Rihanna nearly burns alive (except, of course, she doesn't)

London's burning, London's burning, fetch the engines, fetch the engines:

Rihanna has been evacuated from a London hotel fire.

The 'We Found Love' singer and 300 guests were rescued from the Corinthia Hotel in Whitehall Place in the early hours of the morning (27.06.12) after a blaze broke out in a lift shaft.

"Rescued", you say, ContactMusic?

As so often happens, this turns out to be 'minor incident in a place where celeb was staying; fire alarm goes off; people stand around in the street for a bit' rather than a rescue:

London Fire Brigade have confirmed that no one was injured, and Clare Durnford, the hotel's public relations manager insisted the incident was not serious, and evacuation was just a safety precaution.

She said: ''At approximately 6.30am, one of the service elevator motors at Corinthia Hotel London burnt out. There was a slight discharge of smoke and because of our robust fire management policy, the alarms were activated and a full evacuation of the building was carried out.

''As a matter of procedure, the fire brigade were called to carry out full safety checks throughout the building. All guests were safely accounted for and were allowed back into the hotel soon after 7am.''

Not only was there no rescue, then; there was no fire, either.

All-consuming fire: New Model Army studio

A Christmas Eve fire in a Bradford furniture shop has caused serious problems for New Model Army: their studio was right above and... well, it didn't come out of it well:



People have been rallying round, and Justin Sullivan sounds optimistic, although not unaware of the size of the task of rebuilding:

We have really been amazed by the response and the generosity of the offers of assistance we have received. Of course we are all upset about what has happened especially the loss of irreplaceable musical instruments and three or four months of recording work but we are insured and hope that at least our financial losses will be covered. In the end though, nobody was hurt and what was lost is just material. The band is about People and Spirit and without doubt this has never been stronger. There may perhaps be a bit of a delay in our activities but otherwise everything will continue as before.

Alan McGee laughs as the world burns

Long-term friend of this blog Alan McGee has been sharing the benefit of his insight into the modern world of music with The Australian.

Shall we listen in?

“I don’t really like music,” he said, adding that considering that people in the industry were “drug-addled” and he’d grown tired of them. “With music it’s never enough for anybody… everyone wants to be Jagger or McCartney. As you grow older, it’s bullshit, you’re not that.”

Alan McGee was thirty six when he helped bring Be Here Now into the world. So clearly he must mean you have to quite a bit older before you realise that shouting drug-doused donkeys isn't that interesting. Thank god he's reached 50 and finally worked that one out.

He explained that in his time away from the industry not much has caught his attention. In fact, outside Glasvegas and The Libertines he wasn’t fussed on much these days.

Yeah, if you want an example of band that doesn't have any sense of a singer with a drug-addled Jagger complex, The Libertines would be exactly the sort of thing you should go for.

Still, McGee knows the struggles of being a small label owner, so perhaps he'll drop his grumpy old sod persona when asked about the PIAS fire?

“I read that the Sony PIAS Building burnt down. I’m probably the only person who thought that was funny. I call that a result. Got rid of all the shit music. And you get paid for it, the stuff you couldn’t sell.”

Oh.

What a contrarian, right?

Indeed, when asked about the comments later, McGee even trotted out a defence which even included that last refuge of the boring old fart, the "I'm not afraid of being politically correct" line:

I hate Sony, if the Sony building burnt to the ground again as it did, I’d say that was a result, I think it's funny. Loads of shit music getting burned, I think it's great, and I'm sorry if that’s not popular and if that's not PC, but fuck PC, that’s what’s ruined England, not being able to say what you think; sorry, but I do, and if you don’t like it go fuck yourself.

Let's just try and stop our eyes rolling for a couple of minutes to squeeze in one last quote - because as well as standing by his oh-so-brave assault on PC, he also claims all the other things he said were just ignored:

The British media have tried to ignore what I think. They took the statement, they weren't even there; come down here and basically take what I said out of context, which was basically taken from 5 or 10 seconds from a 30-minute chat, but I don't back off it, there’s loads of shit music and if it gets burned so what?

