What do you know Bruce Hornsby for; I’ll lay money that it’s for his 1986 hit “The way it is”. This track led to the first of Bruce’s three grammys when the following year he picked up the new artist award.

I suspect that the marority of the night’s audience were in a similar situation and here lies the problem.

Perhaps not suprisingly, Bruce has moved on in the past 25 years. A brilliant pianist and acclaimed songwriter his musical journey has ventured from the pop that people may know him for through bluegrass classical and jazz.

There was no big stage production for this evening in fact it was just Bruce and a piano. I’m not sure if the “set” design was there to focus our attention on Bruce or if the lighting guy fell asleep but there were no lighting changes at all. I mean NO CHANGES. The lights that were set at the beginning remained there throughout.

There wasn’t even the type of syncopation or stressing of the music with the lighting changes. Was this due to Bruce’s improvisation tendencies. Surely even with the improvisation a competent lighting tech could have added texture and emotion!

Although I think 50% of the sold out audience failed to get what Bruce brought to the show it was amazing to see his prowess on piano. This was a showcase few could fail to be impressed by.

He also showed why he is used by other musicians when he played “I Can’t Make You Love Me” that Bruce played on with for Bonnie Raitt and “The end of innocence” that he wrote with Don Henley.

His song writing is another area that impresses me about Bruce. Listening to Bruce and his relaxed tales he reminded me of Randy Newman. He told a tale about a song he had written about the property tycoon Donald Trump. This is due to be featured in a Spike Lee musical called SCKBSTD (yes they removed the vowels!). Bruce recounted the time when he saw the aforementioned Trump at a basketball game and confronted the man himself telling him he wrote a song about him with that name. Whilst it was no doubt funny it wasn’t exactly accurate as the track is called “The Don of Dons”. Trump took it well and promised to go see the production when it hit Broadway.

The first half of the performance moved along swiftly however I felt the second half took a distinct downturn. It felt self-indulgent and seemed to disregard most of the audience. Whilst Bruce was playing lots of tracks requested by the hard-core section of audience, there was just too much experimental sounding piano meandering. Another factor not helping the second half was a fairly consistent buzz from the left hand speaker stack.

There were already small sections of the audience taking their leave before Bruce played around with “The Way it is”, teasing the audience with phrases from the song intermingled with lots of extemporising piano. It felt like he didn’t want to play the track so was doing it reluctantly and in a petulant manor.

I can understand how the legacy of the song must at times be a mill stone around his neck, however it shouldn’t be forgotten that it is why most people know him. Hard as that must be at times.

I see a lot of bands and singers and just occasionally I see someone who not only has the talent and determination to succeed but also has the right connections.

A couple of months ago I had the pleasure to hear a young guy called James Craise. James was on the bill at Guy Chamber’s Orgasmatron (the Robbie Williams song writer). He not only impressed me with his own set but he also joined Spandau Ballet’s Gary Kemp on stage that night too.

Pictured above at the East London venue (with Guy on keys).

You can catch James supporting MZ Bratz and Kyra (who recently entertained the Brit nominees) at Dingwalls on Feb 15th.

James has done a splendid cover of Lana Del Rey’s “Born to Die”, watch it…

Last year was very bad for the outdoor festival industry with a number of people around the world loosing their lives as stages collapsed in bad weather.

There were a number of high profile collapses including seven people killed at the Indiana State Fair, four killed at Pukkelpop in Belgium and the Ottawa Bluesfest being cancelled after their stage collapsed.

Before you get complacent and assume that those events don’t happen in the UK, just remember that it wasn’t so long ago that a massive gust pushed through the Bearded Theory Festival in Derbyshire. Three were injured when the high winds lifted the roof off the main stage. Sally Booth, a site manager at the festival, said, “It’s been raining and windy all day, but this was a freak gust of wind that was capable of knocking people over.”

The good news for UK concert goes is that the festival industry take your safety very seriously. Yesterday at London’s Royal Festival Hall the Association of Independent Festivals (AFI) held a Structural and Crowd Safety Conference which drew together major players in the industry from festival organisers, stage designers as well as erectors.

The initial question that needed to be answered was if the stages that collapsed were inherently unsafe, were designed correctly but not for the conditions they faced or if the design was right but the erection was the issue.

