The 6 Music presenter on Schitt’s Creek, Douglas Stuart’s extraordinary Shuggie Bain and the canal-side pub he longs to visitBorn in Leigh, Greater Manchester, in 1972, radio DJ and presenter Shaun Keaveny began his career at XFM and in 2007 joined 6 M…
Brandon Flowers’ teenage obsessions: ‘I considered an Oasis tattoo’
As the Killers release a new album, their frontman recalls his youthful love of Cheers, the Goonies and bonding over Bowie in Las VegasI grew up in Henderson, just outside Las Vegas. When I was eight, we moved to Nephi, this rural town in Utah. So at t…
The Snuts review – homecoming rockers inspire flying pints and overturned chairs
Edinburgh international festival, Edinburgh ParkThe local lads’ first post-lockdown gig in Scotland moves from tentative to rapturous by the final tuneFrom the second the Snuts step on stage, the crowd is a coiled spring. It was always a big ask: could…
Gorillaz review – Damon Albarn and friends make a bit of live music history
O2 Arena, LondonPop’s longest-serving imaginary band fill the reopened venue with deceptive chaos and the delight of feeling part of something again“It’s such a joy to be back,” says Gorillaz’s human representative, Damon Albarn, addressing a full and …
‘Limits are non-existent in the metaverse!’ Video game concerts become big business
This weekend, tens of millions will watch and interact with an Ariana Grande avatar for a concert in video game Fortnite – the latest in a growing, lucrative marketA shimmering Ariana Grande emerges from the starry night sky as she begins to run throug…
‘It has our energy, our story’: asakaa, Ghana’s vibrant drill rap scene
From the US and UK, drill has spread to Ghana, where it provides a voice for the excluded. On the streets of Kumasi, the scene’s MCs tell their storyAhead of a music video shoot on a leafy street in Kumasi, Ghana’s second city, Yaw Tog and his friends …
Why don’t you get a jab? Offspring drummer ousted after refusing Covid vaccine
Pete Parada says ‘it been decided that I am unsafe to be around, in the studio, and on tour’ after turning down treatment on medical groundsPete Parada, drummer with Californian pop-punks the Offspring, has said he has been ousted from the band over hi…
Charles Connor, drummer for Little Richard and music greats, dies aged 86
One of the ‘bricklayers’ who created rock’n’roll, he also worked with James Brown, Jackie Wilson and Sam CookeCharles Connor, who was a drummer for Little Richard and other music greats including James Brown and Sam Cooke, has died aged 86.Connor’s dau…
How we made: Relax by Frankie Goes to Hollywood
‘The Sex Mix got so many complaints – even some gay clubs found it offensive’I wanted to be provocative with the way Frankie Goes to Hollywood looked and for the lyrical content to be modern and edgy. We had been living through a politically charged ti…
Welcome 2 America by Prince review – sub-par album from the vaults
(Legacy Recordings)This shelved collection from 2010 is not peak Prince – and he knew itEvery few months someone eagerly forwards me that clip of Prince’s majestic While My Guitar Gently Weeps solo at the 2004 Hall of Fame. It’s ages since anyone sent …