YOU may enjoy the long days and blazing sun of summer but if you are a music fan, autumn should be your favourite time of the year.

Summer may be the festival season but autumn is the best time for gigs, with such an abundance of bands to choose from that you should really think about cancelling your summer holiday and saving all your pennies so you can go to them all.

Almost every big new name in music has a gig in the area in the run-up to Christmas.

One of the most hotly anticipated concerts has to be Scissor Sisters at the Bournemouth International Centre on October 15.

The gig follows their sell-out success at the Royal Albert Hall.

Tickets for Bournemouth are going to go very fast so if you want to hear the band behind recent hits Take Your Mama and Comfortably Numb you need to act quickly.

On a less outlandish note, the BIC is also playing host to Katie Melua on October 23.

But you don't have to go as far as Bournemouth to hear some of the hottest bands around.

Southampton Guildhall is set to excel itself this autumn with a string of gigs from uber-cool bands.

Swedish snappy dressers The Hives, behind such hits as Hate to Say I Told You So and Main Offender are at the Guildhall on September 20.

They are followed swiftly by The Music on September 25 and Bowling for Soup on September 28.

Keane on November 13 are followed by The Thrills on November 14, who will be bringing the sounds of So Much for the City, Big Sur and One Horse Town to Southampton.

December 15 brings some more indie darlings, Snow Patrol, to the venue.

Portsmouth also has plenty to draw music fans. Franz Ferdinand at Portsmouth Guildhall on October 23 is sure to be one of the most popular gigs with The Rasmus at the same venue on October 31.

For tickets and more information, contact the venues directly.