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Near the front of Thomas Mores 16th century book Utopia there is an illustration of a small island, dotted with rolling hills and populated with neat little castles; from the harbour a large ship sets off, presumably to conquer faraway lands and preach its vision of a perfect world. Looking down at this isolated kingdom on the day the United Kingdom leaves the European Union, I am reminded of another island that imagined its green and pleasant land as a glorious haven if it could only take back control. Centuries have passed since More set out his idealistic future, but our utopian dreams seem to have struggled to develop beyond a desire to own a small patch of the planet where private castles can be maintained, and a particular culture can be protected and promoted.

At the dawn of Brexit, Utopias at the Whitworth in Manchester draws together art, literature and maps from a range of sources and artists to try to work out why the search is still on for a land flowing with milk and honey. Because, despite the fact utopia famously derives from the Greek ou-topos and means no place, the idea of a golden future is still a captivating concept. It was the main motivator behind Brexit regardless of which way you voted and if that nearly 50/50 vote is anything to go by, Brexit holds the key to why well never find utopia; no one can agree on what it should look like.

Beginning with a first edition of Mores 1516 book, the exhibition is arranged thematically rather than chronologically to uncover our timeless utopian obsessions. A 1920s map of the British Empire with the UK proudly at the centre sits alongside a 2018 photograph, Between the Acts by Simon Roberts, of people walking along the Seven Sisters cliffs in Sussex. Vivid green grass gives way suddenly to white jagged cliffs that fall away into the sea this is the gap between the UK and the rest of the world, it is the natural boundary that keeps others out. Both works are about land and borders, but whereas Roberts reflects on the preservation of one nation, the map quietly highlights the hypocrisy in plundering and invading numerous others with total disregard.

The red-faced shame that is slowly climbing up my neck reaches fever pitch when I arrive at William Hogarths invasion plates from 1756. Produced in response to fears of a French invasion, the first plate depicts a French rabble, disorderly and disorganised, sharpening axes and pointing guns. The second plate is set in England, where someone is drawing a crude painting of the French and the troops stand smartly in the background. Text under the first plate reads: But soon well teach these bragging foes that beef and beer give heavier blows than soup and roasted frogs. The pure stupidity of it would be laughable if it wasnt for its similarities to Ukips Breaking Point campaign, where fleeing refugees are reframed as hordes of unruly intruders.

Utopian propaganda is all over this exhibition and none of it is comfortable viewing. Lilian Lancasters 19th century comic maps of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales refer to England as a Queen Victoria, Queen of Hearts and Scotland as a gallant piper, struggling through the bogs, his wind bag broken, wearing his clay clogs. Nathan Coleys lightworks are covered in handprinted Zuber wallpaper inspired by the pilgrims who founded America. Smart, expensively dressed Europeans in carriages and steamboats arrive into a stunning landscape akin to Eden; to the side, a group of stereotypical Native Americans dance, adorned in leaves and feathers. This wallpaper hangs in the Diplomatic Reception Room at the White House.

Sweaty-palmed and stressed, by the time I reach the soft clouds and luscious greenery of Palmer, Constable and Turner, I find no affection for the land that has nurtured me all my life. There is light relief in Grayson Perry and Stephen Walters critiques of the utopian ideal. Walters Nova Utopia and Perrys Map of an Englishman are minutely detailed, black-and-white maps that reveal the impossibility of a perfect location. Contradictions are rife; Walters more literal map locates a place where they come to get away next to no trespassing and Perrys botox and eternal life buildings are next-door neighbours.

The hope in Utopias can be found in the final section, curated by the Whitworth Young Contemporaries, a diverse group of 16 to 24-year-olds. Rather than choosing one work each, they curated collectively, pressing through their differing opinions to present 16 pieces (ranging from Richard Hamilton to Christopher Nevinson) that encapsulated their varied perception of a utopia. Any utopic thing once enforced, becomes inherently dystopic, reads the groups manifesto. Perhaps the only utopia we can really hope for is the one where we agree to disagree.

Go here to read the rest:
Utopias review the centuries-old illusion of 'taking back control' - The Guardian

EditorsNote: Edits in 5th graf

Paul George and Landry Shamet scored 23 points apiece, and the Los Angeles Clippers earned a 128-111 victory Wednesday over the visiting Miami Heat, who lost Jimmy Butler to an injury.

Kawhi Leonard, Montrezl Harrell and Lou Williams each scored 14 points for the Clippers, who had eight players reach double figures.

Derrick Jones Jr. had 25 points and nine rebounds while Bam Adebayo scored 22 points and grabbed 11 boards for the Heat. Kendrick Nunn and Goran Dragic chipped in 13 points apiece.

Butler left the contest in the third quarter with a strained right shoulder and did not return. He had 11 points and seven assists in 26 minutes. Butler scored a season-high 38 points in a lopsided win over the Philadelphia 76ers, his former club, on Monday.

