Embed and breakfast man: Jesus & Mary Chain with Jessica Paré

What do you get if you take the Jesus And Mary Chain and one of the actors from Mad Men?

If you answered 'Don Draper doing heroin in a sea of feedback', you can have an "it's good but it's not right". Instead, you get Jessica Paré doing the Hope Sandoval part on Sometimes Always with the band in Toronto:



[via Slicing Up Eyeballs, who have further videos of band and actress playing nicely together]

Radiohead cancel after stage collapse kills Scott Johnson

Terrible news from Toronto, where drum tech Scott Johnson was killed after the Radiohead stage collapsed while it was being erected.

Johnson, who had also worked with White Lies, Keane and many others, was from Doncaster; he was one of four people unable to get out in time as wind brought down the temporary structure.

Noel's attacker: Paying again and again

Alice P writes again from Toronto, where the National Post has run a piece which, while not condoning people shoving Noel Gallagher over, suggests a degree of sympathy for the attacker:

Before he attacked Oasis leader Noel Gallagher in 2008, Pickering contractor Daniel Sullivan was a family man who did community theatre and coached kids’ soccer. Since his drunken rampage on a Toronto stage, Sullivan spent months apart from his family, developed mental issues that prompted him to seek counselling, and was today sentenced to one year’s house arrest.

Sullivan did bad - but it sounds like he's had his life wrecked pretty solidly as a result of the sort of beery laddishness that Gallagher celebrates.

And - as Alice reminds us - Noel still has a civil action pending against Sullivan. What the hell for? He's not rich; he's already had his life ruined. What good would suing a bloke who has nothing and extending the cycle of misery. The courts have punished him. He's apologised. What's the point of a vindictive lawsuit?

Noel Gallagher's shover sentenced

The bloke who shoved Noel Gallagher over, and sent Liam into Bin Laden like hiding, has finally been sentenced:

Danny Sullivan, the man who attacked guitarist Noel Gallagher on a Toronto stage 18 months ago, has been sentenced to twelve months of house arrest.

The sentence, handed down by Mr. Justice Richard Schneider in a Toronto court Wednesday, will allow Mr. Sullivan to leave his home to run his contracting business. He will have an additional four hours a week to conduct personal matters outside the house.

But - and let's be very clear here - "personal matters" does not involve trying to make Gem Archer get so dizzy he falls over.

In his ruling, Judge Schneider noted that Mr. Sullivan had no prior run-ins with the law, and he will not be a threat to the community while he is serving the conditional sentence. His behaviour at the concert “was not consistent with anything we know about Mr. Sullivan,” the judge said. He declined the Crown’s request to put Mr. Sullivan on probation after his sentence is complete.

To be honest, Sullivan wasn't much of a threat to the community even while he was pushing Noel Gallagher over. It's not like he was then going to start pushing people over wildly, before turning the push on himself.

[Thanks again to Alice P, our Toronto/rockstar shoving correspondent]

Noel Gallagher: Oh, it fair put the wind up me

You'll recall that Noel Gallagher did a flip-flop over whether he wanted to appear in court to provide a witness impact statement about how it felt to be pushed over on stage. In the end, he just sent a letter:

"I would describe the sudden impact and shock as feeling as if I had been hit by a bus," Gallagher said in his statement.

"I ended up in a heap on the floor."

People who have been hit by buses confirm that, indeed, getting smacked by fifteen tons of metal is very similar to being nudged by a drunk bloke.

"The promotional work in connection with the launch of the new album was very important to its success and early sales momentum. This opportunity was lost," Gallagher said as he described the impact of the missed appearances.

"The emotional impact it had on me was essentially coping with the pressure to perform so as not to let the band down."

It's a bit rich to blame the crappy sales of the album on Noel getting pushed over - you can see why he didn't want to come and deliver that line in person. And given this is meant to be an impact statement, "essentially coping with the pressure to perform so as not to let the band down" doesn't seem to be that much of an emotional strain - isn't that the job description?

