WILL STONE fact-checks the colourful life of Ozzy Osbourne
No moribund nostalgia-fest from the Hersham crew
Jimmy Pursey
[Man Alive!/flickr] 
JAMES CROSSLEY applauds a lucid biography of the German radical preacher who reemerged as a hero in the GDR
Prizes all round: the Bard hands plaudits to the Miners Gala, OT&JC, Joe Solo, Black Sabbath’s frontman and the Lionesses
Star cartoonist JAMIE BRITTON is in awe of a graphic novel of epic proportions that explores class, religion and globalisation via the strange cultivation of Ginseng in the US Midwest
GUILLERMO THOMAS is intrigued by a history of the Middle East that demonstrates how promising post colonial beginnings were snuffed out by Western imperialist interests
MARIA DUARTE recommends the intricate study of a high-performance and highly dysfuntional German family
Sham 69
O2 Academy, London
AFTER years of varied and disputatious line-ups, these days the real Sham 69 appear in more or less their classical form, with Dave Parsons on guitar, Dave Tregunna on bass, Robin Guy on drums and, of course, Jimmy Pursey on vocals.
Pursey, in his mid-sixties and looking more like a vexatious hound dog than ever, retains the fervent charisma that has long made him one of punk’s most exciting frontmen, while Parsons, fit, lean and sharp, still commands attention by his side.
With the flamboyant Guy assaulting the drums and Tregunna intense beneath his baseball cap, Sham serve up a ferocious set that’s surprisingly refreshing even though it’s based around songs that first saw the light of day more than 40 years ago.
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PETER MASON is wowed (and a little baffled) by the undeniably ballet-like grace of flamenco
PETER MASON is surprised by the bleak outlook foreseen for cricket’s future by the cricketers’ bible
PETER MASON is enthralled by an assembly of objects, ancient and modern, that have lain in the mud of London’s river
PETER MASON applauds a thought-provoking study of the relationship between a grieving woman and her photographer
