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London festival forced into “abrupt closure” after “stampede”
Longitude Festival organisers apologised after chaotic entry arrangements reportedly led to a crowd surge that injured some attendees and left others distressed. The incident matters because it highlighted safety and crowd-management concerns at a major live-music event, despite organisers saying affected ticket-holders were ultimately able to enter. Festival Republic chief Melvin Benn said unexpectedly high…
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TARJA TURUNEN Reflects On Her Exit From NIGHTWISH: ‘I Probably Should Have Put Them Through Hell’
Tarja Turunen, the former Nightwish vocalist, has spoken candidly about her acrimonious 2005 departure from the band, telling Metal Hammer magazine she regrets not pursuing legal action against her former bandmates. She said contracts and her contractual rights would have put the group “in deep shit for a long time” had she chosen to enforce…
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Women’s Pro Baseball League gets started with brutal national anthem rendition
The newly launched Women’s Pro Baseball League got under way at the weekend, but the pre-match entertainment overshadowed the sporting occasion after a national anthem performance was heavily criticised on social media. The league’s opening fixture, between the Los Angeles Queens and the New York Heights, was played on Saturday, marking a significant step for…
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Sheffield United: Will Gus Hamer still be a Blade when season starts? – BBC
Sheffield United face uncertainty over whether midfielder Gus Hamer will remain at Bramall Lane when the new season begins. His future matters because he is a key creative player and any departure would affect the club’s plans to rebuild and challenge in the Championship. Hamer has been linked with a move away amid interest from…
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‘Wilder was tight-lipped about Hamer future’
Sheffield United manager Chris Wilder gave little away about midfielder Gus Hamer’s future after a goalless pre-season friendly at VfL Bochum, amid ongoing speculation linking the 29-year-old with a return to Coventry City. Hamer, entering the final year of his contract, played the full 90 minutes and showed flashes of the form that made him…
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What do you wish you could buy in vending machines?
This piece is a reader-submitted “notes and queries” question from the Guardian’s long-running series, in which readers pose everyday dilemmas for other readers to answer. This particular instalment asks what people wish vending machines sold, prompted by a reader who noted that in Germany you can buy sausages from a machine. It’s a light-hearted consumer…
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Avengers: Doomsday is a make-or-break moment for the MCU
Marvel is heading into Avengers: Doomsday this December in a very different climate to a decade ago, when the studio’s films dominated cinema screens and cultural conversation. Despite a high-profile San Diego Comic-Con panel revealing casting news and future projects, audience enthusiasm has been noticeably more muted, reflecting fatigue after a Multiverse Saga marked by…
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Perennial early access game Project Zomboid hit a new concurrent player record after a huge map update added reworked towns, a spooky orphanage and ‘400 procedural basements’
Project Zomboid, the long-running zombie survival game that has remained in Early Access for over a decade, has reached a new concurrent player record following the release of a major map update. The update overhauls the game’s world with reworked towns, a new spooky orphanage location, and hundreds of procedurally generated basements, reinvigorating interest in…
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From top-down crime capers to online open-world heists, GTA has defined play freedom across gaming generations
The article traces how Grand Theft Auto has evolved from a top-down crime game into a major open-world series, arguing that its enduring influence comes from the freedom it gives players to explore, experiment and create their own experiences. It presents GTA as a defining franchise across several gaming generations, with its design shaping expectations…
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The 1976 song Freddie Mercury never enjoyed playing live: “A killer to do”
Queen’s 1976 song ‘Somebody to Love’ was one Freddie Mercury found especially difficult to perform live, despite its status as one of the band’s best-known recordings. He described it as “a killer to do” because its densely layered, gospel-influenced vocal arrangement could not be fully reproduced on stage, highlighting the gap between Queen’s ambitious studio…