Scene and Heard

MUSIC NEWS: Prince has been playing a number of club gigs around London, and the pint-sized popstar brought a bit of raggle-taggle to famed jazz venue Ronnie Scotts when he performed a cover version of ‘The Whole Of The Moon’ from the Waterboys.

Surely it’s just a matter of time before he duets with Liam Ó Maonlaí on a pile of straw in Connemara. Another sure thing on the horizon is the use of streamed music to help make up the Top 40 charts. George Ergatoudis, BBC Radio 1 head of music, said plans for music streams to be included in the UK Official Chart are already under way. You’d imagine other charts will soon follow suit. Angus Young’s (inset) school uniform still fits him, and the AC/DC guitarist will soon be dusting it down for the rock monsters’ 40th anniversary tour. The group have revealed they’re firming up plans for the belated (they formed in 1973) undertaking, and are also to begin recording their first studio album since 2008’s Black Ice.

GIG WISE: Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry is to headline a day of reggae at the Pavilion in Cork on St Patrick’s Day, Monday, March 17. The venerable reggae legend, who has had a hand in so much of the genre’s finest music, will celebrate his 78th birthday three days after his Cork appearance. By comparison, a positively youthful Suzanne Vega , 54, is at Cork Opera House tonight. As a tribute to Paul Bäumer, the recently deceased member of Bingo Players, some of the proceeds from the Dutch dance outfit’s gig at the Savoy in Cork next Friday will go to various cancer charities. Also in Cork, guitarist Eduardo Niebla is at the Triskel on April 5. The Specials have been making an annual visit to Ireland since they reformed in 2008, and the 2 Tone heroes have already announced an appearance at the Olympia in Dublin on November 3. It’ll be interesting to see whether they also make it here for one of the summer events. Imelda May will certainly be busy for the sunny days ahead with a new album, an appearance at ‘Live at the Marquee’ (June 21) and newly-announced gigs at Vicar St in Dublin on June 18-19. And yes, as predicted Paolo Nutini did add a second date at the Olympia, but equally predictably, that also sold out.