Music News

Damon Albarn handed out ice creams to fans at Blur's headline performance at Barclaycard Presents British Summer Time in Hyde Park on Saturday night (20.06.15).
The 'Song 2' hitmaker's dished out the tasty treat to those lucky fans that had managed to secure a place on the coveted front row.
The band performed a 23-strong setlist complete with tracks from their latest album 'The Magic Whip' as well as their classic hits.
Near the end of the show, Damon paid tribute to guitarist Graham Coxon for being the driving force behind their new album.
He told the crowd: "I just want to say thanks to Graham for getting The Magic Whip into shape ... And I want to thank the backing singers, the ice cream van, and you, the fans."
With the band - which also includes bassist Alex James and drummer Dave Rowntree - making their third appearance at Hyde Park in six years, the crowds gave them a warm reception as they played some of their most well-known songs including 'Girls & Boys', 'Go Out' and 'Coffee & TV'.
And the band couldn't stop thanking their fans for all the home support.
He added: "Thanks so much for coming back to see us again. It's great to be back in Hyde Park. It's like home - well, it is home really.
"I love it here. I really love it here."

Blur's full setlist at Barclaycard Presents British Summer Time in Hyde Park:

'Go Out'
'There's No Other Way'
'Lonesome Street'
'Badhead'
'Coffee & TV'
'Out of Time'
'Beetlebum'
'Thought I Was a Spaceman'
'Trimm Trabb'
'He Thought of Cars'
'End of a Century'
'I Broadcast'
'Trouble in the Message Centre'
'Tender'
'Parklife'
'Ong Ong'
'Song 2'
'To the End'
'This Is a Low'
'Stereotypes'
'Girls & Boys'
'For Tomorrow'
'The Universal'

Tommy Lee finds it "really amazing" that none of Motley Crue are dead.
The drummer admits the mid-1980s was a "bad" time for the 'All Bad Things Must End' hitmakers - which includes Vince Neil, Nikki Sixx and Mick Mars - because they were all "not waking up", "overdosing" and "like a bomb ready to go off".
The 52-year-old rocker is amazed the band - who are in their 34th year together - are living to tell the tale and survived, because he was sure "someone was going to die".
He told BANG Showbiz: "People were not waking up, people were overdosing and people were f***king. Like a bomb ready to go off, like someone was going to die. The fact we made it through that is really amazing because we had all of the ingredients for bad and for something to go extremely f***ing bad."
The notoriously outrageous rock outfit reached their limits living in Los Angeles, surrounded by "drug dealers" and "distracting" girlfriends, so moved to Vancouver, Canada, to focus on their music and Tommy thinks it was a good decision.
He added: "Somehow in 1989 we decided alright we've got to stop and we all decided to get sober and move the f***k away from Los Angeles, move away from the dealers and the girlfriends and the distractions and the bulls*it and we went to Vancouver and made the best record of our lives. That time was probably the baddest."

Katherine Jenkins thinks her singing has improved since she got pregnant.
The 35-year-old mezzo soprano is expecting her first child with husband Andrew Levitas and has found her changing shape has added depth to her vocals.
She said: "A lot of female singers say their voice is better when they're pregnant and I think that's happening to me.
"My voice is bigger and more rounded, so I'm loving being pregnant and don't want it to end."
However, the blonde beauty is concerned her voice could "scare" her unborn tot.
She added: "I just hope I am not scaring her with the volume and vibration of my voice.
"She'll either be in there enjoying my singing or she'll eventually start kicking and saying, 'Be quiet Mummy, you're too loud.' "
Katherine is still working out during her pregnancy and doing her best to eat healthily, though she won't deprive herself of any treats.
She told Britain's HELLO! magazine: "I've been very into fitness - running and boot camp classes - over the last few years so it is just a case of adapting that for what works for my body now. While I'm still running, I've swapped boot camp for yoga and spinning.
"I have a good attitude to food. I have a huge appetite but I make sure I eat the right things. It's about putting the right nutrients into your body.
"Everything in moderation though - if I want to have chocolate, I have it."

Stereo Kicks find it hard to "focus" when fans throw their underwear at them.
The eight-piece group - who shot to fame after competing on 'The X Factor' - admits they get bombarded with saucy garments, but were stunned the first time it happened.
Singer James Graham said of the first time: "I think it was like our fourth tour day and I got a bra thrown at me and it landed on my head while I was singing. "It was quite hard to keep focus.
"We've had a lot of knickers and a lot of bras thrown at us."
However, James insists he doesn't mind fans throwing their smalls on stage.
He told BANG Showbiz: "Weirdly we get a lot of, probably too many, bras.. I'm not complaining."
Since being put together on 'The X Factor' - where all eight members initially auditioned as solo artists - the group have attracted a number of female fans and feel honoured to be compared with One Direction, who were also formed on the show.
Youngest band member Charlie Jones said recently: "Everyone has said since we were put together that they haven't seen this reaction since One Direction, which is obviously a massive, massive compliment."

The Libertines risked death from snake bites recording their new album.
The reformed group secluded themselves away in a facility in Thailand to set down tracks for their comeback record and though there were few people around, they were never far away from deadly serpents.
Co-frontman Carl Barat said: "The studio was built on an old snake pit. The snake god Naga had a shrine. You could still find snakes there.
"I said to the guy, 'Do you have anti-venom for the snakes?' He said, 'No if snake bites you, you die.'
"I thought, 'OK, what about going to hospital?' He said, 'No, no, you DIE.' It scared the life out of me.
"They're called pit vipers. Nasty buggers."
Despite the scary snakes, the 'I Get Along' group - which also includes Pete Doherty, Gary Powell and John Hassall - found the remote setting the perfect place to record their album.
Carl explained to NME magazine: "It was really conductive to work. We couldn't have done it in London or England or even in Europe.
"Everyone would have had a reason to go out. It's as fast as we've ever worked and as committed as we've ever been.
"I'm ecstatic about what we've done, which is very, very rare for me to say."
John added: "Spending so much time together made us feel like a proper band again. Seeing each other every day just made it feel like old times."

