The 63rd Fringe, which ended on Monday night, was the first with new chief executive Kath Mainland at the helm. She said, "Even in tough economic conditions, festivals chime with people in a way few other events manage to. Over the past three-and-a-half weeks I have seen some amazing work, sometimes perfectly trivial and enormously entertaining, sometimes incredibly challenging and often hugely moving. I have been blown away by the creative energy, artistic vision and drive of the people taking part, from performers and directors, to venue producers and promoters."
At least 18,901 performers took to the stage this year, in 34,265 performances of 2,098 shows originating in 60 countries. Comedy made up 35% of the programme, followed by theatre with 28% and music at 16%.
See L&SI's Edinburgh Festival backstage blog by Sarah Rushton-Read, with video and audio interviews, by clicking here
Off The Game - Former Rolling Stone Bill Wyman has expressed concern that music games like Rock Band stop young people from practising real musical instruments. He told the BBC, "It encourages kids not to learn, that's the trouble. It makes less and less people dedicated to really get down and learn an instrument. I think it's a pity so I'm not really keen on that kind of stuff." Wyman was speaking at Abbey Road Studios while recording a charity Beatles song for Children in Need.
His words were echoed by Pink Floyd's Nick Mason who described music games like Rock Bandand Guitar Hero as "interesting new developments". But he added, "It irritates me having watched my kids do it - if they spent as much time practising the guitar as learning how to press the buttons they'd be damn good by now."
The musicians were speaking just ahead of the launch of The Beatles: Rock Band game which features 45 re-mastered songs from the Beatles' back catalogue. The game allows players to play along as The Beatles through their career in environments such as The Cavern Club and the Shea Stadium. Alex Rigopulos, co-founder of Harmonix Music Systems, which created the Rock Band series, refuted the musicians' claims. "Most people try to learn an instrument at some point in their lives, and almost all of them quit after a few months or a year or two," he said.
In The Auction Room - A jewelled white glove Michael Jackson threw to an Australian fan in 1996 has been sold at an auction in Melbourne for US$49,000 (£29,900). The late singer tossed the glove into a crowd after a film premiere while he was visiting the country as part of his HIStory world tour in 1996. It was caught by music collector Bill Hibble, who has since died. His mother put the glove up for auction and it was bought by the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
(Jim Evans)
