Monsters, Beliebers and other fan-tribes

SMALL PRINT: IF YOU see a gaggle of "Little Monsters" in Dublin tomorrow night, all beetling towards the Aviva stadium, don't panic – it's just Lady Gaga's fans on their way to her concert. These days, no self-respecting pop star can be seen dead without their signature fan-tribe. You might be accosted by "Beliebers", eager to convert you to the cult of teen popster Justin Beiber. Or you may find yourself under attack from "Mayniacs", because you dared suggest that rising star Conor Maynard may be a little bit on the twee side.

In the 1960s, the “Deadheads” followed The Grateful Dead on their never-ending tour – not stopping even when Jerry Garcia died. In the 1980s, shopping centres were overrun by “Cureheads” in flop-mops and raincoats. REM always had a devoted following, but their singer attracted a particularly avid sub-group of fans known as “Distiples”. And where would the mighty Aidan Walsh, aka The Master of the Universe, be without his “Happy Slaves”? Still ruling minor galaxies, I’ll bet.

Today’s pop stars are catching on to the tribal trend, but not all of them get it right – “Directioners”? D’uh! So, let’s start a hashtag (#poptribes) and help these stars name their flock. Here are 10 to get you started.

1. The Grimlins – fiends for goth idol Aiden Grimshaw

2. The Minajerie – they’re an animal for Nicki Minaj

3. Peasants of Leon – blindly following the Followills.

4. The Peas’ Corps – volunteering for service to Fergie and Will.I.Am

5. Flowers’ Children – a cult blossoms around the Killers’ frontman.

6. Scriptonites – they’ve got a weakness for pop superhero Danny O’Donoghue

7. The Jep Set – flying the flag for Carly Rae

8. Tempah’s Tantrums – they want their Tinie – now!

9. The Rita Maids – single girls pounding the pavements for Ms Ora

10. The Azealiots – Extremely devoted to Ms Banks.

- Kevin Courtney

Retro card game comes up Trumps

Readers of a certain age might have hazy memories of Top Trumps, sadly unaware that it’s still captivating audiences today – from grown-up hipsters to pre-teen kids.

For the uninitiated, it’s a card game of comparisons and statistics, with players swapping, comparing and competing with numerical data to win. Each set of cards has a theme, and subjects range from vehicles to pop culture staples to (my favourite) dinosaurs.

By today’s standards, the pastime might be considered niche and low-fi, but the game has proven stubbornly resilient, partly thanks to its simplicity and charm, and also because of some neat marketing innovations.

It’s mildly ironic that one of the promoters of Top Trumps is Borderlands 2, a gleefully violent videogame. Developers 2K Games are giving away Top Trumps cards with their new title, Borderlands 2 in a small number of retail outlets. The Borderlands-themed Top Trumps packs will be given to the first 5,000 customers to pre-order the game.

However, the retro game isn’t just for nostalgic gamers: British Olympian Steve Redgrave will take part in a rowing event today in Windsor with five youngsters who found golden Top Trumps cards and won a place on the boat. Redgrave won gold at five consecutive Olympic Games, which makes him a pretty formidable card to play in the recent Top Trumps: Olympic Legends.–

Joe Griffin