Bingley Music Live add more stella acts...

Bingley Music Live have added further bands to their James announcement earlier this week.

This hugely impressive and valuetastic fest have added Labrinth, Ash, Cast, Peter Hook and the Light, Funeral For a Friend and Rae Morris as the next six acts to join the bill for Bingley Music Live.
 
These six new names join James, Embrace and Ella Eyre on the line up for Myrtle Park's 'last great party of the summer' on 4-6 September.

Labrinth is the second headliner announced for this year's Bingley Music Live, joining classic band of the British music scene and champions of the madchester era, James. 
Embrace, following something of a hiatus returned with a series of secret gigs – we were at the first at an old Mill in Bradford. A totally bizarre event, meet in a car park, surrender phones etc.. led through dark dank corridors while an air – raid siren turned over somewhere in the distance. Deeper and darker, until we enter a room where there is a gentle hum in the darkness. The band play mostly their (then) upcoming new album illuminated only by glowsticks. Gig over we file out through those same corridors, reclaim our valuables and back into the carpark.

Septembers gig in the expanses of Myrtle Park and that famous Yorkshire sunshine will be different again, an impressive back catalogue, who won’t give their all to Come Back To What You Know and All You Good Good People.

Ella Eyre, perennial contributor to hits by Rudimental, Naughty Boy as well as working with Bastille, XX. This year she supports Olly Murs on his tour as well as having written Germanys Eurovision entry.

More announcements due soon. Bingley Music Live takes place 4th - 6th September and tickets are frozen at just £49 + booking for the whole weekend. Even better move quick and book by this Saturday (28th) and you can spread the costs over 5 months interest free and pay just £14.70 now.

Tickets seetickets

Morrisey Live Review - Leeds Arena March 2015

Morrissey Leeds Arena 20/3/15

It’s no secret, I am a tad Mozza obsessed, long confirmed and loyal. Despite this I am not afraid to call out Stephen Patrick when I feel at times his personal circumstances meant that set lists were full of the more morose and plodding b-sides and album tracks, singularly fine, but back to back dull.

For his first visit to this arena we welcome an almost celebratory Moz, his intro video as eclectic as ever, Edit Sitwell, James Cagney, Nico, of course the New York Dolls and touchingly, Fade to Grey by Visage in tribute to the recently departed Steve Strange.

Against a back drop of the Queen giving her subjects the bird, Morrissey delivered a killer double head of The Queen is Dead and Suedehead, to the sheer delight of his adoring crowd.

His most recent album, World Peace is None of your Business gained critical and commercial success and is represented here by a seven of its tracks, I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris very nearly seeing the girl in front of me throw herself of the balcony as she ably acted out its refrain.

Oh how I wish I were in the thronging mass as Trouble Loves Me plays “Show me a barrel and watch me scrape it / Faced with the music as always I'll face it / In the half-light / So English....frowning / Then at midnight, I
Cant get you of my head”. Circumstances dictate that I am, albeit gratefully, in the seats for the first time ever watching Moz.

Irish Blood comes perfectly timed as we teeter on the verge of another election. Though I have, in my past been quite active politically, I am now as dissatisfied as ever and remain as anti-royalist and so I stand and bellow every word like it WILL make a difference.

Morriseys heritage is well represented as always and like the rest of the set find him in extremely good voice, his band very ably led by long term collaborator and musical director Boz Boorer.  As well as Queen is Dead we delight in What She Said / Rubber Ring, Stop Me, and Meat Is Murder. The latter accompanied by a truly horrific film in case the ban on meat products being sold around this arena hadn’t got the message across.

First of the Gang To Die closes and is the key for Matt Walker to quite half heartedly trash his drum set. Need to practice that a bit Matt.

2015 finds Morrissey in good voice and with a very tight band behind him with the recent addition of Mondo Lopez on bass. Further excursions into castanets and flamenco seem possible, with an appearance on Alan Carr imminent, don’t rule out a Strictly appearance just yet… “Stephen Patrick will dance the pasodoble”

How Travel Republic Showed Contempt for Everyone

Update 18.47 16/03/2015
Just a minor update to this story…

On Monday morning 16/03 we got a series of tweets from Travel Republic, saying initially that they had updated their blog and wouldn’t be using the offending video in future marketing. They went on to apologise for any upset and assured us that this wasn’t intentional. I asked why it took so long when they had been alerted to copyright problems within minutes and therefore were aware it contravened their rules.. They said they wanted to make sure all the team were aware and that lessons have been learn. The prize had however been awarded as they didn’t believe the entrant had deliberately broken any rules.

There is the crux and your get out in future.  As long as you do not deliberately not retweet or not follow someone on twitter…as long as you don’t deliberately flout anything else then you are ok.