A 6-0 surge capped by a Jones dunk allowed the Heat to cut a double-digit deficit to 109-103 with about four minutes left. However, the Heat got no closer as the Clippers pulled away down the stretch.

The two clubs combined to attempt 96 3-pointers. The Clippers set franchise records for 3-pointers made and attempts, converting 24 of 54 (44.4 percent) to 16 of 42 (38.1 percent) for the Heat.

Los Angeles got off to a sluggish start before taking control in the second half. The Clippers went on a 16-2 run to take a 76-65 advantage after a pair of foul shots by George midway through the third quarter.

Miami pulled within six before Los Angeles increased the margin to 92-80 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Heat led by as much as 12 in the first half before the Clippers rallied to slice the gap to 58-55 at the break.

The Clippers recorded a season-high 35 assists to 29 for the Heat.

Los Angeles guard Patrick Beverley, who finished with five points and five rebounds in 22 minutes, left the game in the third quarter due to a sore right groin and did not return.

The Heat played without rookie guard Tyler Herro (sore right foot) and center Meyers Leonard (left ankle sprain).

--Field Level Media

Read more:
Clippers handle Heat as Butler exits - TheChronicleHerald.ca

Madonna has reacted with fury after London Palladium dropped the curtain and shut the sound off before the end of her live show on Wednesday night (5 February).

The singer posted a video of the show on her Instagrampage, in which she can be heard shouting, Censorship. Motherf***ing censorship. Artists are here to disturb the peace. F*** you, as the curtain falls.

Alongside the video, Madonna wrote: It was 5 minutes past our 11:00 curfew we had one more song to do and The Palladium decided to censor us by pulling down the metal fire curtain that weighs 9 tons."

Sharing the full story, not just the headlines

She added: "Fortunately they stopped it half way and no one was hurt.............. Many Thanks to the entire Audience who did not move and never left us. Power to The People!! #Irise #ongod #madamextheatre #thelondonpalladium.

The long gone Rainbow in Londons Finsbury Park was one of the great rock venues, and though I was young at the time it would be impossible to forget the impact of Bowie in one of his first outings as Ziggy Stardust. They havent even finished building the stage, I said with breathtaking naievety to the person next to me, on observing the scaffolding and ladder. Of course, it was all part of the Ziggy theatrics, a show that began with David/Ziggy walking out to the drums of Five Years and continued with mime, flamboyance and songs that have all become classics. I remember his appearance being heralded by music from Beethovens Ninth (also used in A Clockwork Orange, the film being current at the time). In those years Bowie always used it as his theme music. I also remember being blown away by the support act a fresh, imaginative outfit called Roxy Music. (David Lister)

Getty

Truly charismatic performers leave an indelible impression and I marvelled at the way Chuck Berry had the crowd in the palm of his hand when I saw him in the 1970s. But few could match Dolly Parton in her prime for her larger-than-life enthusiasm and sheer sense of fun. When the country superstar came to Londons Dominion Theatre in 1983, she played some mean finger-picking banjo, sang beautifully, especially on an a capella version of Do I Ever Cross Your Mind? and even did an Elvis impression. Her concert was filmed for a video release and about half an hour after the crowd had left in, they brought in a large group of young punks and Goths (to intercut into crowd shots) and suggest an edgy young following. Happily, I had stayed around and saw her deliver this impromptu extra set, which was full of risqu jokes and blue banter. Theres no one quite like her. (Martin Chilton)

Rex

You dont usually realise youre present at what will become a moment in history. But that sunny July afternoon at Wembley Stadium felt special right from the off, even if the off was Status Quo doing Rockin All Over The World. There were numerous stand-out moments; perhaps on paper the biggest was the return of Paul McCartney, topping the bill after nearly five years self-enforced absence from high-profile performing following the shooting of John Lennon. Somewhat sadly the sound failed for part of Let It Be, but we can draw a veil over that. The most stunning set of the day came from Queen: a high energy medley through Bohemian Rhapsody and Radio Ga Ga to We Will Rock You and We Are The Champions. No one fired up the crowd quite as much that day. And since the band had not been at their most visible around that time, this proved to be their resurrection. (David Lister)

Blues titan BB King released two of the greatest concert albums of the 20th-century in Live at the Regal (1964) and Live in Cook County Jail (1971). Even though he was 60 when I saw him at Londons Hammersmith Odeon in 1985, he was still full of energy. He sang with passion and his guitar work was transcendent, especially on gloriously funky version of The Thrill is Gone. I skipped my graduation ceremony for the concert and had the good fortune to bump into an old family friend called Ray Bolden, who had worked at Dobell's Record Shop in Charing Cross Road. King's face lit up to see Ray, who had put him up in his London flat in the 1950s. The blues superstar could not have been friendlier, despite his tiredness after a long gig. Seeing Muddy Waters live in 1979 was special but BB King at full power, bending guitar notes like no one else, topped even that. (Martin Chilton)

