Still less than a year old, this salsa joint slap bang in the middle of town has lived up to its early promise and is packing them in. The punters who throng to El Son, with entry free Sunday to Thursday and a minimal thousand pesetas at weekends, come to dance and the floor fairly heaves until the small hours. The salsa-shy can take classes twice a week on Mondays and Fridays, and professional dancers mix with the crowd to keep things moving anyway. Check out the live performances midweek.
2000 Jewish Book Festival of Greater Philadelphia
Attracting fans of all faiths, The Jewish Book Festival of Greater Philadelphia celebrates the achievement of literary luminaries of many generations. This year’s celebration begins with a lecture and signing by National Book Award winner EL Doctorow, noted for novels ‘The Book of Daniel’, ‘Ragtime’ and ‘Billy Bathgate’. The week concludes with celebrated speaker and author of ‘The Red Tent’, Anita Diamant, a widely publicized columnist and author of numerous books on Jewish lifestyles. Other featured authors include former New York Times religion editors Samuel Freedman and Ari Goldman, fiction writer Myla Goldberg, American Bandstand dancer and Bunny hop creator Harvey Sheldon, Philadelphia broadcast pioneer Larry Kane, and Holocaust author Rich Cohen.
Craig David
With an impressive haul from the recent MOBO awards, the young boy David continues to sweep all before him as the latest sexy, sophisticated R&B star to get the teenagers screaming. Old before his time, if you ask us. SOLD OUT.
Kurt Wagner
Nashville-based country singer and founding member of Lambchop embarks on a solo tour of the UK.
Hanna Schygulla
Hanna Schygulla, muse to Rainer Werner Fassbinder and diva of new German cinema, returns to Rome in the guise of cabaret artist to consolidate the success of last season’s university concert. This time her repertoire is strictly Bertolt Brecht, performing classics from ‘The Threepenny Opera’ (expect a rousing Pirate Jenny), ‘Happy End’ (with the driving, haunting ‘Surabaya Johnny’) and the later ‘Kuhle Wampe’. Music is, of course, by Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler, while Matthieu Gonet provides piano accompaniment.
Sex, Drugs and Libel in the New Russia
Moscow’s alternative bi-weekly, The eXile, tells its tale. Hated by many for its practical jokes, sick humour and savage hatred of much of the local expatriate community, The eXile is also essential reading for many foreigners and Russians. The book is much of the same, a mixture of worthy if sometimes wordy investigative journalism by Matt Taibbi and sorry tales of bad sex, good drugs and more bad sex by his partner Mark Ames. It’s already out of date but still should be essential reading for those who revel in the surreality of Moscow.
The Scottish Colourists
Christened the ‘Colourists’ due to their unashamedly bold use of pure colour, Fergusson, Cadell, Hunter and Peploe brighten up an otherwise dreary winter with their ever popular work.
Café Noir
Venice’s original cyber café has had to reinvent itself of late following the influx of several giant internet lounges. It has done so with fine style, thanks to the warm welcome of its owner Franco and his young staff who serve up food, drinks and great music late into the night. The perfect place to take refuge from the tourist traffic outside, it still keeps half a dozen computers out back with good rates for email and other internet services.
