Ten years after storming Wembley Arena with his revival of the 1976 album, Oxygene, its creator and performer, French synth maestro Jean-Michel Jarre, is back in town... to play exactly the same thing again, only this time in the Royal Albert Hall on Sunday, March 30th. The 59 year-old has released 18 studio albums in his 36 year career so far so we'd have hoped he'd have seen fit to treat us, say, to......

Two weeks into the New Year and it's important to find things to distract yourself from the grey weather, gym timetables, failing diets and attempts to avoid alcohol. If you're still feeling the pinch post festive season then we've got some excellently cheap things for you to do this week to cheer, edify, inspire and amuse you. Monday: Happy days! The Fonz will be at Forbidden Planet for a book signing between 5-6pm. It's......

Motown legends The Four Tops won a victory in court last Friday, as they successfully prevented a rival band from touring with their name. Apparently singer Viscount Oliver Miller had been touring with his band, who went under the somewhat suspect name of "Viscount Oliver's Legendary Four Tops". There were surely Four Tops fans who were hoodwinked by this name trickery and attended the advertised gigs, assuming they would see at least one member......

Here’s what we’ve learned this weekend: Today is Remembrance Sunday which actually falls on 11th November - Armistice Day. The Queen and other Royals attended the Festival of Remembrance at the Royal Albert Hall last night. The Ceremony of Remembrance and Cenotaph Parade take place on Whitehall from 10.30am with Two Minute Silence at 11:00am. There was some pomp, circumstance and kids with strawberries on their heads at the Lord Mayor's Show yesterday. The......

Heathrow co-pilot arrested for being drunk. Helen Mirren's dogs win award. Song devoted to Enfield homeless man. Henman versus Edberg in the Royal Albert Hall. Voice of Homer Simpson on stage in London Image courtesy of TwoCrabs via the Londonist flickr group.......

Cult canadian star Feist is back in the UK playing a sold out date at the Shepherd's Bush Empire on Monday night. Now "1, 2, 3, 4" is all over an advert it might be tricky to find tix but we reckon the ever reliable XXX. Kill Hannah bring their Chicago rock to Kings College with I Was A Cub Scout and Saving Aimee supporting. Tickets are £7.50 and here and American R&B lothario......

Experimental hardcore stars The Locust play The Underworld on Monday night. Tickets are £12 each, and still available for box office collection. Emo favourites Circa Survive play the Barfly, though tickets are long gone. The Ravonettes play Bush Hall for a sold out show, former Japan frontman David Sylvian plays Royal Festival Hall, with a smattering of tickets available at £37.50 each. John Mayer plays the first of two sold out nights at the Royal......

Hard-Fi have announced a massive UK tour of arenas throughout the land, including a night at Wembley Arena. They’ll be bringing their tales of urban hell to Wembley on Tuesday 18th December, with tickets on sale tomorrow morning at 9am. For those quick off the mark on their refresh buttons, Bloc Party play Camden Barfly (yes, you’ve heard me right – they’ve sold out two nights at Ally Pally but they’re doing a miniscule show)......

Monday night sees mad Australians Architecture in Helsinki come to the capital to play Koko after a stop off at Bestival this weekend. Tickets are £12.50 each and still available for box office collection. Faithless play the first of two nights in the capital at Shepherds Bush before moving on to Brixton on Tuesday night, which is mostly sold out though there are some balcony seats left. KT Tunstall plays an instore at HMV on......

It looks like summer might actually have arrived in London this week, but if you're determined to stay inside, here are a few things to help you bide the time. On TV, Londonist likes: Monday, 3 September – Wednesday, 5 September Dumped (Channel 4, 21:00-22:00) We’ve already told you about this interesting concept involving contestants living on a rubbish dump, and since you’re no doubt looking to fill the Big Brother void in your......

The Proms are a marvellous institution. Remarkably diverse musically, accessible, world class and - crucially - cheap as chips, they are the soundtrack to summer in London and we are privileged to have them on our doorstep. It was with an eager step that we hied ourselves to the Royal Albert Hall on Sunday afternoon for the sold-out 48th Prom, despite the glowering sky and hint of rain in the air. Arriving at around......

As always, there are a million things to do in London this week. If you fancy a night in though, here are a few things to keep you occupied. On TV, Londonist likes: Monday, 16 July Building Britain (BBC1, 19:30-20:00) The first in the series, Peter Ackroyd's back to take us through the changes in London's skyline and how money and power are influencing how our city will look. Olympic Backlash: Tonight (ITV1, 20:00-20:30)......

There are a million things to do in London this week, but if you fancy a night in, here are a few things to keep you occupied. On TV, Londonist likes: Monday, 9 July Britain’s Next Top Model (Living, 21:00-22:00) After the dramatic first episode that saw all the girls get in a screaming match on their first night in their posh London house, we can't wait to see what the wannabe models will......

We've seen plenty of boastful stats about the reinvigorated Dome — apparently, it could swallow 13 Albert Halls or 10 St Paul's Cathedrals. (Scenarios not all that far fetched, considering nearly a billion quid and numerous reputations have already disappeared into its maw.) But here's a way to judge its size for yourself. Using Google Maps, it is possible to compare London's landmarks from an aerial perspective. The shots are all from the same......

Busy week as ever in the capital for music, so straight in we go: Monday night sees Fountains of Wayne grace the Astoria with their power-pop melodies. Tickets are still available from the usual places, however are going quickly. However if power pop isn't your sort of thing, you can seethe avant-garde guitar experimentalists Wilco play Shepherds Bush Empire on Monday night, which is well and truly sold out. If you like your Joy Division......

