Casting his eye widely across the globe, Tim Burrows examines the facts, myths and characters behind such legendary venues as the Grande Ballroom in Detroit, the Astoria in London and the Cloudlands Ballroom in Brisbane. Interviewing the musicians and promoters who were there at the beginning and those still involved today, he paints striking pictures of a variety of popular musical movements including jazz, rock n' roll, reggae, punk and rave. He shows how venues have evolved over the years, some falling by the wayside, some changing with the times and some managing to kep to their original ethos against all the odds. Burrows also looks at contemporary trends in live music - the influence of corporate chains, the huge boom in festivals - and new projects such as the O2 arena, asking how the way we view live music today might evolve in the future.