Norwich Arts Centre.

St. Benedict’s Street, Norwich, NR2 4PG.

Tel: 01603 660352 (Box Office).

Visit Website.

Norwich Arts Centre / Norfolk & Norwich Festival SPECIAL OFFER – £5 tickets to the Norfolk & Norwich Festival shows I.R.O.K, Zun Zun Egi and Gangpol Und Mit.

Just quote ‘ENJOY NORWICH OFFER’ when booking tickets at the NAC box office 01603 660352. READ MORE about these shows.

Norwich Arts Centre has a legacy of showcasing musicians and bands before they go on to bigger (and in the cases of Nirvana, Oasis and Coldplay – massive) things. Situated in the City Centre, it offers a superb opportunity to see such talents in refreshingly intimate surroundings.

An independently run venue that has entertained Norwich for more than 30 years, the Arts Centre was redeveloped in 1999 and has since gone on to establish itself as a major venue for live music in the region, popular with artists and audiences alike.

A packed annual events programme that covers everything from Blues to Big Band and Folk-Rock to Afro Pop makes Norwich Arts Centre a fabulous asset to the Norwich – and East Anglian – live music scene.

Don’t forget to visit also the relaxed and friendly Norwich Arts Centre café bar, which features free exhibitions and free Wi-Fi. Offering tasty snacks and hot drinks throughout the day, it’s a great place to meet friends and chill out. View the fully-veggie menu here.

NAC OPENING HOURS
General Telephone and In Person sales:
Monday – Saturday 10am – 6pm.
Sundays / Bank Holidays – Closed (unless a performance has been booked).
(Tickets are available for evening performance sales up until 10pm).
Online booking available at www.ueaticketbookings.co.uk.

May 2012 at Norwich Arts Centre.

Exhibitions:

SAT 17 MAR – SAT 5 MAY

NORWICH BLITZ : THE 70TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE BAEDEKER RAIDS

10AM – 6PM : MON – SAT : FREE ENTRY

During World War II, on the night of the 27th/28th April 1942, there was an extensive blitz on Norwich in which many people were killed or injured and which permanently changed the architecture of the city. To mark the 70th anniversary of this raid, Norwich Arts Centre and Picture Norfolk present an exhibition of over sixty historical photographs showing the extent of damage. Alongside these photographs is a body of work by photographer Nick Stone, titled ‘Blitz Ghosts’, which digitally combines historical and modern street scenes, placing images of bomb damage in their current landscapes.

 

FRI 11 MAY – SAT 9 JUN

DAN TOMBS EXHIBITION

10AM – 6PM : MON – SAT : FREE ENTRY

NORFOLK & NORWICH FESTIVAL EXHIBITION

An exciting new exhibition of immersive digital prints and glitching video work. Dan Tombs’ work explores the cracks in video technology, building-in defects and looking for ways to pry apart the technical stability of an image. He physically corrupts circuits, creates short circuits, and exploits the code of systems, with wild and unpredictable results.

 

Events:

TUE 1 MAY FAIRPORT ACOUSTIC CONVENTION

Hailed as the originators of British folk-rock music, Fairport Convention is celebrating its forty-fifth anniversary as one of the most entertaining bands on the live music scene.

The current line-up features Simon Nicol on guitar and lead vocals, Dave Pegg on bass and backing vocals, Chris Leslie on fiddle, mandolin, bouzouki and lead vocals, Ric Sanders on violin and Gerry Conway on drums and percussion. Whether you are a long-time fan or a newcomer to their music, an evening with Fairport Convention will surprise and delight you.

8PM : £18.00 : £16.00 CONCESSIONS : SEATED

 

WED 2 MAY ALEX HORNE : ‘Seven Year’s In the Bathroom’ tour

Star and co-creator of BBC Four’s comedy quiz show We Need Answers, award-winning comedian Alex Horne has established a reputation among critics, comics and audiences as a thoughtful and original stand-up, writer and solo performer. ‘Seven Years In The Bathroom’ is the ultimate stat-based fun-packed thought-provoking experimental-and-sometimes-stupid hour-long comedy show in which Alex aims to recreate your entire life in one hour. “Beautifully structured, endearingly honest… joyous” The Scotsman.

8PM : ALL TICKETS £12.00 : SEATED

 

THU 3 MAY twee OFF! presents THE RAPTURE + Chew Lips

Forerunners of the post-punk revival of the early 2000s, The Rapture mixed their early post-punk sound with electronic and dance elements. With the help of the DFA production team they recorded their now seminal full length debut album ‘Echoes’ which included the hit ‘House Of Jealous Lovers’. Phoenix producer/Cassius member Philippe Zdar produced their third release ‘In The Grace Of Your Love’ in November 2011.

