MELBOURNE—Australia’s Victoria state will not do special deals with unvaccinated athletes to allow them to compete at major events, an official said on Tuesday, putting Novak Djokovic’s Australian Open title defense and bid for the Grand Slam record in doubt. World number one Djokovic, level on 20 Grand Slam titles with Roger Federer and Rafa […]
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MANILA, Philippines—TNT opened up the championship round on a flurry, punishing Magnolia, 88-70, to take Game 1 of the 2021 PBA Philippine Cup finals Wednesday at DHVSU Gym in Bacolor, Pampanga. The Tropang Giga opened up the affair with a decent 10-point lead, 24-14, but widened their distance in the second quarter with a 19-7 […]
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Anya Taylor-Joy has covered Petula Clark’s ’60s classic ‘Downtown’ ahead of Last Night in Soho – you can watch below.
The actor, who stars as Sandy in Edgar Wright’s forthcoming psychological thriller, has covered the song which features in both the trailer and in the film.
READ MORE: Last Night In Soho review: down the dark and scary streets of ’60s London
Taylor-Joy stars alongside Thomasin McKenzie as Eloise, who is a fashion student in modern-day London who finds a mysterious portal back into the 1960s.
Watch Anya Taylor-Joy’s cover of ‘Downtown’ here:
“I haven’t gone back to horror-comedy, because with Shaun Of The Dead I felt like I had said much of what I wanted to say with that movie,” Wright told SFX. The filmmaker went on to say that he won’t even board similar projects as a producer.
“Sometimes I get sent films – people want to make the next Shaun and want me to come aboard as a producer. But I find it difficult to cover the same territory again.”
In a four-star review of Last Night in Soho, NME wrote: “A never-ending stream of pop culture references, impressive needle drops and Wright’s signature witty asides will please fans, though Last Night In Soho feels far flung from Shaun Of The Dead and Hot Fuzz.
“Here, Wright has embarked upon a fascinating different direction, clearly distinct from what he’s done before. It could be one of his greatest hits.”
Last Night in Soho will be released in UK cinemas on October 29.
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Måneskin have shared their violent new video for their recent single ‘MAMMAMIA’ – you can watch the clip below.
The track was initially released earlier this month by the Italian band, who were victorious in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest back in May.
Måneskin have now shared the official Rei Nadal-directed clip for ‘MAMMAMIA’, which comes with an epilepsy warning.
The clip features three members of the band individually plotting the murder of frontman Damiano David during a house party – you can watch the video for Måneskin’s ‘MAMMAMIA’ below.
Speaking at a press conference earlier this month to tie in with the release of ‘MAMMAMIA’, David explained that the single “came out in a few hours – that’s why we felt like it was going to be a banger for us”.
“We didn’t take it too seriously,” bassist Victoria de Angelis continued. “It’s a very silly, careless song and we’ve never done something like that before. It came together very naturally. We just tried to have fun and enjoy it, because [it was written] in a moment where we were experiencing a lot of things.”
Måneskin will play a surprise free show at London’s O2 Academy Islington tonight (October 20). The band will also head out on a UK and European tour in 2022, which has sold out. You can check out the dates below.
February 2022
6 – O2 Academy Brixton, London
10 – Forest National, Brussels, Belgium
12 – Rockhal, Luxembourg
15 – Towar Hall, Warsaw, Poland
19 – Stadthalle, Vienna, Austria
21 – Le Zenith, Paris, France
24 – Halle 622, Zurich, Switzerland
26 – Verti Music Hall, Berlin, Germany
28 – Mala Sportovini Hala, Prague, Czech Republic
March 2022
1 – Barba Negra, Budapest, Hungary
3 – AFAS Live, Amsterdam, Netherlands
7 – Stereo Plaza, Kiev, Ukraine
9 – Stadium Love, Moscow, Russia
11 – Tinkoff Arena, St Petersburg, Russia
13 – Saku Suurhall, Tallinn, Estonia
14 – Arena Riga, Riga, Latvia
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Spotify is partnering with e-commerce giant Shopify as part of a new beta integration launching Wednesday (Oct. 20) to allow artists to sell merchandise directly through the streaming service, the company tells Billboard.
The move will allow artists across the world to earn additional revenue from the streaming service, which has over 365 million monthly users in 178 markets.
This isn’t Spotify’s first foray into merchandising as the company has had a partnership with Merchbar since 2016, but adoption of that has been limited. Spotify says artists will be able to choose three items to display from their Shopify stores on their artist profiles.
