SOMETIMES, THE MOST FITTING TRIBUTE IS TO SAY NOTHING AT ALL

Queen, who - let's face it - have never been ones to shy away from making some publicity out of a moment - have announced that their rescheduled Friday night gig will be a "tribute" to London's emergency services.

Paul Rodgers - who the BBC call "Queen frontman", but we tend to think of as "caretaker vocals manager" - explained:

"We feel it is fitting to thank London's emergency services for their extraordinary response in dealing with the effects of the bombing attacks and to celebrate the historical resilience of Londoners in their response to yet another atrocity."

Oh, come on, Paul, don't be so hard on yourself - the new tour might be a bit arthritic and pointless, but to call it an atrocit... oh, I see what you mean.

We're not entirely sure how this works as a tribute - there's not going to be a sudden distribution of free tickets amongst ambulance people, is there; and the cops who are lumbered with trying to keep the traffic moving round the Park on Friday night might have a slightly rueful smile at the thought that they get thrown a huge tribute, and then have to work at it.

music queen london bombings