If your party–addled memory allows, you might recall a time when quality gigs (you do remember what live music sounds like, yes?) were the sole possession of grotty pubs, boggy fields and warehouses. No longer. These days promoters are using unusual locations to try and pull in the punters (and the un–pirateable cash) – think bookshops, boats, cavernous concert halls and churches.

Bands play against a plush backdrop of ornate carvings and fountains at our favourite converted Turkish baths, The Bathhouse, whilst it’s all aboard on The Tamesis in Vauxhall for the Regular Moonshine Jamboree folk nights. We even caught wind of a gig cut–short in one of the bedrooms at the Sanctum hotel.

Yet even more unlikely is the increasing popularity of the church gig, no longer just for Brownies and illicit knitters. Notting Hill’s converted church, The Tabernacle, was re–launched as a live venue this year, Central London’s St Giles–in–the–Field hosts an array of indie–rock and folk artists, and Islington’s Union Chapel is the venue for Mencap’s Little Noise Sessions, this year starring everyone’s beloved Florence And The Machine, Editors and Mika.

If you can’t wait for that to kick off in November, how about heading down to the newly launched Smithfields Market venue – The Luxe. The building used to be a fire station and a flower market, before it’s current incarnation as a fantastic foodie venue with a florist, and live music on the side. Beats the old–school stench of a bog now, doesn’t it?