So, Lou Reed walks into a Starbucks...

http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2011/11/688d479bfecbd495be...

Who knows it it's real, but it's believable enough! Read from the bottom up.

(especially after they lost 15% of their readership)

http://www.nme.com/news/red-hot-chili-peppers/58734#comments

This article is a gem. Not only does it refer to Stravinsky as a classical *composter* but it shows that RHCP never heard what Nick Cave thinks of them...

http://flavorwire.com/200333/the-30-harshest-musician-on-musician-insult...

Special edition madness continues after Nirvana's £90 version of Nevermind.

U2 have announced details of their Achtung Baby reissue today, and all this can be yours for just four hundred quid...

Achtung Baby reissue

Admittedly there's a "more reasonable" set at £100... but still, it's nearly as breathtaking as the special edition for Bjork's new album, which comes with a set of tuning forks. For £500.

Anyone buying?

In the course of my work, I found myself at a JB show last week, during which I noticed something, and - having nowhere else to share this thought - would like the massive to confirm that I'm not going mad.

I think his stylists are rather taking the proverbial. As part of his stage costume, he wears a silver handkerchief out of his back pocket - you can see it on the photo below.

I remember joking at the time to someone that it was part of the 'handkerchief code' of expressing sexual preferences... and that was the end of it. We laughed and dismissed it.

Except I decided to check the code (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Handkerchief_code) and it turns out that silver means..."Left—is a rock star, celebrity or male groupie;"

Just a coincidence? Any other incidents of a stylist pulling an unnoticed fast one?

In my other life as a rock 'tog, I have the pleasure of leaving the building three songs into any given show, and I've noticed a massive increase of late in shows that haven't sold out.

This week alone, Hole, Kiss and Rihanna - all of whom I'd imagine would have sold out - played to two thirds full venues. Heck, the touts didn't even bother to turn out for a couple of those.

So what is it - too many shows in too small an area? High ticket prices? General apathy? A couple of years ago virtually every show I went to was a sell out...

Hope the powers that be don't mind me posting this, but Word-friendly singer songwriter David Ford is doing a charity gig at Band On The Wall in December. (Edit - Monday 21st)

It's a mix of his own songs, and some unlikely cover versions.

Tickets are a tenner, all proceeds go to charity (this year it's a programme bringing music lessons to inner city schools). I've been responsible for organising the Manchester leg for a couple of years now, and a good time is guaranteed.*

Tickets are a tenner
https://securemobile.ticketline.co.uk/tickets/13239815/david-ford-milk-a...

Maybe see some of you there?

Here's a couple of quick videos from previous years. One cover serious, one not so much...

* no refunds

I spent Saturday afternoon last backstage at a small festival, working. I've worked backstage at shows a few times and there seems to be a great myth around backstage, perhaps a result of the rumours of debauchery on the road from times past, while the reality is somewhat different.

It strikes me that people who have designs on being backstage are like dogs chasing cars. They know it's what they want, aren't quite sure why they want it, and have no idea what to do if they ever got it. I saw several people attempting to barter for passes, in a couple of cases because of their admiration of a couple of artists who either hadn't arrived or had already left.

It's funny how the notion of backstage is one of glamour, as opposed to the more likely sight of three inches of a roadie's cleft as he lugs a monitor about. Frankly, backstage is just a bunch of people trying to do their jobs. It just seems odd that people think of it as a weird, mythical place where exciting things happen.

So what caused the great myth of backstage? Is it just a relic from the 70s? Or am I just backstage at the wrong gigs...

I know this is old, but I've only just seen it and thought it was a great rant on the subject of the media and getting paid for your work, and seems particularly relevant in terms of the internet and the expectation of free content.

In the first of what I imagine might be a few offers that look 'a bit desperate', you can get 2 tickets for Hop Farm festival (feat. Mr P Weller) for just 10 of your earth pounds, as they're bundling them free with a waterproof anorak.

Original retail price of around £200 for the pair. Ouch.

http://www.mandmdirect.com/competitionterms1.asp?&a=resetsearch

(Product is here http://www.mandmdirect.com/products-PPQ-Limited-Edition-Splashmac-Rain-P...)

Aside : go see the Joy Formidable if you go, they're excellent.

This email was sent this afternoon to those brave enough or foolhardy enough to have purchased opening night tickets for MJ's O2 residency...

