Kevin Cummins attempts to turn back the tide

Talking on 6Music, Kevin Cummins has said that people shouldn't take photos at gigs.

Oddly, Cummins is paid to take photos at gigs (and does it incredibly well), but I'm sure this isn't like the bloke who runs the food hatch suggesting you should never have your tea before going to the gig. Not at all.

The comments on the 6Music Facebook page fall, broadly, into three camps - people who don't see the harm in people taking a few photos of an event they've paid a lot to go to, to remember it by.

People who think that somehow not taking photos means that their experience is superior to that of those who do - because they're, like, living in the moment, maaaan. As if a quick glance at the back of a camera is akin to stuffing your fingers in your ears, leaving the building, and never coming back.

Third, there's a group of commenters - who are right - who say that it's probably more important to tell people not to go to gigs and stand in the audience yakkity-yakkkitying all the way through the set.

One things unites all three sets of people, though: the visceral hatred of the 21st century outcast, the person who videos the whole gig using an iPad.

Leonard Cohen to play car park of some sort

What the hell is Mercedes-Benz World, then? It is, as the name suggests, exactly what you'd expect:

As the flagship of Mercedes-Benz in the UK, and located on the famous Brooklands site, Mercedes-Benz World is a memorable day out for any motoring fan.

Not only can you get hands-on with all our cars; you can take the opportunity to test drive the latest models around the handling circuit, or put both the car and your driving skills to the test with one of our various Driving Experiences.

And although driving is our first passion, it's not all we have to offer. Inside, you can take a walk around the exhibitions and get up close to the famous Gullwing and Maybach. In the cinema, you can learn about the history of the Mercedes-Benz brand; and in the simulator you'll be transported down a production line.

It's like a big car lot, then.

A strange choice of venue, then, for an open-air Leonard Cohen gig, you might think. Pity it's too late for Frank Butcher to be MC.

Britney Spears: Put that light out

Britney Spears suspended on-stage activities for half an hour during her Vancouver gig while the audience was asked to stop smoking.

Her body, after all, is a temple.

The Canadian government has announced plans to add a photo of an empty stage and the words 'Smoking can interrupt your Britney Spears gig' as a health warning on packets of fags, although some have warned that might actually increase the number of people smoking ciggies.

My firth, my larth, my everythink

Not that it's open season on the NME right now, but our delight at hearing that the former leader of Throwing Muses is playing a gig in Lancaster Library on May 23rd was slightly tempered by the surprising change in her name:



Kristin Herth?

But let's not be too hasty to rush to judgement, eh? We all miskey from time to time. It's not like the NME doesn't know the name of one of the biggest alternative musicians of the last two decades, is it?



Oh.

Levellers online

In not very long at all, The Levellers will be webcasting their Amsterdam Paradiso gig live. Like more or less now.