Perhaps they only took those few seconds because everything else was boring, confused garbage like how all music is rubbish apart from The Libertines?

[Thanks to Michael M]

Venuewatch: Incident at the Zwischerfall

Bochum's legendary Zwischerfall has been destroyed in a fire.

The club opened in 1985 and provided a home for the German Dark Wave movement, alongside offering a space for punk, new wave and gothic bands of all stripes to play. It also found space for fetish and BDSM events.

Those of you who believe in some sort of strict, unforgiving Old Testament God might draw a conclusion from the events hosted there, and the apparent cause of the fire being a thunderbolt sent from the heavens. On the other hand, the club itself appears to have survived the resulting fire fairly intact - unlike the rest of the building - but is so badly waterdamaged that closure was inevitable. The owners say that it's unlikely they'll be able to reopen any time soon.

Here's a hint of what the club looked like - this is Inferia playing Bloody Mary on the Zwischerfall stage:

Silver Clef awards: High excitement

The Nordoff Robbins Silver Clef Awards - though usually raising a lot of money for the good works done by the charity - seldom generate much in the way of excitement.

Not this year, though: The place really caught fire.

No, actually caught fire, with the guests being sent out to stand in the street while the fire brigade came round.

It was after the prize giving - Paul McCartney was safely back inside his sealed storage unit - but there were still random people hanging about. Liza Minnelli, Tinie Tempah and Annie Lennox huddled together and hoped the puffs of smoke from the kitchens weren't merely the first acts in a Towering Inferno style disaster.

They weren't.

This year's winners, by the way:
O2 Silver Clef Award - Annie Lennox
Investec Icon Award - Liza Minnelli
TAG: Design & Interactive Newcomer Award - Tinie Tempah
PPL Classical Award - Alfie Boe
Hard Rock Ambassadors of Rock Award - Arcade Fire
Royal Albert Hall Best British Band Award - Biffy Clyro
Raymond Weil International Award - Swedish House Mafia
Sony Ericsson Lifetime Achievement Award - Status Quo
American Express Digital Innovation Award - McFly
Best Live Act - Sir Paul McCartney

Yes, that is McFly: digital innovators.

It's almost as if Ringo is being erased from history

With Liverpool City Council happily bulldozing his first house, now the first club Ringo Starr played in has burned down.

(The Kingsway Club in Southport, had it not burned down, was due to be demolished anyway.)

Venuewatch: Korova on fire

The Korova building on Hope Street, Liverpool was on fire earlier this morning, reports hopestreet.co.uk.

The fire was bad enough to need neighbouring buildings evacuated, but has apparently been brought into control.

The Korova is a multi-purpose arts place, and has featured gigs from The XX, Enter Shikari, Florence And The Machine and, ooh, oodles of others. Let's hope they're not too badly damaged inside.

Rhode Island fire: Co-owner released

According to a local TV channel, Michael Derderian, one of the co-owners of the nightclub where 100 people died in a fire following a Great White show, has been released early from prison.

He was originally expected to be freed in the autumn, but has secured an early release through good behaviour.

[Rhode Island nightclub fire - full coverage]

Amy Winehouse: Baby's on fire

Not that she's trying to create her own headlines which will see her recast as a saint and England's Amy or anything, but Ms Winehouse has been attempting self-immolation:

The 26-year-old singer
who recently burned herself while getting herself a fake tan after falling asleep on a sun bed, was jamming with her friends at her new home when the incident happened, mirror.co.uk reported.

As Amy and her friends plugged in their instruments, the fuses blew and sparks lit up her hair. But the Grammy winning artiste quickly doused the flames to salvage her brunette locks

This is not at all vague and in no way probably never happened. Who would "douse" flames caused by electricity? But just in case: Living TV, are you ready?