The good news from the UK perspective is that our existing legislation is sufficient to ensure that the stages being erected are suitable and that the erection processes are being checked prior to the festival opening. That is not to say that there is complacency. The industry recognises there is always more that can be done.

Listening to Rudi Enos, designer of such stages as Leeds and Reading he reminded us that an accident is always somebodies fault. Even when the design is right it still relies on the people putting it up correctly.

Professor Chris Kemp from Bucks New Uni discussed work that was being undertaken by the European Festival Association Event Safety Group studying the weather events affecting festivals. Chris is a world-wide expert in crowd management having worked in the industry prior to moving into academia.

The day was finalised with a couple of very good Q&A sessions, pooling the thoughts of the day and adding insight into the circumstances surrounding the ever growing temporary structures in the entertainment area.

Panel members brought together such people as the head of Heath, Safety and Security for Live Nation Paul Cook, previous head of operations for ShowSec Tony Ball and organisors for events such as Beardy Theory and Bestival (Richard Bryan and Dan Wilson respectively).

A vast wealth of knowledge exits and the underlying message that the audience were left with was that we can all improve and make structure and crowd safety an integral part of the festival planning process. The AFI are obviously taking the issue seriously, let’s hope that all festivals carry through such high standards.

View a few other photos from the event.

Geri Halliwell declared “pop is my first love” as she revealed her excitement at releasing a comeback album.

The former Spice Girl – who has launched a range of Union flag clothing for Next to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee and Olympic year – revealed she is delighted to be returning to music.

Geri said: “I am very excited. I am in the studio, I’ve been mastering my album, so I’m really excited.

“My pop career is about to come back. It’s my first love.”

The 39-year-old singer – who has tried her hand at writing children’s books as well as fashion – released her last solo album in 2005 before taking part in the Spice Girls reunion tour.

The Spice Girls’ hits are being made into a new West End musical. Absolutely Fabulous star Jennifer Saunders is writing the story for the musical which is called Viva Forever and is being produced by the team behind hit show Mamma Mia! – which featured music from Abba.

Geri said: “The Spice Girls Musical is coming along nicely. The storyline is brilliant – of course fantastic music. Hopefully it will make everyone smile and relive the past but feel good today about it.

“It think it’s coming at the end of 2012 or beginning of 2013.”

Bon Iver has achieved critical acclaim for his past two records but says now that he could wait up to half a decade before he releases another.

Justin Vernon said that it could take five years to put together his third album after releasing a self-titled record last summer.

He told USA Today that he hadn’t yet started work on the follow-up, adding that it would take at least three years to complete.

He said: “I don’t have any songs written yet. I’m guessing three years. But it could be five. It could be only one more. It just depends when the songs come about. I sort of have to wait ’til they reveal themselves.”

Vernon revealed plans to work on side projects during the next couple of years, with time pencilled in to record with Shouting Matches and Volcano Choir.

He added: “I have a big idea to do an American songbook of the greatest women singers. There are so many: Casey (Dienel) from White Hinterland, Bonnie Raitt, Alicia Keys.”

Copyright Press Association 2012

Keith Urban has turned to the stage during The Grand Ole Opry on Friday night, his first public appearance since vocal surgery late last year.

He played three songs and an encore. He was joined by a string quartet on Long Hot Summer, then sang Making Memories of Us microphone-free with the audience.

The 44-year-old Australian had a polyp removed from a vocal cord last November.

His last public performance was at a taping for the CMA Country Christmas television special in mid-November.

The surgery forced Urban to postpone the tail end of his 2011 tour and his All For The Hall benefit for the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Marcus Collins has revealed that his X Factor mentor Gary Barlow has kept his promise to support him in his music career.

The TV talent show runner-up and the Take That star struck up a close friendship during their time working together.

And even now the cameras have stopped rolling, Marcus is in regular contact with Gary and gets constant advice from him.

“It was pretty odd the first time he came round for tea,” he said. “Gary kept quizzing all my family, trying to get the gossip, but there isn’t really any. Then him and my nan sat talking for hours. They could talk a glass eye to sleep, them two.

“Gary’s a man of his word, though, and when he says he wants to help me with my career, he means it. You only have to look at all the charity work he’s done to see that he’ll go the extra mile to help people. I can learn a lot from him.”

