RE: Joy Division Tribute album - How could you not absolutely adore the Kendra Smith (did mention it, but only briefly) and Codiene tracks? They both catured the original spirit and added new spirit to the tracks.

Thanks for your review of the new Joan Baez album. It is a real gem and I can't get enough of it. I'm a big Baez appreciator, and travel a lot to see her. She's very special musically and mentally!! - Jim S.

Just wanted to say a quick "thank you" for your review of the Mike Peters show in Consumable. A group of friends and I went to see him at the Bayou in D.C. (I probably would have missed the show had I not known that he was in the area: there was very little advance publicity), and it was a truly amazing evening. As you said, he was very relaxed and appeared to enjoy himself tremendously; he did a wonderful job of conveying the Alarm faves. Hard to believe more than ten years have passed . . . . There was a criminally small crowd (50-60), including a bachelor party of Alarm fans.

Performance twist -- the soon-to-be-married man approached Peters during a break and said something to him, whereupon he said "I don't know about THAT request, I'll have to think about it during the next song." After the song, he said "Chris says he's a drummer and wants to sit in on this next song." Chris came up, used the kit still on the stage from (opening band) HANK, and turned out to be very good (not at all the drunken frat boy disaster that I confess I was expecting). So good, in fact, that Peters kept him on after "Blaze of Glory" to do "68 Guns," and then, after calling back the guitarists and bass player from HANK, the entire gang did a rollicking but clearly impromptu "Rockin' in the Free World" and "Heaven's Door." During the latter, Peters mouthed to the bass player, "This is really good fun."

It's always a treat to see a performer who is so comfortable with himself that departing from the evening's plans not only is not disastrous but also turns a great show into a truly memorable performance. I'm sorry that more of D.C. couldn't have seen the show, but I was happy to be one of the fortunate few. Thanks again for the heads up! - Peter M.