8PM : £13.00 ADV : £15.00 DOOR

 

FRI 4 MAY EAST PARK REGGAE COLLECTIVE + support

“Could well be the first band since The Specials to bring Reggae back to the masses” – Time Out.

“Sensational” -Rockers Revolt.

8.30PM : £6.00 ADV : £8.00 DOOR

 

SAT 5 MAY FOOD LOVER’S FAIR

Come and support your local food traders at our new farmers market. Featuring tasty produce such as ales, cakes, chutneys, coffee, pies and more. Yum!

With DJ’s in the The Barn Cafe.

11AM- 4PM : FREE

 

SAT 5 MAY COCOS LOVERS + Syd Arthur + Cakes and Ale

Formed in early 2008, Cocos Lovers (pronounced Co-Koss), are a six-piece band from Deal on the Kent coast, a close-knit band made of family members and friends who all contribute to the writing and arrangements of the band’s songs. Since forming they have become a favourite on the UK festival scene and have gained a reputation for fantastic multi-instrumental performances, combined with choir-like harmonies and glorious cinematic melodies. The music is heartfelt and pure combining traditional folk, African and Eastern rhythms and strains of the Deep South.

8PM : £6.00 ADV : £8.00 DOOR

 

WED 9 MAY TIM CLARE: HOW TO BE A LEADER

Overthrown your corrupt government and wondering what to do next?

Love democracy (in theory) but prefer power, golden statues and tons of sweet loot?

Channel 4 presenter and author Tim Clare can help. Armed with generic Frazzles, totally scientific diagrams and a water pistol, he explains how Willy Wonka inspired the Jonestown Massacre, and celebrates history’s most inspirational women in a no holds barred battle rap royale. BRIGHTON FRINGE BEST SHOW award winner.

8PM : £8.00 : £6.00 CONCESSIONS : SEATED

 

THU 10 MAY NEIL INNES

Neil performs a wry, poignant, humorous and topical one-man show, spiced with anecdotes of his life and times in the worlds of media and show-business. Neil is best known for his collaborative work with Monty Python, The Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band and The Rutles while his TV shows for BBC2, and The Innes Book of Records have become cult classics. Neil’s solo shows tickle the emotions with a potent mix of fine musicianship and enlightened lyricism, packed with sharp observations celebrating the absurdities of modern existence.

8PM : £14.00 : £12.00 CONCESSIONS : SEATED

 

FRI 11 MAY I.R.O.K + DOMINIQUE YOUNG UNIQUE

Speed Up! Norfolk & Norwich Festival Event

I.R.O.K. are THE INTERGALACTIC REPUBLIC OF KONGO. They make psychotropic afro-punk. Contagious and violent. Their debut album “Yé Yé God Revolution” was recorded in East London and in Southern Morocco where the sound was dreamt up by front-man Mike Title (formerly of Dead Kids) when he found himself on the concrete stands of a North African football match. This is the sound of chaos, of ecstasy, of joy and of panic.

8PM : £7.00 ADV : £9.00 DOOR

 

SAT 12 MAY LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD – Singing workshop with Anna Mudeka.

If you have a pulse you are able to express yourself through music, be it singing, dancing or drumming. Enjoy popular songs from Sub-Saharan Africa from some of the best African artists such as Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Miriam Makeba, Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Baba Maal and Youssou N’Dour and add to your repertoire the African national anthem. The day will finish with a live performance for friends and family.

Under 18s must be accompanied by an adult at all times.

10AM- 4PM : £20.00 : £18.00 CONCESSIONS

 

SAT 12 MAY WOMBATWOMBAT presents DRY THE RIVER + support

If you’ve never seen or heard Dry the River, where’ve you been? As a seriously hot tip for 2012, this is one of your last chances to catch DtR in an intimate – and the perfect – venue before they become as massive, majestic and addictive as their sound. You can see why people get confused: this five-piece band have all the hallmarks of the latest folk sensation: elemental name, beards, acoustic guitars, even a violinist. But what sets Dry the River apart is a background in hardcore and post-punk bands, hence the tattoos, lyrics that read like a Steinbeck novel and a sonic palette that sweeps from gentle to giant like an incoming storm. “A brilliant, brilliant band you’ll be hearing a lot more of in 2012… Prepare to fall in love.” (Huw Stephens, Radio 1)

Plus Howlback Hum in the bar: line-up TBC.

8PM : £8.00 ADV : £10.00 DOOR : LATE BAR

 

SUN 13 MAY twee OFF! presents YACHT + Concrete Knives

Speed Up! Norfolk & Norwich Festival Event

Mantra-happy Portland dance duo YACHT will flaunt their irresistible grooves, beguiling beats, sparkling synths and hooks so sharp they will pierce even the hardest of hearts. “The most exciting avant-garde outfit to flourish since The Knife”- NME.

