! Our top picks include Bring a Pet (to make a makeshift zoo), Work-a-thon (the world record for the largest gathering of self-employed people working together) and the Human Library.

Black Pond @ The Prince Charles Cinema | 11-17 November | 19:00 | £6-10

Micro-budget? Check. Award-winning comedian making film debut? Check. Disgraced TV actor? Check. We’ve all had bad dinner party experiences, but this should reassure most of us that it could be a lot worse… ”The Thompson family is accused of murder when a stranger dies at their dinner table. Six months later, family friend Tim visits freelance therapist Dr Eric Sacks (Simon Amstell) and the story finds its way to the press. The facts are bent and the details spun as the Thompsons become known to the public as ‘The Family of Killers’”. Puts Bridget’s blue soup into perspective, eh?

Future Shorts Film Festival @ Hackney Picturehouse | 14 November | 18:45 | £10

From the creators of Secret Cinema comes the first global film festival where anyone can take part. Find out how to take part here.  Future Shorts’ defining format showcases a single programme of the best short films from around the world often alongside live music, DJs and art.

Dracula: Sex, Sucking and Stardom @ Hen & Chickens Theatre | 15 November – 3 December | 19:30 | £11.50

Divinely silly infusion of  music, naughtiness and slapstick, not forgetting Dracula. The story goes like this: “Jonathan Harker is tempted by the evil Count and a love of all things showbiz. But will he overcome temptation and stop Dracula’s vile plans to marry Lucy, take over the world and star in an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical? The stakes are high, but if they win the day they shall rid the world of a villain and be immortalised in drama by actors in north London…”. We think this will be strangely wonderful.

EastEnd Cabaret: The Revolution Will Be Sexual / Freeze @ Arcola Tent | 13 & 16-25 November | 20:30 | £12

Forget the West End, there’s a lot of great performance mayhem coming from East Laandon of late. The Arcola Tent is the new outdoor comedy & cabaret hub in Dalston, which is going to cause a storm. Our highlights include the fabulous East End Cabaret, whose filthy Weimar charm has warmed our cold winter’s hearts, time and time again (be sure to request LV’s favourite song ‘Dangerwank’, hehe).  Also coming up is Freeze, which pairs two of our favourite oddballs, Tim Key (poet extraordinaire) and Tom Basden (geeky musical raconteur).

GFest @ The Cockpit Theatre | 17 – 19 November | Various Times | £7-15

A great mini festival focussed on the best of LGBT arty turns, GFEST is a platform for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) and queer artists, organisations and venues to promote LGBT and queer arts. GFEST features established alongside fresh or young LGBT artists and queer talent across the arts, including visual arts, theatre, dance and performance, LGBT short films, debates, workshops and parties.

Same Place Different Faces @ Idea Generation Gallery | 17-20 November | FREE

Paintworks presents an exhibition reconnecting with all the people who have worked in the well-known art shop in Dalston. The exhibition will showcase the extraordinary and diverse talents of 45 artists in the Ideas Generation Gallery on Redchurch Street. Our favourites (not that we have favourites) are Marcus Hessenberg, Liam Scully, Tabitha Fedden and Roy Willingham.

Eat Your Heart Out Presents… Violence @ Riverside Studios | 17-26 November | 20:00 | £10

We’re very excited that this whirlwind of a show returns to London. The genre-defying Eat Your Heart Out collective present their examination of the tougher side of life: violent vignettes, disorderly displays and spitting. In a world of gloss this challenging, entertaining and anarchic romp should not be missed.

Handmade & Bound - The Affordable London Book-Art & Zine Fair @ St Bride’s | 20 November | 12:00-18:00 | FREE

We heart zines! Let’s go and buy some together! This event at St Bride’s promises to be a charming festival of artistic DIY talent.

La Soiree @ The Roundhouse | 23 November Onwards | Various Times | From £15

The original cabaret spectacular returns to the Roundhouse for the ultimate Christmas Party with a bang. This year features Chris Iris (boy/girl acrobatics), Le Gateau Chocolat (Black Tranny Opera Star), Katharine Arnold, Hugo Desmarais (aerial performer in a cage), Mario (Queen of the Circus), Nate Cooper, The Skating Willers and Yulia Pykhtina (Hula-hooper Supremo).

Carl-Einar Hackner: Swedish Meatballs @ Soho Theatre | 28 November – 3 December | 22:00 | £10-17.50

The best bad magician since Tommy Cooper comes to the seedy Soho Theatre for some hilarious high jinks. Featuring his unique brand of endearing buffoonery, magical mayhem, lightning-fast humour, silly songs and very expensive props.

