So...I'm no expert on going to gigs but figured I'd get the ball rolling.
Occasionally, when I'm bored at work and feel like seeing what might be upcoming I like to go to this website: http://www.gigwise.com/SearchResults.asp?SearchType=1&Genre=1&City=22
It's got a pretty good list of what's going on, although, I tend to be out of the loop when it comes to knowing what local bands are good.
Another site I like to go to to see what's going on - they occasionally show if there are any decent gigs going but they show other categories as well: http://www.brightonlife.com/
And last, when in doubt, I look at last.fm - I check out what's going on in brighton and london (for the odd occasion i might be able to make it up there for a gig).
I'm hoping that payday will come quickly as I hope to see Jens Lekman perform in Brighton in a couple months (holy cow, December's only a couple months away!)
:)