AP

When The Jesus & Mary Chain reached the status of noisenik godheads with their fourth album Honeys Dead in 1992, they decided to put together a visceral modern rock revue tour called Rollercoaster thats still ringing in my ears almost 30 years on. Of the three revolving support acts, Blur opened the night, mid-transformation from baggy latecomers to art-pop pioneers. With Damon Albarn flinging himself wildly around the stage and clambering up amp stacks, they premiered ferocious second-album character studies like Colin Zeal while screening films of the journey of meat from slaughterhouse to defecation, in reverse. Most crucially, with their all-horns-blazing new single Popscene, they kick-started Britpop right before our eyes. The Mary Chain, meanwhile, were at peak malicious, I left with my skull buzzing, my eyes opened and my tastes re-arranged, convinced I'd seen the new music, and I had. A gig that didnt just make my night, it made me. (Mark Beaumont)

Getty

When Pixies came onto a London stage on my birthday in 2004 and played Pixies songs and music just doesnt get better than that it was pure relief, euphoria and dark-hearted epiphany. Tame sent me feral, Gigantic was titanic, Bone Machine crushed out my marrow. Black Francis snarled, barked and ranted through Gouge Away, Monkey Gone To Heaven and Debaser, every bit the demented pervert preacher he ever was; Kim Deals angelic coos and bass melodies made an unholy pact with Joey Santiagos werewolf guitar riffs, seemingly played with a plectrum made of Satans fingernail. Of their four Brixton dates that week, I lost every ounce of my s*** at three. Best gigs ever, no particular order.(Mark Beaumont)

EPA

North Londons tiny and now-defunct, Buffalo Bar in the 2000s, hosted early gigs from the likes of Bloc Party, The Libertines, The Maccabees or Foals. Their show took place 14 months before the release of their debut album Antidotes, and it justified their precocious reputation as a live act. That night, the energy of their high-octane math-rock was infectious; its not often that you see a band in their earliest days and know that this is probably the last time youll be able to reach out and touch them. The songs followed: "The French Open", "Balloons", "Hummer, Mathletics, all fuelled by astoundingly complex polyrhythms, interweaving staccato synths and guitar played high on the fretboard in angular electro harmonies, set to punk-disco techno beats and urgent "new wave" vocals. Id never seen a rock gig so precisely engineered (a sticker on the synth read "Math is for Everyone"), yet so exhilarating. There was a true sense wed discovered something great. (Elisa Bray)

Rex

Problematic in every way given singer Alice Glasss October 2017 statement accusing her former bandmate Ethan Kath of sexual abuse, non-consensual sex and controlling behaviour, but this short set in front of a small crowd in a Camden bar was proof that when a performer truly plugs into the mother lode, the intensity they generate can burn itself into your retinas and shake your soul. Glass was 19 years old, and for most of the set just a blur of spectral movement frozen into violent shapes by an almost incessant strobe; singing, shouting and screaming her way through songs such as Courtship Dating. The result was a reminder that whenever one of your heroes gets on stage to try to channel that primal essence of rock n roll or whatever the hell it is most of the time, theyre just trying to find an echo of something that once flowed through them. That can go on for 50 years or more. Theres sadness now in the memory, but on this day in April 2008, Glass had it. (Chris Harvey)

PA

It used to be that rocknroll was a young persons game; anyone over the age of 50 still tearing it up on stage needed to calm down and have a word with themselves. Nick Cave, the latter-day harbinger of the apocalypse still identifiable by his raven hair and pallbearers suit, has consistently shown us the idiocy of this thinking. Ive seen Cave perform scores of times and he has never let me down, but this show, which coincided with the release of the album Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!, was a whole new level of spectacular: funny, furious, life-affirming, heavy on the biblical melodrama. Alongside the Bad Seeds, then operating as a seven-piece coolly attired in suits, open-necked shirts and slicked-back hair, Cave showed how musical talent can deepen rather than ebb in mid-life, and how he was and indeed remains untouchable in terms of intellect, charisma and sheer feral energy. (Fiona Sturges)

Rex

Leonard Cohen steps onto the stage, dressed in grey shirt and tie, black waistcoat, trilby concealing his white hair. It's sweltering. And yet Cohen, in his mid Seventies, is barely breaking into a sweat. Much like his attire, the songs - such as "Dance Me to the End of Love" and "So Long, Marianne" are immaculate, his voice no longer a wail but a raw, rumbling baritone. The Spanish sun is beating down and my friends and I are genuflecting before one of the greatest lyricists of all time. This was to be the only time I saw him live and no performance has ever, in terms of pure emotional intensity, targeted me with such laser-guided precision as his rendition of "Hallelujah". The song's been covered by everyone from Jeff Buckley to Alexandra Burke, but sung by him that day, it's surely never felt as moving. (Patrick Smith)