Gallagher does say he's suffered pain as a result:

The incident, despite months of rehabilitation and doses of pain killers, has left him with ongoing pain that he is forced to "grin and bear," he said.

"From time to time I still feel painful twinges," Gallagher said in a victim impact statement read in court Tuesday.

"I have been told that I will never really recover from the damage to my ribs."

Oddly, he doesn't say by whom. And there are some doctors who say that while ribs can heal, they never heal to be as good as they were before, so Noel may very well have a point.

Outside the courtroom, there were other - equally considered - impact statements:

"I personally think that this incident is responsible for Oasis breaking up because of all the momentum that was lost," said Paul Benoit

You might think this is just ill-informed speculation, but Paul is an insider:

...who was working as a caterer at the festival the night of the attack.

Back in the court, sentencing of Daniel Sullivan was deferred again, until April 21st.

[Thanks again to Alice P for keeping us up-to-date with the Canadian court action]

Noel Gallagher changes his mind

Having had everyone troop into court last week to sentence his attacker, only to insis through his lawyer that he wanted to appear to give a witness statement, yesterday the court was told that Noel had changed his mind:

Mr. Justice Richard Schneider reluctantly agreed to the delay, but at a hearing to set the new sentencing date of March 23 yesterday, prosecutor Ruth Kleinhenz told court Mr. Gallagher no longer plans to attend.

I'm not sure if the Canadian courts take a dim view of having to hold three separate sentencing gatherings on a whim of a rock star, but let's hope this doesn't mean that Noel can never set foot in Canada ever again for fear of being thrown in a jail.

[Thanks again to Alice P]

Noel attacker pleads guilty

Daniel Sullivan, the guy who pushed Noel Gallagher over on stage in Toronto, has pleaded guilty to assault.

His defence told the court he couldn't remember anything about the incident, except clambering over the fence. Sullivan was drunk at the time, which might explain why he never quite made it the double by pushing Liam over as well.

He'll be back in court in February for sentencing.

Gallagher attacked on stage

Noel Gallagher got attacked on stage at Canada's V festival - as this fan video shows, about one minute thirty in, someone walked on stage, straight up to Noel and pushed him over. Security rush on to the stage - perhaps a little late, you might observe - and the band trooped off.



Oasis returned and completed their set after about ten minutes.

Lisa Gerrard Weekend: The Wind That Shakes The Barley

Clearly, this is one to close your eyes for - The Wind That Shakes The Barley live in Toronto last May:



[Part of Lisa Gerrard weekend]

Akron/Family have their stuff pinched

Noo Folklsters Akron/Family have had their stuff nicked off them after their Toronto gig on Sunday. The scummy light-fingered bastards got away with a haul including 1 Deering Siera Banjo with Hard Case, Dark and a Pick-up; 1 Reverend 6-String (Olive Green, Semi-Hollow) in TKL Case; 1 Fender Jaguar Baritone 6 String Sun Burst; 1 Minidisc recorder in grey bag.

If you're approach by a hollow-eyed scoundrel with a banjo for sale, contact akronfamilyvalues at gmail.com.

Avril Lavigne won't knee anyone any more

Earlier today, we learned that Avril can cope with fame, and take her drink. Now, we discover, she can also hold her tongue, too. Now. Wasn't ever thus, apparently:

"I remember being in Toronto and walking into a CD store, and some guy with spiky hair was all, 'Hey, Avril!' and then started lippin' at me.

"I was like, 'OK, this is embarrassing, I'm just going to leave.' So I'm walking down the street, and the guy comes out of the store, still yelling.

"I turn around, fuckin' grab him and go, 'What?' And I fuckin' knee him in the balls, throw him down, and his fuckin' punk girlfriend comes over and goes, 'What the fuck are you doing?'

"It was like they totally didn't expect me to do anything, because I'm just this girl on TV or whatever. I'm not proud of that. I think it's funny, but I wouldn't do it now.

"I don't fight people anymore, I'm more mature now, and I just don't think fighting is good."

Now, thank God, Avril is mature enough to know that fighting is not "good", but still, apparently, "funny".