Our Homeland Security Director says “Now is not the time to back off,” and we couldn’t agree with him more. So if it takes a couple of extra microseconds for the dates for Pat Metheny Group or Lyle Lovett to appear on your screen, blame it on security.

But feeling secure means more than just placing an extra lock on the door or adding another landmine along the outer perimeter. Our databanks contain schedules like the new routing for Dropkick Murphys and the additional dates for Jimmie Vaughan and Dokken, and we realized a long time ago that security measures such as half-starved Dobermans and rabid tour bus drivers were only part of the solution.

There was a time not too long ago when we thought we had this security thing nailed. We had the best security cameras, the smartest guards and the biggest anal probes. Yeah, we thought we were sittin’ pretty when it came to security.

But once the world changed, we suddenly felt very vulnerable. Sure, we’ve faced threats to our security before. You may not realize this, but running a company that stores tour dates for acts like DaVinci’s Notebook, Chemical Brothers and Buddy Guy attracts all sorts of riff-raff. Heck, hardly a day goes by when a couple of poor souls don’t drown in our moat or fry themselves on our electrified fence. And while the ‘gators keep the moat reasonably free of debris, removing charred flesh from the chain-links takes a little more than elbow grease and Soft Scrub.

So we’ve added more guards, more cameras and more Dobermans. We’ve Teflon-coated the fence, implemented facial scanning and purchased larger, faster probes. In fact, we’ve gone that extra mile for security to ensure that the processing of dates for Wayne Newton and Boney James takes place in the safest, most secure environment possible.

What does this mean to you, the Pollstar.com user? Simply stated; a more secure tour database means added enjoyment when you’re looking up the dates for B-Side Players or Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, and one need not feel intimidated by all the extra guards, flash grenades and laser death rays that surround our compound. And while no one can guarantee 100 percent security, we feel that we’ve pushed the security envelope to the max, and if a few civil liberties fall by the wayside, so be it. Tough security, like tough love, takes a bit of getting used to, and we want you to have the most secure tour date experience on the Web.

But more importantly, we want to ensure that our employees don’t sneak out before 5:00 p.m. Hmmm, we might need a few more of those probes.