We’ve had a busy two weeks, and we’re really sorry we’ve been a bit slow to keep you all updated… But it’s never too late, so here’s a quick round-up of some of the cool things we’ve seen and done over the last two weeks:

Some good solid stereotype slaying was on the cards at The V&A, as the Talawa Theatre Company brought to life George C. Wolfe’s The Colored Museum.

Written in America in 1986, and performed regularly ever since, The Colored Museum is a series of living exhibits which explore African-American identity by way of consigning stereotypes to the archives.

For sure, some of the cultural references may have been lost on a British audience, and it’s nice to think that attitudes have changed over the last 25 years to the extent that some of the stereotypes presented are not as recognisable as they may have been a decade or more ago.

Nevertheless, The Colored Museum remains an important theatre experience, and it still has something to say to a contemporary audience. The entire cast approached the piece fearlessly and with mountains of energy, and dealt effortlessly with the often swift changes in mood and tone.

We’d be hard-pressed to choose a favourite exhibit, but two highlights spring to mind: a hilarious skit where a woman, preparing to break up with her boyfriend, is confronted by two loud-mouthed wigs, each arguing their case for being the chosen head-ware for such an occasion; and a musical parody of a cookery show, where the host sings through the recipe for baking “a batch of Negroes”, peaking with the fabulous line “add some attitude – Oops! I put too much”.

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Things were pretty crazy/cool at Rich Mix in Shoreditch, for the London premiere of Japanese pink musical Underwater Love. We’ve got an interview with Stereo Total in the pipeline (they did the ace music), and there’ll be a proper review for the DVD release.

Suffice to say, this a one weird but wonderful film experience, the like of which Loserville has never experienced before. Song, dance, and girl-on-sea-creature rumpy pumpy.

Loserville, nothing if not diverse :)

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You might raise your eyebrows, but South Kensington is a great place for evenings of quirky fun. It may be home to more museums and geeky science students than you can shake a Loserville stick at, but we love the Lates put on by The Science Museum, The Natural History Museum and The V&A amongst others, and even more so, we love the events at The Institut Francais.

We popped down to the latter for a fancy-dress screening of the iconic Barbarella, followed by a geek-chic cosmic party which defied explanation. Ace fun!
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Interactive theatre is everywhere right now (check out our feature article on the explosion of what we like to call 4D Theatre), and Office Party at The Pleasance Theatre Islington (running until late-January 2012) is a pretty ace example of the genre.

You can’t beat a concoction of party games, spot-on characterisation, top-class cabaret and an authentic setting, and any show that encourages its audience to get stuck into the booze is tops in our book. Check out the 4D Theatre article for more info…

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And finally, we popped into KOKO to catch one of our favourite bands of the last 12 months or so, Gabby Young & Other Animals.

We last saw Gabby et al at the Barbican last year, and if their regular appearances on our Facebook news feed are anything to go by, they’ve not stopped touring since.

Great tunes, great musicality, awesome dancing, and buckets full of personality – we love this band, and can’t wait to see them again.

In fact, they’re back at the Royal Festival Hall on November 19th supporting Emir Kusturica & The No Smoking Orchestra.

And if that’s not enough, there’s a new album out in December. Gabby, you spoil us.

Loserville is excited to announce the premiere and exclusive DVD release of Underwater Love - we are so thrilled to see Third Window Films opening up the lighter side of Asian film. This film is a wonderfully surreal journey into musical bliss and loving an ‘other’. Watch the mindblowing trailer below and book tickets to the premiere featuring a gig by Stereo Total here.

This  whimsical, pink film musical about a woman and a sea creature comes from Germany’s Rapid Eye Movies and Japan’s Kokuei Company. Underwater Love – A Pink Musical promises to be unlike anything you’ve ever seen.

Directed by pink-film veteran Shinji IMAOKA (Lunch Box, Frog Song), shot by Christopher Doyle – the famed cinematographer behind Hero and countless films by Wong Kar Wai – and with music by Germany’s Stereo Total.

The Film: Asuka works in a lakeside fish factory. She is just about to be married to her boss. One day, she encounters a Kappa, a water creature living in the lake and learns that it is the reincarnation of Aoki, her first love. What ensues is a zany spectacle of love, music and sex.

The Music: Multi-lingual kitsch pop-superstars and Loserville’s favourite oddballs, Stereo Total provide the supremely surreal original soundtrack to this sublime film (all sung in Japanese). Their previous work includes singing in French, English, German and Spanish – check out their videos here.