Marcus, who was previously a member of boyband Eton Road, is now looking forward to performing in front of huge crowds on The X Factor tour before his debut single and album are released in March.

“I’ve wanted this for so long, so I can’t believe how quickly it’s all gone,” he said.

“When I left Eton Road, I had to have the belief to go on, regardless of how many times I heard ‘No’.

“Being a singer is all I’ve ever wanted to do, and I wasn’t going to let a few rejections stop me.”

:: Marcus Collins is part of the X Factor Live Tour 2012, which begins on February 25 in Manchester.

Bee Gees star Robin Gibb has spoken of his “spectacular” cancer recovery – and said: “I feel fantastic.”

The star, who has looked increasingly gaunt in recent months due to the illness and a bowel condition, said he had now begun to put on weight.

There had been reports that the singer, who has been behind dozens of chart hits, had been close to death after being diagnosed with colon cancer.

But he told BBC Radio 2 host Steve Wright he feels better than he has for a decade.

“The prognosis is that it’s almost gone and I feel fantastic and really from now on it’s just what they could describe as a ‘mopping-up’ operation,” he said.

He suggested that reports about his health had been conjecture. “I mean the fact is, I’ve never spoken to anybody about my condition or the condition that I was in and a lot of them go over the top to the point where they’re telling me things that I didn’t even know about myself.”

Robin has had repeated health problems due to a twisted bowel, a condition that led to the death of his twin brother Maurice nine years ago, at the age of 53.

But after several periods of ill health, he was also found to be suffering colon cancer.

Robin, 62, said his bounce-back had amazed medical staff who have been treating him.

He said: “Well, it’s all simple. I was diagnosed with a growth in my colon. It was removed. And I’ve been treated for that by a brilliant doctor, and in their own words ‘the results have been spectacular’.”

Official figures have shown that more than one million people listened to Radio 1Xtra in the final quarter of last year.

Rajar figures showed that in the three months to the end of December 1.02 million people tuned into the station, a rise of more than a quarter year-on-year.

The growth rate was also up more than a tenth on the previous quarter.

And this was not the only BBC station to record a boost, as 6Music saw its figures rise more than 17% on the third quarter and nearly 30% on the same period a year earlier.

Radio 1 and 1Xtra controller Ben Cooper said: “What a great 10th birthday present for 1Xtra – reaching one million.

“We had an incredible last quarter with 1Xtra Live when we took live music and the DJs on the road to four cities to meet as many new young audiences as possible.”

Copyright Press Association 2012

★4 JLS, side stage seats released for Manchester Arena for Fri 30th & Sat 31st Mar 2012, onsale from Ticketmaster

★3 Pete Doherty to play an intimate acoustic show at The Nambucca, London tonight (Sunday), Doors at 7pm, £20 entry on the door.

‎ ★2 Camille O’Sullivan announces a show at The Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh, Tue 8th May 2012, onsale at thequeenshall

★1 Reverend And The Makers play a low key show at FAC251, Manchester on 11th Feb 2012, tickets details over at factorymanchester

Nick Lowe announces a 5th show at Leicester Square Theatre, London for Sunday 11th Mar 2012, onsale from 9am from Gigantic Ticketline Stargreen

Ed Sheeran and Damon Albarn & Graham Coxon confirmed for the War Child annual BRITS show, also playing are Dry the river, the show takes place at O2 Shepherds Bush Empire, London on Sunday 19th Feb 2012, onsale from 9am from Ticketweb

An Appointment with The Waterboys, more UK dates added

Bournemouth Pavilion Sunday, 20 May 2012
Guildford G-Live Monday, 21 May 2012
Birmingham Symphony Hall Tuesday, 22 May 2012

Tickets onsale from 9am from Gigantic

Huey Morgan, the Fun Lovin’ Criminals star plays his first ever solo show supporting Cash (Johnny Cash Tribute) O2 Academy Islington, London on Friday 10th Feb 2012, onsale from Gigantic

Professor green, Death In Vegas, White Denim, Cloud Nothings & more all announced to appear at Liverpool SoundCity 2012. Early bird tickets are just £20 for all 3 days from Ticketweb

Daniel Johnston plays St Bartholomew’s Churh, Brighton on Monday 16th Apr 2012, onsale from Gigantic

