There has been a dramatic surge in traffic here over the last day or two.  A quick check on the logs of incoming links shows that most of the new faces came here via http://www.bbc.co.uk/later/ and a quick look there shows that they have a little section on there now with links to blogs about Later, which includes a link to my post about Metallica.

While I was there I was reminded that this week’s live show is on tonight.  David Gilmour is on, which is always a treat, and so is Roots Manuva.  That should be interesting. I have a feeling that the pleasant surprise this week may be Katy Perry: from what I have heard she has a bit more substance to her than might be expected on the basis of her current hit single.

And there is Elbow too.  I am going to try and enjoy them.  For some reason they have passed me by completely although surely they are the sort of band I should like so tonight I shall go out of my way to hear them.

Update:

• Loved Elbow‘s first song with that Appalachian guitar and fuzzy bass.
• Katy Perry was good, but the surprise package was Imelda May.  The sort of act that you see in a venue like the Half Moon, Putney that brings the house down.  You know they are unlikely to reach mainstream attention and that its an injustice, but at the same time you feel glad you saw them in that sort of place.  A bit like seeing Alias Ron Kavana back in the early 90s.
• I am definitely going to expand my collection of Roots Manuva CDs.  Again UK urban music shows itself to be more interesting than a lot of the US stuff, owing as much to reggae as to hiphop.
• David Gilmour – brilliant.  A reminder of just how good the old psychedelic Floyd were. Looking forward to seeing what other tunes he plays on the Friday show.