George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic to perform at the HMV Ritz - Manchester

George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic
Thursday 1st Dec // 7pm // £22.50
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George Clinton has been one of the greatest innovators of urban based soul, rock and funk over the last forty years, and is set to perform at the recently refurbished HMV Ritz club in Manchester on Thursday, 1st December 2011.

Formed in 1968 Funkadelic carried the torch for George's creative output until 1972 when, in a stroke of genius, George renamed the band Parliament and signed them to Casablanca Records, while Funkadelic signed with Warner Brothers in 1976. Clinton now had two powerhouse bands signed to two different labels. With the growth of funk as a vibrant musical force, George was churning out landmark hits with both acts. Parliament was hitting with dance floor jams like Tear the Roof Off the Sucker (Give Up the Funk), Aqua Boogie, Flashlight, and Bop Gun. Meanwhile, Funakdelic was also hitting hard with anthemic funk jams like (Not Just) Knee Deep and One Nation Under A Groove.

This is the only UK date outside London and an extremely rare club performance for one of the godfathers of funk.

Presented by Mean Fiddler in association with Band on the Wall.

Tickets/Info: http://bandonthewall.org/events/3372/

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Matt Berry @ The Masque Theatre Liverpool

Fans of the IT Crowd, Dark Places and of the man himself gathered in the Masque Theatre to witness a one off unique event. Matt Berry had come to woo them with his silky vocal talents and his unique brand of musical entertainment, and he didn’t disappoint. Entering on stage like Elvis Presley after a 3 minute build u, holding onto a Jack Daniels bottle which was almost as big as him, Matt went straight into the first number. That all too familiar voice bellowing out over the musicians.

With such classics as snuff box and Witchcraft the crowd lapped up both the humorous lyrics and Matt’s laid back attitude. In between songs the banter between him and the crowd was almost as if it was scripted and as soon as “One Track Lover” was played the obvious Garth Merenghi fans applauded and sang along.

The musicians themselves were faultless. The guitar player in particular was something to behold. Looking like Rodney Trotter with a curly wig on, he played like a man possessed by the ghost of Jimi Hendrix. The music itself varied from “reggae” to out and out funk-a-delic that would make George Clinton and Prince happy men. The Musicians were tight and played to Matt’s outlandish behaviour.

The encore itself was truly a masterpiece of invention. Singing “Jesus Christ Superstar” Matt left no doubt to his pre-conceived notions of himself and to be honest they were well deserved.

My only complaint to the whole night was the lack lustre crowd that had turned up to see Matt Berry. I think even at times during the end Matt seemed to be getting tired of trying to get some sort of interaction with the majority of the crowd and quite rightly so. But apart from that, this was a tremendous gig. Full of enthusiasm, humour and barrel loads of laughs. This has to be seen to be believed and as Matt Berry himself says...”Liverpool...you’re clever.....I LIKE THAT”

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Prince to Recieve Lifetime Acheivment award

Pop star Prince is to receive a lifetime achievement honour at the Black Entertainment TV (BET) awards later this month.

"Prince is dynamic. Prince is genius. Prince is music," said BET president of programming, Stephen G Hill.

The BET awards are celebrating their 10th anniversary in Los Angeles on 27 June. This year's show will be hosted by Queen Latifah.

Prince has 10 platinum albums and 30 Top 40 singles to his name.

This year's BET awards ceremony will include performances from Kanye West, Diddy and Dirty Money and Ludacris.
Bieber nomination

Nominees include Rihanna, Beyonce, Chris Brown, Usher, Maxwell, Jay-Z and the Black-Eyed Peas.

Jay-Z leads the charge with five nods, while his wife Beyonce has picked up four.

Alicia Keys and Melanie Fiona also have four nominations apiece.

There was also recognition for teenage Canadian star Justin Bieber, who is in the running for best new artist.

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Prince 'owes more than $500k in taxes'

Prince reportedly owes around $506,000 in taxes.

Carver County tax records show the ‘Purple Rain’ singer – real name Prince Rogers Nelson – and his companies PRN Music Corp. and Paisley Park Enterprises Inc. owe the combined sum in delinquent property taxes to the state of Minnesota for 2009.

PRN Music Corp. – which is based in the musician’s Paisley Park Studios in Chanhassen, which is located west of Minneapolis – alone owes more than $227,000 in taxes to the state and other government bodies.

Prince, 51, now has until April 21 to file an objection to the sum he and his businesses are alleged to owe, if he does not "a court judgment will be entered against the properties for the unpaid tax, penalty, interest, and costs”, according to local newspaper the Chaska Herald.

However, he has until now and May 2013 to pay off the sum until any forfeiture process could start against Prince's listed properties.

According to Laurie Engelen, taxpayer services manager for Carver County, the pop legend was late in paying taxes on his studio in 2006 and 2008, and on a piece of land he owns in 2008, but eventually settled the matter.

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