Nipped home for lunch and the subscribers' edition was sitting waiting. Mr Hepworth's superb column was spot-on about the absence of modern footballers in the media. Apart from Beckham I'd struggle to name any premiership footballers that have appeared on, for example the chat show circuit, or game/panel shows.

Apart from vaguely recalling Sky pundit Chris Kamara on Shooting Stars where his sole input was some sexist 1970s banter which clearly had laughter edited onto the end. He thought he was being funny but was spectacularly off the mark.

Any examples out there of footballers embarrassingly out of their depth on non-football related telly?

I was putting together a Springsteen mix tape (CD?) last night for going on holiday. The experience reminded me how much I love the music but wouldn't be fussed on seeing Bruce with the E Street Band again. They played the Odyssey in Belfast three years ago and it was good, but that was it...maybe it was an "era" thing as I'm only 29 but hey.

I don't mean only going to see band once to tick them off your must-see list, but seeing them once was just well, enough. It may also be due to the well-worn live music routines that we're all used to now: travel problems, booking fees, bad crowd, support acts etc.

Any other readers out there who continue to love a band/performer's recorded output but just aren't that fussed about seeing them in concert again?

Did any of the Word massive go to either of these shows? I was there last night. Really wanted to enjoy it but got fed up with Bono's jaded posturing, the poor acoustics, and a very middle-paced set. It was nice to hear "In a Little While" and "Ultraviolet" but overall was disappointed. They started with four songs from NLOTH, though it felt like they were racing through them to get the songs out of the way. There were random videos from a space station and Desmond Tutu too, although the staging was pretty spectacular.

If you were there what did you think?

Bill Mallonee of Vigilantes of Love, one of my favourite alt-country bands, is yet again selling his instruments to make ends meet.

http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendId=1625216...

He's been touring and making records since the early nineties, and the current economic climate seems to be hitting grassroots artists like him more than most. Have other Word readers come across any other full-time musicians in a similar position? Is the gap between rich and poor widening further in the music industry as well?

Here's one of Vigilantes of Love's finest moments - "resplendent" - a gorgeous dustbowl duet with Emmylou Harris.

First-time poster here. Go easy!