The film was shot over 20 concerts on Cohen’s 1972 European tour and represent a near mythical piece of music history featuring one of musics genuine geniuses.

The film will be premiered in the UK at the sold out Green Man Festival in Wales, where a 2,000 capacity cinema will be converted from the Far Out Tent.

Leonard Cohen  – Bird On A Wire  film trailer;

The song taken from the album Tap Root Manuscript also presented Diamond with his personal breakthrough in the UK, where the single peaked at number three in the charts and set the rumours going about what the song was actually about.

The line ‘Cracklin’ Rosie you’re store bought woman’ had many believing that somehow this song was referring to a particular lady of the night or prostitute, but Diamond later enlightened fans with the truth behind the song.

It turned out to be a song about a Rosé wine, but of course no ordinary Rosé, Cracklin’ Rosie was a homemade alcoholic brew made and drunk by a native Canadian tribe.

As usual there are various stories about how Diamond came to write about the homemade brew, some say that the singer actually visited the tribe and the song is about his personal experience, but the story told in the book Neil Diamond: The Solitary Star says that Diamond heard the story from a reporter before writing the song.

Either way the story is that there is a native tribe in Canada whose men outnumber their women. Those single men that were unlucky enough not to have a date at the weekend would gather around the fire drinking Cracklin’ Rosé, which Diamond changed to Cracklin’ Rosie.

Enough of that! Here is Neil Diamond performing Cracklin’ Rosie live in 1970.

There appears to be more festivals than ever in 2010, something to suit all tastes for sure, but one of my personal favourites is the V Festival that takes place on August 21st and 22nd at Hylands Park in Chelmsford and Weston Park in Weston Under Lizard (what a great name!) in Staffordshire.

The organisors of V Festival have recently announced that Cheryl Cole will not be performing this year as planned due to her illness and have wished her a speedy recovery as I am sure we all do.

There are however plenty of decent quality pop acts on show with Goldfrapp, Sugarbabes, Gabriella Cilmi and the like who should at least keep Cheryl’s fans interested.

For the more serious muso’s, headlining the Virgin stage are old favourites Kings Of Leon and Kasabian. They are well supported by the likes of Stereophonics, Paul Weller, The Editors, Faithless, The Kooks, Paolo Nutini and many more.

The 4 Music stage boasts an equally impressive line up featuring The Prodigy, David Guetta, Doves, Jamie T, Florence & The Machine, Scouting for Girls and way down the bill Plan B and The Magic Numbers.

One of the stand out moments for me at last year’s V Festival was this rendition of the Oasis song Wonderwall by Snow Patrol who covered the track following the break up of the Gallagher brothers band. It is preceded by the excellent Chasing Cars.

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A true pop classic in every sense of the word the double A sided single Maggie May/Reason To Believe became the fist single ever to top both the UK and US charts simultaneously.

Although the single has been played to death on the radio in the many years since, it still retains a freshness particularly in the context of the album Every Picture Tells A Story from whence it came.

As well as his solo career Stewart was also frontman of one of the greatest rock bands of all time, the original good time band The Faces and during the early seventies both the band and singer enjoyed the time of their lives.

But it was Stewart’s solo career that really took off racking up hit after hit in the seventies and with the premature demise of The Faces, the singer veered from his early blues/rock leanings toward mainstream pop music.

Risking losing his hardcore fans, Stewart instead built an army of new admirers with his more polished vocals and catchy singalong melodies.

By the time he released Do Ya Think I’m Sexy in 1978, Stewart was appealing to a new fan base entirely, leaving critics and die hard fans gob smacked but selling more records than ever, appealing to worldwide audience.

To his credit Rod Stewart has maintained his position as one of the most original voices ever and even on his most recent American Songbook offerings, he has won over a new audience of listeners.

With such a rich and diverse history Rod Stewart’s live shows are not to be missed, a true entertainer who can call on an unprecedented back catalogue of hit songs, he remains at his best when up on stage performing to a live audience.

Rod Stewart kicks off his UK tour with the first of two nights at Edinburgh Castle Esplanade on July 14th and ends up in Belfast on July 30th, so be sure to book your tickets now.

