A government survey has found that England and Wales are enjoying a flourishing live music scene, with more than 4,500 grass-roots gigs being held every day.

About 1.7 million gigs were staged in pubs, restaurants, clubs and student unions in 2003, according to the government's Live Music Forum.

And this does not include dedicated gig venues whose main business is live music.

However, 11% of licensees said they would cut down or stop live music when the Licensing Act comes into force in 2005.

Send us your experiences of live music in England and Wales. What were your best - and worst - gigs? Why do you think that there is such a vibrant live music scene and could it be threatened by the Licensing Act? Send us your views.

Do you have any pictures of your local gigs? If so, you can send them to BBC News Online.

The best photos sent to us will be put into a photo gallery, so please send us your name, where you live and some brief details about the picture you have sent.

The following comments reflect the balance of views we have received.

Some of the best gigs I ever saw were by a four piece band that used to play in Liverpool in the 90's called The Herbs. They used to do four part harmony jangly pop and were often at The Cavern and local venues.
Johnny, Liverpool

Worst gig: Would have to be Ocean Colour Scene in Hammersmith, the sound was terrible and the atmosphere was bad to boot. Best gig: I saw a Rolling Stones tribute band, the 21st century stones, at a pub in London and was blown away. It cost nothing and the place was packed, the atmosphere was electric.
Rich, Bedford, England

"We had about 50 half-cut thirtysomethings madly dancing to very loud Deep Purple illuminated solely by candlelight "
Steve, Ripon

I play in a local rock covers band and have a memory like a sieve so need a music stand with lyrics and chords. At a recent bash the lighting rig fused and we couldn't see the music and so we gathered all the candles from the audience tables and put them on a table between me and the guitarist. We had about 50 half-cut thirtysomethings madly dancing to very loud Deep Purple illuminated solely by candlelight. The atmosphere was incredible and we have never been asked for so many encores! Best not think about health and safety, ahem...
Steve, Ripon

My story is not of one gig, but of many... In the mid '70's I used to go to the Gosforth Hotel in Newcastle every week, to see the resident band, Last Exit, play. They were a damn fine outfit, especially Gordon Sumner, local teacher and the band's bassist/vocalist. He sometimes used to have a beer with a group of us after the gig, and talk about taking the band to London.... Well, he did, he met Stuart Copeland, changed his name to Sting, and formed The Police...
John, England

Worst gig was Radiohead at the Tower - Hull. Supporting a local band made good called Kingmaker. Dire sound, sullen cheeked misery boys trying to be mean and moody and Thom Yorke broke his guitar and had a hissy fit to a chorus of Oooooooh! from an unsympathetic audience. Still where are both of these bands now? Best gig New Order at the Hacienda at the height of their majesty. More an event than a gig chilled with no ill will and just before things got out of control in Mad Manchester.
Gavin Clark, Hull England

I work as a concert promoter in Glasgow. We have a thriving local scene here, it sometimes seems like everyone under 30 is in a band. On any given night it's possible to find a gig to cater to almost any taste, whether it's punk, rock, metal or hip hop. To some extent this has to be seen as a reaction to the manufactured nonsense forced down our throats by TV "talent" contests and music industry fat cats searching for the next commercial pop gravy train. Thankfully due to devolution, our scene and my job are not threatened by the Licensing Act. Long live the underground!
Owen Duffy, Glasgow, Scotland

In 1976 after returning from seeing the Strolling Bones at Knebworth I went to The Nottingham Boat Club to see an unknown band called The Stranglers. My mates and shared a few bottles of beer with the band and the chatted to them as they performed their set. They were excellent and as we all know they went on to better things. Oh and by the way the admission cost was 25p!
Russ Smith, Nottingham, UK

With figures like this, why does the Government wish to try and destroy the scene - some pubs etc won't pay the license, being in a band myself - it's distressing!
Lee Belfield, Headingley, Leeds, England

