Concerts in London: 968 events this week (24 Sept to 24 Sept)

London runs the full range on any given week. A stadium tour lands at Wembley or the O2 the same night a touring band you've never heard of plays to eighty people in the back room of a Camden pub. Both count as a night out. The trick is knowing which one you're in the mood for.

Size tells you most of what to expect. The O2, Wembley Arena and the Eventim Apollo in Hammersmith handle the big names and the big production, seats or standing pens, bag checks, a proper queue for the merch stand. Drop down a level and you get the Roundhouse in Camden, Brixton Academy, or Shepherd's Bush Empire, still a real stage and a real crowd but close enough to see the band sweat. Below that are the rooms that make London's music scene what it is: Moth Club and the Sebright Arms in Hackney, the Windmill in Brixton, the Lexington near King's Cross. Cheap in, no seating, and often the best sound of your week.

Genre shapes where you end up as much as size does. Camden and Kentish Town still carry the guitar-band weight they've had for decades. Peckham and Deptford have the newer, scrappier rooms for whatever's coming up next. The South Bank and the Barbican handle orchestral and classical concerts properly, with a different crowd and a different dress code to match. Dalston and Hackney Wick lean electronic and experimental. None of this is fixed, bands and promoters move around, but it's a decent starting map.

Timing is worth thinking about before price. Big arena shows sell out fast and get booked months out, so if there's a specific act you want, don't wait. Smaller gigs are often more forgiving, doors open early evening, the support act plays to a half-full room, and you can usually walk up on the night. Weeknight gigs tend to be calmer and easier to get into than weekend ones, which is worth knowing if you're picking a night around the show rather than the other way round.

The listings below pull from what's actually booked in London this week, updated daily, so you're looking at real dates and real venues rather than a static list that goes stale by the time you read it.