Stuck as we are between the recent Bank Holiday glut of live gigs, heading into the heart of the summer sporting diary and with festival season about to go into full swing, not to mention having a rare run of good weather that means that people are opting for pub garden and home barbecue’s rather than heating for the hot and claustrophobic gig environment, has resulted in not a great deal to report on this week from the live music trenches. There is also the small matter of pubs gearing up for that World Cup that seems to be all the rage these days. But to make up for the lack of choice, the options you do have dictate that it is a week where quality, not quantity, is the order of the day.

Like The Sarah C. Ryan Band at The Victoria tonight. Just as often found performing in solo mode, her blend of rootsy pop is taken to new levels when she has both the additional nuance and extra drive wielded by a full band. Expect a mix of her own deft creations writ sonically large and a few pre-loved classics along the way.

Staying at The Victoria, Friday night sees punk’n’roll royalty come to town. The DeRellas encapsulate that sound of New York’s Bowery circa 1976 when bands such as Dead Boys and The New York Dolls infused glam, sleazy rock’n’roll, swagger and attitude into what would soon become punk. They are the sound of year zero a second before its big bang moment. Raw, vicious and snarling rock and roll at its very best. Support comes from local blue-collar, pie and mash, terrace anthem punks Street Outlaws. Oi Oi!

If you are looking for something a bit less sonically confrontational, Keith and Julie Richards do a neat line in acoustic blues. You can find them at The Beehive setting out a musical stall of virtuosic slide guitar and vocals that wander between hushed emotive intimacy to Joplin-esque crescendos.

At The Groves Company Inn you’ll find El Toro, a band who excel at classic rock, funky mash-ups and all your favourite party tunes whilst at The Queen’s Tap The Ultimate Band bring all the fun and finesse, variety and deftness of the function band to the more traditional music venue.

Saturday sees 80’s synth-pop wizards Syntronix play tribute to the big names of the that era and genre. As The Blitz Kids became New Romantics and then mainstream icons in their own right, this pack of post-punk pop pioneers wrote their own chapter in the annals of music history and you can relive it at The Victoria. Duran Duran, Spandau Ballet, Depeche Mode, Ultravox, Human League they have got the lot.

That wonderfully dysfunctional band of ska-punksters, When Alcohol Matters, sneak back across the parish boundaries for a gig at The Queen’s Tap. All the classic songs and long lost gems from the two genres played by one of the finest purveyors of after the watershed musical entertainment. Boisterous music, colourful language, fun and frolics. Now with additional sax appeal.

The ten-legged party machine that is W.M.D. can be found at The Haydon Wick Club covering everything and anything from Pink to Pat Benatar and from Texas to Bryan Adams. And at The Waiting Room, Metal Gods will be delivering salvos of 80’s hard rock and NWOBHM, so buckle up your bullet belts and prepare to bang that head to the likes of Judas Priest, Dio, Rainbow and Saxon.