We then had a quick look at their blog and it was the most ridiculous thing I have seen since, well, Katie Price was last on TV. Under rule 6 (which, to refresh you required you to ensure that they can reuse this video however they wish) they had tacked on an apology for not enforcing it. “it has been pointed out to us (so they didn’t notice themselves copyrighted music, video and product images) that the competition winner contains incidental elements of copyrighted material (well not incidental, the music is used in approx. 50% of the video, the nivea sun cream approx. 30% and the videos approx. 60%) and us such (we think they mean “as such”) we will not be using this in our future communications”

So in summary, the rule was broken, but so what. Travel Republic really should have noticed this but didn’t. The entrant apparently didn’t know he had nicked music, video and imagery from the internet so he must be absolved.  If only someone had told Travel Republic there was a problem…oh hang on we collectively did, within minutes, on Twitter and facebook but they ignored us on twitter and deleted our comments on facebook (and yes, we checked with those people whose comments went missing and of the 4 that went, three have replied and confirmed they didnt delete their own post)

Travel Republic have now removed the whole winning tweet and facebook post. They know they got it horribly wrong but did nothing to stop it even when they had a chance… and hundreds of customers, including the 10,500+ who have read this entry up to this update,  who didn’t break the rules aren’t going to Thailand. Lessons learnt then for them…you now know how to win! Rules are for losers.

The original story...

Our inbox began bulging earlier today (13/03/15) with various headers but mostly involving the words "cheat" "illegal" or "disgusted"

One common thread to all these emails was Travel Republic and a competition they had run entitled #DearSummer.

The idea was to use words, pictures, video, whatever you wanted to convey how much you love summer,

Take on the competition was huge as we saw and at 12.00pm today they announced their winner.. well they were a little late but hey, thats nothing to the furore that then errupted,

The winning video, whilst admittedly was hosted on Youtube. The video contains music which contravenes copyright law as no permission is given, making it illegal. Additionally a product made by Nivea is featured, again without permission. This also is illegal. It is clear that Nivea have been made aware of this, both these infringements means the video should not hosted on Youtube.

You might view that this doesnt really matter, in the grand scheme of things is it important. Maybe.

Except these copyright infringement causes Travel Republic a problem because of their own rules.. Point 6 of their rules:
6. Entering this competition grants Travel Republic a perpetual, irrevocable and royalty-free license to use any material entered in future communications.
Because of the copyright infringement which Travel Republic are now complicit in owing to the reposting and retaining of the offending clip despite warning being given to them on social media within minutes, they are unable to have a perpetual, irrevocable and royalty free licence to use...in future communications. They have no rights and must pay royalties to use it even this once

The entry broke the rules and must be void, or else why rules?

At the time of writing Travel Republic have not posted anything else nor commented at all. Its clear this will not go away and irreparable damage will be done to their reputation. Already words like unreliable, untrustworthy, shady are being bandied. Not good for a travel company.

One final thing, we noticed that on their facebook page that announced the winner, comments, admittedly highly critical kept disappearing. Even now, it lists 6 comments but only 3 are visible, the three missing ones? the three most critical. We know as we have the screen grabs.. Did Travel Republic remove them..who knows but it seems unlikely three separate people all decided to delete their own posts within seconds of each other.


Travel Republic need to speak, come clean and admit they made a mistake, then we can repair this mess, which only looks like getting messier.

Sally Lindsay Interview - upcoming BBC Drama, Ordinary Lives

Sally Lindsay is one of the stars in the new BBC drama Ordinary Lives, we had a quick chat with Sally as filming ended.

Tell us about Ordinary Lies.
Ordinary Lies is a drama set in Warrington in a car showroom called JS Motors, about a group of people that work there including the mechanics, salesmen, PA, Head of Admin and company boss. It’s about their lives and how they all work together, but they’ve all got their own individual secret or lie that they are harbouring and therein lies the drama.

Tell us about your character, Kathy?
My character is called Kathy and she’s just approaching 40. She’s very happily married to Ralph and they have two grown-up children as they married pretty young. They’ve got a lovely house and she’s happy with her life. She’s worked at JS Motor’s since she was 17, so she doesn’t know anything else, but absolutely loves it. She’s in charge of everything and knows everybody’s business and is the office gossip! She knows where the skeletons are buried and her boss Mike, played by Max Beesley, literally can’t function without her.

We know every character has a lie – what is Kathy’s story?
Kathy is a very moral person; she’s always done the right things in life. She’s very happy in her life, but decides there’s something missing and therein the lie occurs. When she’s harbouring this lie, she sees something quite horrific that she shouldn’t which affects her greatly and the moral is what should she do about it? She feels she has to do the right thing, but there’s the dilemma.

Is Kathy someone that audiences will be able to relate to?
Kathy is very relatable on a human level; Ordinary Lies celebrates the normality of the British public, which is the beauty of it. We all have regular lives but sometimes things happen that make them irregular. I think the more normal Kathy is, the more brilliant the story is, as you don’t see it coming.

Kathy is a big dog lover. Was it fun working with the dogs?
Working with dogs proved to be a slight problem as I have a dog allergy! When I got the part I was told that I’d be working with a dog quite a lot so I got allergy tablets. It wasn’t a small dog either - it was like a grown man in a dog outfit, it was huge! We used to joke that he unzipped his costume and had a fag at lunchtime!

Had you ever worked with any of the other cast members before?
No, I hadn’t worked with any of them before, but I seemed to have such a lot in common with a lot of the cast. Michelle (Keegan) was on Coronation Street like me and Jo (Joyner) has twins like me, Max (Beesley) is a drummer and my husband has known him for years as he’s a drummer too. I’ve known Jason (Manford) since he was 17, I remember him doing stand-up but that was a long, long time ago. So I’ve known all these people but we’ve never actually physically worked together. Juliet May who I did my episode with was phenomenal – I’d work with her again tomorrow if I could – and she’s got twins!