Getty

The great Sixties and Seventies soul singers are nearly all gone now, and I doubt well ever see their like again. Bobby Womack had recovered from colon cancer but was in the early stages of Alzheimers Disease, and less than a year from his death in June 2014, when he played the UK in the summer of 2013. He came on stage on a sunny Saturday afternoon at the Latitude festival, to play songs from his brilliant comeback album, The Bravest Man in the Universe, to a basking, picnicking audience. All soul singers come from gospel, he told them. Womacks voice still seemed like a gift from God. The years of cocaine addiction hadnt altered its richness and warmth. To be in the presence of Womack that day, knowing it would likely be the last time, was very special.(Chris Harvey)

PA

Most rockstars, terrified of seeming to be trying too hard, would never dream of hiring a choreographer. But St Vincent, AKA Annie Clark, is no ordinary rockstar. For her Digital Witness tour, the musician recruited Annie B Carson to help her dream up a procession of strange, shuffling moves to perform alongside her brilliant self-titled fourth album. At End of the Road Festival a small, Dorset delight which she had played with David Byrne a year earlier her headline set was scuzzy, eccentric, and thrilling. At one point, without missing a lick on her guitar, she rolled herself down an oversized flight of white stairs like a glitching robot. Then again, no robot can play guitar like that. (Alexandra Pollard)

Getty

After 35 years away from the stage it was a moment Kate Bush fans never thought would happen. Beforehand, I was reporting from outside the venue for NME and the excitement and energy was extraordinary, like nothing I've ever experienced. One woman told me it would be fine if she died after the gig because she would die happy. The show started with a "greatest hits" section. And then it all got a bit more, well, Kate Bush, with a dramatic adaptation of "The Ninth Wave". Sinking ships, confetti cannons, surreal fish people and a soliloquy about sausages. Act three was more pastoral. The second side of "Aerial", "The Sky of Honey", was performed in front of the most beautiful visuals I've ever seen: birds, a red sun, a moon tilting on its axis and then Kate suspended into the air. Pure theatre. As we filed out, there was a sense that the audience was stunned. I still am. (Lucy Jones)

Rex

Patti Smith was celebrating the 40th anniversary of her seminal 1975 album Horses at Field Day in Victoria Park, London, 2015. The sky was a perfect blue, and the sun was still blazing hot at 7pm. Im sorry about the dark glasses, Smith said by way of introduction. Im not trying to be cool, its just, you know the sun. Youre the f***ing coolest! a fan screamed back. From there, she and her band, including long-serving guitarist Lenny Kaye, embarked on a blistering set that had myself, and many other audience members, in tears. Smith is a ferocious performer, she spat and snarled and howled; tearing up her guitar as though it just insulted one of her favourite poets. It didnt matter if she messed up, as she did on Break it Up, because she offered the instantly immortal words: I dont do nothing perfect. I only f*** up perfect. You felt you were in the presence of something momentous. (Roisin OConnor)

Getty Images

When DAngelo released his surprise third record the politically fraught Black Messiah it ended the 14-year hiatus that followed 2000s Voodoo. It also reminded music fans that the American hip-hop artist was still as monumentally talented as he was back then. Accompanied by his eight-strong band The Vanguard, his show at the Hammersmith Apollo was a visceral, quasi-religious experience. Jesse Johnson, formerly of Prince-produced outfit The Time, added funky hooks to Sugah Daddy, while legendary bassist Pino Palladino took time out from The Who's live shows to join in the fun. At one point DAngelo led a classic James Brown funk staple, holding three fingers in the air so the band could respond with three loud vamps. One encore was followed by a second that broke the curfew with free abandon, until DAngelo was left on stage alone, reflective and blissful. It inspired a divine kind of worship, for a show that was appropriately titled "The Second Coming". (Roisin OConnor)

Corbis

A week before she played Brighton, I reviewed Lordes Alexandra Palace show in London. It was a five-star performance the New Zealand musician exorcised the pain of the break-up she'd chronicled on her brilliant second album Melodrama, twitching and twirling as an abstract house party played out in glass boxes around her. The stage design was so good, in fact, that Kanye West may or may not have nicked it a year later. Seeing her in Brighton the following week, without a notepad in my hand, I saw even more clearly all the intimate nuances of her performance and was free to give in entirely to the exhilarating, heartbreaking melodrama of it all. (Alexandra Pollard)

Getty Images

When youve been going to gigs for decades, you tend not to expect anything new, just variations some mind-blowing, others not on what you have seen before. So when I saw David Byrnes American Utopia show, it felt like stumbling on the Ark of the Covenant. Here was a man who had been working in music for 40 years completely redrawing the rules of pop performance no drum riser, no cables, no visible amps or microphones and taking it deep into the territory of experimental theatre. In opposition to the usual freeform live music set-up, this tour was the result of fastidious planning, with everything rehearsed to the last nanosecond. And yet, forever on the move, dressed in matching grey suits and dancing barefoot in formation, Byrne and his 12-piece band were loose-limbed, unfettered and joyous to watch. And the music was pretty great too. (Fiona Sturges)

