At the SWAT4LS meeting in Edinburgh. After the melee of teaching over the last two months, it's a real delight to be back in a research environment, to have some real quality time writing emails, while someone is talking in the background.

So far, it's been pretty good. I'm surprised by the size (75+ delegates) and the large number of papers submitted (40ish). They seem to have really hit the time right. The talks so far have been interesting; lots of integration, lots of querying, and far more architecture diagrams than I want to look at in one day.

John Martyn has been around for donkey's years. Sometime, in the 80's he decided that enunciation was for wimps, and he started to sing like a wookie. More recently, he's lost a leg, put on enough weight that resembles Jabba the Hutt (two star wars, references in one review; hmmm). He must be passed it now.

John Martyn started off as a folkie, more or less invented trip hop along the way; his music is mesmeric and beguiling. In his prime, he could take the stage on his own, with his Les Paul and fill the entire room, entrancing the audience. I think he was the second musician (not including the pub blues bands that were the stable of my youth) that I ever saw live. I've seen him from the North to the South of the country; Solid Air graces my mp3 player at great regularity; in many ways, he has been a critical part of the music that has changed me from the time we got our first record player, to the washed out, muso, gig junkie that I am now. He is passed his best now, but he's made up for his own lack of mobility with a band, to fill the sound that he used to. This tour is the Grace and Danger tour; the music was sad and heart-breaking at points. Solid Air itself has been lent new immediacy, for me, with the loss of a good friend to suicide earlier in the year.

This was one of the most moving gigs that I've been too for years; I was left silent till the day after (unusual for me). One of the best gigs of the year.

It's all gone a bit mad since October. I've been to so many gigs that, combined with the start of term, I haven't really had time to write them all up.

Stephen Stills was my first gig at the City Hall; cool venue inside, dramatic, good looking, comfy seats. The sound is pretty poor though. I was sitting a way back, but on the balcony and right at the front of it so the view was excellent. Being at the gig made me feel young; it's rare that I am in the lower quartile of the age range these days. There was an element of homage about the whole thing; there were two old hippies in the front row who clearly got stoned to CSN (or maybe Buffalo Springfield) when they were young and were going to cheer regardless. But, it was a good gig. His voice is a bit wavery with age — he murdered "Change Partners" — but his guitar playing was generally wonderful; I think I preferred the acoustic half to the electric, but both were strong. It was all a bit dad rock, but it was still good.

Erik Mongrain I've not seen or heard before, but he's made a splash on YouTube. This was in the same series as the Bob Brozman gig that I went to earlier in the year; their advertising is still chaotic. It was 10 quid to get in, but half price because I am on the mailing list (which I don't think I am, all although I tried to be). The venue was in North Shields. The box office phone was redirected to a random office somewhere, and never answered.

Gig was great through. Erik's clearly a technical genius, playing intricate, complex music uses both hands interchangably to make music — he strums with his left hand, fingers with his right. All very guitar hero stuff. He's also quite shy, and retiring. He often described what his songs were about, but the descriptions were usually incomprehensible; regardless, there was a wonderful meditative feel to the evening. You could listen and relax and let the music wash over you.

I hope the series continues, because they've got some great players. But, if they advertise so badly and carry on making it hard to get tickets, it's not going to. Enjoy it while it lasts.

This paper surely has to win the prize for the most entertaining title of the year.