There were five people who had twins on set!

Jason Manford Interview - upcoming BBC Ordinary Lives

We all tell little white lies everyday be it for self-protection, success or for love. But what happens when a spur-of-the-moment mistruth snowballs and begins to take over? Is it possible get away with it, or will the lie inevitably come undone to devastating effect? 

Set in a car showroom, Ordinary Lies is a compelling drama about how a simple lie can spiral out of control. With drama, tragedy, warmth and humour, each episode focuses on one of the colleagues and friends of JS Motors. From party-loving receptionists, Tracy (Michelle Keegan) and Viv (Cherelle Skeet) and ambitious company boss, Mike (Max Beesley) to enigmatic salesman, Pete (Mackenzie Crook) and mothering PA, Kathy (Sally Lindsay), each new and individual story questions just how well we know the people we work with.

We caught up with the stars of the show, first up Jason Manford.

Can you tell us a bit about Ordinary Lies?
The series is brilliant. Danny Brocklehurst is a top writer having done The Driver, Shameless and Clocking Off. The Production Company is brilliant; it’s Red Production Company who did Happy Valley and Last Tango In Halifax so it’s got a great pedigree to start with. And then to be on it with Mackenzie Crook, Max Beesley and the likes of Michelle Keegan, it’s a great cast! The stories are really fun; Ordinary Lies delves into those big lies that you tell that spiral out of control.

Tell us about your character, Marty?
Marty is about to get sacked, so he does the most ridiculous thing by panicking and telling his boss that his wife has died, which he totally makes up. It’s a big lie to tell, but there’s a slight relief after he tells it and he starts to enjoy it, which is a bit sick! The lie obviously unravels and you see the decline into the madness of the situation that he’s forced himself into. It was great to do; there are loads of funny bits in it but there are also some very heart-warming moments as well.

It’s one of your first acting roles in TV drama. How did you find it?
It was great – Marty is the bloke who thinks he’s funny in the office. It’s true there is always that guy and if I hadn’t been a comedian, I probably would have ended up being that guy! So it’s a bit like Sliding Doors really – this could have been me!

Had you worked with Danny Brocklehurst before?
No, I had a bit part in Shameless years ago but never worked with him to this extent. I know him as we’re both Manchester based and everyone in Manchester who works on the television knows each other, but I’d wanted to work with him for a while, so it was a real privilege to be able to work with him on a script like this.

What was the atmosphere like on set – was there anyone you particularly bonded with?
I was really good friends with Sally Lindsay anyway. I think I asked her out when I was 17 actually and she was about 23 and obviously it never happened! I was very confident! I’ve known her a long time though and she’s brilliant. I’ve worked with Max (Beesley) a couple of times before and Mackenzie (Crook) and I are a similar age. Rebecca Callard plays a larger role in my episode and she was great to work with, along with Michelle Keegan, who was brilliant as well.

What do you think is so appealing about Ordinary Lies?
The enjoyment of watching this show is that you can see how a horrendous lie can end up. I think the audience will be shouting at the screen saying “what are you doing?!” What’s interesting about the script is that some of the lies are totally the person’s own fault, whilst some are lies that the characters had no option but to tell. There are a lot of sympathetic characters in there and although my character is a bit of an idiot, you do feel a bit sorry for him

Josh Warrington - We Are Leeds Bill announced

Josh Warrington as previously announced will face Dennis Tubieron in an official eliminator for the WBC World Featherweight title at the First Direct Arena in Leeds on April 11, live on Sky Sports.

Tyrone Nurse

Martin J Ward rematches Maxi Hughes in a British title eliminator, while Leeds man and British Light Heavyweight champ Bob Ajisafe also features.

Promising Huddersfield fighter Tyrone Nurse who won many plaudits last time out is also on the bill.

SCHEDULE

JOSH WARRINGTON VS  DENNIS TUBIERON 

12 x 3 mins vacant WBC International featherweight title & Official WBC World Featherweight title eliminator

WILLIE LIMOND VS  CHRIS JENKINS 

12 x 3 mins British Light Welterweight title

MARTIN J WARD VS  MAXI HUGHES 

10 x 3 mins British Super Featherweight title eliminator

ROCKY FIELDING VS  TBA 

10 x 3 mins Super Middleweight Contest

BOB AJISAFE VS  TBA 

8 x 3 mins Light Heavyweight Contest

JONO CARROLL VS  TBA 

6 x 3 mins Featerweight Contest

TYRONE NURSE VS  TBA 

6 x 3 mins Light Welterweight Contest

REECE CARTWRIGHT VS  TBA 

4 x 3 mins Middleweight Contest

EVENT TICKETS

Tickets for We Are Leeds now on general sale priced at £30, £40, £60 and £120 for VIP tickets.

£30, £40 and £60 tickets are available from the First Direct Arena on 0844 248 1585 and at firstdirectarena.com

VIP tickets priced at £120 are available exclusively from Matchroom Boxing on 01277 359900 and at matchroomboxing.com

Inside No9 Returns - What we know and a cast video!

Inside No 9 returns to BBC Two, with a host of well-known faces joining Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmith in the second series of the critically acclaimed and award-winning BBC comedy.

Each story in the series will again be set in a different location, with completely new characters. From a sleeping-car on a French train to a Séance in a grand Victorian villa, and from a 17th century village witch trial to a volunteer call centre, this is an anthology of tales of the genuinely unexpected, where the ordinary and mundane rub shoulders with the extraordinary and macabre.

