Rock
VIC GODARD & SUBWAY SECT
* The Wheatsheaf, Oxford
* Tomorrow
* Tickets £10 from wegottickets.com

An acquaintance of Malcolm McLaren – who persuaded him to form his band - Vic Godard’s Subway Sect was part of that original first wave of punk bands and went on to support The Clash, with whom they shared a manager. Largely forgotten, and having quit music to become a postman, Vic staged a comeback with a whole new Sect. He is joined by Oxford’s Les Clochards.

Singer-songwriter
GEORGE EZRA
O2 Academy Oxford
* Saturday
* Tickets have sold out

Chart-topping singer-songwriter makes a surprise visit to town as a warm-up show for his hectic summer of festival-going. Expect all the favourites from global smash jmWanted On Voyage – songs about girls, places and such like, dreamt up as he wandered around Europe on his holidays.

Psychedelic-rock
OZRIC TENTACLES
* O2 Academy Oxford
* Sunday
* Tickets £15 from ticketweb.co.uk

Free festival survivors, arch hippy ravers and cosmic explorers, Ozric Tentacles have been doing their spacey thing since the early 80s. After almost 30 albums and innumerable line-up changes they still sound fresh, urgent and dangerous – leavening their acid-rock with jazz, funk, dub, trance and ambient flavours.

Pop
JAMES ARTHUR
* O2 Academy Oxford
* Monday
* Tickets £20 from ticketweb.co.uk

Former X Factor winner and gossip column favourite returns with his Story So Far tour. Expect the incredible Impossible and other vocal feats.

Festival
WITNEY MUSIC FESTIVAL
* Witney — various venues
* Tomorrow until May 31
* witneymusicfestival.com

Witney continues to wear its rock credentials with pride, with another 10 days of live performances culminating in a show by John Coghlan’s Quo on The Leys on May 30. John’s version of the band (not to be confused with the actual Quo, below) are a 70s snapshot of the band, playing a mix of classics and lesser-known songs.

Festival
LECHLADE MUSIC FESTIVAL
* Riverside Park, Lechlade
* Tomorrow-Sunday 
* lechladefestival.co.uk

Three days of live music headlined by Status Quo – featuring Rossi, Parfitt et al.

Music also comes from Centrefolds, Doctor & The Medics, The Kix, Whole Lotta Led and Bon Giovi and the fabulous Missy Malone and Friends’ Burlesque Revue.