Next week in Munich – London Grammar, Irvine Welsh, Alice Russell

On Monday, Hamburg rock band Tocotronic are in town, playing at the Muffatwerk. This summer, they celebrated twenty years together as a band, and are still releasing studio albums. Tickets cost 28.50 € and they’ll be supported by Frankfurt four-piece Okta Logue, who are rather good, and certainly worth arriving early for. Incidentally, Okta Logue are headlining the Atomic Cafe on Friday, should you be interested in hearing more from them.

Monday also sees “rap meets poetry” Bless the Mic at the Glockenbachwerkstatt. I stumbled upon this once before, and it was so much fun. I must say, a good hip hop battle is right up my alley. Tickets cost just 4 €, and if you fancy yourself as a bit of a rapper, put your name on the list to be in with a chance of winning the coveted “golden chain”.

The Lyrikkabinett is also hosting a poetry slam on Monday night, starting at 8pm. The wonderful Bente Varlemann will be there, where she’ll be performing alone and with the Munich lyricist Carmen Wegge as Le Poonie. Here’s a fantastic performance from her about sexism:

Paris band Théodore, Paul & Gabriel are playing Milla on Tuesday. Despite the name, they’re three girls (Theodora de Lilez, Pauline Thomson and Clémence Gabriel) and they make such beautiful music.

Tuesday continues to be rather international, with London singer-songwriter Andrew Roachford performing at the Ampere, and California’s Queens of the Stone Age are also in town, playing at the Zenith.

California brings us yet more music on Wednesday, when Los Angeles’ Thirty Seconds to Mars will be playing at the Olympiahalle. They’ve been around for fifteen years now, and continue to go from strength to strength. Their latest album, Love, Lust, Faith and Dreams, was released earlier this year, and received critical acclaim.

Up-and-coming London trip-hop trio London Grammar are playing the Atomic Cafe on Wednesday. Hannah Reid has an astounding voice:

On Thursday, Irvine Welsh is at the Black Box in Gasteig. Tickets cost 10 € and it starts at 7pm. I’ll be there, so if you’re going, do let me know! He’ll be reading from his most recent book, Skagboys, a prequel to Trainspotting. I bought it a couple of weeks ago, over-optimistically hoping I’d have chance to read it before the reading, but alas, I’ve yet to start on the 336 page novel.

Thursday also sees the launch of Canadian artist Jeff Wall’s exhibition in the Pinakothek der Moderne. The photographer will give a talk on Thursday, in the Ernst von Siemens auditorium, and will describe his relationship to Munich over the years. The exhibition itself will focus on Munich photographs mostly dating from the eighties and nineties. Wall is an extraordinary tour de force in the world of photography, and both Sonic Youth and Iggy Pop have used his work for album covers.

Crystal Fighters are playing the Theaterfabrik on Friday, but if you haven’t got a ticket yet, I’m afraid you’re too late – the show is completely sold-out.

From Friday until Sunday, the Feierwerk is celebrating the best in local music with The Sound of Munich now. I can particularly recommend Soki Green (playing on Saturday), who I saw play a Hauskonzerte show earlier this year:

Entrance is completely free, though you have to pay a 5€ deposit when you enter, which you can claim back upon leaving.

This weekend an international wine expo is also taking place in the city – the Forum Vini up near Freimann (U-Bahn U6). Tickets cost 15 € and can be bought in advance here.

On Saturday, you can celebrate the annual Thai festival Loi Krathong in the Alte Kongresshalle. Tickets cost between 10-40 € and you can expect Thai food, live music and a tombola.

New Zealand’s The Naked and the Famous are playing the Theaterfabrik on Sunday. If you’re not sure who they are, they’re the band who brought you this Ohrwurm, which has been used in many a TV show (Gossip Girl, Skins, various Channel 4 ads, and NBC’s Whitney and Chuck):

Also on Sunday, the lady touted as “Adele’s little sister”, Alice Russell is playing the Atomic Cafe. She’s quite something:

Tickets cost 22.48 € in advance.