k.d. lang: National Indoor Arena, Birmingham

BIG-BONED BOTTICELLI GIRL K.D. LANG IS LYING ON the floor. Knees up to her chest, hands clasped round the back of her head, she rocks to and fro. "It's my neck," she explains. "That's why we have a masseur on the crew." She grins impishly. "A masseur," she repeats, then waits a couple of beats before qualifying it with, "A masseur but no hairdresser." Even in the dressing-room, this woman's comic-timing is impeccable.