[Thanks to Michael M]

Put that fire out

Of course, the fires in Australia are terrible beyond imagination, but doesn't banning songs with 'fire' in the title from Australian radio come across less as a well-meaning measure, and more as a trivial measure which looks more like grandstanding than sensitivity?

Gang Gang gone: Dance cancel tour

Gang Gang Dance have had to axe their entire European tour after fire destroyed all their kit:

hello all......very sad news from GGD camp today. We are in Amsterdam after having played the first of what was meant to be 14 shows in Europe and the UK. Last nights show was really great and a big thank you to everyone that came out for it....we had a blast, but unfortunately our morning was a bit tragic. We stored our gear in the club last night and when we arrived there today to pick it up and head off to Brussels for tonights show, we were informed that an electrical fire had occurred in the very room where our stuff was stashed. We didnt really know the scope of how bad the fire was until we arrived on the scene to find every piece of equipment we own scattered out in the parking lot...melted, charred, and still smoldering. Most of our gear is way beyond repair and the small amount of stuff that looks as if it wasnt physically destroyed by the fire itself has all been doused by the firehoses. So we have been left with synths that are melted, a charred guitar, cases full of wet pedals and cables, drums that are nothing but the metal rims, amps that look as if they've been doused in tar...the list goes on. It is really devastating for us as our equipment is very specific and without it we cant do much of anything. Most of our memory cards for our samplers melted so we've lost a bunch of jams that we were really looking forward to playing for you all. While we did entertain the thought of just renting or borrowing a bunch of random gear and somehow continuing the tour and just improvising every night, it just doesn't seem like its going to work out. While it would be fun and we'd love to stick this out for everyone that was excited to see us, we feel like we came to perform a certain set of songs and if we cant do that then its probably best to just come back again when we have the necessary gear to do so. On top of that we are stuck here in Amsterdam until we are able to meet with the insurance company that is dealing with the fire, if we were to leave then we would risk losing out on the compensation that will be necessary for us to build our equipment back up.

As i said its all really devastating and we wish nothing more then to be in Brussels tonight (we were super excited about that show!) and to be able to continue on with our tour, but there is really no way for that to happen given the circumstances.
We are hoping to come back asap and make up for all this and we really want to thank everyone who bought tickets and everyone who was planning on coming out to the shows on this tour. It looked as if it was going to be one of our best yet thanks to y'all.......

See you when the smoke clears. peace and respect

Terrible news for the band, and their fans, although some might say that if you've got to be stuck somewhere, better Amsterdam than some other places.

Feeder-ing the flames

Coming within moments of tragedy: Feeder's crew tour bus caught fire over the weekend. Luckily, driver Colin Campbell spotted the flames and was able to get everyone awake and off the bus before it turned into an insurance write-off.

Somewhat surprisingly, though, Grant Nicholas manages to balance his praise for Campbell with a plug for the plimsole shop that gave them some new shoes:

Speaking about the incident, Feeder's frontman said: "It's terrifying to think what might have happened, just shocking. We can't praise Colin enough for his quick thinking and action, he saved all their lives. We'd also like to thank the police and firefighters who dealt with the situation and of course, JD Sports for their generosity."

JD Sports had presented the band with GBP800 worth of shoes - their trainers got destroyed in the inferno - and while it's nice to say thank you, it does take some of the shine off the praise for a guy who saved 13 lives to put that on a par with some freebies.

Great White offer settlement

Great White have offered a settlement of $1 million to survivors and relatives of victims caught in the nightclub fire in February 2003.

[Part of Rhode Island nightclub fire coverage]

You And Me And.... can you smell burning?

Mini-dramas on the road for You, Me, And Everyone We Know, as their van catches fire:

Basically, it was as if our house burned down but fortunately our equipment was saved due to the quick arrival of the firefighters. In the end, all of this is just stuff and we're stoked to be alive. Thankfully, with the help of Dear Hunter, Lydia, and Eye Alaska, along with the support of our friends and family we are happy to have worked out a way to continue on the rest of the this tour. This train don't stop come hell or high water.