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In the past seven years Kings Of Leon have produced four critically acclaimed albums and toured profusely to get to where they are today – one of the biggest rock groups on both sides of the Atlantic.

In 2003 they released their debut album, Youth and Young Manhood.  I loved the album for its raw edgy, original rough country rock sound and Caleb’s manic vocal delivery. The following year cut their hair and released Aha Shake Heartbreak.  Both albums helped Kings Of Leon to crack the UK market before doing so in the United States.  Great live reviews helped to cement their popularity and with the release of their third studio album, Because of the Times in 2007, Kings Of Leon had moved from cult indie rockers to mainstream rock band.

But it was the fourth album, Only by the Night, released in 2008, and especially the hits singles Sex on Fire and Use Somebody that Kings Of Leon took centre stage.  Commercial success was followed by headline gigs at prestigious festivals such as Glastonbury, V Festival and T in the Park.

This year they return once more for the UK summer festivals including V Festival on 21st and 22nd August.  But by way of underpinning the size of their own success they will be playing Hyde Park, London on Wednesday 30 June.

Here’s a clip of Kings Of Leon playing Sex on Fire at V Festival in 2008.

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Holding Back The Years was the second of the two standout tracks on the album and was released in 1986, reaching number 2 in the UK charts.

Simply Red – Holding Back The Years

He is being backed by the more than adequate Roots Radics on this performance, ensuring a top quality vocal and sound, unlike the video clip! But listen anyway, its worth it.

Gregory Isaacs – Night Nurse – Live 1983

Having conquered the UK charts in 1981 with their reworking of the classic 1964 Gloria Jones track Tainted Love, the song was a monster hitting number one in seventeen countries including the UK.

Say Hello Wave Goodbye was the final track on the 1981 classic album Non Stop Erotic Dancing, which also featured Tainted Love and Bedsitter as well as the controversial Sex Dwarf.

The album was recorded on a low budget in New York at the height of the Manhattan gay club scene and the early days of the drug ecstasy which was allegedly used by Soft Cell throughout the recording.

Although the recording took place in New York the content unashamedly reflects the seedy underworld of eighties England.

Soft Cell – Say Hello Wave Goodbye

cirque du soleil

It all started back in 1982 when a group of street performers known as the Club des Talons Hauts (The High Heels Club) decided to organise a street entertainers festival in Quebec.

Within two years Cirque Du Soleil was born, creating a new concept that incorporated the street entertainers flair within a striking, dramatic circus environment.

Operating within the confines of Canada for a few years, the group performed in North America’s Californian state in 1987 with its We Re-invent The Circus tour, capturing a new audience that would encourage them to travel around the world with their unique arts and theatre productions during the following years.

The unique and colourful entertainment designed by Cirque Du Soleil has led to the group receiving awards in every year since 1987, including the Best Theatre Production in 1998 awarded by Live Award for their London show.

As you will have guessed Cirque Du Soleil bears little resemblance to what we in the UK call a circus, but is a massive no expense spared entertainment extravaganza that incorporates the thrills of circus performance into an innovative and forever changing family show.

As well as creating original live performances the company also uses its innovative spirit to produce music, TV, DVD and film which are marketed by Cirque Du Soleil around the world, often helping to develop the careers of emerging artists.

Arriving in the UK to perform their Saltimbanco show, Cirque Du Soleil will wow the crowds across the country from May 20th to June 11th, with no less than twenty performances in four city arenas.

Starting the tour in Sheffield with five  shows at the Sheffield Arena, the performance moves to the Echo Arena in Liverpool for six shows, six more in Glasgow’s SECC and finally three shows at Manchester’s MEN Arena.

This is a unique oportunity to experience real and original family entertainment, the show is designed to thrill and captivate the audience through music dance and circus theatre and Cirque Du Soleil – Saltimbanco tickets are now on sale for all the UK performances.

Viagogo make it easy to buy and sell Cirque Du Soleil tickets online. Every ticket transaction is supported by their customer service team which can be contacted by phone and e-mail.

This spine tingling version of the song was performed on Jools Holland’s Annual Hootenanny a few years ago.

Beverley Knight – Change Is Gonna Come – Live