You really have to admire the way that they try and flog a hotel via their "official travel package provider" in the same breath as apologising for the inconvenience.

---

Dear Customer

This afternoon Michael Jackson producers will be announcing the rescheduling and change of the opening shows in order to meet the challenges presented by such a large and technically complex concert.

Please allow us to apologise. It was not an easy decision to change the schedule but in the end we wanted to ensure that all of Michael's fans attending the concerts get the same quality in staging and level of entertainment.

We are writing to let you know that the 10th July concert that you purchased tickets for at the O2 arena has now been rescheduled for 1st March 2010. The tickets you receive will be printed with the rescheduled date and you will have the same seat originally purchased. You do not have to do anything as you will be automatically allocated the same seats and moved to the revised date.

We understand the inconvenience this may have caused and for this reason we have secured some excellent hotel deals for Michael Jackson fans travelling to London on these rescheduled dates. Please contact our official travel package provider Thomsonexperience at customerservice@thomsonexperience.com or call on +44 (0)20 74621563 for discounted deals on hotel beds in London. We can offer a 10% discount on all hotel bookings. Quote 'Michael Jackson rescheduled dates' in order to claim the offer.

If you cannot attend the revised date and want a full refund including booking fee, please contact us at Michaeljackson@Ticketmaster.co.uk or via our Michael Jackson Support line on 0844 277 9982.

Tickets will be dispatched closer to the event date.

Thank you for your understanding. Michael, who is directly involved with all aspects of the styling/choreography/band selection and rehearsals, is working around the clock to ensure this is the show to end all shows! We look forward to seeing you on 1st March 2010.

Regards

Ticketmaster - sent on behalf of AEG Live

Just spotted a date for Echobelly in Manchester in July. Going to give it a punt for old time's sake...

Bought a ticket this morning and was surprised to find an extra option for insurance - a couple of quid - which meant that if you were ill or otherwise unable to make the show, you could claim and get your money back.

This is all well and good, but I don't think they've gone far enough - I want them to insure against the following:

- Disappointing album released after tickets go on sale
- Generally feeling like you can't be arsed on the night
- Being sat next to someone who talks all the way through
- Artist over-refreshment / apathy
- Bob Dylan's off nights

What do *you* want them to insure against at gigs?

Except when he's moaning about his cleaner on Twitter...
http://twitter.com/timwestwood

"She uses the same goddam cloth to clean everything - annoys the hell out of me."

"And she mixes cleaning products together - smells like something's gonna explode! Must get her some rubber gloves."

"Same cloth for everything - I've tried tellin her but she just doesn't anything I say. Its mad frustrating. I gonna tell her right now!!!!!!"

Fall back on the Mister Muscle, Yo.

http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/...

The above article should cure you once and for all.

"AEG Live, the company behind the concerts, has agreed with Viagogo, an online ticket reseller, to sell hundreds of so-called premium tickets for each performance at the 17,000-capacity O2 arena, in East London, at about £500 each, compared with their face value of between £50 and £75.

The move means that both AEG Live and Viagogo stand to make huge extra financial returns, while reducing the availability and standard of seats to those fans trying to buy seats through the official, “primary” route, via the Ticketmaster website."

There's loads of things I love about AEG's attitude in the article, from the talk of "real fans" and "to ensure fans are able to purchase premium tickets and exchange tickets directly with other fans" - except of course those fans could never have bought those tickets to exchange because they never went on sale in the general pool.

Pathetic, and the kind of behaviour that would have people up in arms in any other industry.

And no, I'm not a Jacko fan who missed out, but I do go to a hell of a lot of live shows. My thought on the solution to this is very, very simple - it'll never work, but it's simple...

Don't buy them. Tell your friends not to buy them. Go to fan sites and organise a boycott. Leave them with a house full of empty 'premium' seats and no option but to sell them at a reasonable price or have Jacko staring out at a half empty venue.

Give them the proverbial middle finger. It's idiots actually buying them that allow them to get away with it. So don't.

Just noticed that Elvis Costello is playing a few shows around the country with the Brodsky Quartet, yet bafflingly his website makes no mention of it at all?

The shows aren't listed on his web site, Ticketmaster aren't selling tickets, nor are SeeTickets, but the various venues are!

Anyway, sounds like an interesting night out and thought I'd let the Word massive know, in case it had passed everyone else by too. Show are in Basingstoke, Manchester, Glasgow, London and Birmingham that I've found so far...