Pete Doherty live in Wimborne, with his family, and the dog

What a lovely way to see a performer – in a small theatre with some new performers, and his wife, toddler daughter and a rock’n’roll dog. I was like popping around a friend’s house, and it was his birthday.

Paul Heaton live at Kingston Pryzm

My first visit, at last, to this rather special venue which manages to host an amazing range of live music gems – today I am here for the early show by Paul Heaton, accompanied these days by the excellent Rianne Downey.

The Damned – live in Bristol

A tour that draws strongly on tracks from The Black Album, Machine Gun Etiquette and Strawberries, with Rat Scabies back on the drums, brings out one of my favourite Damned gigs of recent years. Tonight is my thirteenth time of seeing them, with a variety of line ups since Hammersmith Odeon in 1980.