Slim pickings, perhaps, if it’s come to this – feeling the need to mention that “one of the UK’s most successful boy bands” Five will be at New Theatre in Oxford on Thursday 5 December. Get on down there if you’re a bit of a musical masochist…
Cooler stuff is afoot on Friday 6 December and Saturday 7 December: the inventive popsters Candy Says have set up a two-night run of dates at the Albion Beatnik Bookstore in Oxford. Their blurb promises not only “outrageous costumes” but also “exclusive projections”! What can they be?
The latest regular gig under the ‘Listening Room’ banner at the Old Fire Station in Oxford takes place on Sunday 8 December. They like to put on a mix of cool local stuff and some out-of-town action, and this gig is no different. Get along to catch Listing Ships and Duchess, along with London’s Miraculous Mule – “rock’n’roll-infused spirituals and dangerous blues”!
A bit of a homecoming welcome is due on Thursday 12 December, as TTNG – formerly This Town Needs Guns – play The Cellar in Oxford after spending a good couple of years touring the world. They’ll be joined by Victor Villarreal, who once played in Cap’n Jazz and Owls (themselves quite an influence on TTNG) and Oxford’s Bright Works, who release their EP Explorers during this week.
Christmas business is certainly kicking off on Friday 13 December. There’s the Christmas edition of All Tamara’s Parties – Noel Tamara’s Parties – at Somerville College in Oxford, with Candy Says, Count Drachma, Ben Walker and more; and there’s day one of Gappy Tooth Industries’ Winter Warmer festival at The Wheatsheaf, Oxford, with Flights Of Helios, The Mighty Redox, Lewis Newcombe and more…
…and that fun continues into Saturday 14 December! Day two of the Winter Warmer, also at the Wheatsheaf, Oxford, has The Empty Vessels, Peerless Pirates, Bethany Weimers and more. On the same day, there’s Irregular Folk’s Christmas Special at The Cellar in Oxford, which offers Jess Hall, Salvation Bill and more.
Want more Christmas? Okay, okay, then, on Sunday 15 December get to the Wheatsheaf in Oxford for the Buried In Smoke Christmas all-dayer – a parade of heaviness including Desert Storm, Komrad, Mother Corona and a lot more. Phew. Pass the mulled Jägerbombs.
Full details of these and loads more gigs can be found in the events calendar.