Be sure to join us at the premiere at Rich Mix on Sunday 16th October and see the film and a super special one off London date from offbeat musical wonders Stereo Total. We can’t wait to see you there for an out-of-this-world evening. We will be publishing a review and hopefully an interview with Stereo Total about their involvement in Underwater Love.

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It’s a To Do List of two halves this month, because THERE’S SO F*CKING MUCH TO DO! We’re loving September already and it’s only just begun!

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Here’s Part One, and be sure to keep an eye out for Part Two (out on Thursday 8th) for even more ninth month amazingness, featuring La Cucina Futurista, Sound Tracks Festival, Mysterious Skin, Shinky Shonky with Thundercub, Unskinny Bop, Postmodernism: Style and Subversion, & Polari: London’s Peerless Gay Literary Salon!

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Decade @ Commodity Quay, St Katharine Docks | All September (until October 15th) | 19:30 + matinees | £35  

 Decade is the new site specific show about 9/11 from pioneering Rupert Goold’s Headlong Theatre who brought Enron to the West End. The show is taking place at St Katherine’s Docks and promises to be epic in scale and content.

Ignite 2011 @ Royal Opera House | 2-4 September | Noon onwards | Free – £15

Having very much enjoyed this free festival sponsored by a rather massive bank for the last two years, we were excited to see that Ignite has not lost its penchant for the weird and wonderful. Highlights for us include Mike Figgis’ films being shown and a super installation by one of our favourite fashion/art photographers Guy Bourdin.

La Haine Screening @ Passing Clouds | 4 September | 19:00 – 21:00 | Free

Free screening of La Haine, the seminal gang violence film starring Matthieu Kassovitz at the uberfun and slightly underground Passing Clouds art club.

Thames Festival | 10 & 11 September | Free 

Oh no! Boris has been at the Vino again, here’s the result – The Thames Festival 2011 on the Southbank (as featured in our little Festivals guide a while back). Our top picks include: The Night Carnival & Firework Finale on Sunday - an illuminated procession best seen from Victoria Embankment (they say); New European Village all weekend - which celebrates culture in Central and Eastern Europe; & Feast on the Bridge - food filled fun on Sunday

Comedy @ Soho-Ho | 10 & 24 September | 20:00 | £12.50

Our new fortnightly comedy hangout in seedy Soho – we’re particularly looking forward to Kerry Godliman on the 10th September. Some special price £5 bargain tickets are available here.

Toyah does Wig Out @ Ghetto Factory (LSE) | 10 September | 22:00 – 01:00 | £3-7

There will be Thunder in the Mountains from this Queen of the Stone Age hehe. It’s Toyah at Wig Out.
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Watch This Space Festival @ The National Theatre | Until 24 September | Free

We have covered this festival to death now (we got excited about it here) but we still love it and it continues until the 24th September. We recommend: Page Blanche - an insane mix of visual art, live music and theatre; and also Just Another Boyband – a juggling tribute to the boybands we’ve known and loved.

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And don’t forget Part Two, coming next Thursday!

Super 8

Director: J.J. Abrams | Starring:  Joel Courtney, Ryan Lee, Zach Mills et al. | 111 Minutes

“a ‘kids’ film with a fuck and a few shits thrown in”

Rise of the Planet of the Apes

Director: Rupert Wyatt | Starring: James Franco, Andy Serkis, Freida Pinto et al. | 106 Minutes

“made for half the money by Danny Boyle, this film could have been amazing”

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Loserville took a trip to the cinema this weekend, where the two most recent blockbusters had a very retro feel to them. Super 8 unashamedly hero-worships E.T. (Steven Spielberg is even on-board as producer), and is set in 1979, the sound of Blondie playing over the headphones of a super-cool Walkman. Rise of the Planet of the Apes (henceforth RotPotA), on the the other hand, is very much set in the modern day, but sees Hollywood once again plundering its back catalogue (in this case, 1968′s Planet of the Apes).

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Loserville really wanted to love Super 8 - it promised memories of lost childhoods, the innocence of youth, and the crashing invasion of adulthood, or at least responsibility.

But whilst there were some great cinematic moments – the train crash is mind-blowing stuff – the film struggles to find its footing, falling between the two stools of fun kids adventure (a la The Goonies) and adult-aimed monster-at-large flick (see Cloverfield).

We love a good swear here at Loserville. Fuck this, cunt that etc.. But we felt a little strange watching a ‘kids’ film with a fuck and a few shits thrown in, which, along with a few grizzly visuals, contribute to the 12A rating. The 12A is a bit of a cop out, because it means anyone can see it (under 12′s with an accompanying adult), but is again symptomatic of Super 8 not knowing what it wants to be: sweary gore-fest alien invasion or Sunday evening family film. Going half-and-half just doesn’t work.

