Scene and Heard
MUSIC NEWS: Morrissey should go to America more often. He’s already provided us with winning copy by refusing to go on a TV show with a bunch of duck-hunters and unashamedly admitting he’s Robbie Keane’s cousin — now he’s blamed Beyonce for the fall in rhino numbers. “The rhino is now more or less extinct, and it’s not because of global warming or shrinking habitats. It’s because of Beyonce’s handbags,” he told an audience in Hollywood. He was riffing on reports that Beyonce’s Super Bowl outfit had included materials made from iguana and python. Meanwhile, Justin Bieber’s pocket money took a hit this week when he was fined £300,000 by Greenwich Council for playing until 11.30pm in breach of curfew rules at the O2 Arena in London. The £10,000-a-minute fine came after the pop prince arrived almost two hours late for the gig, forcing his mostly young audience to wait until 10.20pm before going on stage. Brendan Gleeson is to play legendary music promoter Freddy Cousaert in the biopic of Marvin Gaye’s life, but Lenny Kravitz has been replaced in the lead role by Jesse L Martin (Law & Order).
GIG WISE: Live at the Marquee really can claim to have something for everyone following further announcements this week. Former X Factor winners Little Mix (Jun 14), American female rapper Ke$ha (Jul 3), Irish band Bell X1 (Jul 4) and new mum Imelda May, right, (Jul 9) have all been added to the roster, and there could be more announcements. The Original Rudeboys postponed several recent gigs in Ireland when they toured in the UK with the Script, but have now rescheduled their Irish appearances. In Cork, the original venue, the Savoy, was unavailable for the new date, so the trio’s over 16s gig has been switched to the Half Moon for Apr 14. Alison Moyet has announced a gig at Cork Opera House for Sept 30. Clubbing brand Ministry of Sound is at the Savoy in Cork tonight with Juan Kidd and Irish DJ Shane Kehoe. In Dublin, Lil’ Wayne will appear at the O2 on Oct 9, a date which replaces his postponed Mar 8 gig. Slayer are also on their way to Dublin on Jun 10 for a night of heavy sounds at the Academy. For those with mellower tastes, the Sugar Club in the capital has lined up some superb gigs, including New York soul-jazz singer Jose James (Apr 12), hotly tipped Tennessee singer Valerie June(May 3) and jazz favourite Gregory Porter (May 7).
ALL AND SUNDRY: Dan Brown has been confirmed as the really big name for the Dublin Writers Festival (May 20-26). The author of The Da Vinci code will be at the National Concert Hall to read from and talk about new novel, Inferno. Canadian stand-up Tom Stade is at City Limits comedy club in Cork tomorrow.
FILM TIPS: Cork Cine Club is showing Searching For Sugarman next Thursday at St John’s College. The documentary has been heaped with praise and it tells the tale of Sixto Rodriguez from Detroit, whose folk-rock star briefly blossomed in the 1970s before he faded from view until being found again by some South African fans. At Triskel Christchurch, films over the next few days include Oscar-winner Silver Linings Playbook, French feature The Lord’s BMW, Argo, (stars Ben Afflick, inset) and Mea Maxima Culpa, the Irish-made documentary on Catholic Church child abuse and cover-ups. Lenny Abrahamson will be in Schull for the Corona Fastnet Short Film Festival (May 22-26), and his latest film, What Richard Did, will launch the event. In Dingle, the International Film Festival takes place over the Patrick’s weekend (Mar 15-18), and includes films on such local heroes as Fungi, John Moriarty and the late Paidi Ó Sé.