In leu of being out a van and the major majority of all of our personal belongings, we're going to look into setting up some kind of donation account where you might help us literally get shoes back on our feet if you can find it in your hearts to do so. Otherwise, just do us a favor and come see us at some point during the rest of this tour. It would mean the world to us.

The photos of the burned out van show that we were nearly down all of You, Me, And Everyone We Know.

The fire had been started when their tyre blew out; sparks set the grass at the side of the road aflame. The grass fire then returned the favour.

50 Cent's house burns

Good lord, it's no fun being 50 Cent, is it? When he's not being shot at, his house is burning down to the ground. This particular house (we believe he has some more) has been at the heart of a battle between Mr. Cent and Shaniqua Tompkins, mother of Cent's kid Marquise; the arson squad have apparently been having a poke about to try and determine what caused the house to go up.

Cent has issued a statement:

"Informed this morning while filming a new motion picture on location in Louisiana, Curtis Jackson expressed deep concern over this fire at his property," a representative for 50 said in a statement. "He is extremely thankful that everyone including his son, Marquise, escaped the burning house safely. He is confident that authorities will be conducting a thorough investigation of the incident and is eager to review their findings."

"Deep concern". Goodness, that's almost a human reaction.

Rhode Island survivors victimised again - because of musical taste

There's been no end of press coverage these last five years of the legal battles to pin blame for the Rhode Island nightclub fire. Less thought has been given to the people who got caught in the inferno, as a piece in the New York Times points out. The paper says that, for many, they're caught waiting for a legal settlement, still suffering from the effects of being trapped in a burning building - and finding a lack of sympathy:

“Most people don’t understand that a burn injury is a life injury,” said Ms. Fisher, 38, who gets a Social Security disability payment of about $1,000 a month. “If they think about us at all, it’s probably, ‘They must be all better, so why aren’t they back to work?’ ”

There's some suggestion that the nature of the band who caused the fire has reduced both the victims' visibility, and support for them:

Many believe the circumstances of their misfortune — that they were blue-collar folks gathered in a scruffy club to hear Great White, a has-been “hair metal” band from the ’80s — also help explain the lack of interest.
[...]
“We were waitresses, house painters, contractors, strippers,” said Victoria Eagan, who escaped the fire with minor injuries but whose two best friends were badly burned. “If it had been people at the opera that night, there would have been a big difference.”

Dee Snider is doing a benefit gig for the Station Family Fund, and he agrees that the heavy metal angle isn't exactly a help:

“I’ve tried to get this away from being about hair bands, about heavy metal, and to make this a people issue,” Mr. Snider said. “Since nobody else is going to do it, it’s got to be musicians, all kinds of musicians, taking care of their own and reminding people this could have happened to anyone.”

You can find the Station Family Fund online.

[Part of the Rhode Island nightclub coverage]

Camden Market is on fire

BBC news is reporting that Camden Market is on fire, with eight engines in attendance.

[UPDATE: 9.40pm - BBC News 24 now reporting 20 engines; spreading to another building; London Ambulance say no injuries]

Pipettes set Boston on fire

The Pipettes barely made it out alive (okay, had to cut short their set) in Boston last night when a monitor burst into flames. It was a charity gig, apparently. If only something half as interesting happens during the Woganthon tomorrow night...

Marilyn Manson show disrupted

The CEO of Darkness, Inc, Marilyn Manson, was interrupted by a fire alarm during his gig in Auckland last night.

Was it the very pit of hell opening, spewing forth brimstone and coals as Satan himself bent a knee in supplication to the king of Top 40 Goth?

Erm... no. It was his dry ice machine making too much steam.

Venuewatch: Palais burns

The Palace club in St Kilda has gone up in flames, just weeks after protests against plans to redevelop the ground it stands on. The local council - who had hoped to keep the venue functioning for live music for another twelve months - are now likely to sanction the early demolition of the building.