Coffee and Cake Club

Hosts local bands' gigs in its founder's living room in Birmingham. Starts civilised, with cake and coffee, followed by moshing on the sofa. myspace.com/coffeeandcakeclub

Check out the gigs pages on these music sites: drownedinsound.com; popjustice.com; nme.com. To sign up for email alerts about local gigs you may like, see lastfm.com and songkick.com.

lecool.com

Has quirky finger-on-the-pulse cultural events and nightlife in London.

• Follow music industry movers and shakers on Twitter and you may get a sniff of a top night, eg Alan McGee, Peter Robinson, NME journos, PR company Toast ...