Kiss me lots, pay me more

Gene Simmons reckons to have slept with 4,600 women in his 32-year rock career. Fiona Sturges wasn't 4,601
Read more...

Tom Waits, Hammersmith Apollo

At £65 a ticket you'd hope to be left slack-jawed in wonder by stage hydraulics, flame-throwers, dancing girls and at least a dozen costume changes. But supply and demand being what it is, instead we get an old goat in a dusty suit shaking a pair of maracas.
Read more...

Brian Eno: The professor of pop

Brian Eno's reputation as the egghead of contemporary music precedes him. But while he can explain the links between architecture and doo-wop, he doesn't have a clue how to write a hit. Read more...

Natalie Merchant: the thinking man's Madonna

'You can be well known but still live under the radar,' the songwriter tells Fiona Sturges
Read more...

Lemmy: Motor mouth

For 30 years, Lemmy has been famous as the bourbon-swillin', fast-talkin' frontman of Motorhead, the world's loudest band. And it's not just an act, as Fiona Sturges discovers when she met him at his local in LA Read more...

Goldfrapp, Brighton Dome, Brighton

One thing's for sure about Goldfrapp, they certainly know when they're on to a good thing. Whatever misgivings you might have about their latest sound (think Gary Numan meets Erotica-era Madonna), they've clearly backed a winner with the whole sex bomb thing.
Read more...

Ms Dynamite: Mother courage

Having a baby might mellow some artists. Not Ms Dynamite. She's keener then ever to tell us what's on her mind - and get something done about it. Fiona Sturges meets her
Read more...

The Dandy Warhols: The big picture

The Dandy Warhols may have sold their music for a mobile-phone commercial and sparred with their rivals on the big screen, but they haven't sold out. Fiona Sturges hears why
Read more...

The reluctant revolutionary

Tracy Chapman was an Eighties staple, usually seen at political events. Although the spotlight has come off her, she's been quietly making music all the while. By Fiona Sturges
Read more...

Princess Superstar: The X-rated princess diaries

By rights, Princess Superstar, aka Concetta Kirchner, should be bestriding hip-hop like a platinum-haired, stiletto-heeled Colossus. Widely, if unimaginatively, touted as "the female Eminem", the New York rapper's sound is one part Peaches to two parts Missy Elliot, while her look - all fishnets and red nails - is more "Holiday"-era Madonna.
Read more...

The original shark tale

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the cinema... Fiona Sturges on the anniversary of the first blockbuster
Read more...

A life of grime

A vibrant sub-culture is emerging from the tower blocks and clubs of some of Britain's most deprived areas. Fiona Sturges charts its rise
Read more...

Theatre review - Some Girls Are Bigger Than Others, Lyric Hammersmith, London

It was always going to be a risk. If ever there was a group whose songs should not be tampered with, it's The Smiths. The band are viewed as the most influential act of the Eighties and Morrissey one of its icons. Mess it up, and the Morrissey mafia will come down on you like a ton of bricks.
Read more...

Sleepover: Hotel Triton

A bed for the night in San Francisco
By Fiona Sturges
Sunday, 3 July 2005
The Independent on Sunday

The location

In the heart of Downtown between the Theater District and Chinatown and with Union Square nearby.

The USP

Celebrity-designed suites courtesy of Carlos Santana, the Red Hot Chilli Peppers' Anthony Kiedis, the Grateful Dead's Jerry Garcia and actor Woody Harrelson. Designs vary from zebra-print headboards and burnished orange walls to more tasteful brown and cream. "Eco rooms" have air filtration units, energy-saving lighting and organically grown linens and towels. All rooms have recycling bins and even the cleaning products are kind to the planet.

The comfort factor

All the rooms are sound-proofed, air-conditioned and have huge, low beds. Guests can send for a free yoga kit and tune in to the 24-hour Yoga channel. Zen Dens are primed for full relaxation with incense sticks, mechanical chimes and The Book of Buddha on the bedside table. Satellite TV and the internet are in every room.

The bathroom

Small but sparklingly clean, with Aveda toiletries and your very own rubber duck.

Food and drink

There is no restaurant. Early evening drinks are served amid the golden columns and plum-coloured sofas in the lobby. The European-style Café de la Presse next door does a good breakfast.

The people

Definitely a young person's hotel, it's a favourite among musicians and media types. The staff can take the relaxed ethos a bit too far, however: checking in and out took ages and a white shirt was bundled up with the bed linen, never to be seen again.

The area

Should all your clothes go, the streets around Grant Avenue are stuffed with boutiques, lurking in the shadow of Union Square's bastions of consumerism: Macy's, Saks 5th Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman. Across the street is the entrance to Chinatown. You will have to hop in a cab to seeGolden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz.

The access

All the rooms, except the designer celebrity suites, can be reached by wheelchairs. Children and pets welcome.

The damage

Rates start at $124 (£68) per night though check the website for special offers.

The address

342 Grant Avenue, San Francisco (001 415 394 0500; www.hoteltriton.com)

Roisin Murphy: Dressed to kill

Moloko's singer Roisin Murphy - almost as famous for her clothes as her music - is back as a solo artist.
Read more...