IN ONE of those hardly significant but tantalisingly weird coincidences, I found myself wondering just yesterday whatever had happened to Denny Laine (The Brook, Southampton, Sunday, £15 advance, £16.50 at the door, tickets from 023 8055 5366).

There's your answer: The ex-Moody Blues and Wings mainstay has re-emerged and is playing in Southampton with his trio this weekend, with one formidable back catalogue to draw upon.

Owing to the fact that I'm wired up all wrong, I particularly respect Laine for his work with Ginger Baker's Airforce and his involvement with the could-have-been-brilliant-but-we'll-never-know Birmingham supergroup Balls, who foundered long before their potential could be realised.

Best of all, there was The Denny Laine String Band, whose brief flowering in 1967 allowed them just enough time to appear alongside The Jimi Hendrix Experience at Brian Epstein's Saville Theatre, and also to bequeath us Laine's finest composition, the wonderful Say You Don't Mind.

Here's another tiny coincidence: It took a singularly beautiful cover version five years later by Colin Blunstone to hoist Say You Don't Mind into the charts - and who should be stopping by the locale this week but Blunstone himself, as part of a staggering double bill which throws together The Zombies and The Yardbirds (Pavilion, Bournemouth, Wednesday 7.30pm, £24.50, £22.50, £19.50, tickets from 0844 576 3000).

The Yardbirds are chiefly remembered for the fact that the three most influential British guitarists of our times - Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmy Page - passed through the band's ranks, but they also provided us with a clutch of terrific singles (particularly Shapes Of Things and Happenings Ten Years Time Ago) and were by all accounts a riveting, pulverising live act.

Did I say were'? All reports suggest that The Yardbirds still possess the knockout punch that characterised their sets in the mid-60s, and the presence of original members Chris Dreja and Jim McCarty ensures a firm hand (or four) on the tiller.

The Zombies, of course, are experiencing something of a renaissance these days with the long overdue realisation that their 1968 farewell' masterpiece Odessey & Oracle is actually one of the best albums of all time, despite the fact that it didn't get so much as a sniff of the charts on its original release. Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent are still on hand, and all is right with the world.

Looking ahead to later in the week, there's a heartening tale behind the forthcoming appearance in the area of electro rock band We Push Buttons (Lazy Lizard, Weymouth, Thursday). Frontman and songwriter James Flett, a second year Commercial Music student at Bath Spa University, is focusing his degree around the band, but in October last year he was diagnosed with M.E/chronic fatigue syndrome - a turn of events which placed James' degree, and the future of the band, under serious threat.

After a full blood transfusion and countless homeopathic remedies proved ineffectual, James' lecturers advised him to drop out of the degree course as it appeared doubtful that he would be able to put enough into it to succeed. However, through sheer effort of will and with a supportive network of friends, James is back on his feet, getting stronger all the time and currently touring the UK with We Push Buttons.

Through the tour, James is determined to raise awareness of M.E, proving it can be overcome: just check out the full-on performance of the band's single This Is The Wake Up at their MySpace site (www.myspace.com/wepb) for further proof, and look out for their five-track debut EP Not That Simple on This City Runs Red Records (also via iTunes).

Moving along further, throw your hats in the air at the news that this year's Wessex Folk Festival (various venues, Weymouth, June 6-8) is imminent. The event kicks off on Friday, June 6 at 8pm in Hope Church, Weymouth with Last Night's Fun supported by Camilla And The Can Openers.

Saturday, June 7, sees Weymouth's Hope Square burst into life at noon with jigs and reels from The Tree Fellahs. A full afternoon of music alfresco follows, including rising star Jodie Jones, with Djambo rounding things out at 6pm.

At 8pm the same evening, the mighty Dick Gaughan appears in Hope Church, supported by No Fixed Abode, while over at the Sea Cadet Centre at 7.30pm a barn dance gets under way featuring Captain Thunderbolt.

A packed programme in Hope Square on Sunday, June 8, sees Celtic Confusion initiate proceedings at 11am, followed by (among others) Bag Of Rats, Three Tuns Of Grass, Stompin' Dave Allen, Finnian McGurk and Jigsaw. There's plenty more going on besides: visit the website www.wessexfolkfestival.co.uk or call 01305 860277 or 01305 821611 for more details.

Finally, tonight's Skinful gig in Maiden Newton Town Hall has been postponed owing to the sudden death of Steve Hobson, one of the organisers and a stalwart of the Keep It Live collective. The gig will go ahead at a later date, and in the meantime we pass on our condolences to Steve's family and friends.