Shane MacGowan and co head out once again for festive gigs

By most fan standards, I’m a bit of a Grateful Dead lightweight. I own no bootlegs, and precious few live albums beyond the canonical early ones – “Live Dead”, “Europe ‘72” and so on. Consequently, two things: one, if anyone has recommendations for me from the “Dick’s Picks”/”One From The Vault”/"Road Trips" catalogue, I’d be very grateful (thanks again for everyone’s help navigating a path through Fleetwood Mac, by the way). And two, “Rocking The Cradle: Egypt 1978” is, I think, my first encounter with live Dead from that period – I reckon the latest show I have is that excellent one from “Cow Palace ‘76”. So forgive me if I can’t quite tell how this one measures up against other contemporary shows.

Academy Award-winner set to perform tracks from new album

Hip-hop star brings his 'Glow In The Dark' spectacular to Britain

A bit of shameless self-promotion today, since I’ve spent the past month or so selecting a bunch of tracks for a new CD which comes free with the new issue of Uncut, out this Thursday or thereabouts. Ostensibly, “Interstellar Overdrive” is a compilation of newish psych to coincide with our Pink Floyd cover story. Alternatively, though, it’s a bit like a Wild Mercury Sound playlist.

Or at least Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones and Jason Bonham are

Alex and the boys are heading to the desert, it seems

OK, it's the Eden Project in Cornwall. . .

Stipe, Buck and Mills are back on form in Manchester

Uncut's team bring you all the action from the mud-spattered rockfest