doug,
thanks for the thoughrough critique. in reverse order, let me say, i agree with the 'clarinet' girl, she gives more than she takes -

.
as for the google map api, as you've noticed, it is uk/eu specific, so try a few uk/eu postcodes or streetnames (such as
duke st, glasgow OR
high st, sheffield, uk or even
paris, france etc, etc..)
I'll take a look at that comments inputbox issue. certainly on ie6 and firefox 3 i'm not getting that, so will look at other browser tests... but this is exactly what i was referring to as 'browser quirks', so thanks for that.
i think you're prolly correct about the ordering of the artists|events. it's a business decision and one that could change over time depending one whether an artist has more sway than the event etc (and other dynamics.).
thanks for the input - it's really helped on the focus and useability elements...
[edit] one further comment, as per doug's kind and thoughtful reply, if you do have any illustrative issues/comment, attaching as a thumbnail is absolutely perfect!!