Daring to enter No 9 and experience its unexpected twists and turns in this series are Alice Lowe (Sightseers); Alison Steadman (Gavin & Stacey); Claire Skinner (Outnumbered); David Warner (Wallander); Jack Whitehall (Bad Education); Jane Horrocks (Trollied); Jim Howick (Horrible Histories); Julie Hesmondhalgh (Cucumber); Mark Benton (Waterloo Road); Michele Dotrice (Big School); Paul Kaye (Game of Thrones); Sheridan Smith (Mrs Biggs, Cilla) and Tom Riley (Da Vinci’s Demons).



What we know about the first few episodes.. 

La Couchette

On board the sleeper from Paris to Bourg St. Maurice, a motley collection of passengers try to get a quiet night's sleep as the train makes its way across France. But as the sleeping compartment fills up, the chances of that begin to look highly unlikely. In Deuxième Classe, everyone can hear you scream...

La Couchette features Julie Hesmondhalgh (Coronation Street, Cucumber), Mark Benton (Waterloo Road), Jessica Gunning (Pride), and Jack Whitehall (Bad Education).

The 12 Days of Christine

Christine Clarke brings a new man back to her flat from a New Year's Eve party, and immediately her life starts to unravel. Who is the terrifying stranger that keeps appearing in the flat at night?

The 12 Days of Christine features Sheridan Smith as Christine Clarke and Tom Riley as Adam.

The Trial Of Elizabeth Gadge

Two of England's most notorious and feared witch-finders are summoned by Sir Andrew Pike to the unassuming village of Little Happens in order to try an old woman. Elizabeth Gadge stands accused of consorting with the Devil, most lewdly and on divers occasions. If she is found guilty, she will burn. It is very definitely the most exciting event in Little Happens since the business of the escaped cow.

The cast includes David Warner as Sir Andrew Pike, Ruth Sheen as Elizabeth Gadge, with Reece Shearsmith, Steve Pemberton, Paul Kaye, Jim Howick, Sinéad Matthews, and Trevor Cooper.

The remaining episodes in the series are Cold Comfort, set entirely in a volunteer call centre, Nana’s Party, which follows the story of a modern day family get-together and Séance Time, based in a grand Victorian villa.

Peter Kay stars in Cradle to Grave (BBC2)

Peter Kay and Lucy Speed (EastEnders, The Bill) are to star in upcoming comedy Cradle to Grave. The eight-part series is an adaptation of Danny Baker’s autobiography, Going To Sea In A Sieve. Set in 1974, the series follows the real-life events of Danny and his family.
Cradle To Grave is co-written by Jeff Pope and Danny Baker. It is due for broadcast on BBC Two later this year.

The regular cast includes Peter Kay as Danny’s father, Fred ‘Spud’ Baker, Lucy Speed as long-suffering wife Bet Baker, Laurie Kynaston as a young Danny and Alice Sykes and Frankie Wilson as Danny’s siblings Sharon and Michael.

Peter Kay told us “I am thrilled and honoured to be involved in a project of this scale. I've never known anything like it before, eight period half-hour episodes, shot as feature films and written to an extremely high standard by Danny Baker and Jeff Pope. It's an exciting time.”


Danny Baker also said “Well this is weird and there's no way around that. To see your life played out by actors is always going to be peculiar and also, frankly quite tremendous. I always knew these stories were thunderingly entertaining incidents and that I seemed to be hurtling through a particularly unpredictable, high-velocity life peopled by extraordinary characters. Now here they are. This will be a fantastic, rich voyage back to a boisterous often maligned era, true tales told large - a strong family in a magnificent working class community just getting on with life.”

In Cradle To Grave, 15-year-old Danny Baker is the guide through the ups and downs of life with the family. Fred ‘Spud’ Baker is a proud south London docker with a penchant for cheeky scheming. Wife Bet loves him deeply but longs for the family to go 'straight’ and play by the rules. With eldest daughter Sharon’s looming wedding, the docks facing closure, and Danny’s struggles to get closer to the opposite sex, times are tough.

Co-writer, Jeff Pope: "The most exciting part of this series is that it all happened. There is nothing funnier or more dramatic than real life and Danny and his family are a treasure trove of wonderful stories. To see Peter Kay take on a cockney character in 'Spud', Danny's late father, is terrifically exciting."

Lionel Richie - First Direct Arena 4/3/2015 - A Legend in Action

Lionel Richie is many peoples guilty pleasure, he is also one of those artist that can surprise the casual fan with their depth of catalogue.

Since Lionel stepped forward from his position of saxophonist to become front man for the Commodores he has developed into one of the great showmen and kept the crowd in Leeds hugely entertained. His musical education segment – whereby he educates the younger ones in the crowd in how he can musically support you through a break up into a new relationship “when you’re in love and you want the world to know, who you gonna call – Lionel” leads us into a perfectly singalong Stuck On You.

We were promised All The Hits, All Night Long and promises weren’t broken. Easy (like Sunday Morning), Sail On, Three Times A Lady, all Commodores classics and all received last night like warmly welcome old friends and testing the vocal chords of the bottle of wine gaggles dotted around.

