Cyndi Lauper, Lionel Richie and More, Montreal's 2010 Jazz Fest

Start with Canada's cultural capital. Add a celeb packed entertainment roster. Throw in noon-to-midnight concerts (550 of them, to be exact) over 12 days of fun — and voilà! It's Festival International de Jazz de Montréal, www.montrealjazzfest.com. Running from June 25 to July 6, the event is now in its 31st season.
But why Montreal and why jazz? Co founder André Ménard says the goal was to restore the city's 1930s and '40s reputation as a hotbed of jazz (the scene took a beating in the '50s when a moral crusade led to a clampdown). Jazz still dominates the program, but change musical genres have always featured. R&B great Ray Charles graced the original 1980 bill, which attracted 12,000. Three decades and an annual 2.5 million visitors later, it's ranked the jazz world's largest festival by Guinness World Records. "It's fresh, joyful, inclusive," says Ménard. (Look TIME's list of the 100 all-time greatest albums.)
The sheer variety on offer goes a long way toward explaining the event's popularity. Venues range from big symphony halls to little jazz clubs. This year's opening gala spotlights Cassandra Wilson and Lionel Richie. Phenom pianist and nonagenarian Dave Brubeck plays on July 5, while soul legend Smokey Robinson, pop queen Cyndi Lauper, Eric Burdon and Boz Scaggs are making appearances. Rap godfather Gil Scott Heron plays a club gig on opening night. Fans of more straightforward jazz can select from performances by David Sanborn, Sonny Rollins, George Benson and many others.
With 3,000 musicians and performances taking place in 12 concert halls and on nine outdoor stages, you'll need a spreadsheet to track it all. Or you could keep it simple by heading to the outdoor Place des Festivals and just wandering from stage to stage. Inaugurated last year with Stevie Wonder's opening night, this permanent downtown location is free to the public. In fact, all 370 outdoor concerts in the 2010 program are free. It doesn't get better than that.

World Ticket Shop: Peter Kay, Miley Cyrus and Mark Knopfler ticket scam warning

Sports fans, festival goers and music lovers should be wary of ticket scams this summer, trading standards officers have warned.
Durham County Council has started a new drive aimed at helping prevent people from being conned out of their cash.

Tick It campaign aims just to raise cognizance of fake websites, which offer cheap or hard to get tickets only to let users down when the passes fail to turn up.

Joanne Waller, Durham's head of environment, health and consumer protection, said: "The council's Fair Trading team has currently been contacted by a number of people who have been caught out by attractive looking websites. They claimed to be selling tickets for performances by artists like Mark Knopfler, Peter Kay and Miley Cyrus."Investigations have shown many of these websites are operated from overseas and not from the UK-based PO Box addresses they provide."Durham County Council is advising anyone buying tickets on the Internet to follow these guidelines:

* Check with the event arrangers to find out when tickets are being released for sale.

* Check you are able to contact the company. Make sure they provide a full postal address (not a PO Box) and a landline phone number.

* Make sure the site has a refund policy in case something goes wrong.For further advice call Consumer Direct on 08454 04 05 06.

* Use a credit card to pay for your tickets as, under the Consumer Credit Act, a card issuer is jointly liable for failure to provide goods or services if the cash price of a single ticket is more than £100.

World Ticket Shop: New London Cabaret Intiatives Launch at Wilton's Music Hall and The Pheasantry

Live at Wilton's will bring cabaret back to where it arguably all began, Wilton's Music Hall in the East End near Tower Bridge, while Live at the Pheasantry will look the King's Road eaterie launching a regular cabaret season.