Hue and Cry – Hot Wire Stripped shows

Darwen Library Theatre, Friday 27th Apr 2012
O2 Academy Bournemouth, Thursday 17th May 2012
O2 Academy Islington & Bar Academy, London, Saturday 26th May 2012

Tickets onsale from 12noon from Gigantic Ticketline Ticketweb

Rumours of Fleetwood Mac at Central Theatre, Chatham, Sunday 13th May 2012, onsale from 9am from Ticketmaster

Scott Matthews at Chapel Arts Centre, Bath, Wednesday 4th Apr 2012, onsale from Ticketmaster

Little Dragon, extra tickets onsale for the NME Awards show at HMV Forum, London on Fri 24th Feb 2012, onsale from Ticketmaster

The Cheerios Childline Concert 2012 to take place at the O2 Dublin on Saturday the 24th November 2012, details to be announced shortly

★ Friday’s Updates ★

Crippled Black Phoenix, the rock supergroup play Garage London on Thu, 3rd May, onsale from Monday from Stargreen

Christy Moore with Declan Sinnott, Scottish shows added to their 2012 tour,

Edinburgh Festival Theatre, Thursday 8th Nov 2012
Barrowland, Glasgow, Friday 9th Nov 2012
Albert Halls, Stirling, Sunday 11th Nov 2012
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall, Monday 12th Nov 2012

Tickets onsale from Ticketmaster

Jimmy Carr, Rolf Harris, Ren Harvieu & more added To Camp Bestival 2012 at Lulworth Castle, Dorset, onsale from Ticketline

Frankie Boyle – The Last Days of Sodom, extra show at Liverpool Empire Theatre on Thu 12th July 2012, onsale from Ticketmaster

Mindless Behavior, the boy band’s show upgraded to main room at O2 Academy Islington, London on Monday 20th Feb 2012, onsale from Gigantic Ticketweb

Rumer with Special Guests, To celebrate the launch of The Charlotte Leatherbarrow Foundation, show at HalfMoon Putney, London on Tuesday, March 20th, onsale from Ticketweb

New Order announce a 2nd date at O2 Academy Brixton on May 3rd, onsale from Gigantic Ticketline Ticketmaster Ticketweb Stargreen & a 2nd date at O2 Apollo Manchester on April 27th, onsale from Ticketline Ticketmaster

Michael Jackson the Immortal World Tour By Cirque Du Soleil, 3rd date for the stage show at The O2, London on Sun 14th Oct 2012, onsale from Gigantic Eventim Ticketmaster Stargreen

BBC Radio 1′s Hackney Weekend 2012 will take place on Hackney Marshes on 23-24 June 2012, line-up includes Ed Sheeran, Professor Green, Jessie J, Chase & Status, David Guetta, Dappy, Will.i.am, Labrinth, Jack White, Emeli Sande and Lana Del Rey, The Maccabees, Leona Lewis, Plan B, Florence & The Machine, and Tinie Tempah.

Ticket registration opens on Monday 6th Feb at 8.15am and runs until 11pm on Monday 19th March from bbc

Sunn O))), the US doom metal band with Nurse With Wound play at Koko, London on Tuesday 12th June 2012, onsale from Gigantic & Manchester HMV Ritz on Monday 11th June 2012, onsale from Ticketline

Jimmy Cliff plays Indigo2, London on Fri 18th May 2012, onsale from Ticketline Ticketmaster

The Happy Mondays announce a 2nd date at Dublin Olympia, 14th May 2012, onsale from Ticketmaster

Queen with Adam Lambert look set to headline Sonisphere festival 2012 at Knebworth between July 6th-8th, watch this space for confirmations, onsale soon from Ticketmaster

Vintage Trouble, the US soul and rock band line up a date at Bush Hall, London on Sat 2nd June 2012, onsale Tuesday from Gigantic Ticketmaster Ticketweb

M O N E Y announces a show at London St Pancras Old Church on Mon 2nd Apr 2012, onsale on Monday from Ticketmaster

Timber Timbre announces a solo show at Islington Assembly Hall, London for Fri 16th Mar 2012, onsale on Monday from Ticketmaster Stargreen

Annie Mac Presents at Koko London on Sat 14th Apr 2012 feat. Mike Skinner (DJ Set), Joker, Jessie Ware, Monki, onsale from Ticketweb Stargreen Ticketmaster