MIDNIGHT SPECIAL at The Cooperative
supported by Diesel
Saturdays 18th Sept - 28th Nov
Old Paint Shop, Renshaw Street, Liverpool
Moving on from our live literature and pop shows of the last few years, Mercy are headed into new territories, taking with us the hyper-aesthetic and get-stonked attitude, while providing a more various, intelligent and satisfying selection of language-based acts.
Everything will take place within an environment designed by 'pattern-master' Scott Spencer, and with the help of Mercy's minions.
Highlights for us include new work by legendary performance artist Michael Mayhew on 18th Sept, the wildly unpredictable partnering of arch menaces A.p.a.t.t. And Mark Greenwood on 9th Oct, and an evening of with electronica innovator Leafcutter John. But take a look and you will find.
Along with Midnight Special, we're hosting out best ever pure poetry line-up at the third Revolutions in Form the Bluecoat's Chapter and Verse festival – and launching our first-ever audio tour of the city's imagined artworks.
See you around.
FREE tickets for all Midnight Special shows are available from the Diesel store
The Met Quarter // Liverpool // L1 6DA
And by emailing special@mercyonline.co.uk
LINE UPS:
- Saturday September 18th, 20.30 – 00.00
Michael Mayhew
“One of the most original and searching artists currently working on the UK live art scene”
John E McGrath – Artistic Director, Contact Theatre
There is no war.There is no terror.There is no crime.There is no tragedy.There is no trauma. There is no memory.
There is no title.
There is just me.
Artist Michael Mayhew presents new work.
- Saturday September 25th, 00.00 – 03.00
Stop Sharpening Your Knives
“A remarkable gathering of emerging poets” Lavinia Greenlaw
and Clinic presents
“London's sickest poetry nights" Dazed and Confused
A late-night poetry reading and zine making by two of the freshest poetry houses in the UK. S/S/Y/K editors Jack Underwood, Emily Berry and Sam Riviere launch their newest collection, renowned as an important taste-maker on the contemporary scene, and Clinic bring their own brand of DIY poetry publishing culture to Liverpool.
- Saturday October 2nd 20.00 – 00.00
Broadcast – Linguistic Transmissions
feat.
James Wilkes and Holly Pester
A new performance of poetic texts exploring the radio voice, which hovers between the paranoia of panic broadcasts, secret codes and the end of the world, and the euphoria of communion across vast distances. Vulnerable to dispersal in static and hiss, to detuning and disaster, this voice from the machine is a marker of human contact, a resonating chamber. In association with Penned in the Margins.
with
a MOVES festival selection: Hidden Words
New short films. Take a journey through tales, diaries, poems, memories and dissertations where words form only part of the story.
- Saturday October 9th, 20.00 – 00.00
A.p.a.t.t
Legendary virtuoso nutters a.P.A.t.T. present the centrepiece of a compelling trilogy of weekly theatrical performances.
plus Mark Greenwood
socio-physiological practice, projection of the male ego onto animals, and the interrelations between gender, memory, cultural location and identity. Unpredictable and intense poetry in performance.
- Saturday October 16th 00.00 – 03.00
Destroy all Linguists
A late-night lyrically-led music event with Mercy's best pals.
Hive vs Aisle 16
In a new collaboration for Mercy, Liverpool's new-media and live music honchos lock horns with the UK's most inventive and prolific poetry collective. Aisle 16's Ross Sutherland and Tim Clare perform poems based on the destruction of language, including their highly regarded poems using the Oulipo constraints, while Hive artists digitally distort and re-interpret the performance.
plus
Hive presents: Forest Swords
History quickly becomes irrelevant as soul vocals from another dimension grasp for ever more ludicrous ways of describing sound while drowning in bass and reverb. One of the first live performances by this maddeningly promising talent.
- Saturday October 23rd 19.00 – 00.00
Ways to Wonder
An evening of explorative work encouraging deep contemplation, with two performers at the forefront of their respective practices.
Leafcutter John
New film-based work from musician and sonic arts innovator Leafcutter John. Original nature footage is shown with a live electronic and vocal score – creating a contemplative visual and sonic environment reflecting the unpredictability, strength and beauty of the natural world. Leafcutter John is one of the leading experimental musicians in the country, and this is a showing of previously unseen work.
“Alongside Aphex Twin and Bogdan Raczynski – he’s one of the UK’s most fearlessly inventive electronicist” Time Out
plus Nathan Jones
Presenting poetics with music by Carl Brown and voice-responsive visuals by Scott Spencer.
- Saturday October 30th, 00:00 - 03:00
Kate Tempest with Sound of Rum
“Astounding flow, lyrical maturity... a politically coherent, poetic talent.“ XFM
Without doubt, the best spoken word performer we have ever seen, Kate raises the roof and sets hairs on end every time she takes to the stage. A poetry record on Pure Groove launched this year to universal acclaim, they're fresh back from nailing every festival stage going, and we're finally pinning her down for a Liverpool slot. Yes yes.
You have to be there to believe it.
plus
Nigel Barret and Louise Mari from Shunt.
Sir Walter Raleigh is a bloody rotter.
- Saturday November 6th, 12.00 – 00.00
HELLFAYRE - death, smoke & noise.
An all day and all night DEATH/BLACK/DRONE happening.
With corpsefacepainters, deathscenes & demondancers. Featuring Wraiths, Conan and Capac – who'll be doing a live soundtrack to a mash up of death scenes from various horror movies.
- Saturday November 20th, 21:00 - 00:00
Solo Movements: Wingwalker and MOVES
Explorations of solo performance in dance, poetry and music.
Wingwalker present Pete Simonelli
The lead vocalist of Enablers performs his first live spoken word performance in the city.
“He stares and glowers, he barks and hollers, and he contorts his lean frame as though he’s possessed by the tormented souls of the sorry roll call of dropouts, drunks and deadbeats that populate his dark inner city tales. Pete Simonelli is not content to just walk on the wild side; he wants to stop and take a closer look.” Southern
plus support TBA
+ MOVES: Red Rain by Bridgit Fiske
She was delivered water damaged.
A dance theatre solo integrating interactive visual media as digital poetry with live performance, commissioned by MOVES festival.
- Saturday November 27th
CLOSING PARTY – Hot Club De Paris + guests
Everyone loves Hot Club De Paris! We wind up our massif series of language-based performances with the long-song-title masters, performing a set of entirely new work – including cover-versions of tunes by long forgotten 90's DIY acts. Woowee.
AAaand relax