The Stargreen blog thing

"Back to School" offers from the discount theatre tickets department:

• For the JERSEY BOYS - the acclaimed musical story of Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons - we're discounting the regular £60 tickets to £38 for all dates until mid-September. Usually you can only book discount tickets on the day of the show or a couple of days before, but now you can plan ahead

• For WE WILL ROCK YOU - the music of Queen, the words of Ben Elton - and for THE SOUND OF MUSIC - the music of hills (they're alive!) - book up to a week in advance and you can buy the £55 ticket for only £35.

We can't sell these tickets on our web site, so you need to call us on STARGREEN 020 7734 8932 to book.

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• Dylan Mills (possibly better known as DIZZEE RASCAL) at the Forum, 22 November
• Another KANYE WEST date: 11th November at the O2 ARENA
• D12 + OBIE TRICE + ROYCE da 5'9": Detroit Hip-Hop triple-bill (or n-tuple bill, depending on how many members in D12 right now) play the Astoria, 15th December

or if that's not your ting

• THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM: American punk rock, 5th Dec at Astoria 2
• THE MUSIC: indie from Leeds - once decribed as "the best unsigned band in Britain", although that was before they were signed. 29 October at the Roundhouse

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• JARVIS COCKER is probably best known as the former front man of Pulp, and probably less well known for his appearance in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Shepherd's Bush Empire, 26th November.

• FEEDER's Mark Richardson has also been in movies lately. Souled Out will be in cinemas next year, but if you'd rather see him playing drums than playing "Bouncer 1" ,the band are at the Astoria on 18th November.

• Stars of a different kind: 'I was very into spectroscopy at college,' says Mick Quinn, bass player of SUPERGRASS. 'Splitting light from a star into a spectrum. You can learn a hell of a lot from one point of light in the sky.'. Supergrass are at Shepherd's Bush, Weds 10th Dec

Also on sale Friday -

• THE PADDINGTONS come from Hull (as distinct from, say, Darkest Peru) to play the Metro Club, 22nd October. No mention of marmalade, though.

• THE BRONX is an American hardcore punk band from Los Angeles (as distinct from, say, the Bronx): playing Kings College on 27th Oct

• AIRBOURNE are from Warrnambool (it's in Australia - as distinct from, say, the sky?). New date announced: 28th Nov at the Astoria

• BON IVER is "indie folk singer-songwriter Justin Vernon's current band and most notable music project to date." He comes from Wisconsin, as distinct from, say, Vernon

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JAMES MORRISON is an English singer, songwriter, and guitarist born in Rugby. JAMES is an English rock band from Manchester. MORRISONS is a chain of supermarkets, and JIM MORRISON is dead. Hope that helps dispel any confusion.

The first-mentioned of these is playing at the SHEPHERD'S BUSH EMPIRE, 25th November - on sale now. And congratulations to him on the birth of his daughter on Wednesday.

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BILLY ELLIOT THE MUSICAL celebrated its third sensational year in London back in May this year. It's the story of a young boy growing up in the North East during the 1980s miners' strike, who happens across a ballet class while looking for his boxing lessons. Captivated by the grace he sees, he must pursue his passion for dance in secret to avoid disapproval of his family.

"Rough, lyrical, funny, and moving in equal measure."

Tickets for the Monday to Thursday shows will set you back £60 plus booking fee at the theatre: we have them for £38. Book up to a week in advance, by phoning 020 7734 8932 or calling in person. We also have cheap tickets for many other West End shows including JERSEY BOYS and WE WILL ROCK YOU - give us a call and we'll talk you through it.

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"If this album was food for thought, it would be vegan - with cheese" - ALBERT HAMMOND JR, Strokes rhythm guitarist on his solo project. He plays The Scala, 5th October - tickets on sale now.

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Indie pop three piece SCOUTING FOR GIRLS announce another date: 25th November at HAMMERSMITH APOLLO is on sale now.

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"IT IS TIME TO GET YOUR MIND RIGHT!"

Says Donnie W of the NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK. UK residents have between now and 24th January, which is when the NKOTB REUNION TOUR comes to the O2 ARENA, to do so.

You also need to make sure you got the right stuff - which is to say, "tickets" - which will be on sale here at Stargreen from Friday 9am.

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THE COURTEENERS CONFIRMED AS VERY SPECIAL GUESTS FOR THE STEREOPHONICS DECEMBER ARENA TOUR

Lauded Manchester band THE COURTEENERS have been confirmed as very special guests to the STEREOPHONICS during the band's Winter UK tour.

After a host of blistering Summer festival appearances, and with their own forthcoming October tour all but sold out, the indie quartet will join the Welsh rockers for their O2 Arena date on 20th December.

Championed by everyone from the OMM to the NME to The Sun, The Courteeners have enjoyed a hugely successful year which has seen their debut 'St Jude' reach number 4 in the UK album charts.

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Avast there, me hearties. It be International Talk Like A Pirate Day on Friday, and we have tickets for new gigs. No, we know there's no logical connection.

