The band are currently touring North America before travelling to Europe at the end of the summer. They will play just two dates in the UK – Manchester’s Academy on September 6th and London’s O2 Academy Brixton on September 16th. Their setlist from their Phoenix Concert Theatre, Toronto show gives fans a taste of what’s to come:

1. Mimizan
2. The Concubine
3. The Shrew
4. Elephant Gun
5. Vagabond
6. After the Curtain
7. Postcards From Italy
8. Scenic World
9. Santa Fe
10. A Sunday Smile
11. East Harlem
12. The Akara
13. Folks and Knives (La Fete)
14. Nantes
15. Cherbourg
16. My Night With the Prostitute From Marseille

Encore:
17. Goshen
18. Mount Wroclai
19. The Gulag Orkestar

Beirut tickets are available now.

Manchester United made their way into the quarter final draw last night after defeating Marseille 2-1 at Old Trafford to keep their treble bid alive.

According to the Evening Standard, Rooney said: “We’re really happy to get through to the quarters, I thought it was good performance because Marseille are a good side with big, strong players.

“Now we’ve got to look and see who we get. Barcelona are the favourites and are playing some great football but I’m also enjoying watching Tottenham play at the minute.”

Champions League tickets are available now

Watch the Champions League quarter-final draw live streaming online

The win, which leads to United’s fifth successive quarter-final, was cemented by Javier Hernandez who scored two goals and again looked like the ‘new Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’.

The Mexican scored in the first half after good work from Wayne Rooney, and then scored another from close range late on. Wes Brown scored an own goal at the death to ensure a tense finale, but United held on.

Manchester United tickets are available now.

Watch Manchester United v Bolton live here.

Nani and Carrick had been struggling, but have overcome problems to join the squad, along with Antonio Valencia.

However, the starting line-up has not been announced and it is unclear if any of the returning players will start. Nani was stretchered off after a high tackle from Liverpool’s Jamie Carragher just over a week ago, but may be an important player to bring some creativity to the side

Manchester United tickets are available now.

Watch Manchester United v Marseille live.

Nani trained with the first team today, confirming rumours that he would be available for the Marseille clash despite manager Alex Ferguson ruling him out last week.

“He trained on Sunday also, he and Michael Carrick, which is a better situation than I had at the weekend,” Ferguson told a news conference, referring to Saturday’s FA Cup win over Arsenal where he was forced him to field seven defenders.

“Both will be involved tomorrow.”

Manchester United tickets are available now.

Watch Manchester United v Marseille live.

The England star has won three Premier League titles and two League Cups, but the FA Cup remains elusive.

“I’m desperate to win the FA Cup,” Rooney told The Daily Mirror.

‘I’ve lost two finals so it’s on my mind. It is a massive tournament to play in and to try and win. We have a great chance this year.’

Manchester United tickets are available now.

Watch Manchester United v Marseille live.

Nani will definitely miss the FA Cup quarter final clash with Arsenal as well as Tuesday’s Champions League game with Marseille.

The Portuguese star, who has been a key player for United this term, was forced out of the Liverpool game after a vicious tackle from Jamie Carragher in the first half.

Manchester United tickets are available now

Watch Manchester United v Arsenal live.

Manchester United are always an intimidating team to face, but after looking invincible for so much of the season, their form has dipped at a time when they may need it most. An embarrassing loss to Wolves, a laboured victory over Crawley Town, and a crucial defeat to Chelsea may suggest it is a good time to face the red devils. Upcoming games against Liverpool and Marseille could also mean Sir Alex Ferguson may take his eye off the FA Cup.

Arsenal are also in an erratic run of form. A team that beat Barcelona could only draw with Leyton Orient in the FA Cup four days later. They may have smashed Orient 5-0 in the replay at the Emirates, but only after a devastating loss to Birmingham in the Carling Cup Final. Similar to United, the Gunners also have a huge match four days before the quarter-final with a visit to Barcelona.

Manchester United play to win in every competition, but it may be that Arsenal can spring a surprise as they are desperate to win some silverware. Both teams are fighting hard in the league and it could well be that whoever rolls the dice and brings out the big players, rather than too many reserves, will progress to the semi-finals.

Tickets for all football competitions, domestic and European, are available.

The last round of fixtures before Christmas in Ligue 1 sees an intriguing encounter between Marseille and Auxerre at the Stade Velodrome.

The two teams are placed fourth and fifth respectively at the time of writing and a win before the league goes on its winter break would be a real boon to each club.

Marseille find themselves six points behind leaders Bordeaux but with a game in hand. They are currently level on points with Auxerre and third placed Lille though they have two matches in hand over them both.

The form of striker Mamadou Niang will be vital to their push with the Senegal international the top goalscorer at the club. His playing partner Brandao has failed to sparkle this season and manager Didier Deschamps will be hoping he gets some shooting boots from Santa Claus.

Auxerre’s success has been based on a mean defence with only Toulouse and Bordeaux conceding less than their 14 goals. In contrast, they have scored the least out of any of the teams in the top twelve and they will need to find some goals from somewhere if they want to turn a promising start into a good campaign.

A potent attack against a miserly back four – something has got to give.

Tickets for Marseille v Auxerre are still available with prices starting at £45.

Compare and buy Ligue 1 tickets online now.