My Destiny started a run of huge hits that lit up the arena, as Say You Say Me prompted phones aloft, Dancing On The Ceiling had the whole place on its feet, Lionel offered temporary respite with the housewives favourite, Hello before delivering the killer blow with All Night Long

Returning to the stage for an encore, Lionel, now resplendent in white jacket spoke of the song he was most proud of… The USA For Africa song, We Are The World which he co-wrote with Michael Jackson. In another arms aloft moment, this closed the show to the audible surprise of the crowd.

Guilty pleasure maybe,but one I would happily repeat.

Lionel Played:



1.All Around the World
2.Penny Lover
3.Easy / My Love 
4.Ballerina Girl
5.Running With the Night
6.Truly
7.Still
8.Oh No
9.Stuck on You
10.Brick House / Fire
11.Three Times a Lady
12.Sail On
13.Lady (You Bring Me Up)
14.Endless Love
15.Just for You
16.Angel
17.Don't Stop the Music
18.My Destiny
19.Say You, Say Me
20.Dancing on the Ceiling
21.Hello
22.All Night Long (All Night)
Encore:
23.We Are the World

Uber Taxis - A real positive experience, and here have your first ride on us

We recently used Uber in Leeds on a very busy night (the Arena was chucking out) and we thought we would share our experience, maybe give you a guide as to how it works and because we are nice give you a free £10 credit to use towards your trip(s).

If you haven’t heard or experience Uber before, this is what its about.

Its an app that sits on your smartphone. You register  a debit or credit card with it and you are good to go.
 
So you are sat in a bar or restaurant, cinema, or at home and you need a taxi. Fire up the app, ensure you have your location or GPS service enabled and it finds where you are. Type in where you want to go and it gives you a quote. The quote can vary sometimes, ie. Give a range of £10-£12 for example (usually peak times) but in our experience its cheaper than any other taxi service we have used. 

On our last occasion there was a supplement to pay because it was busy and there was a lot of demand. In practice it meant that a journey that usually shows a range of £17-£20 actually showed at £19-£22. Our usual fare with other taxi companies is about £25. You can choose to accept the far shown or just come out of the app and have another drink, come back in twenty mins. The choice is yours.

The app also tells you how far away a car is…so assuming you are happy press request taxi. It will then confirm the car, the registration number and the name and picture of the driver. No more getting in the wrong cab or illegal cab!

So you have requested your cab and it says it will be here in 3 mins but you think maybe the map isn’t quite right or you have moved to another bar or just down the road. No problem you can press a tab to sms or phone the driver and tell him exactly where you are. This is what happened with us. The map actually had us on an adjacent street and as it was busy we wondered if he could find us so a quick sms, “we are outside KFC” and its sorted. Your app tracks where your car is so you should see it arrive.

Once the taxi arrives, you check it’s the car, the driver and off you go.

Arriving at your destination, that’s it, no fumbling for change or arguing over the fare, your app tells you how much it is and its deducted from the debit or credit card you added. You get an email receipt confirming your journey and cost. You can still tip your driver with cash if you want but we haven’t ever felt any pressure to do so.  

We see Uber as significantly increasing security for user and drivers. Drivers don’t carry cash so won’t be attacked for it, no runners, no arguing over fare. For the user, it’s cheaper, more convenient, generally far less waiting,  you know who is coming, when and in what, you can track the journey, it’s all recorded.

Now why not give it a go, and to sweeten the deal, once you have the app.. tap on promotions and add the code epi9g then apply, bingo, £10 credit to use in bits or against a larger fare.

For full disclosure, I will get a credit when you have your first journey, but give your own code to friends, give them a credit and you can reap the rewards when they start using Uber Taxis

Uber is currently operating in Birmingham, London, Leeds, Manchester, Wakefield and Dublin with more cities being added

Movie Review: Unfinished Business - Vince Vaughn be very ashamed

More than just a misfire, this attempt at a rude comedy goes so spectacularly wrong that it actually contradicts its own jokes even as it's telling them. But then it undermines everything as it goes along, for example indulging rampantly in comical cruelty before trying to say something meaningful about the dangers of bullying. The real question is how the cast members could have agreed to make a movie in which they all come across as incoherent idiots.

The story opens as Dan (Vince Vaughn) clashes with his boss Chuck (Sienna Miller) then quits dramatically, taking newly retired Tim (Tom Wilkinson) and airhead newbie Mike (Dave Franco) with him to start a new sales company. But after a year, business isn't good, and the future hinges on making a massive deal with Bill and Jim (Nick Frost and James Marsden). The problem is that Chuck is also bidding for the business, so Dan, Tim and Mike fly off to Maine and then Berlin to seal the deal with a handshake. Impossibly they arrive in Berlin at the same time as Oktoberfest, the marathon, a gay S&M festival and the G8 Summit, with its accompanying anarchist protest. Meanwhile back home, Dan's wife (June Diane Raphael) is having problems with the kids.

Frankly, there is so much going on in this film that it's exhausting. It's as if screenwriter Conrad just threw everything he could think of onto the page and didn't worry if it made even a lick of sense. Every scene feels interrupted by a bit of random chaos that isn't remotely amusing. And despite making a movie that's obsessed with sex, the filmmakers are unable to decide whether they want to make fun of it or are terrified of it (so they end up being both at the same time). Each time something interesting or funny threatens to happen, it's sideswiped by something so breathtakingly bungled that we don't know where to look.