EPA

Before her short run at Hammersmith Apollo last year, Hlose Letissier known as Christine and the Queens, though she dropped all but the "Chris" for her second album tweeted: I think we finally have some surprises for those who come to the shows! She delivered on that promise falling snow and sand, and a balcony homage to Romeo and Juliet as she redefined what a pop show could be. With a gender-fluid cohort of athletic dancers, she brought to theatrical life her tumultuous journey towards embracing her pansexual identity, and finding liberation. And we went through all those emotions with her, those alternately tender and powerful vocals never faltering despite the restless dance routines. Everyone was on their feet dancing, and her declaration of inclusivity could not have been more empowering: Vive everyone! We left thrilled and elated. (Elisa Bray)

REX

The long gone Rainbow in Londons Finsbury Park was one of the great rock venues, and though I was young at the time it would be impossible to forget the impact of Bowie in one of his first outings as Ziggy Stardust. They havent even finished building the stage, I said with breathtaking naievety to the person next to me, on observing the scaffolding and ladder. Of course, it was all part of the Ziggy theatrics, a show that began with David/Ziggy walking out to the drums of Five Years and continued with mime, flamboyance and songs that have all become classics. I remember his appearance being heralded by music from Beethovens Ninth (also used in A Clockwork Orange, the film being current at the time). In those years Bowie always used it as his theme music. I also remember being blown away by the support act a fresh, imaginative outfit called Roxy Music. (David Lister)

Getty

Truly charismatic performers leave an indelible impression and I marvelled at the way Chuck Berry had the crowd in the palm of his hand when I saw him in the 1970s. But few could match Dolly Parton in her prime for her larger-than-life enthusiasm and sheer sense of fun. When the country superstar came to Londons Dominion Theatre in 1983, she played some mean finger-picking banjo, sang beautifully, especially on an a capella version of Do I Ever Cross Your Mind? and even did an Elvis impression. Her concert was filmed for a video release and about half an hour after the crowd had left in, they brought in a large group of young punks and Goths (to intercut into crowd shots) and suggest an edgy young following. Happily, I had stayed around and saw her deliver this impromptu extra set, which was full of risqu jokes and blue banter. Theres no one quite like her. (Martin Chilton)

Rex

You dont usually realise youre present at what will become a moment in history. But that sunny July afternoon at Wembley Stadium felt special right from the off, even if the off was Status Quo doing Rockin All Over The World. There were numerous stand-out moments; perhaps on paper the biggest was the return of Paul McCartney, topping the bill after nearly five years self-enforced absence from high-profile performing following the shooting of John Lennon. Somewhat sadly the sound failed for part of Let It Be, but we can draw a veil over that. The most stunning set of the day came from Queen: a high energy medley through Bohemian Rhapsody and Radio Ga Ga to We Will Rock You and We Are The Champions. No one fired up the crowd quite as much that day. And since the band had not been at their most visible around that time, this proved to be their resurrection. (David Lister)

Blues titan BB King released two of the greatest concert albums of the 20th-century in Live at the Regal (1964) and Live in Cook County Jail (1971). Even though he was 60 when I saw him at Londons Hammersmith Odeon in 1985, he was still full of energy. He sang with passion and his guitar work was transcendent, especially on gloriously funky version of The Thrill is Gone. I skipped my graduation ceremony for the concert and had the good fortune to bump into an old family friend called Ray Bolden, who had worked at Dobell's Record Shop in Charing Cross Road. King's face lit up to see Ray, who had put him up in his London flat in the 1950s. The blues superstar could not have been friendlier, despite his tiredness after a long gig. Seeing Muddy Waters live in 1979 was special but BB King at full power, bending guitar notes like no one else, topped even that. (Martin Chilton)

AP

When The Jesus & Mary Chain reached the status of noisenik godheads with their fourth album Honeys Dead in 1992, they decided to put together a visceral modern rock revue tour called Rollercoaster thats still ringing in my ears almost 30 years on. Of the three revolving support acts, Blur opened the night, mid-transformation from baggy latecomers to art-pop pioneers. With Damon Albarn flinging himself wildly around the stage and clambering up amp stacks, they premiered ferocious second-album character studies like Colin Zeal while screening films of the journey of meat from slaughterhouse to defecation, in reverse. Most crucially, with their all-horns-blazing new single Popscene, they kick-started Britpop right before our eyes. The Mary Chain, meanwhile, were at peak malicious, I left with my skull buzzing, my eyes opened and my tastes re-arranged, convinced I'd seen the new music, and I had. A gig that didnt just make my night, it made me. (Mark Beaumont)

