Scene and heard

COMEDY CAPERS: He splits opinion between those who love or loathe him, but top British comic Michael McIntyre will probably sell out his three nights at Cork Opera House from Jun 25-27.

Tickets go on sale Monday at 10am. Also in Cork, local hero Chris Kent is the headline act at City Limits tomorrow night. In Kilkenny, preparations are at full tilt for the annual Cat Laughs festival (May 31-Jun 4), featuring Jack Dee and Al ‘Pub Landlord’ Murray. John Bishop has added a third night (Nov 10) to his run at the O2 in Dublin later this year.

MUSIC NEWS: Sigur Rós launched their new album Valtari yesterday with a worldwide stream that allowed fans to listen to the record in its entirety from 7pm. Reports suggested that it is quite an electronic affair. The lovable Dappy of N-Dubz cancelled his shows in Dublin and Belfast earlier this week due to “unforeseen circumstances”. Rumours of Sinéad O’Connor’s retirement from the music business are obviously greatly exaggerated, as the troubled singer has confirmed she’ll be appearing at a Curtis Mayfield tribute show in New York on Jul 20. The likes of Mavis Staples and Aloe Blacc are also due to perform at the event. All our dreams of Black Sabbath re-uniting in their original line-up have been dashed with the news that drummer Bill Ward won’t be joining up with Ozzy, Geezer and the lads. RIP Chuck Brown, the godfather of the Washington-based go-go beat that bridged the gap between R'n'B and hip-hop. Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine has confirmed the cult band are close to completing their third full studio album in the 30 years since they formed in Dublin in 1983. Ed Sheeran is far more prolific, however, and is currently working on the follow-up to his 2011 debut with Snow Patrol. We’ve also learned that all our letters to Ed were a complete waste of time, as he recently told celebrity blogger Perez Hilton that he would never take advantage of a groupie’s advances. Bah, humbug.