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Somerset House 2010 Line-up a Little More Divine with: Gil Scott-Heron and The Divine Comedy

Posted: 14 years ago
The Summer Series

The more astute of you may have been wondering why a couple of dates during the Somerset House summer season were left blank - wonder no more because two huge crowd-pleasers have been added to the roster.

First up is Gil Scott-Heron, a man so damn cool it would be rude not to call him a legend - so we will. He plays on 14th July and tickets (£32 + fees) go on sale at 9am tomorrow (Thurs 1st April). 2010 has been another interesting spike in the poet-rap laureate's life with the release of the biographical album 'I'm New Here' and it's resplendent accompanying single 'Me and the Devil', yet the man has been making music since the late 60s, crafting lyrical and provocative vignettes such as 'The Revolution will Not be Televised', 'Whitey on the Moon', 'Johannesburg' and 'The Bottle'. This is one hot ticket [you've got that right - his other two London dates are long-since sold-out! - Ed].

The other big name confirmed for the 17th July is the very English and very debonair Neil Hannon, otherwise known as The Divine Comedy. Whilst being a different ball-park to Scott-Heron, Hannon and occasional 'co' uses the English-language to its humourous limits, creating some cracking indie-pop classics such as 'Something for the Weekend', 'Everybody Knows', 'National Express' and the Father Ted theme 'Songs of Love' (minus the vocals).

He might have ditched the suits a few years ago but he hasn't ditched the tunes. A new album, 'Bang Goes the Knighthood' is mooted for release in the spring. Tickets are no sale now and cost £25.

Paul Pledger