While most of the side characters emerge with their dignity relatively intact, the three central actors are simply inexplicable. Vaughn is an even more smug version of his usual screen persona, Wilkinson is just embarrassing to watch, and Franco's character is too stupid to believe. Then they spend the entire movie teasing and picking on each other before suddenly spouting messages about the dangers of bullying in the social media age. We know that it's possible to make a hilarious movie about Americans acting like morons in Europe (see 2004's EuroTrip). But this is such a disaster that it's likely to vanish without a trace. Except from the worst of the year lists. If you are a glutton for punishment, the trailers above..

Bingley Music Live 2015 announces first headliner

Well our fave Northern fest Bingley Music Live last night announced its first Headliner. Yes, last night, sorry but we were at Lionel Richie in Leeds - more on that later - and there is famously very little signal in the First Direct Arena.

The legendary James have been announced as the first of the headliners at Bingley Music Live 2015

In a double whammy for fans of the festival, not only are the Myrtle Park faithful set to see the return of James, but tickets are to be frozen at last years prices.

An incredible, hay, unbeatable £49 for three days of international acts with the option to pay by instalments for those that are quick off the mark.

This year’s Bingley Music Live will take place on 4th – 6th September. Tickets to see three days of international acts are now on sale at £49 for adult weekend tickets and £34 for child weekend tickets plus booking fee with the option to pay by instalments for those that are quick off the mark. See here for details.

Rumours that we are particularly delighted by James headlining as it means we can leave early and get the train home, meaning a few more scoops are currently unfounded.

Retro Acts - Not what they used to be

When retro isn’t as retro as you hope..
Aka the case of the missing band members

Retro music is big business, the various 70’s and 80’s festival do great business year on year. Inevitably a kind of saturation point arrives as the same artists appear year after year, festival after festival, the search then for new “old” artists has mixed results.

With many band having being inactive or disbanded for many years it’s probably unlikely that the likes of Rewind Festival will pay enough to tempt a band back together again. At best you might get just the lead singer – generally acceptable, sometimes very welcome. This is best illustrated in the case of Tom Bailey, ex Thompson Twins, its so good to see and hear those songs sung again but once the excitement has died down, you recall how visual a band the Thompson Twins and just what Alannah and Joe brought to the band, vocally and visually. Watch Tom singing Doctor Doctor last year



The worst scenario those in increasingly creeping out now.. bands performing under a name but not including the lead singer, or in some cases none of the original members at all.

An example of this flashed across my desk earlier today…a press release asking would I be interested in interviewing Hot Chocolate. Now at Just Music and in this blog we don’t mind a bit of retro so we delved a little deeper…we could chat with the lead singer Kennie Simons..

Now hang on wasn’t the lead singer called Errol Brown, he of shaved head and budgie smuggling trousers, thats him on the left..


This is Kennie Simons here on the right

Not entirely dissimilar are they?, now its not for me to suggest that Mr Simons has been stylised to be a lookalike for Mr Brown, I don’t know but will anyone point it out that it isn’t that silky voiced purveyor of You Sexy Thing.  Would you really know when they trotted out that this wasn’t the singer, wasn’t the voice that featured on all those glorious hits. Are you being conned? Should it be far clearer?

Fact is Errol left the band many years ago. Let’s be honest could you picture any other member of the band? In this case the band are actually, more or less, the actual band, would you know, or even care. The casual observer wants the original vocalist or else it’s just glorified Karaoke. Having seen Hot Chocolate at a couple of events, I would dare to suggest that the crowd were sure it was Errol..

Consider Odyssey – they of Native New Yorker, Going Back To My Roots and Use It Up Wear It Out – are also touring this year and take in the Lets Rocks shows around the country. Admittedly its very unlikely anyone will go to these shows expressly to see Odyssey but were I not to know better I would go and see them as they were classic songs of the era.
See Odyssey singing Looking for a way out..

The only trouble is dear reader that you, your mate and I may as well get up on stage and call ourselves Odyssey because the trio that will have nothing to do with the original hitmakers. Unfortunately original lead singer Lillian Lopez died in 2012 and had retired from music some years prior to that. Instead now it’s some bloke Steve Collazo (some family relation I understand) together with two twins (absolutely no relation).  Since 1990 The Flying Pickets have been performing with no original members in the band. Close your eyes and remember Only You, if you are of an age you can picture a couple of blokes surely, the one with the big sideburns and the big bald bloke…  I contend this does matter. OK Odyssey and The Flying Pickets are not the biggest pulls but would you be happy to go see Go West and find a couple of young dancers performing We Close Our Eyes instead? They do it because they can and because often nobody knows or indeed cares.

Its why you see mostly solo artists on these shows, as long as you have the singer you cant go far wrong. Katrina from Katrina and the waves, Clare Grogans Altered Images, the rest of the bands were after all largely just sleeperblokes (sorry for the mid 90’s reference there).

Occasionally legal issues mean you are alerted to the fact this band may not be the complete package. The Straits (who actually called it a day last summer) performed the music of Dire Straits, the name though tells you something is missing, most of the band in fact but predominantly for audiences sweat banded guitar hero Mark Knopfler. The Straits were one former member and two occasional members but at least you couldn’t say you weren’t warned.

