With the obviously longer evenings starting to set in, winter may soon be disappearing and without a lack of great gigs to go to. Your entertainment next week is headed up by BRIT-hopefuls Laura Marling and Maverick Sabre, other mavericks Lambchop and gravelly-voiced Mark Lanegan and resilient punks Killing Joke and The Stranglers. Don't miss comedian Jimeoin on tour - he's performing dozens of shows before heading off to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August!

All prices are exclusive of booking fees.

This week:

• Tours
• Theatre, Comedy and Arts

Tours

From Thursday onwards, BRIT-winning Marling will be on tour with Timber Timbre and Pete Roe supporting her. With predictable results, Laura's shows are sold out everywhere, except for Glasgow, Stoke, Nottingham and Southampton - all of which have just a handful of tickets remaining.

One of the new crop of soul-influenced singers around at present will be BRITS Critics Choice runner-up Sabre. His tour next week starts in Dublin and continues across much of the UK until Falmouth on 11th March. Only those first two shows plus Cardiff have face-value tickets left at £12.50.

The X Factor winner's debut UK tour will see him perform his own songs as well as the occasional cover, with the first two shows booked for Rhyl on 28th/29th Feb, followed by York, Cambridge, Oxford and several more until Hammersmith Apollo on 29th March - over 20 shows in total. Tickets are on sale priced at £26.50, but Cardiff, Bournemouth and York have all sold out.

Ireland's huge-selling band will be venturing over to the UK after a few home-turf shows next week, including Leeds, Glasgow, Camden and finally Brighton on 17th March. That last show plus Leeds have sold out, but the remainder are still up for £15 to £16.

Having recently issued an excellent album in 'Blues Funeral', demand for Lanegan's tickets has unsurprisingly increased. His tour is starting to sell out completely, with just Bristol, Belfast, Glasgow and Birmingham available - prices weigh in at around £15.

With new album 'Mr M' picking up accolades left, right and centre, tickets to their shows are becoming scarcer with just Dublin, Glasgow and Manchester still with face-value tickets available. Prices for the trio start at £17.50.

Another year and another full UK tour for the ever-present Stranglers. Oxford and London have sold out, but you can still catch the creators of 'Peaches' and 'No More Heroes' around the UK including their hometown of Guildford on 20th March. Tickets average at £23.

Jaz Coleman and crew will be hitting the road from next Sunday in Exeter, followed by several more including Glasgow and Newcastle, before touching down in Oxford on 17th March. All shows except Norwich are still available, priced at £19.50 (or £23.50 for London).

Also happening next week are some cracking shows from soulstress Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings (all available), The Cribs (including a NME Awards Show in London on Tuesday night) and New Zealand's angelically-voiced Hayley Westenra, her first shows in ages.

Theatre, Comedy and Arts

Tuesday sees the beginning of a busy year for Irish comedian Jimeoin - his first show kicks off in Buxton, followed by Cambridge, Southend, King's Lynn and many more throughout the spring and summer, topped off with a slot at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2012.

Classic romance mixes with modern and traditional ballet as this iconic company presents two ballets, 'Daphne and Chloe' and 'The two Pigeons' at the Birmingham Hippodrome from Wednesday until Saturday. Limited seats are available from £26 upwards.

The Royal Opera House in Covent Garden will be presenting Dvořák's classic opera from Monday until 14th March. Several performances are selling out but there are still Slips and Stalls available from as little as £13 to £182 (cough).

Happy clicking!