What's On: Entertainment Previews

GIG
Nine Inch Nails, The O2 arena

London's ear specialists will be scrabbling to reschedule their summer holidays as American industrial rock quartet Nine Inch Nails (NIN) prepare to descend on Docklands.

It could well be the last time NIN play London as Trent Reznor, scourge of the music industry and the creative force behind the band, has let it be known he wants to do something else with his life.

The NIN/JA tour also features reformed LA alt-rockers Jane's Addiction, who split in 1991 after their swansong tour ended in onstage brawling.

Self-styled "pretentious art rock" outfit Mew from Denmark also provide support.

July 15, 6.30pm, £32.50, 0844 856 0202, theo2.co.uk, Jubilee: North Greenwich

STAGE
Cross Road Blues, Hackney Empire

Blues pioneer Robert Johnson supposedly sold his soul to the devil at a Mississippi crossroads in the '30s in exchange for preternatural musical abilities.

Whether the Faustian pact was sealed or not, the singer and guitarist's legacy is in no doubt - his music and mystique have inspired Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones and Eric Clapton.

Set against a diabolic backdrop of racial tension, lynchings and voodoo, this
one-act play, which takes its name from one of Johnson's most famous songs, investigates the brief, shadowy life of the greatest of the Delta bluesmen.

July 16, 7.30pm, £14.50 (£12.50), 020 8985 2424, hackneyempire.co.uk, Rail: Hackney

STAGE
Maddid's Nordic Festival, The Space

Maddid's Nordic Festival - "the only Nordic Festival of its kind in London" - will set out a smorgasbord of contemporary Scandinavian culture on the Isle of Dogs this weekend.

The two-day event, which aims to "build bridges between Londoners and their Nordic cousins", will feature performances by UK-based artists from Norway, Iceland, Denmark, Sweden and Finland.

Vying for space on the inexpensive, flat-pack buffet table will be performance and video artists, improvisational theatre groups, dancers, comedians and an "interactive, intergalactic playground pop" band. Expect waffles, too.

July 11-12, various times, £12 (£8), 020 7515 7799, space.org.uk, DLR: Mudchute

COMEDY
Something Wicked This Way Comes, Greenwich Playhouse

Anyone arriving at Hackney Empire hoping to see 8ft-plus Guinness Book of Records centrefolds delivering wisecracks and one-liners may leave this show feeling disappointed. Those who've read the billing, though, won't.

This comedy showcase will feature the estimable talents of metaphorically giant comedians Felicity Ethnic, Dibi, Glenda Jaxson and talented newcomer Babatunde.

Also extracting mirth will be Felix Dexter and Leo Muhammad from the BBC's The Real McCoy.

Hosts Dibi and Choice FM's Rollo will be joined by some special guests.

July 10, 8.30pm, £15 (£12.50), 020 8985 2424, hackneyempire.co.uk, Rail: Hackney