It’s crunch time in Group C of the UEFA Champions League with three teams all vying for the two qualification spots.

Real Madrid, AC Milan and Marseille could each go through, conversely any could potentially exit the competition at this early stage.

Madrid currently top the group and even a defeat away to Marseille should see them qualify. However, if Milan win at FC Zurich and Los Merengues lose by three goals or more at the Stade Velodrome, Florentino Perez’s new ‘Galacticos’ will face the ignominy of playing in the UEFA Europa League.

Marseille know they have to win to have any chance of going through. Only a shocking refereeing performance by Howard Webb stopped the French club recording a famous victory at the San Siro last time out which would have given them a distinct edge over the Rossoneri going into the final round of fixtures.

On the surface it’s hard to look beyond the Italians and Spanish qualifying but Milan have been erratic this season and Real Madrid are about as predictable as a lottery draw.

Expect the unexpected.

Compare and buy football tickets online now.

Folllowing the conclusion of the Autumn Internationals – with the exception of the Barbarians clash with New Zealand at Twickenham this weekend – the new IRB world rankings have been released and they have certainly raised a few eyebrows.

The main talking point is that England, despite a highly disappointing November campaign, actually climbed up the rankings to sixth spot in the word from a previous position of seventh.  They remain above Argentina – whom they narrowly beat at Twickenham but have overhauled a much-vaunted Wales side.

Wales were well beaten by Australia in their final game and were also dispatched by the All Blacks but it seems rather harsh that they have been demoted to eighth in the world.

Ireland recorded a dramatic 15-10 victory over world champions South Africa at Croke Park which has lifted them to fourth above France who were totally obliterated by a sensational New Zealand performance in Marseille.

The All Blacks claim the number one spot for the end of 2009 with the Springboks and the Wallabies second and third respectively.

Compare and buy rugby union tickets online now.

The group stages of the UEFA Champions league is coming to a close and some big names are in the last chance saloon as they bid to qualify for the second round of the competition.

Liverpool have already crashed out and Bayern Munich, AC Milan, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, Barcelona and Juventus will all be hoping to avoid the same fate.

AC Milan must win at FC Zurich to ensure their safe passage while a draw in Marseille will confirm Real Madrid in the next stage. There is a winner takes all clash in Turin as Juventus meet Bayern Munich with Bordeaux already though as group winners. Barcelona need just a point from their final game and Inter Milan will scrape through with a similar result against the surprise package of the season, Rubin Kazan.

Compare and buy UEFA Champions League tickets online now.

This weekend sees the culmination of the Autumn Internationals as far as the northern hemisphere nations are concerned.

There is a prestige friendly on December 5^th when a Barbarians invitational XV takes on New Zealand at Twickenham but for Wales, Ireland, Scotland, France and Italy their last matches before the Six Nations Championship take place this weekend – England’s programme ended in defeat against the All Blacks last Saturday.

There are two particularly mouth-watering matches taking place. In Marseille at the Stade Velodrome, France take on New Zealand in a fixture that has always had something about it. Twice France have eliminated the All Blacks from the World Cup yet they have also suffered some massive defeats to them on home soil. France’s tour of New Zealand in the summer yielded a victory and a narrow defeat and the home side will be take significant encouragement from that.

At Croke Park in Dublin, the best of both hemispheres clash as Ireland take on South Africa. The reigning Six Nations champions face the Tri-Nations champions in what is something of an unofficial world championship though the Springboks will be keen to point out that it is they that are actually the World Cup holders. Ireland snuck a last minute draw against Australia two weeks ago and know they will have to up their game against South Africa even if the tourists have massively underperformed so far in Europe.

Wales face Australia in Cardiff in another attractive fixture with the Wallabies keen to erase memories of last weekend’s shock 9-8 defeat at Murrayfield. Their conquerors, Scotland, take on Argentina this weekend while Italy face the power and bulk of Samoa.

Compare and buy rugby union tickets online now.

Just two matchdays remain in the group stages of the UEFA Champions League and the pressure is beginning to mount.

Seven clubs have already qualified for the knockout stages – Chelsea, Porto, Manchester United, Arsenal, Bordeaux, Lyon and Sevilla – though issues such as who will top their respective groups and thus get a more favourable draw in the next round are still to be settled.

The most significant casualty so far in the competition this season would appear to be Liverpool as they are currently on the verge of a shock exit from a tournament that they have won on five occasions. A win for Fiorentina at Lyon in their next outing would condemn Rafael Benitez and his men to the UEFA Europa League.

Defending champions Barcelona are also in an uncomfortable position though not nearly as precarious as Liverpool. They sit third in Group F but with just two points separating all four teams they should be able to secure the necessary results to move into the next round.

Bayern Munich, however, are hanging by a thread with a victory away at Juventus on the final day almost certainly required for the Bavarians to have any chance of qualifying. Failure to do so would be a catastrophe for manager Louis Van Gaal who spent a vast amount of money in the summer overhauling his squad.

Neither AC Milan nor Real Madrid are assured of qualification either. The teams occupy the two top spots in Group C but with Marseille lurking ominously a point behind the pair there is still scope for an upset.

It is going to be a nervy few weeks for many clubs around Europe.

Compare and buy UEFA Champions League tickets online now.