IT IS another busy week in no small part due to the antics of a snake-hating, dark age cleric but which has left tonight with plenty of musical options.

If you are feeling up for a St Patrick’s shindig then you might want to catch Mick O’Toole at The Rolleston. Okay, they are not Irish, but if you check the history books you will find that neither was the man himself, but their clash of furious folk and cider-punk has all the hallmarks of an infectious and high-octane, Celtic party soundtrack.

Failing that, The Castle also has a night of music and dance from The Land of Saints and Scholars featuring Miss D, The Farrell School of Dance and rounding off with Liam and Chris O’Leary.

Shenanigans of a different nature can be found at The Victoria with the return of the legendary John Otway. The self-appointed and self-deprecating “rock and roll’s greatest failure” is joined by his original sparring partner Wild Willy Barrett for a night of surreal music and humour.

And going into Friday the dance-card is chock full of great, and largely original, offerings. R2 magazine favourites, Mad Dog Macrea, has built up a well-deserved reputation for splicing such diverse genres as rock, jazz, folk and bluegrass and combining it with consummate musicianship into dance-demanding songs, so make sure you buy your tickets in advance for this one as their gig history shows that it is likely to be sold out by the time the day comes.

More dance-driven antics can be found at The Locomotive with the sprawling SN Dubstation. If James Brown was the godfather of soul then these guys must at least be the second cousin of reggae, and reggae with a modern techno twist at that. Eclectic fusions and infectious grooves start the night off courtesy of The Hat Club.

A plethora of younger bands can be found over at Riffs Bar. Styles range from the sonically dynamic indie of Well Dressed Thief and the atmospheric Towers to the often unnervingly dark but wonderfully named Muchos Tequilas Later and the modern take on punk that is Over Too You.

The Rolleston sees the return of Sons of Liberty, a good time, good rocking Americana tour de force who channel the spirit of southern boogie, blues harp, swagger and attitude to make music that struts like a peacock in a pair of snakeskin Wrangler Rodeos….with spurs!

Saturday brings a band that manages to combine nostalgia and originality in a very clever way.

Saints of Sin write original songs but they not only tip their hat to 80s Sunset Strip-style glam metal but thrown the whole suit in as well. In their music you will hear the likes of Crue, Poison, Def Leppard as well as the tougher street sounds of G’n’R and the groove of Bang Tango. Relive the outlandish and excessive days of hair metal at Level 3.

At The Locomotive, more rock, but this time of a bluesier, darker and more alternative nature.

Stone Cold Fiction are already being written up as one of those bands that will have people in the future smugly saying that they saw the band before they were big. Come along, you could be one of them – after all, it is all about the bragging rights.

On the cover band front, The Chaos Brothers bring their choice selections of punk and garage rock to The Rolleston and at The Moonrakers, Station Road, play rock and indie from across the board.

If you are looking for something more chilled, more globally diverse, more unique then this month’s Lazy Sunday afternoon at The Central Library offers something exceptional. The aptly named Orient Express mix up traditional Turkish and Balkan styles with other diverse folk references and they fashion music as pungent and rich as a Thracian anchovy fisherman’s socks... in a good way.

Joining them is solo troubadour Phil Cooper, who is a master of the acoustic pop hook and lyrical turn of phrase, and as always your hosts Mr Love and Justice will kick things off in their own inimitable West Coast meets Salisbury Plain amalgam of styles.

Finally, as is the norm, we jump ahead to Wednesday at The Roaring Donkey. B-Sydes and Neil Morris have played this venue separately in the past but this time you can catch them both together.

Expect raw, emotive, folk-rooted acoustic songs, humorous asides and probably some climbing on the furniture…well, if it is good enough for Bring Me The Horizon…