“Dreamy pop tracks that sound like artifacts from another planet”- Billboard

8PM : £8.00 ADV : £10.00 DOOR

 

MON 14 MAY ESMERINE + Eric Chenaux

Speed Up! Norfolk & Norwich Festival Event

Esmerine was co-founded ten years ago by percussionist Bruce Cawdron (Godpseed You! Black Emperor) and cellist Rebecca Foon (Thee Silver Mt. Zion, Mile-End Ladies’ String Auxiliary). They have released three critically-acclaimed albums of modern chamber music, If Only a Sweet Surrender to the Nights to Come Be True (2003), Aurora (2005) and La Lechuza (2010) that have one foot in the new music/experimental terrain of contemporaries like Rachel’s or Town And Country and the other in the more visceral and lyrical landscape populated by the likes of Dirty Three (and GY!BE themselves).

8PM : £10.00 : £8.00 CONCESSIONS : SEATED

 

TUE 15 MAY NORWICH BLUESDANCE COLLECTIVE presents ‘BLUES CONNECTION’

with Lena Black’s Playboys + special guests.

8PM : ALL TICKETS £5.00

 

THU 17 MAY BLANCMANGE + support

After years of resisting offers to reform, finally, in 2010, perhaps encouraged by the use of Living On The Ceiling on the Berocca TV advert, the Faithless remix of Feel Me or the regular citing of Blancmange as an influence by the new wave of electro acts, from Hot Chip to La Roux, they began working on their first album for a quarter of a century. The result is Blanc Burn, an album of creeping atmospherics, crunching electronics, chart-friendly melodies and lyrics that explore the darker recesses of the human condition. There may have been a 25-year gap between it and the third, but Blancmange’s fourth album is worth its weight in gold.

8PM : £15.00 ADV : £17.00 DOOR

 

FRI 18 MAY Norwich Sound & Vision presents HOLY STATE + Tenebrous Liar

Speed Up! Norfolk & Norwich Festival Event

Three years after the release of their first demo, Holy State are ready to unleash their second single entitled Dial ‘M’ For Monolith from their upcoming debut album. Recorded at Lightship95 moored on the River Thames, produced by Ben Phillips and mastered by John Golden at Golden Mastering, it is an energetic exploration of all their tone and intent. A sonically-inspired vision, it is an example of their passion to create honest, driving songs.

8PM : £5.00 ADV : £7.00 DOOR

 

SAT 19 MAY PLAY THE MUSIC ACOUSTIC SHOWCASE

Highlighting the best of the local acoustic music scene in the Café Bar. Come along for great music, whilst enjoying delicious home made food, fair-trade coffee and fine local ales.

1- 4PM (performances start from 2pm) : FREE : CAFE BAR

 

SAT 19 MAY spectro presents NATHAN FAKE & LUKE ABBOTT + support

Speed Up! Norfolk & Norwich Festival Event

Joint headliners Nathan Fake and Luke Abbott both hail from Norfolk and both have been making significant waves in the electronica world via the Border Community Label. Nathan’s latest works have evolved into a much harder take on the electronica brief with a shift away from straight techno towards a more melodic sound. Luke’s live show is an eminently danceable creature. His hypnotic entrancements connect with something deeper seated within, and have already been rolled out to universal effect across Europe and the Far East.

8PM : £10.00 ADV : £12.00 DOOR

 

TUE 22 MAY twee OFF! presents DEATH GRIPS + support

Speed Up! Norfolk & Norwich Festival Event

Death Grips aggressive, dark, experimental hip hop has been garnering much praise for it’s raw power and punk attitude. “Beyond raw,” says producer and visual artist Flatlander, the project’s mastermind. “Our sound is post-Satanic, post-Christian.” Expect their debut album to redefine hip-hop in 2012.

8PM : £10.00 ADV : £12.00 DOOR

 

WED 23 MAY LATITUDE POETRY CLUB presents SIMON ARMITAGE

Luke Wright, host and co-curator of Latitude’s Poetry Arena, brings a bit of the Latitude magic to Norwich Arts Centre for this new monthly club. We start with a bang – Simon Armitage, arguably Britain’s greatest living poet, and winner of The Sunday Times Author of the Year, a Forward Prize, a Lannan Award , and an Ivor Novello Award. Support comes from Molly Naylor and Simon Mole. Supported by Apples & Snakes.

8PM : £12.00 : £10.00 CONCESSIONS : SEATED

 

WED 23 MAY THE NEUTRINOS preview The Butcher Of Common Sense ‘Stories from the Sonic Basement’

A site specific show for Westlegate House

Speed Up! Norfolk & Norwich Festival Event

Influenced by their work in Berlin created in a derelict ex-GDR radio station, this show will involve extremes of sound, space and energy. The first in a series of events previewing elements from the book and album ‘The Butcher of Common Sense’.

