Drum & bass
Shy FX
O2 Academy Oxford
Tonight
Tickets £15 plus fee from ticketweb.co.uk

It’s all about that bass at the O2 Academy tonight, with the party poppers and streamers being launched to a soundtrack of banging dance. Headlining are drum & bass stars Shy FX and Stamina MC. They are joined by D Double E, SYV, Lazcru, and Oxford’s dapper party starter and all round gentleman of the decks, Count Skylarkin’. There is more action with Donaeo, Maxwell D, Versatile, JAG 1 Sound, Platinum, DJ Shy & DJ Ko, Tony Nanton, Spex and Kinchy.

Sixties rock
The Dreaming Spires
Rusty Bicycle, Oxford
New Year’s Eve
Entrance is free

Don that sharp suit, slick back your hair and stage your own British Invasion, as we go back to the 60s. While most of the world celebrates the start of 2016, the Rusty Bicycle turns the clock back to 1965, for a night of retro fun hosted by brothers Robin and Joe Bennett and their band The Dreaming Spires. And when they run out of tunes from 50 years ago, they may even throw in a few of their own.

Rock, ska and funk 
Mighty Redox
The Wheatsheaf, Oxford
Tonight
Tickets on the door

Having recovered from the excesses of their Boxing Day gig, brothers Pete and Phil Fryer reconvene for more of the same fun tonight – playing sets with their band The Mighty Redox as well as their own Pete Fryer Band. Music also comes from Cherokee and Des Barkus and friends. Why not start the new year with a grin.

Waltzes
Strauss Gala
Dorchester Abbey
Tonight, 7pm
Tickets from 07775 904626 or orchestra@osj.org.uk

Banish those post-Christmas blues with this joyous New Year’s Eve gala, which captures the spirit and pizzazz of Strauss’s Vienna. Enjoy a glorious pot pourri of favourite waltzes and polkas, as well as songs by Strauss and Lehar with soprano Sophie Pullen. John Lubbock conducts.

Vintage jazz
The Original Rabbit Foot Spasm Band
The Rickety Press, Jericho
Tonight, 8pm
Tickets £12

Jericho is transformed into a 1920s Chicago speakeasy tonight, as it sees off 2015, Prohibition-style. Providing a suitably sleazy soundtrack to the moonshine-swilling are Oxford’s sharpest band. Expect raucous jump-blues and dancefloor carnage.