Enjoy MILLER GENUINE DRAFT Sensibly. Visit Film Interview Gavan O Doing his Youre chasing something: wealth, fame, whatever. For many, it doesnt cut it The Irish-American actor tells Pavel Barter about his latest role STAYING IN Boxsets for music lovers The Mars Volta In Town Tonight Prog rock wig-outs and jazz noodling collide, from a band that occasionally features drop-in guitarist John Frusciante of Red Hot Chili Peppers Tonight, Olympia Theatre, 72 Dame St D2, 7.30pm, 35. Tel: 0818 719 300. www.themarsvolta.com The Snowman Movie Raymond Briggs magical animation is brought to life by the NCH Orchestra performing Howard Blakes iconic score live Today, National Concert Hall, Earlsfort Terrace D2, 11.30am, 2pm, 4.30pm & 7pm, 15 to 65. Tel: (01) 417 0000. www.nch.ie metro Arts & Entertainment life Book Now Pearl Jam While grunge didnt exactly die with Kurt Cobain, the emergence of Britpop certainly eclipsed its gnarly guitars and moshpit- ready hair. But Pearl Jam played on regardless. Thinking womans crumpet Eddie Vedder (pictured) had a trim along the way but the Seattle band are stronger than ever thanks to current album Backspacer, which harks back to their older glories (Even Flow, Alive, Daughter) while injecting it with a bit of gasp! joie de vivre. Tickets on sale tomorrow Jun 22, The O2, East Link Bridge, North Wall Quay D1, 6.30pm, 59.80. Tel: 0818 719 300. www.pearljam.com 14 metrolife Thursday, December 10, 2009 ory horror flick The Descent: Part 2 might not be a patch on its predecessor, but actor Gavan OHerlihy stands out in it as a sheriff who ventures into an underground cavern system to discover a tribe of feral monsters. To say that he meets a nasty end is something of an understatement: after having his hand hacked off, he falls into a chasm with two flesh-eating maniacs. OHerlihy, 55, has, after all, experienced more on-screen deaths than JFK. In Sean Connerys Bond swansong, Never Say Never Again, he was killed by a poisonous snake; in fantasy epic Willow he was stabbed; and in Death Wish III, Charles Bronson finished him off with an anti- aircraft rocket (leaving nothing but a smoking shoe). After four decades in the business, however, it was the actors ambition that was ultimately killed off. Maybe I dont need this job, he says, as he muses on the downside of being a movie actor. Spending so much time away from family and friends while on set can, OHerlihy admits, take its toll. Youre in hotel rooms eight months a year. If you G Queen Absolute Greatest EMI Do Queen fans have particularly lucrative memory banks? Absolute Greatest follows several mega-selling Queen best of albums, and whittles the classic rockers massive back catalogue down to a fairly modest 20 tracks (no Fat Bottomed Girls, sadly). The basic CD holds no surprises, but showcases their fantastically solid hits and the inimitable lung-busting swagger of late frontman Freddie Mercury, from We Will Rock You and Radio Ga Ga to Who Wants To Live Forever (and yes, Bohemian Rhapsody). The hardback book box format offers more interest, featuring handwritten lyrics, band photos through the ages and an audio commentary disc where Brian May and Roger Taylor blather over the tunes, revealing fun facts such as: Mercury took ten minutes to write Crazy Little Thing Called Love, in a Bavarian bathroom. Its like a pop annual for grown-ups. Arwa Haider Kraftwerk: The Catalogue Kling Klang/Mute If any music act has seemed engineered for the 21st-century digital age, its Kraftwerk. They might have emerged as musical mad scientists in the late 1960s, but they shaped into a universal catalyst for all kinds of music fans. In 2009, they stole the live show at summer festivals and their albums have been digitally remastered, available separately or as The Catalogue. This boxset houses eight CDs with new artwork plus record-sized booklets for each album. The tweaks here are subtle, the sound quality crisp and the music is always revelatory, including the electronic voyages of Autobahn and Trans Europe Express (1977). Kraftwerks later works have rebooted their sound for the club scene 1991s muscular The Mix still impresses and while the humans behind Kraftwerk are greying enigmas, their robot doppelgangers remain iconic megastars. AH Various: Three Score And Ten: A Voice To The People Topic This lavish seven-disc set commemorates 70 years of Topic records, Britains oldest independent record label and an invaluable archive of 20th century English, Scottish and Irish grassroots folk to which three discs are respectively devoted here. Ireland Boys, Hurrah features Sean OShea and Bobby Caseys The Yellow Tinker/The Humours Of Scariff (recorded in a North London Irish pub in 1968). Theres a host of Irish nationalist ballads (Dominic Behans The Patriot Game) and traditional folk music from artists such as uilleann pipe player Willie Clancy, the Armagh singer Sarah Makem and Margaret Barry singing and playing the banjo on the eloquent The Factory Girl from 1955. Elsewhere, theres Ewan MacColl with his classic Dirty Old Town, Sheffield-based slide guitarist Martin Simpson and the intriguing Oldham Tinkers. Claire Allfree index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html24.html25.html26.html27.html