Joe Kavanagh's Music News

Madonna's ongoing European tour was thrown into disarray last week when two crew members were killed while putting together her stage for an upcoming five-night stand in the French city of Marseille. A 53-year-old French man and 32-year-old British man died when a crane collapsed, while the two worked on the stage at Stade Velodrome, and the incident left another 10 people injured, one of them critically. A shocked Madonna made reference to the event during a gig in Udine, Italy, on Thursday, telling the crowd: "You may have heard of it... When they were building my show in Marseille, where we're going next - we don't know why, but one of the cranes fell... Two men lost their lives, it was a great tragedy to me. I feel so, so devastated to be in any way associated with anyone suffering. Let's all just take a moment to say a prayer for The Two Charlies. Our hearts go out to their families and loved ones... We are so blessed and lucky to be alive." French authorities have launched a manslaughter investigation into the incident, citing possible negligence on behalf of the company dealing with the stage construction. ES Group, however, deny any wrongdoing, despite the fact that a virtually identical incident happened under their watch at a Madonna gig in LA last November, resulting in several injuries. A spokesperson for the company claimed: "There is absolutely no technical or other connection between the incident at the Dodgers Stadium in November 2008 and the tragic accident yesterday at the Velodrome in Marseille." While the book remains open, I am reminded of the saying which claims 'Fool me once, fool you, fool me twice, fool me.' Or, if you happen to be George W, you get that familiar vacant look behind your blue eyes and substitute a quote from The Who for the last part and say "Fool me twice and we won't get fooled again," thus proving who the biggest fool of all is beyond any reasonable doubt. Top marks to any of you that picked up on the extra two Who references in that last sentence...

U2 guitarist Edge revealed last week the real reason that the band has managed to stay together through thick and thin, thick mostly I suppose, telling an interviewer: "Larry (Mullen) started the band, so Larry reckons it's his band. But Adam (Clayton) was the first manager so he sees it as his band. It goes without saying that Bono sees it as his band. The actual truth is, and I'm far too modest to say this, but it's my band." If I was a gambling man - and I'm not because goodness knows I've got enough bad habits - I'd have to say it's actually Bono's band because he is God after all, or so his words lead me to believe... Either that or he's a total tosser, said he nervously looking overhead for a bolt of lightening coming out of the clear blue sky...

I happen to be a big fan of John McClure and his band Reverend And The Makers, and I usually agree with almost everything that he has to say, given his cerebral nature and support of a multitude of constructive causes, but I am having to review my position after reading a quote attributed to the singer last week. The singer was discussing the 2003 invasion of Iraq, when he claimed: "If David Beckham had of spoken out about Iraq it wouldn't have happened, I honestly believe that hand on heart, or Britain certainly wouldn't have got involved. Beckham's cultural gravitas was as such in that period that if he'd have gone 'I don't want this war in Iraq, it's an awful thing, we should not do it', it wouldn't have happened, the public would've gone mad against it. But because he kept his gob shut, and everybody else did, it happened, we sleepwalked our way there." That is one of the most preposterous assertions that I have ever heard in my entire life. There is no possible way that David Beckham could have strung enough articulate sentences together on the subject to prevent that war, even if someone had pointed out where Iraq was on a map, and the fact that it is a country. Seriously though, if John McClure thinks David Beckham is the reason that the UK is in Iraq, he needs to get off the drugs because if he's right in that assertion then I'm going to live on Mars...

While we're on the subject of David Beckham, I read last week where he was asked about his commitment to Major League Soccer, by Steve Politi of The Star Ledger, and replied: "I'm committed to the MLS as an ambassador. To me, it's about creative visualization, and I visualize that this game will take off." Talk about a sound-byte he was given in advance. 'Creative visualization'? Out of David Beckham's lips? I can't believe that Mr Politi did not ask him to expand on what he meant by that because I guarantee you that he would have been faced with a similar look of bedraggled confusion to the one that George W sported when he realized that he was making a stones out of the quote I mentioned earlier in this very column. 'Creative visualization' indeed. I'm wondering whether Beckham was wearing one of those Elmer Fudd hunter hats, like that scene from the movie Roxanne where the dumb guy talks to Darryl Hannah, as Steve Martin feeds him lines into an earpiece...

Reviled Razorlight frontman, Johnny Borrell, only accepts a certain type of sophisticated woman in his life, according to his brother. Speaking to UK tabloid, The Sun, Willy Borrell claimed: "Johnny basically says, 'Go and find me a girl. But she has to be hot and have at least five GCSEs'... Johnny's not rock and roll at all, he goes to bed early, doesn't do any drugs and hardly drinks any alcohol. Then he gets up really early and goes running." Yeah, that really makes Johnny sound so refined, with the whole 'Go get me a woman' line. No word on whether Willy then goes out and clubs them over the head before dragging them back to their lair by their hair...

Designer Sadie Frost is apparently livid with her sometime boyfriend, former Towers Of London drummer, Kristian Marr, after he invited Amy Winehouse to his upcoming 25th birthday party. Frost, a 44-year-old mother of four, apparently cannot abide Winehouse and does not want the troubled singer anywhere near her kids. According to reports, the former flame of Jude Law and Gary Kemp is desperate to get back with Marr, after the two hit the skids because of his friendship with Winehouse. Wow, who'd be in that guy's shoes? Stuck between a jealous cougar and an ex-crackhead alcoholic who looks like the reincarnation of the Wicked Witch of the West. There's only going to be one winner in this: the tabloids...

Speaking of Amy Winehouse, the singer continues to make the news with word that her divorce was finalized last week after she admitted infidelity, which will allegedly lead to a $3.6 million payout to her soon-to-be ex-husband, Blake Fielder-Civil. That kind of loot will buy a whole lot of heroin. In all fairness, given the fact that Winehouse was snapped in the arms of several other men while Fielder-Civil was serving time in pokey, denying infidelity would have been as believable as Bernie Madoff telling you that he'd left his checkbook out in his solid gold helicopter and would be back in a moment...

Former drummer for The Clash, Topper Headon, revealed just how close the band were to a reunion before the death of Joe Strummer in December of 2002, after having advanced discussions about performing for their induction in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in March of the following year. Talking to NME, Headon claimed: "When we got inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Joe wanted us to do four or five numbers there. I said yes, Mick Jones said yes, Paul Simonon was um-ing and ah-ing but in the end the decision was taken out of our hands because Joe died." He also added that he was glad that the reunion did not achieve fruition in the end, saying: "I think Paul was probably right to be skeptical because the only pictures you see of The Clash now are of us as four young, good-looking men with full heads of hair. If we'd have played that show you'd have seen Mick being bald, Paul being bald, me being bald and wearing glasses and Joe with a bit of a paunch. It was better the old way." I agree but what do I know, the Rolling Stones are so wrinkled now that from a distance they actually look like a set of crocodile skin handbags teetering around on stage, and I'm talking a distance of 10 feet. Still, it hasn't stopped them from milking their audience for the past 200 years...