By Wilton's Music Hall the Live at Wilton's season is produced, under the direction of Frances Mayhew, with artistic direction by Nicky Gayner, and an advisory programming committee of producers comprising Neil Eckersley, Samuel Joseph, Neil Marcus and Hillary Williams.
Samuel Joseph is also behind a new season of cabaret performances that will launch at the Pheasantry, a celebrated restaurant on the King's Road in Chelsea, under the umbrella Live at the Pheasantry.
The opening season will begin with Jessie Buckley (finalist for the role of Nancy in the TV reality contest "I'd Do Anything" who has since appeared in the West End in A Little Night Music) June 26. It will continue with West End performers Cassidy Janson appearing July 4, Kelly Price July 18, Shona White July 25 and Australian performer Damion Scarclla performing his show The Bowlly Years Aug. 14.
Also on the schedule are Claire Martin and Sir Richard Rodney Bennett appearing July 1-3, following sell out performances over the past year at Kings Place, Pizza on the Park and New York's Oak Room at the Algonquin; London alternative cabaret icon Al Pillay July 16-17; and Simon Green bringing his show Travelling Light, seen in New York at Feinstein's at the Regency and 59E59 Theatre, to the Pheasantry July 22-24. Harry the Piano, previously house pianist on Channel 4's "Big Breakfast" and BBC1's "Johnny Vaughan Tonight," will appear Aug. 5-7; Gary Williams will appear Sept. 4 to debut his new show Gary Williams: That's Life; and further dates to include appearances by Fascinating Aida, Jason Robert Brown and Daniel Boys.
Originally a Georgian building and grounds designed to raise pheasants for the Royal Household to hunt, The Pheasantry saw its status among the fashion cognoscenti grow significantly in the 20th century as it constantly adapted to mirror an ever-changing London. In the 1930s it was home to both a dance school headed by famous Russian ballerina Serafima Alexandrovna Astafieva and a club where Dylan Thomas would drink, while the likes of Eleanor Thornton - the inspiration for the "Spirit of Ecstasy" Rolls-Royce model - and Eric Clapton have lived there; the rocker famously once had to escape out the back door to evade arrest by Sgt. Norman Pilcher, a notorious scourge of the music community in the sixties. "The Female Eunuch" was written within its walls, and it was where Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice discovered Yvonne Elliman, who would go on to star in Jesus Christ Superstar. In the 1970s, The Pheasantry became a nightclub, playing host to some of the earliest gigs by Lou Reed, Queen and Hawkwind, among others.

Hop Farm, Download and Hard Rock Calling, Festival tickets guide

As the summer festival season fast approaches, here at Tixdaq.com we have used our knowledge of the ticket market to provide you with details of some fantastic deals currently available. Music fans need not miss out if tickets have sold out from primary vendors, as ticket exchange websites are recently listing thousands of tickets at some very reasonable prices.
Hard Rock Calling tickets have been falling in price in current weeks, with tickets to see Paul McCartney on the final day of the festival, Sunday 27th June, now trading from £32. In fact, it is cheaper to buy Paul McCartney tickets for his Hard Rock Calling performance than to buy tickets for any of his scheduled stadium shows. With a general admission day ticket, fans will gain full entry to the festival and can also witness performances from the likes of Crowded House, Elvis Costello and Crosby, Stills and Nash.
Hard Rock Calling takes place in Hyde Park from Friday 25th June to Sunday 27th June. Hard Rock Calling tickets for Pearl Jam’s headline performance on the Friday can also be picked up for £32. Saturday tickets for Stevie Wonder’s headline appearance start at £45.
Download Festival tickets are still available, despite the event getting under way tomorrow. Download weekend tickets are currently available on the secondary ticket market for less than £150. Music fans with download tickets will have the chance to witness headline performances from AC/DC, Rage Against the Machine and Aerosmith. This year’s line up also includes Deftones, Motorhead, Slash, 30 Seconds to Mars, Bullet For My Valentine, The Blackout and A Day to Remember.
Hop Farm Festival tickets are also trading below face value. Hop Farm Festival may not be the most talked about festival of the summer, but it will this year play host to the likes of Bob Dylan, Pete Doherty, Van Morrison, Laura Marling and Seasick Steve. The festival takes place in Tonbridge this July and day tickets cost around £45 each, with camping tickets costing £25 on top of that.