It can also get a bit ridiculous.. two versions of skirt ripping Eurovision bothers Bucks Fizz are on the circuit…one is doing a 70 date tour this year…one isn’t.

Cheryl Baker, Jay Aston, Mike Nolan and Bobby G were Bucks Fizz and they had a stack of hits leaving behind their Euro beginnings. Much has happened since but the net effect is that Baker, Aston and Nolan are essentially Bucks Fizz but have to be called (deep breath...) Cheryl Baker, Mike Nolan, Jay Aston formerly of Bucks Fizz. Just so you aren’t in any doubt.. Poor old Bobby it seems would cut off his nose to spite his face as he toddles around in Bobby G’s Bucks Fizz with his wife and two other revolving door singers.

The split in the UB40 camp and subsequent legal issues sees Ali Campbell, the undisputed voice of the band now being legally obliged to be billed as Ali Campbell - The Legendary Voice of UB40 reunited with Astro and Mickey, two other founding members of the band. Again two versions now battle for space on the bills but frankly, if it don’t say Ali Campbell then you aint going to hear those One In Ten and Red Red Wine vocals. Again clarity provided.

Am I too precious about my music, maybe, but I think, when paying what can be big money for some of these festivals we are entitled to authenticity around what and who are seeing and hearing. Some won’t care as I said early.. some just want to hear the songs, close their eyes and be transported back to their youth. Me, I want more than faceless karaoke.

Big Feastival Announce First Acts

The Big Feastival today announced that Groove Armada will be getting the party started on the opening Friday night.  BRIT Award winning songstress Paloma Faith will be taking over the main stage on Sunday night.  With a whole host of favourites expected to be announced soon including the  Saturday Headline Act, this year’s festival is predicted to be the best yet.


As usual the Big Feastival whas more than its share of culinary talent taking centre stage. Among the top chefs joining Jamie Oliver are Two Star Michelin masters Raymond Blanc, Ashley Palmer-Watts and Nathan Outlaw with the inspirational Monica Galetti and many more.

This year will see the return of Feastival favourites including Adam Henson’s Cotswold Farm Park, Little Dudes’ Den, The Big Top in association with Mini Nom Noms and, of course, Alex James’ Cheese Hub. Brand new for 2015 are the Village Green Games, Weber Grill Academy On Tour and the Healthy Living Zone

We are making The BIg Feastival on of our two festivals of choice, the Northern one announced tomorrow!

Tickets for the Big Feastival available now, here

Paul Whitehouse and David Cummings Interview: Nurse, BBC2

Paul Whitehouse stars in Nurse, a poignant character comedy drama for BBC Two. Whitehouse plays eight different characters whose lives are connected by Liz, an overstretched Community Mental Health Nurse played by Esther Coles.

Nurse is written by Paul Whitehouse and David Cummings with additional material by Esther Coles. Paul and David have collaborated many times in the past on The Fast Show, Down The Line and Happiness.

Nurse is based on the acclaimed BBC Radio 4 series of the same name, which aired in February 2014 and was commissioned for BBC Two shortly after.

This series includes a mixture of returning characters from the radio series, plus many new characters.


Each episode follows Liz as she does her daily rounds visiting the homes of her patients (or 'service users' in today's jargon). The series recounts the humorous, sometimes sad and often frustrating daily interactions with the nurse, whose job is to assess their progress, dispense medication and offer comfort and support. Paul Whitehouse takes on the roles of Liz’s clients or their relatives. With supporting roles from Rosie Cavaliero (Inside No. 9), Simon Day (The Fast Show), Ben Bailey-Smith (Law & Order: UK), Vilma Hollingberry (Psychoville), Colin Hoult (Being Human), Jason Maza (The Hooligan Factory), Cecilia Noble (Waking The Dead).

We caught up with Paul and David to find out a little more about the new show..

What was the idea behind Nurse?
Paul: We wanted to explore the world of a Community Mental Health Nurse with warmth, compassion and humour. Mental health issues touch most people’s lives but there is still something of a taboo around the subject. Mainly we wanted to create memorable characters, that viewers would enjoy, who just happen to require this service. This is a show about people, not about mental health.

What made you come up with the different characters? Some of them are from the radio comedy, and some are brand new, correct?
Paul: Some of the characters even precede the radio version! Graham Downes first came to life on our radio comedy Down The Line. For the TV version of Nurse we have expanded the characters from the radio series and created some brand-new ones. One of the more poignant ones would be Jack, the PTSD soldier.

David: It’s interesting, we spent some time with a community mental health nurse and just spoke to her about her work and her patients. At the moment they are mainly PTSD soldiers.

Paul: She’s at the end of a phone if we need a little bit of advice. It’s a delicate area. But for people who work in community mental health and people who are touched by it, either through their own troubles or those of relatives and friends, actually there’s always some humour in those situations. People find humour in the most difficult of circumstances and if you don’t you’re in trouble really.

Characters such as Graham and Billy, we think the fact they’ve got mental illnesses is almost irrelevant really. They are just people dealing with life who have slightly more severe problems than the rest of us. We like to think they will strike a chord because we are all there or thereabouts. In a way it’s not really about mental health it’s more about the state of the nation or the lives we lead now.

David: It’s a comedy about people, relationships, families. The hook we used to hang it on is the community mental health nurse.

