With Blur's summer reunion now behind him, the band's drummer Dave Rowntree is preparing himself for what could be the biggest gig of his life.

Forget headlining Glastonbury or Hyde Park, Rowntree is now putting all his efforts into securing a seat in the House of Commons at the next UK general election. He'll be representing the Labour Party in the Cities of London and Westminster seat, traditionally a Conservative Party stronghold.

Despite this however, in an interview with BBC London, Rowntree insisted he doesn't consider himself to be a politician: "I am an activist, one of millions of activists up and down the country and I am campaigning in my neighbourhood for things to be better. I am one of the grunts really."

He went on to outline the main issues that he will base his campaign around. "The biggest issue in Westminster is housing. It is a particular concern of mine because it sits at the top of a pyramid of lots of other issues. If there is bad housing then you will also get drug problems, mental health problems, unemployment, crime and anti-social behaviour."

They might be seasoned festival headliners now but the Arctic Monkeys are a little short on arena show experience. Given that the band are about to embark on a major winter arena tour in the UK, lead singer Alex Turner has revealed that he's been out and about seeking inspiration from some unlikely sources.

He told the NME: "I'd never been to a gig in an arena. But recently, knowing we've got this tour coming up, I've been trying to dip my toe into that. So I've seen Britney Spears at The O2, I saw Kylie [Minogue] the other week, and we went to see Beyonce in Japan - to try and see how it pans out."

However, fans expecting the multiple costume changes and elaborate theatrics of Ms. Spears and Ms. Knowles may be a bit disappointed. "There's not gonna be circus performers or bass solos," Turner said. "Beyonce had an all-girl band and one of them was doing these daft bass solos. No, there's not gonna be any horn sections."

New York trio the Yeah Yeah Yeahs are to celebrate their tenth birthday in style at the All Tomorrow's Parties tenth anniversary weekend in December.

Festival organisers have announced that the band will be performing their debut album 'Fever to Tell' in its entirety as the "first part" of their show at the event, the NME reported.

The band was previously announced as part of a line up featuring other past curators of the much-loved festival, including the Melvins, Explosions in the Sky and the Dirty Three.

U2's gig at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin for MTV's European Music Awards went ahead on Thursday night (Nov. 5), with a guest appearance from Jay-Z.

The rapper -- who played a show at London's Alexandra Palace venue just 24-hours prior to his surprise appearance -- was introduced by Bono as "the Mayor of New York City." He then performed a rap over the U2 classic 'Sunday Bloody Sunday' which featured lyrics from Bob Marley's 'Get Up, Stand Up'.

U2 also played the track 'One,' from their 1991 album 'Achtung Baby,' which was inspired by the fall of the Berlin Wall 20 years ago.

The free show -- planned to mark the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall -- caused huge controversy after organisers erected a two-metre-high barrier around the site. This meant that anyone not holding one of 10,000 free tickets, previously given away online, would not be able to see any of the show. Berlin police had been expecting at least 100,000 people to descend on the square in front of the iconic gate.

Green Day, Katy Perry, Beyonce and many more showed up to this year's installment of the MTV Europe Music Awards. Flip through photos of all the action in Berlin below.

Covering a Beatles song is like taking up residence in the Great Pyramid: The foundation is unshakable, but anything you bring along for decoration is bound to lower the property value. Of the thousands of artists who have tried, only a few have made themselves at home in the band's music.

The Jam, 'And Your Bird Can Sing'

The Clash may have chided "phony Beatlemania," but in the punk era there was more than enough Beatlesque melodicism to go around. The Jam's Paul Weller was more Fab than most of his peers, acknowledging the debt with this spirited, well-chosen homage.

It's always been a tall task to cover the Beatles. Frank Sinatra called 'Something' "the greatest love song ever written," then went out, night after night, and put a hurting on it: "You stick around, Jack, it might show." If the Chairman of the Board couldn't do the song justice, where does that leave Telly Savalas?

Goldie Hawn, 'A Hard Day's Night'

For misguided Beatles covers, look no further than producer George Martin's retirement tribute to his own work, which featured the likes of Robin Williams and Jim Carrey mangling the Fab Four canon. Here the mother of Kate Hudson attempts a kittenish lounge version of a rambunctious rocker. At one point she ad-libs the word "switcheroonie." Seriously.