• THE KOOKS have a Brixton date to add to their Roundhouse gigs: 10th Dec at BRIXTON ACADEMY

• You know when you've been Tangoed: GOTAN PROJECT, 11th Dec at the Roundhouse

• You know when you've been TING TINGed, too: 6th March at BRIXTON ACADEMY

• 2007's NME "act most likely to break your window" and 2008's Best New band, THE ENEMY play BRIXTON on 11th April

• TV ON THE RADIO: NYC indie rock band with influences from "free jazz, a cappella/doo-wop, soul, shoegaze and electro" - among others, presumably. SHEPHERD'S BUSH EMPIRE, 19th November

• PETE AND THE PIRATES: ULU, 27th Nov. And (see above) what an appropriate day for them to go on sale

Look smart, ye scurvy land lubbers. Or something.

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This week's featured theatre show is AVENUE Q: in three words, "X Rated Muppets". Originally intended as a TV series, the hit musical opened on Broadway in 2003 and made the jump to the Noel Coward Theatre in London's West End in June 2006.

Contains adult language and content and "full puppet nudity", so this is not one to take young kids to (although, as the publicity notes, if you take your teenagers they'll think you're really cool). We're selling the £50 tickets for £35 and you can book up to a week in advance: give us a call

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A woman in New South Wales has been terrorised by a large pig in her garden that became aggressive when she refused to give it more food. Ms Hayes had to barricade herself in her own home until the pig calmed down.

Closer to home, we're getting news through of Friday's gigs, so it's time for an early heads-up -

• N.E.R.D: "No-one Ever Really Dies is just a basic belief, man. People's energies are made of their souls. When you die, that energy may disperse but it isn't destroyed" - 11th November

• DEFENDERS OF THE FAITH II: ideal Valentines Day Gift. Take your partner to Brixton to see metal giants LAMB OF GOD and DIMMU BORGIR - 14th Feb

• KEANE: "the band with no guitars" are playing on 12th February

• RISE AGAINST: straight edge vegan melodic hardcore punk. From Chicago. 6th March

• BLOC PARTY have said that the name "was not intended to be an allusion to the Soviet Bloc or the Canadian political party Bloc Quebecois". So that's OK then. 11th April.

• BOYZONE 29th May and 22nd June at Wembley and the O2 respectively.

Some of those links don't go anywhere useful yet, but they'll start functioning as soon as we have final confirmation of ticket prices.

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Following triumphant festival shows at Glastonbury and Latitude, Mercury winners ELBOW are set to play their biggest show to date at Wembley Arena next March 14th. The band are "promising something special".

Tickets go on sale tomorrow (Tuesday). While you're waiting, you can also download their new single "The Bones Of You" - released today.

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RAZORLIGHT have announced a November tour to support the release of their third album, Slipway Fires. The album is in shops on November 3, and the band will be at Brixton on 13th November

"We're playing the best venues in the country, a proper rock and roll tour", says singer Johnny Borrell. "We're going to give it everything". Tickets on sale from Thursday morning.

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Dance duo BASEMENT JAXX have announced two new dates for February 2009 - their first tour in more than two years. The shows will coincide with a brand new Basement Jaxx studio album, released next year. Their last LP was 2006's Crazy Itch Radio.

20th and 21st February at the Roundhouse, tickets go on sale on Thursday.

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"RUSSELL PETERS is arguably North America's premier East-Indian comic" The Mirror (Montreal), 2001. He's at the O2 Arena, Feb 14th

Will you be performing new material?

I'm always working on new stuff. I know that sometimes people expect a new show every time they come to see me, but that's just impossible. Just so everyone knows, I don't do the same act that's on the internet. The Comedy Now special that was uploaded on the web was recorded in August 2003 and then broadcast in February 2004. I have a whole new act since then.

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My own recurrent nightmare on wax is the one where I'm falling off a cliff into a giant candlestick. NIGHTMARES ON WAX SOUND SYSTEM is apparently not the same thing at all. Rather, it "can't be classed as trip hop, dope beats, or be included with any of those fakers regurgitating and abusing classics. It's all about staying true, but taking the sounds of soul innovators to the new sound plateaux"

So now you know. 11th Dec at the Scala, on sale tomorrow.

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Busy week? Certainly seems like it. More onsales for tomorrow -

• SIMPLY RED is, according to Googlism , "just right". Or "an intensely refreshing tea and juice combination that is extremely flavorful". Their Greatest Hits tour comes to London on 2nd April

• KAISER CHIEFS are on tour to promote their new album "Off With Their Heads": Wembley Arena, 6th March

• ANGIE STONE, "American R&B, soul, and neo soul singer-songwriter, keyboardist, record producer, and occasional actress" - it's what we call a "portfolio career" - adds another three Jazz Cafe dates - 18th,19th and 20th Dec (on sale 10am)

• LEONARD COHEN CC GOQ announces a Royal Albert Hall date to go with his O2 shows: 17th November

• WAR OF THE WORLDS. The chances of anything coming from the O2 Arena are - well, pretty close to 100%, we 'd say. It's the 30th Anniversary Tour of Jeff Wayne's famous musical version of the Martian invasion.

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