In an interview with Billboard, Camille Hearst, the head of Spotify for Artists, said the goal for that program is to provide “the information and resources that artists need to grow their fan bases and ultimately get paid for them,” and the Shopify partnership is the latest example of that. “As we think about what are all the ways we can help artists get paid, what are the ways we can help artists maximize additional revenue streams, merch is one of the things that comes top of mind,” Hearst says. “That’s why we are announcing this partnership with Shopify because we think it really is the next step in creating a holistic audience development platform.”
“It’s just a natural fit for Spotify in many ways,” Hearst continues. “It’s exactly what artists will need to give them nimble control over their merch. It’s really simple to decide what items are featured on an artist’s page and it’s easy to swap new merch in and out. Inventory management, any artist will tell you can be a pain. I’ve done a ton of interviews with artists where they talk about having piles of merch stacked in their living room, and Shopify eliminates all of that.”
“Spotify is an important partnership for us because we see artists and creators as the next generation of entrepreneurs,” says Shopify president Harley Finkelstein in a statement to Billboard. “Shopify has thousands of artists using our platform today to connect directly with their fans,” Finkelstein continued. “Now, with our Spotify channel, we’re allowing artists to directly connect their online store with their Spotify artist profile so that they can sell products and engage with their fans where they listen, all while managing their businesses from a single platform. Artists like Remi Wolf and Ellie Goulding were early adopters of our integration, and we’re excited to now bring it to artists on Spotify globally.”
Shopfiy is offering all artists on Spotify signing up for the first time a 90-day free trial for its services. The rates for a store on Shopify can vary depending on its scale, but the company charges a monthly fee that starts at $29 a month, along with a small percentage of each item sold. Spotify is “not taking any fees for this current functionality,” a spokesperson tells Billboard.
This is the latest partnership for Shopify with another high-profile service, after introducing an in-app shopping experience for TikTok users in August. The new integration will only be visible to Spotify users in the U.S., U.K., Australia, Canada, and New Zealand during the beta period, but artists globally will be able to add a virtual merch store to their Spotify profiles immediately.
San Francisco police say a concert-goer who fell to his death from the upper level of a basketball arena is believed to have “leapt from an elevated area of the arena,” causing his death. “Immediately before the victim leapt, he did not appear to have any physical contact with any person or barrier/railing,” Officer Grace Gatpandan said in a statement Tuesday (Oct. 19).
Jam band Phish, which has devoted fans across the country, was performing at Chase Center Sunday when on-duty officers were alerted shortly before 9 p.m. to a man who had apparently fallen and needed medical help, police said. The 47-year-old man died. Nearly an hour later at 9:45 p.m., on-duty officers were alerted to another man who had fallen. He was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries, as was a man he fell on. Police have not provided any details about what caused that incident.
Chase Center is home to the NBA’s Golden State Warriors. A spokesperson for the venue and the Warriors told the San Francisco Chronicle that the arena was safe. “Chase Center was built and is operated in accordance with all safety standards and requirements governing facilities of its kind in the state of California and the city and county of San Francisco,” Kimberly Veale said.
The man who was injured by the second fall told CBS affiliate KPIX that he had moved from his assigned seat in an upper tier to a flatter, more protected area because he “didn’t feel safe dancing there.” Evan Reeves of Oakland, whose leg was injured by the fall, received permission from an on-site doctor to watch the rest of the show while waiting for his wife to pick him up and take him to a hospital.
Flavor Flav will fight a misdemeanor domestic battery charge stemming from a scuffle with his girlfriend at home in suburban Las Vegas, his attorneys said Tuesday (Oct. 19). The 62-year-old former rapper, hip-hop and reality TV star, whose legal name is William Jonathan Drayton Jr., was arrested late Oct. 4 after Henderson police were called to a report of a domestic disturbance at a home in the city’s Green Valley neighborhood, police said.
He was accused of grabbing or poking the woman in the face and wresting a phone from her hand, according to a criminal complaint filed Tuesday in Henderson Municipal Court. Records show Drayton was freed from jail Oct. 5 on $3,000 bond with an Oct. 25 court date. The alleged victim was identified in court and police documents as a person with whom Drayton has a dating relationship and a minor child in common. Her name was redacted.
Their son told police he stepped in to stop the scuffle when his parents separated and his mother lunged toward Drayton, according to a police report. Officers reported a small cut on the side of the woman’s face “consistent with an altercation taking place.” Officer Katrina Farrell, a Henderson police spokeswoman, said she had no information about whether the alleged victim required medical treatment.“ In alleged domestic violence cases, there are often two sides to the story and we will explain our side in the courtroom,” Drayton’s attorneys, David Chesnoff and Richard Schonfeld, said in a statement. The arrest was first reported by celebrity website TMZ.
