Folk-pop

  • STORNOWAY
  • Oxford Town Hall
  • Tonight and tomorrow (Thursday and Friday)
  • Tickets sold out

A show in the gothic-revival surroundings of Oxford Town Hall is always something of an event, but when the headliner is a local act, it is cause for celebration.

Tonight and tomorrow, folk-pop band Stornoway promote album Tales from Terra Firma with a brace of shows in the city’s grandest public venue. No strangers to playing impressive and quirky venues, the shows follow sets by the Cowley band at a Cowley Road pool hall, the University Botanic Garden, Holywell Music Room, The Rotunda in Iffley and Isis Farmhouse.

Recording for the album, which features their best work to date, also took place in some surprising spots – including a garage in Temple Cowley, St Michael at the Northgate Church, East Oxford Community Centre and a barn in Steventon.

Rock

  • STEVE RODGERS
  • The Bullingdon, Oxford
  • Tomorrow (Friday)
  • Tickets are £6 from wegottickets.com

The weight of expectation sits heavily on the shoulders of Steve Rodgers. The son of Free and Bad Company singer Paul Rodgers – among the greatest vocalists in rock history — has a lot to live up to. Fortunately, he is more than up to the challenge.

On Friday, the scion of Middlesbrough’s most famous son plays a gig organised by another popular Teessider, Osprey of East Oxford promoters It’s All About The Music.

Steve has an eclectic sound which has earned comparisons with Jeff Buckley, Scott Matthews and Ray Lamontagne. Good times are guaranteed.

Dance-pop

  • Delphic
  • O2 Academy Oxford
  • Monday
  • Tickets £13.50+booking from ticketweb.co.uk

Fusing indie-rock with dance beats, the ever dapper Delphic are an exhilarating, and achingly cool, live spectacle.

The original trio of James Cook, Rick Boardman and Matt Cocksedge, is now augmented by a driving rhythm section featuring drummer Dan Hadley and bassman Stu Coleman, formerly of The Music.

The band will play material from their soon-to-be-released second album, Collections along with favourites like Good Life, chosen as one of the official Olympic tracks for London 2012.

Indie-pop

  • EVERYTHING EVERYTHING
  • O2 Academy Oxford
  • Thursday
  • Tickets have sold out

The Mercury-nominated math-rockers are back, and better than ever. And they have a Valentine’s Day date with Oxford. The Manchester-based electro-pop four-piece are touring their new album Arc — featuring singles Cough Cough and Kemosabe.

If you were a fan of debut Man Alive, the follow-up will bowl you over, being fuller, more honest and super-confident, without losing any of its skitterish sense of art-pop playfulness.