The Stargreen blog thing

TINA TURNER's world tour comes to London at the O2 Centre on 8th March, and we have tickets on sale now.

The most successful female rock artist of all time, Tina has been described as "one of soul music's most incendiary performers". So, do not expose to naked flame.

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On sale now -

• SIGUR ROS' new album title translates to English as "With a Buzz in Our Ears We Play Endlessly". Hope that's just Icelandic post-rock, not tinnitus. 24th June
• MGMT: cook with the stars, 27 & 28th Nov
• GLORIA ESTEFAN: the Queen of Latin Pop plays Wembley 10th Sept. acta est fabula plaudite - oh wait, the other kind of Latin

Plus COLD WAR KIDS, HERCULES AND LOVE AFFAIR, ONE REPUBLIC, ROYWORLD, EDDI READER, HALF MAN HALF BISCUIT, LEZ ZEPPELIN, BILLY BRAGG and SHAKIN STEVENS

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Twenty years on from 1988's Free Mandela concert, former South African president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate NELSON MANDELA will visit London for a charity concert in Hyde Park. Headlined by QUEEN + PAUL RODGERS and RAZORLIGHT, with other acts to include ANNIE LENNOX - SIMPLE MINDS - DAME SHIRLEY BASSEY - - AMY WINEHOUSE - LEONA LEWIS - SUGABABES - JOHNNY CLEGG.

Nelson Mandela turns 90 on 18 July. Many happy returns.

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ASH reportedly took their name from the first word in the dictionary that they liked - so either it was a small dictionary or they're not big aardvark fans. We read that on the Internet, it may not be true.

Anyway, they're at the Astoria on 6th September where they'll play the whole of their debut album 1977. The band say say "We're told this will be a record breaking appearance, no other band will have performed at the Astoria more than us!".

Tickets on sale now.

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Onsale, like, now:

• DEVOTCHKA, 17th July
• COBRA STARSHIP September 222nd
• SAM SPARRO 4th Oct
• CYNDI LAUPER 14th Oct
• STEVIE WONDER 11th September

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Possibly the only punk band ever to have had fossils named after their members, the SEX PISTOLS have announced a gig at Hammersmith on 2nd September. That link will go live Monday morning when tickets go on sale.

BBC News is currently reporting that the Pistols brought "anarchy" to the Isle of Wight Festival this weekend, and that it will now be closed on Sunday by the Police. We think they're not talking about the boys in blue there, but either way it sounds like Rotten & co will be nicely warmed up.

It's true about the fossils, by the way. Arcticalymene viciousi, A. rotteni, A. jonesi, A. cooki, and A. matlocki are all kinds of trilobite.

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"Imagine Emily Dickinson with a harp, and you're half way there", said the Guardian. Described as "the high princess of baroque and roll", JOANNA NEWSOM, American harpist, pianist, harpsichordist, and singer-songwriter, plays at Somerset House on 20th July. Tickets on sale now.

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The European leg of the mighty "UNHOLY ALLIANCE TOUR, CHAPTER III" is coming to London - HAMMERSMITH APOLLO, 30th and 31st October. This third installment of what has been hailed as "the heaviest, darkest tour of the year" features SLAYER, the undisputed kings of extreme speed/thrash metal, and two true princes of the genre, TRIVIUM and MASTODON.

Tickets on sale here Wednesday.

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MERCURY REV come to the Shepherd's Bush Empire later this year: the quicksilver vicar is playing there on Thursday 13th November.

Tickets on sale now.

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We've been sent the physical tickets for the LOVEBOX WEEKENDER. If you've ordered already, expect to start getting them in the next few days. If you haven't, this would be a good time to buy - come into our shop at Oxford Circus and you can even pick them up personally. Saves you a fiver on the postage too.

TICKETS  

If you missed your chance for an IRON MAIDEN date when the gig went on sale, we still have a few Lower Tiers tickets left. The gig is 5th July at Twickenham

FEATURED  

All these on sale Wednesday -

• DENGUE FEVER (Cambodian psychedelic rock) with SATIN PEACHES ("influences ranging from the all out rock 'n' roll assault of The Velvet Underground to the melodic gold of Bends-era Radiohead") at Hoxton Bar and Kitchen
• WILDBEASTS : according to Londonist, "the northern 4-piece veer between minimalist afrobeat-inspired rhythms and crunching, pounding, rock goodness, topped with stunning operatic melodies."
• SARA BAREILLES, American singer-songwriter: "we've had a giant paper mache confetti machine made in the image of my face that spews out bits of recycled newspaper from her mouth while I'm singing the word 'down' at the end of Gravity. No big deal... Just subtle changes that will enhance the musical experience."
• JOSH ROUSE: foll/alt.country/roots pop from Tennessee

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ELBOW is: "the most sensuous word in the English language"; a ginglymus ; an alternative rock band from Manchester who've been together for 18 years, met with critical acclaim and nominations for Brit and Mercury awards, and been the first British band to play in Cuba outside Havana.

It's the last of those three that we have tickets for (so no more humerus remarks). 11th and 12th October at the Roundhouse, on sale Thursday.

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The V FESTIVAL people have released another block of tickets for sale: they're aVailable right now. If you (or your friends) missed out first time round, now's your chance.

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On the back of their brass band and tickertape-enhanced gig last night at Central Hall (see reviews - gigwise and thisislondon ) SIGUR ROS announce a new date at Alexandra Palace on 20th November. That link goes live on Friday morning when the tickets go on sale.

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All these on sale Friday

• ANI DiFRANCO has "signature percussive fingerpicking", "expressive vocals", "incisive lyrics", "a constitutional inability to be anything less than totally real", and a gig at the Forum on 29th October

• THE FEELING play Hammersmith Apollo on 4th November. "I think you have to be entirely fearless when you make music," they say. On sale from 9:30

• FEEDER hold the distinction of being the first act to play in front of 1,500 people or more at any HMV store worldwide. Gosh. They'll be playing in front of what coild be more than 4500 people at Brixton Academy on 17 November.

• LESS THAN JAKE are at the Astoria on 12th November. "We're not good-looking dudes. We're all cross-eyed and we drink a lot. It was never about how we dress or do our hair. It's always been about the music."

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KINGS OF LEON play Brixton on 14th August. "I'm a sucker for beautiful women. Especially if it's someone you see on the TV or in magazines. When you see that person in real life, it's like 'Wow.'" After briefly pausing, he adds: "Well, sometimes it's more like Whoa! You look better on the billboards.'"

Tickets on sale here on Friday - max two per person.

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