No Rock And Roll Fun

WHEN LIFE HANDS YOU LEMONS, MAKE LEMONADE AND CHARGE THROUGH THE NOSE FOR IT: Interesting developments on the Ozzy 'Shakin' Osbourne front: a couple of the cancelled dates have been re-arranged but the more far flung ones have been dropped - instead, coaches are being laid on for fans who had been planning to see the Oz in Newcastle or Edinburgh so they can get down to Birmingham instead. (Yes, we're struggling to come to terms with the mental image of a coach full of Ozzy fans, but we'll plough on.)

This seems to us to be quite shrewd - rather than spend a fortune hauling your kit up to the north of the country to play to a less than full venue, why not just play the southern gigs, and invite ticket holders to come to that, instead? Not only do you save massively on the overheads by making the fans move instead of your touring show, but you can charge the schmucks an extra thirty quid (the more flexible national express fare is only thirty-two quid from newcastle) into the bargain. Sweet deal, eh?