Towards the end, there was one E.T.-like moment of “oh, hang on, I must have something in my eye”, but any danger of blubbing was quickly curtailed by the annoyance of knowing that you’d been tricked into it by the soaring score (clever, but not genuine). SPOILER ALERT (well, not much, but still…): It’s hard to be genuinely sad about a boy giving up his dead mums locket, when the mum character (dead from the start, no spoiler there) has barely been given a name, and the son himself has barely spared her a thought for the whole film.

We smiled a couple of times, although perhaps tellingly, the bit we enjoyed most came during the credits – stick around for the best part of the film, as we finally see the film that the kids have been making. We would have preferred to see two hours of that!

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And so to Rise of the Planet of the Apes (RotPotA). Now, we’re not cruel (much), we wouldn’t quite go as far as to say that the acronym RotPotA is pretty damn accurate… But it’s not a million miles away either.

Look, we weren’t expecting Citizen Kane – we never are, we don’t really like Citizen Kane - but recently, we’ve probably been spoiled by some pretty decent film re-imaginings: Star Trek, Christopher Nolan’s Batman films, and Casino Royale to name a few. So we were hoping that the latest reincarnation of the Apes franchise would be joining those illustrious ranks rather than sitting happily alongside Tim Burton’s 2001 pile of ape shit.

And like we said, we’re not cruel, so we’re going to be quite clear in saying that RotPotA is better than the Tim Burton turd, which was less PotA and more potty.

Faint praise. Damned. With.

It’s not awful. The CGI is (mostly) that really good kind of CGI, where it doesn’t actually look like CGI. Go figure. Andy Serkis is a clever guy – he does really good work (here he plays the central ape, Caeser) but makes sure you can’t actually see him in the final film, just in case it’s not that great.

The apes look good, and so does James Franco, but you can’t just get by on looks (no, James, even you). He doesn’t really seem to have turned up for this performance, maybe they just CGI’d him in. Pretty. Vacant.

And there’s the girl. Freida Pinto is pretty much the only woman in the film, bar a couple of extras (and I think the home care gets a line). Pinto’s role is basically to follow Franco around, without making much noise. We’re expected to believe that her character (a vet) doesn’t ask Franco why his ape is brainier than Stephen Hawking FOR FIVE YEARS. When she does find out the truth, that Caeser is the result of a slightly botched drugs experiment, she gets mad for about half a second, and then remembers how pretty James Franco is.

She has one big BIG moment – in the climactic scenes, she is called upon to play a key part in proceedings. She flails her arms and runs madly towards some police officers, distracting them while Franco sprints off to, erm, do something vaguely important. GIRL POWER!

What else? The evil drug company boss is black and British – Hollywood isn’t very imaginitve.

There’s nothing surprising about RotPotA - it’s exactly what you would expect of a Hollywood remake of a B-Movie classic – a few thrills and spills, a moral message, and the promise of several sequels. We left the cinema thinking, knowing, that made for half the money by Danny Boyle, this film could have been amazing.

Friday 29th July – Sunday 31st July 2011 | Free (for Vintage Market) – £75+ (including events within the Southbank Centre)

You don’t need tickets for the vintage market – just rock up and have a gander at all the amazing vintage goodies that you could buy!

For the rest of the events, you’ll need a ticket, which you can buy from here, or on the door

Loserville has teamed up with Retro Pigeon to run an epically fab stall at Vintage at Southbank Centre this weekend! Loserville is selling all kinds off amazing: Diana pendants, shoulder pets, frumpets and more. But the star of the Loserville show is our beautiful lady lamp, Mandy the Mannequin! Check out the beautiful pictures below! We’re taking orders all weekend (and beyond), so if anyone would like us one of Mandy’s sisters to brighten up their living room, get in touch (shop@loserville.tv) or get yourself down to the vintage market NOW! 

Retro Pigeon is all about the funky fabric animals! Check out the pictures below for the wide variety of cute cuddliness on offer – we’re proud owners of Geoffrey, a beautiful giraffe, and he certainly makes for a very good pet!

So come on, what are you waiting for – get out of work early today, or come down at the weekend to take a closer look at our snazzy stall!

Elsewhere at Vintage at Southbank Centre…

They say: “Whether your thing is swing, rockabilly, mod, soul, funk, disco, ska, electro, cabaret, film, art or design, or if you just want to dress up and get an authentic make-over for a day, Vintage at Southbank Centre is a sensual delight, a big dressing-up box, a collector’s dream and a joyous creative feast for all ages. For one glamorous weekend we celebrate the music, fashion, film, art ,design, and dance from the 1920s to the 1980s (and maybe even a peek at the early ‘90s) that has made Britain the world’s creative and cultural hotbed….

