Rock and Roll Tourist by Graham Forbes

The entertainment pedigree of booking a train ticket online can hardly compete with a stadium gig by U2. It's lucky, then, that the great strength of this second book by Graham Forbes is to make such separate brands of spectacle and farce as those to be found on tour and those that lie in wait for the general public equally engrossing. Insider knowledge is present without being overwhelming; the author is a guitarist formerly of The Incredible String Band. Writing with unforced familiarity, Forbes remains a warm and encyclopedic guide, introducing BB King, Anthrax and the coffee shops in Palma airport with impressive dexterity. In a book that gives as much time to cities, trains, planes and buses as gigs, Tourist maintains its hold while turning the attention back to Forbes and his brief addiction to prescription painkillers. Losing momentum when he settles in to give his opinions on the modern music scene, the otherwise sharp commentary risks aimless nostalgia, before recovering its energy. However, given the authority with which he writes and his willingness to invite the uninitiated along, it's hard to feel such opinions are unearned. A funny, engaging book of surprising substance. [Kayleigh Bohan]