Charles Criscenzo, a 53-year-old French worker, was killed outright in the accident and Charles Prow, a 23-year-old from Headingley in Leeds, died in hospital. Technicians had been setting up the stage at the city's Velodrome stadium when the partially-built roof fell in on Thursday, bringing down a crane.
Madonna paid tribute to the technicians at her concert in Italy on Thursday. "I just wanted to take a moment to acknowledge and pay tribute to two people who lost their lives today," she told fans at the Fruili Stadium in Udine. "It's a great tragedy to me. I feel so devastated to be in any way associated with anyone's suffering. Let's all just take a moment to say a prayer for Charles Criscenzo and Charlie Prow. Our hearts go out to their family and loved ones."
Free for All - Liverpool City Council has unveiled the most diverse programme in the 17-year history of the Mathew Street Music Festival. Highlights of Europe's biggest free annual music festival include shows by Liverpool bands China Crisis and The Christians plus special guest appearances by rock drummer Alan White, formerly of 70s supergroup Yes, who also performed on John Lennon's Imagine and George Harrison's My Sweet Lord, and guitarist Albert Lee. And for the first time at the festival there will be stages hosting Country and Irish music, with a record eleven different themes programmed across six outdoor stages over the Sunday and Monday of the 30-31 August Bank Holiday weekend.
More than 200,000 people are expected in Liverpool for the festival, which is organised by Culture Liverpool at Liverpool City Council, and acts as the climax of International Beatles Week. Councillor Gary Millar, executive member for enterprise and tourism, said,''The Mathew Street Music Festival is a hugely important cultural event providing a great platform for music lovers of all tastes to celebrate live music in such a unique way - for free. The city should be proud of the way it has grown and it now gives Liverpool's hotel and tourism sector a massive boost, so everyone's a winner at August Bank Holiday.''
Something Old, Something New - The BBC Proms, the largest classical music festival in the world, has got under way in London. This year's Proms will feature 100 concerts, from Royal Albert Hall performances to Proms in the Park, over the next eight weeks. The BBC Symphony Orchestra opened the festival with a celebration of Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky. Director of the Proms, Roger Wright, said there would be a mixture of classics and newer works. "We commission lots of new music for the Proms itself and also give the first performances of other works and works new to the UK."
The 2009 season features 100 concerts - up from 88 last year - and will see its first ever Bollywood concert which will feature Indian TV star Shaan, his band and a troupe of dancers at the Royal Albert Hall. Other highlights include new work by drum and bass artist Goldie. He has composed a piece on the theme of evolution, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin's On The Origin Of The Species. The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain will perform re-workings of well-known pieces.
(Jim Evans)
