Mark Beaumont

England might be flooded, but recent shows by the Hives, the Bravery, and Hard-Fi prove that the pop-music scene is hardly watered down

Our man at the NME sees arena shows as nightmares of excess — unless the U.K.'s best indie band is onstage

Our man from the NME discovers that being a rock writer can be a lonely calling -- blame sham ''plus-ones''

Upstarts Gallows, Foals, and the Enemy duke it out at Brighton's ''Great Escape''

His Royal Badness plans three weeks of curfew-less shows in London, and our man at the NME is already yawning...

Will fresh-faced U.K. bands like Hadouken!, Los Campesinos, and Cajun Dance Party take the States by storm?

Our man from the NME flies to Nashville to interview the White Stripes, gets as far as D.C., and misses the party in Camden

The Rolling Stoones guitarist confessed to our NME columnist that he once snorted his dad's ashes cut with cocaine

Our man from the NME flies to Nashville to interview the White Stripes, gets as far as D.C., and misses the party in Camden

The Rolling Stoones guitarist confessed to our NME columnist that he once snorted his dad's ashes cut with cocaine