Flavor Flav’s public persona includes wearing a big clock on a chain around his neck. He was inducted with the group Public Enemy into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013. Public Enemy began in the New York area in 1986. Drayton has a criminal history that includes arrests and convictions on traffic infractions; a month in jail for assaulting his then-girlfriend in 1991; and three months behind bars for shooting at a neighbor in New York in 1993.
An October 2012 incident led to his arrest on several felony charges after he was accused of wielding knives, chasing and threatening his then-fiancee’s 17-year-old son at their home in Las Vegas. That case was closed in 2014, after Drayton pleaded guilty to reduced charges of misdemeanor attempted battery, served probation and completed a required domestic violence counseling course.
Queen’s Gambit star Anya Taylor-Joy sparkles with her haunting, downtempo cover of Petula Clark’s iconic 1964 hit “Downtown” in the trailer for Last Night in Soho. In the preview, Taylor-Joy, her voice slathered in echo, stands behind a mic in a recording studio and croons the track’s iconic hook, “When you’re alone and life is making you lonely/ You can always go/ Downtown.”
Backed by a haunting string section, the 25 year-old Golden Globe-winning actress flies high above the action in her ethereal voice as the screen fills with images from the upcoming Edgar Wright-directed horror thriller that also stars Thomasin McKenzie, Matt Smith and Terence Stamp; the film is due out on Oct. 29.
A description of the film from the Baby Driver director finds aspiring fashion designer Eloise (McKenzie), “mysteriously [entering] the 1960s where she encounters a dazzling wannabe singer, Sandie [Taylor-Joy)]. But the glamour is not all it appears to be and the dreams of the past start to crack and splinter into something far darker.”
Clark’s signature hit “Downtown” — featuring then-session player Jimmy Page on guitar — climbed to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart in January 1965 and was ushered into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 2003. Over the years, it has been covered by everyone from Dolly Parton to Marianne Faithfull, the Osmond Brothers, Alvin and the Chipmunks, Frank Sinatra, Yo La Tengo, The Saw Doctors and Baby Spice Emma Bunton.
Watch Taylor-Joy get mellow in the trailer below.
Bets are pouring in on the Los Angeles Lakers to win the NBA title and Dallas Mavericks forward Luka Doncic to claim the MVP award as the 2021-22 season tipped off Tuesday. The Lakers are the second favorite at most books at a consensus +400 behind the Brooklyn Nets. But several books are taking far […]
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The Irish government has paused plans for a full COVID reopening this week – news that the country’s music industry has described as “devastating”.
In plans set out earlier this year, Ireland was set to effectively end all coronavirus restrictions this Friday (October 22). Those plans have now been put on hold due to rising case rates and hospitalisations in the country.
READ MORE: New UK Music report reveals one in three music jobs were lost during the pandemic
The Irish government announced yesterday (October 19) that all indoor live music, entertainment and sporting events must be fully seated from Friday, a ruling which will also affect any previously scheduled live events at standing venues.
One artist who has already been forced to cancel a show in Ireland is Billy Nomates, who said in a message to fans on Instagram: “I was due to come to Dublin next week, but Dublin have just announced today new COVID measures, which mean that my gig can no longer go ahead.
“When it’s meant to happen, we’ll just have a fucking good gig then.”
Reacting to the news of the rule changes, Shane Dunne of MCD, the biggest live music promoter in Ireland, said: “There’s a bit of spin out there that there’s some good news here [but] make no mistake about it, today is a devastating day for the commercial live music business in Ireland.”
There’s a bit of spin out there that there’s some good news here, make no mistake about it, today is a devastating day for the commercial live music business in Ireland.
— Shane Dunne (@ItsShaneDunne) October 19, 2021
Another event that has been cancelled is the BD Festival in the Irish county of Wicklow, which was due to take place this weekend.
Writing on their Facebook page, organisers for the event said: “The lack of clarity and resultant uncertainty reinforces our decision to postpone the event until April 2022. BD Festival cannot operate with any hint of social distancing or public health measures. Unfortunately BD Festival was planned and tickets were sold on the basis that there would be no restrictions or any public health measures in place.
“This edition of BD Festival was two years in the making. To say that we are devastated and heartbroken is an understatement.”
Further to Tuesday afternoon’s statement from An Taoiseach Michaél Martin, the lack of clarity and resultant uncertainty…
Posted by BD Festival on Tuesday, October 19, 2021
From September 6, indoor events were able to take place with 60 per cent of venue capacity and COVID certificate measures in place, but Ireland’s National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) have now recommended that mask wearing and social distancing remain in place until February 2022.