Over the three days, one of the world’s greatest pieces of mid-century architecture is being treated to a 60th birthday suit: Royal Festival Hall will be set dressed like you have never seen it before. The six levels of this great building will be transformed (for the first time) into a multi-venue playground where, over 13 hours per day, pass holders can ‘learn the dances’, enjoy a makeover take in the live performances, exclusive DJ sets, catwalk shows, wonderfully conceived food and cocktails, the cream of the crop vintage retailers and surprises galore. Vintage favourites The Soul Casino, Let it Rock, The Torch Club, The Leisure Lounge and The Warehouse are amongst the ten nightclubs contained within Royal Festival Hall. New clubs to the Vintage family includeThe Studio, Shhh! The Vintage Prohibition Club, and the North South Divide.

Each evening the RFH Auditorium will host a one-off, themed ‘Vintage Revue’ – a concert featuring some of the world’s greatest performers coming together to create a one off genre specific revue. Vintage has a policy to curate a line up that sets it apart from other festivals and actively works with artist to create memorable “I was there” events.

To gain exclusive access to Royal Festival Hall, simply book a pass for Friday, Saturday or Sunday (£60). If you’d also like to access the stunning ‘Vintage Revue’ book a Friday, Saturday or Sunday pass + revue show (starting from £75). Tickets for the RFH Auditorium revue shows are strictly limited.

Additionally, Southbank Centre’s outside spaces host the enormous Vintage Marketplace, hair and make-up parlours, tea parties, creative workshops for all ages, themed bars and restaurants curated by Wayne and Gerardine Hemingway and the Hemingway Design team and a vintage funfair. Featuring vintage favourites such as The Chap Olympiad, ‘Best in Show’ parades and pop-up catwalk shows, prepare for eye candy, brilliantly dressed folk and great music, performance art and design.

This promises to be London’s best looking and most uplifting weekend for many a year so “get yer glad rags on”, shine your dancing shoes, pack your cameras and let’s celebrate everything that’s great about British creativity.”

http://vintagebyhemingway.co.uk/

We say: What’s not to like? Music. Fashion.Film. Art. Design. Dance. All Vintage. It couldn’t be more up Loserville’s alley if it tried!

We love a good POP-UP venue and think they’re the best way to experience true DIY culture in the capital. Some of these venues covered are exclusively revealed by us on the very little information that we have garnered for you our lovely readers.

The Yard

New Pop Up venue in Hackney Wick featuring performance, film and happenings. We found out that Lauren Barton is producing a new piece called Imagine You Are Everyone (email her for more details as she would love you to volunteer – laurenbarton@googlemail.com)

She says “The Yard is committed to risk-taking, boundary pushing theatre that respects, challenges and entertains it’s audience. Built in dormant warehouse from recycled materials, it sits by the canal opposite the Olympic Park, about 5 minutes from Hackney Wick station.”

Their website is coming soon here  - Join them on Facebook here for the latest gossip: http://www.facebook.com/theyardtheatre Or on Twitter here

New details we just received via email (12:00 19/07/11):

Folly for  a  Flyover 

This pop-up also in Hackney Wick, has had quite a lot of press and its film programme has nearly sold out accordingly. We recommend popping in for a drink and seeing if anything impromtu strikes up.

This is the deal: On 24th June, a building appeared in the gap between the east and westbound traffic of the A12. Transforming the cavernous undercroft where the motorway crosses the Lea Navigation Canal, Folly for a Flyover will host a six week programme of waterside cinema, performance and play. Until the end of July

More info on their website here

Floating Cinema

Amazing floating cinema, which will be moored at different locations across London. It’s at Canary Wharf tonight (Thurs 14th July) and has this rather great programme:

A day of diverse film screenings inspired by London’s Docklands and its environs, including:

London’s Olympic Waterscape (2010, 21mins) by Royal Holloway University
A fascinating look at the history and future of London’s inland waterways 

The King of Deptford Creek (2009, 11mins) by Fred Rowson
An atmospheric and obsessive story of missing person shot on the quiet backwaters of the Thames

Men of the City (2010, 59mins) by Marc Isaacs (showing at 2.00pm 5.00pm & 7.00pm)
A meditation on the state of mind and motivations of men working in diverse City roles 
More details and DVD information here

Shacklewell Nights

Yummy food in a POP-UP palace. Buy tickets here