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TICKETS FROM: Venue Box Offices, Glasgow: Virgin; Edinburgh: Virgin 8 Ripping; Aberdeen: One Up; Dundee: Grouchos; Perth: Goldrush. CREDIT CARDS: Didi 287 55", 0870 7300 247 (lo-coll), 0l4l 339 8383

54 THE U81 26 Aug-9 Sep 1999

festival

MUSIC/SPOKEN WORD PREVIEW Ken Kesey

The aim, of course, was always to go further; further across the country in a bus decorated in a daydream kaleidoscope of colour, further into the minds of the Mid- West public that they set out to either educate or corrupt, depending on who you believe, further into the heart of the quickly disintegrating American Dream, further into their own minds, fried as they were by a combination of CIA-engineered LSD and psychotically powerful marijuana, further into . . . well, into anything they could think of.

Edinburgh or bus: Ken Kesey

The Merry Pranksters, led by novelist-turned-hippy-icon Ken Kesey and his partner in crime of 40 years, Ken Babbs, were the original drop-outs; in the psychedelically-painted Magic Bus, driven by the slowly-disintegrating Neal Cassady, they set out to enlighten the good people of America on the pleasures of heavy acid and having fun. This summer, they've been touring the outer reaches of the UK, culminating in a return visit to the Flux Festival in Princes Street Gardens. With heavy-duty back-up in the form of the warped wall-of-noise-blues of Spiritualized, and the experimental art terrorism of the K Foundation's Jimmy Cauty, it’s going to be a case of getting on the bus, or being dragged under its wheels. (Leon McDermott) I Ken Kesey And The Magic Bus, Plus Very Special Guests (Fringe/Flux) Queens

Hall, 668 2019, Sat 29 Aug, 8pm, £72.50.

ROCK PREVIEW Planet Pop: Week Four

Tick. Tick . . . Planet Pop, just three weeks after it splash-landed into this mouldy ol’ sphere for the last time this century, is set to leave us once again, shifting impatiently on its axis, ready to break free and spin off into the outer reaches of the cosmos for another year's sabbatical.

In other, somewhat less effusive words, Planet Pop 99 Edinburgh’s dandiest pop-fest - is nearly over. And though there were disappointments Subcircus pulling out, Rico turning up - on the whole it all went swimmingly. Co-organiser Deke Patton (The Outlaw to you and I) noticed a marked increase in ticket sales this year and cites Roots Manuva and Snow Patrol as particular highlights. Indeed, Snow Patrol reckon their sell-out gig on the 14 Aug to be their best yet.

Elsewhere, Cha Cha Cohen brought some welcome Noo Yolk sass to the party, Superstar proved categorically that beer tastes better when salted with tears, astrid parted their fringes and wombled free and the Newtown Grunts swore and went to the toilet a lot.

As for local talent, well, Khaya invited us once more into their increasingly worrying/worryingly entertaining world while Ellis strummed, hummed and made normally rash people hug their

neighbour and beam like split bananas.

Gilded Lil woke the dead with their Hammer-Horror blooz, Blacka'nized kept it improbably real and The Zephyrs showed why, in Heaven, the angels all play pedal-steel guitars. Ah yes, ’twas a big heap 0' fun. And still there's more to come. Local noise-

cadets Houdini will be doing their spiky, vaguely lam-esque thing as support to experimental guitar-worriers Bardo Pond on Sun 29 Aug while, at the Liquid Rooms on Tue 31 Aug, Sparklehorse - the thinking country- fan’s Garth Brooks (and they can use that on their posters) will be ringing out Planet Pop's final moments with a must-see-on-pain-of-being-branded- eternally-unhip performance. With support from Edinburgh upstarts Pilotcan, the last night on Planet Pop should be a big-bang blast to shame the heavens. Tick. Tick. Boom. (Paul Whitelaw)

- Tickets are on sale in Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh Fopp! Stores. Planet Pop runs up until 37 Aug.

MUSIC PREVIEW Mainpoint

You’re spoilt for choice, The Kids, you really are. You thought the summer festival season was over, but all is not lost hot on the heels of Planet Pop comes Mainpoint. This seventeen-day festival of live alternative music, organised by the Cas Rock, seems to have been shrouded in mystery until now, so we bring you news of it somewhat late in the day; but it's well worth freeing up your diary for the second week of it. Even as we speak, lots of local acts and Cas Rock regulars are jostling with imported bands and DJs in a packed programme. Upcoming highlights include long-serving, underrated local rockers AC Acoustics (Thu 26 Aug), Sace and Stevie Christie from feted local hip hoppers NT (Sat 28 Aug), noisy newcomers The Silver Pill (Tue 31 Aug) and lush jazzy swooners Pollen (Wed 1 Sep). With drink promotions every night and a