I do a folk radio show and desperately want to work in some Grateful Dead tracks onto the show. I know very little about them - apart from their famous love of bootleggers! - However everytime  I go to listen to a track - it seems to me that they would be a great bunch of mates to jam with - but pretty boring to watch? Is that fair comment?

Perhaps a bit harsh, but my post recently about Poor Man's version of .... bands prompted a few cutting remarks - about other bands and the ones i chose. Thanks for all the other suggestions. I will be commenting on them in the future (which based upon the regularity and efficiency of this blog will be the year 25 25 and Zager and someone said).
But i have been listening to a few artists recently who i had read about and can now conclude -
Paul Davis (American 70s singer songwriter who died in 2008 - not the Happy Mondays musician) was a pale imitation of Billy Joel - almost down to every refrain!
The soulful but very generic plastic success that is James Morrison is beginning to move from boyish insipid to sound like a poor man's Terence Trent D'Arby on his new singles (why am i listening to these? I don't know!) But if you don't know TTD's Sign your name - download it now and give that classic LP a spin! Even better check out some cheesey vids on youtube!

 Dublin for most bands (because of geography really) is either the first - or mostly the last night of a (European) tour. That can be a blessing or a curse. 

It is a tough balance to strike for a touring band. The last night of a tour can and should be firstly a cause for celebration, as well as a celebration in itself. However as well as having overcome the first few nights nerves and teething problems you then run the risk of falling into the formulaic trap bordering on the apathy of ‘going through the motions’.

How do you overcome that? I know when I worked a 40 hour week I was bored stiff of my daily and weekly and even monthly routines!  As much as 'Satisfaction' is a classic song, without a doubt, the Rolling Stones must be sick to the back teeth of performing it perhaps 200 nights some years! If i was sympthising then it would be the smallest violin in the world I'd be playing, but still it must be mind numbingly boring to know that for perhaps 1000 minutes of the year you are playing that song!