Paul: She’s the line through it, and then me playing the different 'Service Users' or the relatives of the characters who require treatment. The nurse has a sympathetic heart but has to be quite firm with the patients as well. She takes us through it all while trying to deal with problems of her own.

David: I get the impression it’s a job only for people who have a huge amount of empathy because one thing we’ve learnt is many patients don’t really get better, they just learn to cope.

What is the transformation into the characters like?
Paul: I play a variety of characters on this show. To differentiate them from each other, visually, requires prosthetics. The prosthetics on this show are sensational, but they take a hell of a long time to apply. I can’t really complain too much but it takes about two or three hours usually to get it done. The most depressing element is at six o’clock in the morning, knowing I’m going to be stuck in the prosthetics for another 12 hours or so. They're hot, heavy and itchy! But the team are fantastic and I am unrecognisable in some things.

David: I’ve known Paul since we were both 18 and when he was made up to be Maurice I found it actually quite weird speaking to him. It was his voice, his personality but it was coming from a different human being. I was quite spooked.

Paul: I think Esther’s found it a bit like that as well. Obviously having done quite a lot of stuff on the radio looking at each other just doing a voice, you can stop doing the voice anytime but with the prosthetics you can’t just lose the look. She has found it quite disconcerting. And I thought she might. She really is in a room with these people rather than just a version of me.

But, do you like doing characters, is that what you enjoy?
Paul: I love doing them because I do like playing lots of different characters; I’d get bored just playing one role through a drama or a comedy. I like the variety and I think we have always been able to, or always tried to, imbue our comedy with a huge helping of tragedy as well. So I get asked “Wouldn’t you rather do some straight acting?” Well no, not really, I’d rather do some comedy without any jokes in it, which is what we do quite a lot.

Can you talk to us about the writing process and how long it took?
Paul: Yes its quite simple, isn’t it, Dave? You turn up, I’m usually at the café and then I’ll come back and then we go to the café together. Then we slag off other comedians, we have a little moan about women, we slag off other TV shows, we slag off our neighbours, we slag off our families. And then I say I’m nearly done, I have to go now. That’s it, that’s how we write. We sort of built up via the radio, which was a really useful and enjoyable way to build up to the TV series.

David: Gertrude Stein said, “I only write half an hour a day, but what people don’t understand is it takes a really long time to write for half an hour.” And that’s a sort of intellectual way of describing our process.

Paul: Part of it is us sitting around shooting the breeze and talking rubbish, and then you go yeah that’s good, put that in. You’re actually writing even though you think you’re sitting around talking rubbish.

Did it feel good to get your radio comedy made into telly? Was it daunting?
Paul: No, it was always in our minds going to be a TV project. It wasn’t something we did on radio and then it became a TV show. But we had the opportunity to develop the characters and do it on radio first, and I love doing radio, I really enjoy it. Since doing Down The Line, I really love to be able to do radio. It’s much more spontaneous and you can just do something on a whim. Whereas TV is really slow; it’s like an old oil tanker. It has a very slow turning circle, whereas radio is much more dynamic. So it was good to be able to try the characters out and we whittled the material down to cram it into 15 minutes. The advantage of TV is that we can give it a little bit more space and develop Esther’s character as the nurse more.

Liz’s own story is that she's coping with some of the problems of middle-age. It’s like you have to be a superhero where you’re looking after your young children and your aged parents and you feel like you're overwhelmed with responsibilities in life. So I hope we haven’t lumbered her with too many of those, and where we have, we have tried to do it in our usual sort of tragi-comic way.

Is it tricky playing eight characters in one show?
Paul: I don’t know really - I’m sort of used to it. The only thing I’d say is that there are similarities between the characters. They have similar problems and because it’s nominally based in London - it’s not really but we can’t do loads of regional accents because it would be like ‘where’s her jurisdiction?’ So we are slightly constrained by a little sense of reality. I’ve done some of these characters before or versions of them, so I’m just giving them a different perspective. Graham Downes I’ve done before. Rockin’ Ray we do as a kind of shorthand for any old rocker really. He is a man out of time, language courtesy of The Troggs Tapes. We use that language, not just Dave and me but all our circle of friends, we lapse into that all the time. But we developed the character into a slightly lumpen rocker with a higher opinion of his achievements than they merit. Where do they go, those people, when that career is over? Some of them are quite wealthy but they’ve got no life, their heyday is 30 years ago and they just have to regurgitate their two hits over and over. So they take up something like martial arts to fill the void. Reg Presley got a tidal wave of money from Wet Wet Wet’s cover of his song ‘Love Is All Around’ and spent it all on UFO hunting. I don't think he found any.

Is Nurse very different from playing different characters in a sketch show like The Fast Show?
Paul: It is, in that the content is much more intense, I’m always relating to Liz the nurse. So it’s not like I can come on and do a monologue to the camera or a catchphrase and get off. There is an intensity to the scene. So it is very different to doing The Fast Show, not least because there were six of us and I could have a lie down while the others were filming.

Is it good working with Esther again since the radio comedy?
Paul: Esther is a friend of mine. We haven’t known each other many years, but it seems like we have. I personally have got a lot of time for her. It’s lovely having her on the other side of the set. She’s a very funny and warm person and it was nice to use somebody that hasn’t done a lot of TV recently. It was lovely to be able to write for someone people who aren’t tired of. Like me; “oh it’s not him again.”