Little Mix have been announced as performers for MTV Crashes Plymouth.
The 'Wings' hitmakers - Jesy Nelson, Perrie Edwards, Jade Thirwall and Leigh-Anne Pinnock - will take to the stage at the outdoor event alongside Irish rockers Kodaline and electro DJ Steve Aoki on Plymouth's Hoe on July 22.
Sharing their excitement about the gig, Leigh-Anne said: "We cannot wait to get out there and Crash Plymouth with MTV! We love performing, It's going to be such a great day, especially out there on the beautiful Plymouth Hoe. Let's get Crashin'!''
Meanwhile, Irish rockers Kodaline have admitted they "so happy" to be playing the festival in South West Engalnd alongside 'Pass Out' rapper Tinie Tempah.
Steve Garrigan of the band said: "We are so happy to be announced for MTV Crashes Plymouth with Tinie Tempah! This is a really
exciting year for us with the release of our 2nd album and a great summer of festivals ahead! MTV Plymouth, let's do it!"
Little Mix and Kodaline join Tinie Tempah as part of MTV Crashes Day One, while Steve Aoki and Deorro join Oliver Heldens, DJ Fresh, Route 94 and David Zowie on the second day of MTV Crashes Plymouth, the Club MTV line-up.
The event takes place over July 22 and 23.

The Strokes kicked off Barclaycard British Summer Time with a greatest hits set last night (18.06.15).
The US rockers thrilled the 60,000-strong crowd - which included the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow, Alexa Chung, Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins, Pixie Geldof and Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner - at London's Hyde Park with a career-spanning show that heavily relied on their influential debut LP 'Is This It'.
The group's set opened with the title track from that album, quickly followed by 'Barely Legal', getting the crowd into a buoyant mood before playing more recent track 'Welcome To Japan'.
Despite constant speculation of tension within the band, frontman Julian Casablancas appeared in good spirits and was particularly delighted by the warm weather.
He said: "We've really enjoyed ourselves. We don't recognise London with this great weather".
The sing-a-long set closed with 'New York City Cops', before the band returned to the stage for a three-track encore of 'Juicebox', 'You Only Live Once' and 'Take It or Leave It'.
Earlier in the evening, Beck had provided a set worthy of a headline act, with 'Devil's Haircut', 'Sexxlaws' and a cover of Donna Summer's 'I Feel Love' proving particular highlights.
The black-clad singer sealed off the stage with police tape after 'E-Pro' before returning, dressed in white, for a final song, 'Where It's At'.
Other performers who took to the stage in Hyde Park yesterday included Future Islands, Temples and Public Service Broadcasting.
Barclaycard British Summer Time continues tomorrow (20.06.15) with Blur headlining and on Sunday (21.06.15) with Kylie Minogue topping the bill.
Next weekend will see The Who and Taylor Swift take to the stage.

Roger Waters was told to "shoot himself" by his school teacher as a child.
The Pink Floyd musician revealed his tutor confronted him in class as a youngster and told him he would never do anything valuable with his life because he was "useless".
He recalled: "I've had some measure of success and there's no question that it provides one with something of a bulwark against T.E House who was the a*shole at my grammar school who told me I was a complete f**king idiot.
"He was an English teacher and he was my form master when I was 13.
"He said I would never become anything and might as well give up and shoot myself because I was useless. He liked tidy hand-writing and a*slickers and I had neither of those attributes, so we didn't get on at all."
The 71-year-old progressive rock legend - who will release documentary film 'Roger Waters The Wall' later this year - revealed he preferred to stick to the shadows and be left alone as a teenager.
Speaking to The Sun newspaper, he explained: "When I was a young man, my wall manifested itself in an attitude, the image I have of myself is, if I was in this room, I'd be in one of the corners. I'd be dressed in black.
"I'd have a cigarette hanging out of the corner of my mouth and my expression would be one of f**k off, leave me alone."

Iron Maiden have announced their new album, 'The Book Of Souls'.
The 'Run to the Hills' hitmakers had to delay the release of the LP after frontman Bruce Dickinson discovered a cancerous tumour, although now he has been given the all-clear, the rockers are preparing for the record's launch.
Bruce said: "We're really excited about 'The Book Of Souls' and had a fantastic time creating it. We started working on the album in late summer 2014 and recorded it at Guillame Tell Studios in Paris, where we'd done the 'Brave New World' album back in 2000 so the studio holds special memories for all of us.
"We were delighted to discover the same magical vibe is still alive and very much kicking there! So we immediately felt at home and the ideas just started flowing. By the time we'd finished we all agreed that each track was such an integral part of the whole body of work that if it needed to be a double album, then double it's going to be!"
The album - which will be released globally on September 4 - follows up their 15th studio LP 'The Final Frontier' which was released in 2010, and will be accompanied by an international tour for the band next year.
Bassist Steve Harris commented: "We approached this album in a different way to how we've recorded previously. A lot of the songs were actually written while we were there in the studio and we rehearsed and recorded them straight away while they were still fresh, and I think that immediacy really shows in the songs, they have almost a live feel to them, I think.
"I'm very proud of 'The Book Of Souls', we all are, and we can't wait for our fans to hear it, and especially to take it out on the road next year!"