Getty

When Pixies came onto a London stage on my birthday in 2004 and played Pixies songs and music just doesnt get better than that it was pure relief, euphoria and dark-hearted epiphany. Tame sent me feral, Gigantic was titanic, Bone Machine crushed out my marrow. Black Francis snarled, barked and ranted through Gouge Away, Monkey Gone To Heaven and Debaser, every bit the demented pervert preacher he ever was; Kim Deals angelic coos and bass melodies made an unholy pact with Joey Santiagos werewolf guitar riffs, seemingly played with a plectrum made of Satans fingernail. Of their four Brixton dates that week, I lost every ounce of my s*** at three. Best gigs ever, no particular order.(Mark Beaumont)

EPA

North Londons tiny and now-defunct, Buffalo Bar in the 2000s, hosted early gigs from the likes of Bloc Party, The Libertines, The Maccabees or Foals. Their show took place 14 months before the release of their debut album Antidotes, and it justified their precocious reputation as a live act. That night, the energy of their high-octane math-rock was infectious; its not often that you see a band in their earliest days and know that this is probably the last time youll be able to reach out and touch them. The songs followed: "The French Open", "Balloons", "Hummer, Mathletics, all fuelled by astoundingly complex polyrhythms, interweaving staccato synths and guitar played high on the fretboard in angular electro harmonies, set to punk-disco techno beats and urgent "new wave" vocals. Id never seen a rock gig so precisely engineered (a sticker on the synth read "Math is for Everyone"), yet so exhilarating. There was a true sense wed discovered something great. (Elisa Bray)

Rex

Problematic in every way given singer Alice Glasss October 2017 statement accusing her former bandmate Ethan Kath of sexual abuse, non-consensual sex and controlling behaviour, but this short set in front of a small crowd in a Camden bar was proof that when a performer truly plugs into the mother lode, the intensity they generate can burn itself into your retinas and shake your soul. Glass was 19 years old, and for most of the set just a blur of spectral movement frozen into violent shapes by an almost incessant strobe; singing, shouting and screaming her way through songs such as Courtship Dating. The result was a reminder that whenever one of your heroes gets on stage to try to channel that primal essence of rock n roll or whatever the hell it is most of the time, theyre just trying to find an echo of something that once flowed through them. That can go on for 50 years or more. Theres sadness now in the memory, but on this day in April 2008, Glass had it. (Chris Harvey)

PA

It used to be that rocknroll was a young persons game; anyone over the age of 50 still tearing it up on stage needed to calm down and have a word with themselves. Nick Cave, the latter-day harbinger of the apocalypse still identifiable by his raven hair and pallbearers suit, has consistently shown us the idiocy of this thinking. Ive seen Cave perform scores of times and he has never let me down, but this show, which coincided with the release of the album Dig!!! Lazarus Dig!!!, was a whole new level of spectacular: funny, furious, life-affirming, heavy on the biblical melodrama. Alongside the Bad Seeds, then operating as a seven-piece coolly attired in suits, open-necked shirts and slicked-back hair, Cave showed how musical talent can deepen rather than ebb in mid-life, and how he was and indeed remains untouchable in terms of intellect, charisma and sheer feral energy. (Fiona Sturges)

Rex

Leonard Cohen steps onto the stage, dressed in grey shirt and tie, black waistcoat, trilby concealing his white hair. It's sweltering. And yet Cohen, in his mid Seventies, is barely breaking into a sweat. Much like his attire, the songs - such as "Dance Me to the End of Love" and "So Long, Marianne" are immaculate, his voice no longer a wail but a raw, rumbling baritone. The Spanish sun is beating down and my friends and I are genuflecting before one of the greatest lyricists of all time. This was to be the only time I saw him live and no performance has ever, in terms of pure emotional intensity, targeted me with such laser-guided precision as his rendition of "Hallelujah". The song's been covered by everyone from Jeff Buckley to Alexandra Burke, but sung by him that day, it's surely never felt as moving. (Patrick Smith)

Getty

The great Sixties and Seventies soul singers are nearly all gone now, and I doubt well ever see their like again. Bobby Womack had recovered from colon cancer but was in the early stages of Alzheimers Disease, and less than a year from his death in June 2014, when he played the UK in the summer of 2013. He came on stage on a sunny Saturday afternoon at the Latitude festival, to play songs from his brilliant comeback album, The Bravest Man in the Universe, to a basking, picnicking audience. All soul singers come from gospel, he told them. Womacks voice still seemed like a gift from God. The years of cocaine addiction hadnt altered its richness and warmth. To be in the presence of Womack that day, knowing it would likely be the last time, was very special.(Chris Harvey)

PA

Most rockstars, terrified of seeming to be trying too hard, would never dream of hiring a choreographer. But St Vincent, AKA Annie Clark, is no ordinary rockstar. For her Digital Witness tour, the musician recruited Annie B Carson to help her dream up a procession of strange, shuffling moves to perform alongside her brilliant self-titled fourth album. At End of the Road Festival a small, Dorset delight which she had played with David Byrne a year earlier her headline set was scuzzy, eccentric, and thrilling. At one point, without missing a lick on her guitar, she rolled herself down an oversized flight of white stairs like a glitching robot. Then again, no robot can play guitar like that. (Alexandra Pollard)

