PREVIEW: 10 reasons why we can’t wait for December

  1. Madonna tour

The undisputed Queen of Pop’s Rebel Heart tour arrives for two nights at The 02 from 1/12 and we’ll be reporting from there for you. This will be the 6th time we’ve seen Madge live and she’s reportedly more comfortable playing some of her oldest hits. Photograph via Facebook courtesy Madonna from Montreal copyright Kevin Mazur. Tickets here.

Read on for reasons 2 to 10 including Star Wars, Marina and the Diamonds, Guys and Dolls and Brian Cox

Read More

ALBUM REVIEW: Get Weird by Little Mix

WORTH A LOOK?: ****1/2

OUT: 6/11

TRACKLIST: Black Magic/Love Me Like You/Weird People/Secret Love Song (featuring Jason Derulo)/Hair/Grown/I Love You/OMG/Lightning/A.D.I.D.A.S/Love Me Or Leave Me/The End/ (deluxe only) I Won’t/Secret Love Song (part 2)/Clued Up/The Beginning.

A year ago Little Mix had scrapped an entire album and missed the lucrative quarter four album release slot they’d surfed in 2012 and 2013.

Read More

ALBUM REVIEW: Paper Gods by Duran Duran

WORTH A LISTEN?: ****1/2

TRACKLIST: Paper Gods; Last Night In The City; You Kill Me With Silence; Pressure Off; Face For Today; Danceophobia; What Are The Chances?; Sunset Garage; Change The Skyline; Butterfly Girls; Only In Dreams; The Universe Alone.

OUT: 11/9

What happens to pop pin-ups 30 years after their heyday? The fate of the iconic Duran cover art in the video for best track What Are The Chances? (YouTube clip above) gives some clues about the ideas behind the album’s title track.

Read More

ALBUM REVIEW: Cast in Steel by a-ha

TRACKLIST: Cast in Steel; Under the Makeup; The Wake; Forest Fire; Objects in the Mirror; Door Ajar; Living at the End of the World; Mythomania, She’s Humming a Tune; Shadow Endeavours; She’s Giving up the Ghost.

WORTH A LISTEN: ****

OUT: 4/9.

Five years after splitting up following a comprehensive world tour, a-ha are back with their 10th studio album and another chance to see them live.

Read More

LIVE REVIEW: Bette Midler

WORTH A LOOK?: ****1/2

WHERE: The O2

WHEN: 18/7/15

Setlist: Divine Intervention; I Look Good; I’ve Still Got My Health; Do You Wanna Dance; Throw It Away; Tell Him; Bei Mir Bist Du Schon; Waterfalls; Everybody Knows; I Think It’s Gonna Rain Today; I Put A Spell On You; Yakety Sax; Bird In The Hand; Visit From Soph; Beast Of Burden; Spring Can Really Hurt You The Most; The Rose; From A Distance; Stay With Me; Wind Beneath My Wings; Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy; Friends.

Chances to see Bette Midler in the UK don’t present themselves too often. Her last gig here before this six-date tour was at London’s Palladium in the 70s.

Read More