Lady Ga-Ga. Twat.

I'm sorry, this is just embarrassing. Does she feel the need to make up for her lack of musical talent by constantly pulling off ridiculous stunts like this just to get her face in the papers?

The Young Knives @ Relentless Garage

Many thanks to Time Out for the free tickets to this one! Though this was part of the 'Next Big Thing' series of gigs, The Young Knives have been going for a few years now, and the fact that they are each year tipped as 'the next big thing' has not been lost on them; frontman Henry Dartnell revealed that this has long been a bit of an injoke for the band. Dartnell (there though his wife was due to give birth the same day) and brother James - known as 'The House of Lords' - provided much entertainment throughout with their onstage banter, much of it centred round the fact that they look like they've walked off the set of The Big Bang Theory.

Despite the fact that I was at the gig with teetotaler Marc Tinson, meaning I was on soft drinks myself (a show of solidarity with my disabled friend), the gig was really good, the songs upbeat and frenzied, although you could tell there were a lot of competition winners there as there wasn't much reaction from the audience.

There were a lot of new songs, all impressive, but the highlights were the oldies, including opener 'Terra Firma', 'Up All Night', 'Dyed In The Wool' and closer 'Loughborough Suicide' which came the closest to whipping the crowd into a foot tapping frenzy. Good gig, shit crowd, here's hoping 2011 will be the Young Knives year!

New music from The Strokes - Under Cover of Darkness

Instantly recognisable as a Strokes song - upbeat with fast, pacy guitars - this hints at a triumphant return for New Yorks finest. Just don't expect them to get along with each other - guitarist Nick Valensi recently spoke of continued 'undertones of hostility and resentment' within the band. Download for free at Thestrokes.com until tomorrow

Band Of Horses - Brixton Academy

I first saw Band Of Horses three years ago at the Liverpool Academy. Back then, they were relative unknowns, fresh from releasing their second album Cease To Begin, and they were starting to get some heat. It was a top gig (aside from a support act who were possibly the worst live act i've ever seen. And I've seen Blue), and the few hundred of us there knew we'd seen a band destined for greater things. Fast forward to 2011 and greater things have arrived. I'm stood in the cavernous Brixton Academy with 5000 fans at my back, having witnessed the vast improvements in the support acts (the excellent Goldheart Assembly and Mojave 3, who sound  like a slimmer Magic Numbers), listening to the band come onstage to deafening applause.

Frontman Ben Bridwell and guitarist Tyler Ramsey kick things off duetting on 'Evening Kitchen', before being joined by the rest of the band. An early one, two, three of 'The Great Salt Lake', 'Is There A Ghost' and 'Islands on the Coast' really warms the audience up. The band are unusually quiet in between tracks to begin with but soon warm to the task. Bridwell is engaging, with a raw, powerful voice. Old favourites 'Cigarettes, Wedding Bands' and 'No One's Going To Love You' accompany more recent hits 'Dilly'and 'Laredo', and the band premiere a new, rocky track which goes down well, although no one seems to know what it's called! My personal favourite 'Ode to the LRC' is a highlight, and fresh from its appearance on the trailer of '127 Hours', the opening chords of 'The Funeral' has the crowd in raptures. The band finish the set with a rousing rendition of 'The General Specific', and Bridwell seems genuinely moved, proclaiming the night one of his 'favourite nights in music, ever'

It is a mightily impressive performance, and just three albums in they've accumulated a top drawer setlist. I think the days of seeing them in small intimate venues, as me and Kev Melling did last year in Hammersmith, are all but over, which is a shame, but the natural progression for them now is into stadia. Next up is a single with Cee-Lo, then a slot supporting Kings Of Leon before hitting the festivals. The sky is the limit for these guys, and they truly deserve it