I was recently drinking in The Dublin Castle (pictured) and saw a band called Clone Radio. They were absolutely superb, no-one knows where they came from, or when they will play next... Supporting new music comes form people actually bothering to go along to gig nights. Without the support, many great bands are playing to four or five people!
Tenby, Reading, UK

To my shame, I once had the misfortune of seeing Shampoo play at the Venue in New Cross. They were lousy. Obviously miming (badly), and they stormed off half way through the second song because there was one of their 'fans' had a bouncer-induced stage diving experience. After they stormed off, we were all cheering for the support band to come back on... They were great.
John, Southampton, UK

The Pogues at Brixton academy couple of years ago. Incredible songs and an on-fire performance. Great old Victorian venue packed to capacity by pogoing drunken crazies. Amazing experience, plus got to meet Shane backstage and gave him the best tribute I could think of - getting the missus to give him a kiss, just for writing Fairytale of New York and Rainy Night in Soho - two wonderful songs. Magic night (and snow flakes for the closing number!)
Nick ML, UK

Dance clubs started killing off live music in the 90s but one club promoter told me recently, "Dance is dead, it's just the punters who don't know it yet." As a performer, the best gigs were always the ones we thought would be the worst. The worst was at a caravan park where we had to play "Who the **** is Alice" five times.
Steve, Edinburgh

" This is another meaningless statistic. What proportion of that number is solo performers and duos stumbling through cover versions using backing tracks and how many are 100% live music? "
Kevin Swain, Kingston, UK

This is another meaningless statistic. What proportion of that number is solo performers and duos stumbling through cover versions using backing tracks and how many are 100% live music?
Kevin Swain, Kingston, UK

Mudhoney and Tad supported way down the bill by Nirvana at the Astoria - blood flowed. It was the only concert where I genuinely felt fear (and that's coming from someone who smiled during Jesus Lizard concerts).
Christian Tiburtius, Reading UK

About 10 years ago a member of a local band died of cancer at the age of 25. All of the other local bands then got together and organised a two-day music festival in his memory and all proceeds went to charity. Ten years on and this small town still has its own answer to the V festival with nothing but decent rock bands playing live music. This is why rock will always be respected because they have all worked their way up from the local gigs to the big time with hard work.
Stephen, Caerphilly

Having recently played bass in a rock band in Southend, I can confirm that small venues are the life blood these musicians need to survive. In the early days, one has to learn stagecraft and to earn an audience. The pub circuit is an essential part of that experience and if we don't want to end up at the mercy of mass-produced, anodyne rubbish, the government should be supporting these places as the breeding grounds for the acts of tomorrow.
Fraser Marshall, Southend-on-Sea

Nothing beats the euphoria of seeing a band play (well) live. Whether there's 10 people there or 10,000 the feeling is the same. It will be a real shame if the Licensing Act means there are less gigs to go to. The music industry thrives below the radar, and while many accuse Pop Idol et al for destroying it, that will be nothing compared to this.
Emma, London, UK

For the last couple of years, the Aylesbury town centre partnership have been running live music events in the town's market square. Every week they feature a different live band, which has ranged from Blues through to Folk and more traditional world music. It certainly makes the town more interesting at the weekend!
David Rickard, Aylesbury, Bucks, UK

Worst gig: an open air event in St Neot, headlined by a karaoke singer with a programmed keyboard playing the music he sang over. Absolute rubbish and an insult to musicians. Best gig: any gig where genuine musicians are prepared to stand up and play live music without sequenced backing tracks. The 2-in-a-bar law has almost destroyed the English live music scene. The government would do better to ban recorded or broadcast entertainment than try and stop bands performing.
jj, Bideford, Devon

A friend of mine lost a contact lens in the mosh-pit of a Motorhead concert in Aberdeen (many years ago!) and then managed to find it on the shoulder of the leather jacketed headbanger in front of him! Rock and roll!

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