Getty

After 35 years away from the stage it was a moment Kate Bush fans never thought would happen. Beforehand, I was reporting from outside the venue for NME and the excitement and energy was extraordinary, like nothing I've ever experienced. One woman told me it would be fine if she died after the gig because she would die happy. The show started with a "greatest hits" section. And then it all got a bit more, well, Kate Bush, with a dramatic adaptation of "The Ninth Wave". Sinking ships, confetti cannons, surreal fish people and a soliloquy about sausages. Act three was more pastoral. The second side of "Aerial", "The Sky of Honey", was performed in front of the most beautiful visuals I've ever seen: birds, a red sun, a moon tilting on its axis and then Kate suspended into the air. Pure theatre. As we filed out, there was a sense that the audience was stunned. I still am. (Lucy Jones)

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Patti Smith was celebrating the 40th anniversary of her seminal 1975 album Horses at Field Day in Victoria Park, London, 2015. The sky was a perfect blue, and the sun was still blazing hot at 7pm. Im sorry about the dark glasses, Smith said by way of introduction. Im not trying to be cool, its just, you know the sun. Youre the f***ing coolest! a fan screamed back. From there, she and her band, including long-serving guitarist Lenny Kaye, embarked on a blistering set that had myself, and many other audience members, in tears. Smith is a ferocious performer, she spat and snarled and howled; tearing up her guitar as though it just insulted one of her favourite poets. It didnt matter if she messed up, as she did on Break it Up, because she offered the instantly immortal words: I dont do nothing perfect. I only f*** up perfect. You felt you were in the presence of something momentous. (Roisin OConnor)

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When DAngelo released his surprise third record the politically fraught Black Messiah it ended the 14-year hiatus that followed 2000s Voodoo. It also reminded music fans that the American hip-hop artist was still as monumentally talented as he was back then. Accompanied by his eight-strong band The Vanguard, his show at the Hammersmith Apollo was a visceral, quasi-religious experience. Jesse Johnson, formerly of Prince-produced outfit The Time, added funky hooks to Sugah Daddy, while legendary bassist Pino Palladino took time out from The Who's live shows to join in the fun. At one point DAngelo led a classic James Brown funk staple, holding three fingers in the air so the band could respond with three loud vamps. One encore was followed by a second that broke the curfew with free abandon, until DAngelo was left on stage alone, reflective and blissful. It inspired a divine kind of worship, for a show that was appropriately titled "The Second Coming". (Roisin OConnor)

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A week before she played Brighton, I reviewed Lordes Alexandra Palace show in London. It was a five-star performance the New Zealand musician exorcised the pain of the break-up she'd chronicled on her brilliant second album Melodrama, twitching and twirling as an abstract house party played out in glass boxes around her. The stage design was so good, in fact, that Kanye West may or may not have nicked it a year later. Seeing her in Brighton the following week, without a notepad in my hand, I saw even more clearly all the intimate nuances of her performance and was free to give in entirely to the exhilarating, heartbreaking melodrama of it all. (Alexandra Pollard)

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When youve been going to gigs for decades, you tend not to expect anything new, just variations some mind-blowing, others not on what you have seen before. So when I saw David Byrnes American Utopia show, it felt like stumbling on the Ark of the Covenant. Here was a man who had been working in music for 40 years completely redrawing the rules of pop performance no drum riser, no cables, no visible amps or microphones and taking it deep into the territory of experimental theatre. In opposition to the usual freeform live music set-up, this tour was the result of fastidious planning, with everything rehearsed to the last nanosecond. And yet, forever on the move, dressed in matching grey suits and dancing barefoot in formation, Byrne and his 12-piece band were loose-limbed, unfettered and joyous to watch. And the music was pretty great too. (Fiona Sturges)

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Before her short run at Hammersmith Apollo last year, Hlose Letissier known as Christine and the Queens, though she dropped all but the "Chris" for her second album tweeted: I think we finally have some surprises for those who come to the shows! She delivered on that promise falling snow and sand, and a balcony homage to Romeo and Juliet as she redefined what a pop show could be. With a gender-fluid cohort of athletic dancers, she brought to theatrical life her tumultuous journey towards embracing her pansexual identity, and finding liberation. And we went through all those emotions with her, those alternately tender and powerful vocals never faltering despite the restless dance routines. Everyone was on their feet dancing, and her declaration of inclusivity could not have been more empowering: Vive everyone! We left thrilled and elated. (Elisa Bray)

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Fans who were at the gig have tweeted about the show, saying Palladium staff turned the lights off and shut off the sound, leavingMadonna to argue with them before returning to the stage to sing I Rise with an unplugged microphone.