‘The Neutrinos are a force of nature’.- Torontowide

‘Throbbing art-punk noise and sexy urgent energy’.- Time Out New York

‘A Neutrinos show will leave you dazed, shocked, maybe scared, but certainly thrilled’.- World of Gigs USA

8PM : ALL TICKETS £5.00

 

THU 24 MAY BALACLAVA KID & DAD + Transept

at St Lawrence Church

Speed Up! Norfolk & Norwich Festival Event

Balaclava Kid & Dad return with a debut show for NNF12. The two-piece, consisting of baritone guitar, drums, various live looping and bass effects, have been working on a new show to create an offbeat thunderous live experience within the intimate site of a disused church in the centre of Norwich. Inspired by feelings of nostalgia for their Welsh roots, the show seeks to explore the contrasts between beauty and bleakness, industry and dereliction and will apply the use of surround sound, 3D visuals and animations to evoke a wild frontier atmosphere.

8PM : ALL TICKETS £5.00

 

FRI 25 MAY

twee OFF! presents ZUN ZUN EGUI + TV BUDDHAS

Speed Up! Norfolk & Norwich Festival Event

Zun Zun Egui are a band with a penchant for rocking the outer reaches. Live they tune in and then explode, all angles, taking the audience with them. Wild multi-lingual vocal incantations and splenetic, world-wise guitar licks mingle with zig-zag splashes of keyboard colour, while heavy, heavy bass and drums offer the crucial undertow that gives any foot the urge to dance. This great double bill also features the Israeli punk pop trio TV Buddhas, who bring their own blend of alienation drenched, garage-punk. Their music is reminiscent of The Wipers and Dead Moon, with a heavier, stoner guitar sound, and minimalistic drumming played on a stripped down kit. The band consists of husband and wife Juval Haring and Mickey Triest, and sibling Uri Triest. 8PM : £8.00 ADV : £10.00 DOOR

 

SAT 26 MAY GANGPOL UND MIT + support

Speed Up! Norfolk & Norwich Festival Event

As a music and graphic duet, Gangpol und Mit work in a peculiar world of digital pop inhabited by colourful and geometrical characters. In this project, music jumps from synth assaults, woody flute leads to mondo beats and cinematic harpsichord keys, with futuristic social songs wrapped in fake MIDI string quartet attempts. Meanwhile, on the visual side, salaried company men dive into greasy food, computer motherboards are slaughtered on a wild island while terrorist confetti explodes everywhere.

8PM : £10.00 ADV : £12.00 DOOR

 

SUN 27 MAY ADMIRAL FALLOW + support

Scotland’s Admiral Fallow continue their seemingly unstoppable mission to capture hearts and minds. They steal the former with beautiful melodies, sumptuous orchestration and bittersweet boy/girl vocals, while unforgettably colonising the latter thanks to lead singer/guitarist Louis Abbott’s exquisitely observed, hauntingly candid lyrics. As the band continue to attract admiring comparisons to Arcade Fire and Frightened Rabbit, while forging a sound that brims with originality, now is the time to catch them – before they’re huge.

8PM : £8.00 ADV : £10.00 DOOR

 

MON 28 MAY SUZY BOGGUSS

Suzy Bogguss is a Platinum selling songstress with Grammy and CMA awards. With the release of the “American Folk Songbook” album she has chosen to breathe new life into some classic songs with contemporary arrangements and a crack squad of Nashville’s acoustic A-Listers. Jerry Douglas, Stuart Duncan, Pat Bergeson, Charlie Chadwick and Jeff Taylor all join the band for Suzy’s self-produced project. Ultimately though, it’s Suzy’s voice that lovingly weaves through the guitars and mandolins to find the new in these old songs.

8PM : £15.00 : £12.50 CONCESSIONS : SEATED

 

WED 30 MAY GEMMA HAYES

+ support

Gemma Hayes’ much anticipated fourth studio album, Let it Break, is an evolution of Gemma’s unique style of music, combining prog rock, folk and electronica. The album is a collaboration with producer David Odlum, and features Paul Noonan of Bell X1 and Ann Scott.

8PM : £10.00 ADV : £12.00 DOOR

 

THU 31 MAY twee OFF! presents FIXERS + Mozart Parties + Olympians

The experimental surf dance quintet Fixers (hailing from Oxford) return to the live circuit with their jaw dropping debut album, a full realisation of their unique blend of pop, psychedelia and world music influences. Soaring live with five-part harmonies, sleigh bells and tight guitar lines, interweaving vocals with echo drenched effects, Fixers create something live that is truly thoughtful and uplifting. They effortlessly blend the sixties psychedelic childlike innocence of Brian Wilson and Bruce Haack with the spaced-out eighties avant-garde dance of Arthur Russell, Kate Bush and Tom Tom Club.

8PM : £6.50 ADV : £8.00 DOOR