On Monday (October 18) Ireland recorded 1,578 new cases of COVID, with 484 people hospitalised with the virus.
The country’s Deputy Prime Minister Leo Varadkar said that while Ireland is “not where we want to be,” the situation “is not without hope”.
Earlier this year, the Irish government announced €50 million of new funding for its live music sector during the coronavirus crisis, including a €25 million expansion of its popular Live Performance Support Scheme (LPSS).
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Peter Hook & The Light concerts will take to the road across the United States and Canada in August and September 2022 for the tour “Joy Division: A Celebration,” honoring the iconic British rock and new wave band. Hook was the bassist and co-founder of the band led by vocalist Ian Curtis and later New Order which formed after Curtis took his own life in 1980.
At 26 dates in total, “Joy Division: A Celebration” is Peter Hook & The Light’s largest ever tour, performing Joy Division’s two seminal albums Unknown Pleasures and Closer in full with additional Joy Division rarities and an opening set of New Order material. The tour follows the debut UK dates for “Joy Division: A Celebration” which commemorate the 40th anniversary of Joy Division and Ian Curtis’ continuing influence.
“The albums are played sequentially in track order, respecting the inspiration and impact of the stunning debut album Unknown Pleasures and the immaculately produced second Closer,” a release announcing the tour explains. “In addition to the albums, the concerts span the entirety of Joy Division’s rich but short career including early Warsaw material, tracks from the compilation LP Still to the final songs “Ceremony” and “In a Lonely Place” written by Joy Division which were to form New Order’s first single.
Tickets go on-sale this Friday, Oct. 22. For details and ticket links go to Hook’s site. Dates for the tour:
August 11 @ The Danforth Music Hall in Toronto
August 12 @ The Danforth Music Hall in Toronto
August 13 @ Club Soda in Montreal
August 15 @ Royal Oak Music Theatre in Royal Oak, MI
August 16 @ The Eastern in Atlanta
August 18 @ First Avenue in Minneapolis
August 19 & 20 @ Metro in Chicago
August 22 @ The Pabst Theatre in Milwaukee
August 23 @ Paradise Rock Club in Boston
August 25 @ The Fillmore Silver Spring
August 26 @ Union Transfer in Philadelphia
August 27 @ Terminal 5 in New York
August 29 @ The Van Buren in Phoenix
August 30 & 31 @ Mohawk, Austin
September 2 @ House Of Blues Houston
September 3 @ House Of Blues Dallas
September 5 @ Ogden Theatre, Denver
September 6 @ Humphreys Concerts by the Bay, San Diego
September 8 & 9 @ The Theatre At Ace Hotel, Los Angeles
September 10 @ The Warfield, San Francisco
September 12 @ Crystal Ballroom, Portland
September 13 @ The Showbox, Seattle
September 14 @ Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver
Oscar-winning British songwriter Leslie Bricusse, whose work includes James Bond themes and Willy Wonka’s signature tune, has died. He was 90. Son Adam Bricusse said on Facebook that his father “passed away peacefully” on Tuesday (Oct. 19). No cause of death was given.
His death was also confirmed by actress Joan Collins, a friend, who said on Instagram that Bricusse “was one of the giant songwriters of our time.” Born in the London suburb of Pinner in 1931, Bricusse studied at Cambridge University, where he was president of the Footlights performance club, a springboard for musical and comic talent. He began writing music for stage and screen in the 1950s, and enjoyed success over more than five decades.
Bricusse wrote both music and lyrics, working alone and with collaborators. He wrote lyrics for the Bond theme songs “Goldfinger” and “You Only Live Twice,” with music by John Barry. With frequent collaborator Anthony Newley, Bricusse wrote the Academy Award-nominated score for 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, including the song “Pure Imagination,” sung by Gene Wilder and now considered a classic. Another song from the movie, “The Candy Man,” became a huge hit for Sammy Davis Jr.
Bricusse and Newley also wrote 1960s stage musicals, including Stop the World — I want to Get Off — which included the Grammy Award-winning song “What Kind of Fool Am I?” and The Roar of the Greasepaint — The Smell of the Crowd. That show featured the song “Feeling Good,” which became a signature tune for Nina Simone.
Bricusse’s other film work included the music for Doctor Doolittle, which won a best-song Oscar in 1968 for “Talk to the Animals.” He worked as a lyricist with composers including Henry Mancini on Victor/Victoria — which won him a second Academy Award, for best score, in 1983 — and John Williams, on Superman, Home Alone and Hook. Bricusse is survived by his wife, Yvonne Romain, and their son.