'Swamp Ghost' Returns To US, World War II Bomber

New Guinea swamp 17 bomber that lay for decades after being forced down during a World War II combat mission has been returned to the United States after years of salvage efforts.
The forward fuselage of the so called "Swamp Ghost" was displayed Friday at the Port of Long Beach in an emotional, patriotic ceremony attended by kin of some of the now deceased aircrew.
"I know this a glad day for Dick," said Linda Oliver, the 89 year old widow of bombardier Richard Oliver, the last living crewman who died in August. She regretted he did not look the warbird's comeback.
"He longed for this to happen, but this wasn't to be," said Oliver, of Tiburon, Calif.
The frail widow watched a flag presentation by an Air Force honor guard and a flyover by vintage World War II fighters before her three children helped her climb steps to peer inside the fuselage sitting atop a truck trailer in the parking lot of the harborside restaurant The Reef.
The four-engine B-17E Flying Fortress was built by Boeing in November 1941, flew from California to Hawaii days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and then island hopped to Australia.
It went down on Feb. 23, 1942, on its only combat mission after being damaged by enemy fire during a raid on Japanese forces at Rabaul in New Britain and losing fuel.
Army Air Corps Capt. Fred Eaton piloted the aircraft to a belly landing in what turned out to be a swamp and the nine crewmen survived a six-week ordeal escaping the swamp and making their way to safety.
"Often in my life the courage and the perseverance that Dad and his fellow crew members demonstrated gave me courage to face some of the challenges we've all met in life," said the bombardier's son, Mike Oliver of Richmond, Va., who was born while his father was missing in action.
An Australian air force crew came upon the B-17 in 1972. Sustaining little damage in the landing and virtually undisturbed for years, the intact craft became coveted by salvagers of historic warplanes.
John Tallichet, president and CEO of Specialty Restaurants Corp., recounted how his father, company founder and World War II B-17 pilot David Tallichet, started efforts to recover the plane in the 1980s but didn't live to see its return. "One of his purposes in life was to bring this plane to the United States," he said.
The B-17's remote location and difficulties in gaining governmental permission to remove it from New Guinea would leave it in its watery resting place for many more years, gaining the nickname "Swamp Ghost" along the way. Westerners trekking to the site removed many items as souvenirs during that time.
The effort to bring home the plane was carried on by Pennsylvania businessman Fred Hagen, a friend of David Tallichet who has located a series of aircraft lost during World War II, leading to repatriation of missing airmen's remains.
In 2006 Hagen organized a salvage operation in which the B-17 was cut into sections that were flown by helicopter to a port. However, a dispute over authority to remove the plane held it up in New Guinea, and then its status as a warplane delayed its shipment through New Zealand, Hagen said.
The B-17 finally arrived in Long Beach last month.
Hagen said the cost of recovering the bomber was approximately $1.5 million.
It may be restored to flying condition and housed in a museum, or perhaps reassembled at less expense for display in a setting recreating the jungle swamp where it landed 68 years ago, Hagen said.
In a poignant scene, Linda Oliver, stood in front of the plane with a photo of her late husband in uniform, assisted by daughters Kathy Oliver Cataldo of Richmond, Va., and Karen Braughton of Sebastopol, Calif.

Ntreev Invites Players to Celebrate: The 2010 Soccer World Championship with Pangya

The popular online golf game kicks off exciting in-game events including the 2010 World Championship Party and magical voice club sets.

a leading online game developer and publisher, announced today that it will launch the 2010 World Championship Party to celebrate the Soccer World Championship. Starting tomorrow through July 14, players can participate in fun-filled event to win fabulous in-game prizes. Additionally, Pangya will feature Magical Voice Club Sets for a limited time allowing players to turn up the volume and hear what the characters have to say! To learn more about the events and to download the game, players can visit http://Pangya.ntreev.net/ 2010 World Championship Party Players can celebrate the 2010 Soccer World Championship with Pangya starting tomorrow through July 14th. During the event, players will gather game tickets from any cup, and once they obtain the game ticket, will then be eligible to click on the World Championship button and play the ladder. Players have a shot at winning soccer shoes, consumable items, various titles and 2010 World Championship Comets. The in-game soccer shoes feature a special power to increase the Pangya Impact Zone during the event; however, this effect disappears after the event!

Roger Waters is to play Pink Floyd’s 1979 album ‘The Wall’ in full on a UK and European tour next year

Roger Waters Adds 12 Dates To The Wall Tour was a top story in May. Here is the recap: In response to the tremendous demand, Roger Waters’ has added 12 new shows to his monumental production for the 30th Anniversary of The Wall that features a full band and a newly-mounted state-of-the-art production.
As of now, Waters will take a few months off before launching his European leg on March 21st in Lisbon, PT. He’ll then tour across the UK and Europe before winding down on June 18th in Düsseldorf, Germany. Notable dates include a three-night stint at London’s O2 Arena and multiple stops throughout Germany.
In the UK, he’ll play three nights at the London O2 Arena on May 11, 12 and 17, followed by two nights at the Manchester Evening News Arena (20, 21). A further show will take place at Dublin’s O2 Arena on May 23.