Joe Goggins

The first of free sold-out shows in Manchester prove the Irish group are the 'most mercurial of bands'

On the opening night of their tour at the Manchester Apollo, the New York City rockers extended their taut, rhythmic songs to include interpretive dance, a fiddle battle and a Chappell Roan cover

The Los Angeles experimentalist is on adventurous, enthralling form in Manchester

The baubles are up, the mulled wine is brewing, and there’s only one thing left to do before we leave out a mince pie for Santa: try to whittle down the past 12 musical months into a big fat list, of course! It’s been a year in which pop girls have reigned supreme, guitar bands have entered a new golden age, and one particular shade of green has been practically inescapable - but what are the albums and artists that our esteemed writers have kept coming back to?

The opening night of the final leg of McCartney's Got Back tour was an exuberant tribute to his former bandmates and a reminder of his towering cultural presence

"With all nine members wearing unsettling masks, they looked as if they’d formed the band whilst on a cigarette break as workers at the same haunted house"

A band still brimming with ambition.

The Glasgow art rockers are back and ready to remind us how vital they once were

Some of the most euphoric music they’ve made in a while.