There’s a feature in the new issue of Uncut by Andy Gill on the Chris Robinson Brotherhood, where he gets to see a couple of extended shows in Cleveland, and I can’t recall the last time I felt so jealous of one of our writers.

Don’t spread it about, but, yes, I’ve heard the new Dylan album. And four or five tracks in, what I was thinking was: how much better is this thing going to get?

Blur will headline an intimate gig at The 100 Club next month as part of Converse's 'Represent' series of free shows. Damon Albarn and co have been confirmed as the headline act for the August 2 show, and will play last on a bill which includes a stellar supporting cast of The Bots, Savages and Swiss Lips. To get tickets, fans need to visit Converse.co.uk/blur from 9am on Wednesday August 1, with registration open until 6pm. Successful applicants will be notified by email and must confirm if they can attend by 12pm on August 2.

Roger Waters' The Wall tour has been named the highest grossing tour of the year so far by Boxscore/Billboard. The Pink Floyd man's global jaunt earned $131.4 million (£83.6 million) from November 1 last year to May 31 this year, selling 1.2 million tickets. The tour ends on July 21 in Quebec City, and will have made more than $350 million (£223 million) in total since it hit the road in 2010, and will have been seen by three million people.

Another issue in the bag, and these are the records that have got us through the last couple of days of production. Mostly very good, with a few probably glaring exceptions.

Last night [July 16], the BBC pulled a documentary about last summer’s riots just hours before transmission after a court ruling prevented it from being broadcast. It’s foolish, of course, to speculate who initiated proceedings and for what purpose - although at the risk of sounding paranoid, you suspect there’s plenty of people who’d rather not have such pesky reminders of the riots on our screens in the run up to the Olympics.

The organisers of Hard Rock Calling have explained their decision to pull the plug on Bruce Springsteen and Paul McCartney last night. Yesterday (July 14), The Boss brought the second night of the Hyde Park festival to a close with a 29-song set which lasted over three hours. His performance featured guest appearances from John Fogerty and Tom Morello and culminated in two duets with Paul McCartney.

Today, as you may have heard, is apparently the 50th anniversary of the Rolling Stones’ first gig.

Six core, transitional works of Will Oldham's canon remastered...

When Bob Dylan played Hop Farm in 2010, it was the hottest weekend of the year and there seemed to be more people at the festival than the site could hold. There were queues for everything and queues to join those queues were not uncommon. By early afternoon, you could barely move for the people already there and the constant stream of new arrivals who added to an already considerable mass.