The Londonist Literary List appears every Tuesday. If you'd like to bring an event to our attention, please email londonistlit@gmail.com. Those of us with an addiction to lists may have looked on folornly at this recent compilation of no less than 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die - but it did make us think of a drinking game to play. It includes a shot glass, a bottle of cheap vodka, three pairs......

The man who cut his wrists in Malcolm Rifkind's Chelsea office before trying to daub slogans on the walls with his own blood, has been found guilty of criminal damage. For the two or three people who haven't heard this incredibly bit of important news yet: Lindsay Lohan had her handbag half inched at Heathrow airport. It contained a ton of diamonds and some asthma medication. Pete Doherty has put in a request to......

A BBC Proms concert due to take place yesterday evening had to be cancelled after a small fire at the Royal Albert Hall. According to the Beeb part of the building was 'filled with smoke' after a fire broke out in the artists' bar but "no-one was injured or trapped". The concert, by the Philadelphia Orchestra was due to feature works by Beethoven and Matthias Pintscher and was to be broadcast on Radio Three......

A leaked memo from Thames Water would seem to suggest that they're going to cut their workforce by 25% over the next four years. In London last year 6.16 million Penalty Charge Notices were handed out for illegal parking, improper use of bus lanes, moving traffic offences and contraventions under the London Lorry Control Scheme. Looks like the planned 200mph North-South rail link might be abandoned as it will be too expensive. London Lite......

Another bumper crop of things to do and see this weekend, in particular all the Big Dance events taking place around town - more details here. But for the non-dance related things to see and do, the Culture Crawl starts here... Friday 21 July 1001 Nights Now at the British Museum. An evening of Arabian fairy tales re-told through the stories of migrant workers from the Middle East in Britain today; this is an......

Mapping, it seems, is the new rock and roll. Tools such as Google Earth are allowing everyday folk to create all manner of interesting mash-ups. The latest one to hit our radar (via New Scientist’s technology blog – thanks guys) is biomapping. Christian Nold of BioMapping.net is creating maps of London and other cities based on emotional responses. Places that elicit a strong emotional response appear as peaks (for example ‘meeting a Greenpeace activist’......

The Exhibition Road Music Day takes place tomorrow on (surprise!) Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the cultural saturation point of London that counts the Victoria & Albert Museum, Natural History Museum, Institut Francais, Goethe-Institut and Imperial College among its local businesses. Starting at 10.00am and going on until midnight or whenever the fat lady stops singing, this free event will feature a dizzying array of musical mayhem from across the world. The Music Day......

See listings here for today and here for ongoing events. Wednesday Architectural History of the Albert Hall: Pretty self-explanatory. Take a guided tour round the old, red beehive for £7.50. Tours from 11am, requires booking. Pub and Church Crawl: From holy spirits to those of the distilled kind, this tour of Clerkenwell’s historic boozers and churches is led by former RIBA president Maxwell Hutchinson. £7, booking required. Building the Gherkin: Documentary on the construction......

How cool is this: to mark the 70th anniversary of the first performance of Peter and the Wolf in Moscow, the Royal Albert Hall is hosting the world premiere of a brand new stop-frame version of the story along with live accompaniment from the Philharmonia Orchestra. According to the Philarmonia website "the stop-frame film... offers a fantastical and intriguing interpretation of the world famous story, with ingenious new twists woven into the original tale,......

And you thought the God Squad was a mere turn of phrase. If the previews for God's Next Army (Mon 8pm C4) are right, then the Grand Old Party should be on its guard as a Trojan horse of bright young things - bright, utterly fanatical young zealots from fundie colleges in the South, we should say - is preparing to take it over from the inside. Yes, in this documentary we get to......

The thin white duke made a surprise appearance at the Royal Albert Hall last night. Beats a 'guerilla' Babyshambles gig any day eh (yes, we have forgiven him Tin Machine)? Bowie decided to make an appearance during Dave Gilmour's gig, flouncing on during the encore to guest on 'Arnold Layne' and 'Comfortably Numb'. We do have a very fond memory of glimpsing Dave and his missus in a theatre once, shortly after moving to......

Hot ticket for the week has to be Vancouver's The Organ, a dreamy, nearly all female hybrid of Joy Division, The Smiths, Blondie and The Cure. Under the singular leadership of the utterly talented Katie Sketch, they take to the stage on Tuesday 18th July at King's College Union. Alternatively here's a few other dates on sale from today that you might considering spending a little of your hard earned wonga upon. Knock-kneed, acoustically......

According to it's website the Pembridge Hotel is "a three star/diamond rated, Central London hotel. Perfect for the tourist looking for a hotel close to Hyde Park, Bayswater, Albert Hall, Kensington Palace and many other famous London sites." It's also apparently infested with bed bugs. Back in October of last year Hotel Chatter.com received an email form a 'disatisfied' Pembridge customer which opened with the ominous sentence "On the night of Saturday 10th September,......

Eel Pie Eccentrics Mystery Jets have never been ones to do things in the regular rock'n'roll way, possibly why their Dad plays in the band, and possibly why they've just started an online treasure hunt ahead of their debut album and a small tour in support that takes in the Mean Fiddler on the 9th March. Clue 1. There's no place like home. Ah, that's easy then. Off to find a copy of Dark......

Coming to you a few days early to give you some advanced warning on a few big shows out this Friday and let you know of a few others hanging around. First up and already on sale here are the Teenage Cancer Trust shows at the Royal Albert Hall. A stirling line up for all shapes and sizes is available with only the Cure show sold out at the time of typing. They are:......