Somebody once asked us if the afternoon was the best time to check our database for updates. After all, it always looks as if we’re highlighting a wider variety of artists and bands in the afternoon than in the morning or at noontime. In fact, we’re willing to bet you could scour every music site on the Net and you won’t find any of them listing 3 Doors Down, Billy Bragg, Kenny Rogers and Tricky in the same sentence. Or even the same paragraph.

But it all comes down to the luck of the draw. That, and artist representatives dragging themselves out of bed around noontime, finding their routing sheets and then e-mailing, faxing or sending the dates tattooed on the back of some pour mime they found on Hollywood Boulevard to our Fresno compound. In other words, the afternoons are great for tour dates because the movers and the shakers in the concert biz don’t get up until some time around 11 am. And that’s if they remembered to set their alarm clocks.

But on with the show…

This afternoon’s truckload of data brings us a solid tour by Billy Bragg. It’s Europe in September, the U.S. in October and the United Kingdom in November and December. Euro dates include Paris on September 25, Cologne on September 29 and Bochum, Germany on October 3 & 5. U.S. stops include October 21 & 22 in Somerville, Massachusetts, October 27 in DC, October 29 in Charlottesville and October 30 in Norfolk. U.K. shows include Nottingham on November 19, Leeds on November 20 and London on December 8.

Kenny Rogers updates today with new listings for September, October, November, January and April. Dates include September 28 in Choctaw, Mississippi, October 12 in Maryville, Tennessee, November 13 in Gillette, Wyoming, January 23 in Biloxi, Mississippi and April 17 in Reno.

It’s the United Kingdom and Europe for 3 Doors Down come October and November. New dates for the band include October 15 in London at IindigO2, October 19 in Bristol at Carling Bristol Academy, October 23 in Amsterdam at Heineken Music Hall, October 30 in Zurich at Volkshaus and November 1 in Berlin at Columbiahalle.

And we have a short list of new September gigs for Tricky. Like September 4 in NYC at Fillmore New York At Irving Plaza, September 5 in Philadelphia at Trocadero Theatre, September 6 in DC at 9:30 Club and September 8 in Chicago at House Of Blues. Other towns include Toronto, Anaheim and San Francisco.

During the last couple of hours we also updated the scheduels for The Outlaws, Seamus Kennedy, Pat Green, Lori McKenna, Lynyrd Skynyrd, John McLaughlin, James Otto, Jimmy Wayne, Glen Campbell, Extreme, Gary Allan, Diamond Rio, Deana Carter, Darius Rucker, Chuck Wicks, Black Stone Cherry, Chick Corea, Billy Currington and 12 Stones.

Two more hours of processing means thousands of new dates posting before our corporate masters unlock the doors and let us loose for another night of mayhem and depravity on the streets of Fresno. Don’t miss your last update of the day – The Closing Bell – coming up around 5 pm (PDT), from Pollstar.com!