Madonna has cancelled numerous dates in her sold-outMadame Xtour, with the star suffering from an unspecified injury that she said has been causing her overwhelming pain.

Her first show at the Palladium was awarded four stars by The Independents critic Kate Hutchinson, who called the concert an eyeball-twisting audiovisual assault.

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Madonna furious as London Palladium censors her by dropping curtain and shutting off sound before end of live show - The Independent

Watch this exclusive clip fromEnhanced 2 The Max is available now on all major digital platforms.Get your digital copy today right here. In this clip, Tony Huge explains why the government and big businesses are censoring his platform and experiments.

Tony Huge sees himself as a freedom fighter first and foremost. Where others see a dangerous man using propaganda to hurt the masses he sees himself as a revolutionary that is on the verge of changing the world. After all, many great revolutionary heroes were seen as the bad guy until time proved they were on the right side of history.

In his mind, Tony Huge believes that his experiments are breaking free from a system that only researches things that can turn a profit. Big Pharma and other businesses (including the government) are afraid of solutions that are too effective because they cant make as big of a profit off those kinds of substances.

So of course, this must mean that the powers that be censor Tony Huge not because he is dangerous but because he will cut profits from their bottom line. This is just one side of the story and medical doctor Thomas OConnor has no qualms calling out Tony for his hypocrisy.

Dr. OConnor makes it clear that Tony is making a lot of money off of his own concoctions that he sells through Enhanced Athlete supplements. And that while a healthy dose of mistrust in big corporate entities is natural Tony Huge falls far beyond that into conspiracy theory territory. Perhaps the government and big businesses are censor Tony Huge because hes actually giving out dangerous and incorrect information.

Decide for yourself by watching the latest exclusive clip from Enhanced 2 The Max above. The film is now available on all major digital platforms. Grab your digital copy today by clicking here or the banner below.

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Enhanced 2 The Max Clip: Is The Government & Big Business Censoring Tony Huge? - generationiron.com

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's Budget speech was replete with geeky terms. One of them was quantum technology. "Quantum technology is opening up new frontiers in computing, communications, cyber security with wide-spread applications. It is expected that lots of commercial applications would emerge from theoretical constructs which are developing in this area," Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of Finance, said. "It is proposed to provide an outlay of Rs 8,000 crore over a period five years for the National Mission on Quantum Technologies and Applications," she announced.

One could argue India is far behind in quantum computing and the money allocated is hardly enough for a catch-up. Arvind Krishna, the new CEO of IBM, wrote a guest column for Business Today in 2018, where he highlighted that "for many business leaders, quantum computing seems like a technology that is still years away from practical use. The truth is, the technology exists and a practical quantum future is closer than we think. The field has more than 50 years of scientific advancements already behind it".

Krishna, who in 2018, was the Director of IBM Research, made several interesting points in the column. Here's what he said:

Quantum's potential: "At their most basic, quantum computers process information in a completely different way than classical computers. Instead of classical bits, binary zeros and ones that work one after another, the principles of quantum mechanics give quantum bits (or qubits) exponential compute power. Qubits can represent zeros and ones simultaneously, and they use this "superposition" capability to work together to solve problems," he wrote. "Because they're able to exist in more than one state at a time, qubits supercharge the output quantum computers can generate - enabling us to run experiments more efficiently. This could lead to everything from quantum chemistry that drives drug discovery breakthroughs, to quantum algorithms that optimize global manufacturing supply chains," he believed.

How are businesses using quantum tech: "Businesses are already using quantum computing to examine previously unsolvable problems in their industries. Automotive manufacturers are designing new materials for batteries and electronics. Financial institutions are trying to optimise risk analysis. While there is still much to be done in terms of stabilising and developing quantum systems, each breakthrough gets us closer to applications with commercial, intellectual, and societal benefits," Krishna wrote.

Skills development: The world needs more people and organisations that understand and have quantum computing skills in hardware, physics, chemistry, and computer science to write algorithms and programmes, he held. "Quantum computing must also be ubiquitous in the classroom. From computer science courses to chemistry and business classes, today's students need to understand the technology, and hopefully pursue career paths rooted in quantum computing," he said.

"Organisations, too, can get educated about the opportunities of quantum computing. The IBM Q Network has commercial relationships with a number of universities around the world to integrate quantum education into classrooms and develop academic-industry partnerships," he added. IBM Q Network is a community of Fortune 500 companies, academic institutions, start-ups and national research labs working with IBM to advance quantum computing.

"Now is the time to begin exploring what we all can do with near-term quantum computers, how to make the most of these systems, and how to prepare for the more advanced systems we will build. As with artificial intelligence - a once emerging technology that is now being widely adopted across businesses - there is work to be done now to ensure early adopters will reap the benefits of quantum computing," Krishna concluded.

Also read: IBM CEO Ginni Rometty to step down; Arvind Krishna to succeed

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IBM's new CEO Arvind Krishna explains why practical future of quantum computing is closer than we think - Business Today