Thursday 12th February 2026

7:30-9:30pm (doors 7pm)

Caper Bookshop, 74-77 Magdalen Road, Oxford, OX4 1RE

What is it?

We love discovering new music, and the best way to discover is to share. 

Listening Parties are a space to share the music you’re passionate about. You’ll discover something new, and meet other music enthusiasts.

This time we’re thrilled to bring the Listening Party format to Caper Bookshop, a cosy and creative space in the heart of East Oxford. 

 
How does it work?

Like an open mic, let us know when you arrive if you’ve brought something to share. We’ll have inputs for LP, CD and for minijack, and a computer, so you can bring a track on vinyl, CD, on your phone, or as a name in your head. 

We’ll have two sessions of music with a short break in between, and ask you to attentively enjoy every offering as you would at a live gig. We’ll limit contributions to four minutes each so that we can fit in lots of contributions. If you’d like to introduce your track, we’d like to hear what you love about it.

We’ll also have an open Spotify playlist setup that you can add to during the event, if what you hear inspires you – we’ll play the night’s bespoke playlist during the break and after the formal sharing part of the evening is over.

Theme for this edition

This edition of our Listening Party is built loosely around the theme of love. We won’t be wheeling out the classic love songs, or overplayed anthems: we’re interested in fresh takes on the theme, and also celebrating love in forms beyond romance. However you feel about love, we hope to find something that can resonate with you. Here are some avenues to wander down:

Songs which extoll the virtues of a type of person, or thing:

Lovesong for the Geek by Soda Fountain Rag

Songs about romantic love are allowed too, but it would be great to hear something that we might not have heard before. 

“In a Week” by Hozier and Karen Cowley describes two people laid to rest together: 

Note:

We wish to provide an open forum for people to share music that is meaningful to them without censorship, including sensitive topics and explicit language. The Listening Party aims to be an open and welcoming space – as such we ask everyone to respect each other as well as the diverse music we are likely to listen to.

Accessibility

There is step free access by request (it requires opening a side shutter). Otherwise, there is a step up into the shop at the front.

There is currently no hearing loop or accessible toilet.

There is blue badge parking all along Magdalen Road.

In partnership with Caper Bookshop