VOLCANO MADNESS AND GIGS FOR POLITICS

ANYTHING can happen in the streets of Camden. We’ve had Madness on a double-decker bus, Reverend and the Makers’ Jon McClure playing outside Morrisons and now it’s the turn of Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.

To appease fans waiting outside the Electric Ballroom last week – their gig began late due to volcano-induced equipment delays – frontman Robert Levon Been came out and played a medley before returning inside and carrying on with borrowed equipment.

Resourceful musicians elsewhere have also been finding ways to occupy themselves while stranded.
Dub Pistols had to cancel their Budapest gig, but good news for London fans, they play a special DJ set at InSpiral lounge in Camden Town on Friday (April 23), free before 11pm.
Nas and Damian Marley’s Electric Ballroom gig on Wednesday was also cancelled.
Ronnie Scott’s has been deluged with calls from musicians with too much free time on their hands, hoping to replace vacant spaces where others have cancelled. In place of US trumpeter Wallace Roney, who couldn’t travel to the UK, two-time Grammy winner Dee Dee Bridgewater, stuck here since performing at the Barbican on Friday, was drafted in to perform in his place.

- If you can get hold of tickets for Instigate Debate at Islington’s Union Chapel (April 26) – this is one pre-election event not to miss. Instigate Debate is a counterculture project formed by a collective of musicians including Carl Barat and Jon McClure, plus journalist Mark Donne and John O’Sullivan. The likes of Vivienne Westwood and Peter Tatchell will be debating “Is the Party Over?”, with performances from The Magic Numbers and Rose Elinor. The audience member who writes the best 100-word argument on the topic wins a free gig in their own home from a surprise line-up of exciting musicians.

SPOILT FOR CHOICE AT THE CAMDEN CRAWL - NAS + DAMIAN MARLEY'S "TINY" CAMDEN SHOW

SUNDAY Times columnist India Knight has a dilemma – she’s coming to the Camden Crawl but refuses to attend the “gittish” gigs her sons like. Tough call. Any suggestions?
Plan B and Pendulum have just been announced as the final headliners - should be just enough to push the last of the ticket sales.
The Emerging Talent Awards-winners have also now been announced.
Best Song went to Shiv Lizzy – a bittersweet triumph, and fitting tribute to the talented musician who died recently.
Winners’ details and the Crawl’s Hawley Crescent outdoor stage line-up at www.thecamdencrawl.com

•l Hip hop legend Nas and Damian Marley (youngest son of Bob) bring their Distant Relatives tour to the Electric Ballroom (April 21). Tickets are extremely limited. Promoters promise it’s “the most intimate performance anyone will get of these two iconic musicians”. For once the hype may be true.

• Hip hop duo Gianni and Viper’s new single, Boom Boom, is out next week, and album out next month. Catch them this weekend at the opening of West Hampstead’s milkshake bar Shaketastic.

• Folky cellist Laura Victoria launched her debut EP at the Green Note on Tuesday – by all accounts it was a summery success.

• Wolf People play a charity gig for Refuge at the 02 Academy Islington (April 22). Also playing are 50ft Woman, Velvetines and Patrick is Silvercub.

KEVIN COSTNER'S A COUNTRY SINGER?

WHEN the daily delivery of review CDs arrived today I expected the usual collection of electro/indie/rock with the odd Sugababes/Jonas Brothers disc thrown in.
Instead who should crawl out of the envelope but none other than Robin Hood Prince of Thieves himself - Kevin Costner.
Apparently I'm the last to hear old Bodyguard plays in a band - Kevin Costner & Modern West - who are about to release second album Turn It On (May 3).
Single Let Me Be The One is a simple duet with Nashville songwriter Sara Beck (see below).



But a deeper YouTube search reveals Backyard - a tribute to the Nascar scene from 2008 - and much more enjoyable vision of Costner at his country finest (see clip below).



FYI The Kevin Costner Appreciation Society on Facebook's got seven members. However I seem to remember the Ellesmere Port branch being particularly full - they'd pack out the nearby cinema to share his screenings.
I'm pretty sure Costner even dropped in to see them once - possibly the Port's most famous ever visitor. I've got vague recollections of seeing the pics that prove it too.