Alabama Shakes review – US rockers’ first UK gig in a decade is suffused with hope for the future
As they tee up a long-awaited third album, the deep south band are variously slick and raw as they ruminate on overcoming tough times
Madonna: Confessions II review – nostalgic dancefloor trip sparks her most vital album in two decades
After years spent chasing trends like trap and Latin pop, Madonna settles back nicely into old-school dance music to tell vivid vignettes of life in 80s New York
My Chemical Romance review – fire! Nuclear war! Killer pierrots! This is stadium rock at its most monumentally madcap
Adding eye-popping spectacle to this anniversary reprise of The Black Parade is fun, but what really stands out is the tremendous songcraft
The Black Lights review – Mica Levi, Moin and Klein thrill at an awesome addition to the UK festival circuit
Tapping into the kitsch and romance of a Blackpool weekender, this debut offering from Manchester’s White Hotel becomes a triumph of pan-genre experimentalism
Bad Bunny review – dynamic Latin superstar hosts thrilling party
The Puerto Rican musician kicks off in a white suit fronting a salsa band in full flow, then switches up with a swaggering, chaotic rave in a replica island home
Metallica review – metal legends break out the pyrotechnics … and a Proclaimers cover
Armed with four drum kits, an arsenal of hits and a 50,000-strong snake pit, Lars Ulrich and co deliver a masterclasss on their marathon world tour
Muse: The Wow! Signal review – stupendous space-rock silliness … yet somehow surprisingly subtle?
From Count Dracula organ to choirs crying in Latin, the Devon band are scenery-chewingly preposterous yet nuanced on this epic about extraterrestrial life
Hayley Williams review – punk and R&B expertly intertwine on first solo tour for Paramore star
In her first European jaunt outside of her headbanging band, the singer uses humour to turn angsty songs into rowdy collective catharsis
Gorillaz review – a staggering hi-tech mini-festival from the magpie mind of Damon Albarn
A stream of high-profile guest stars included Johnny Marr, Little Simz, Shaun Ryder, Sparks, Yasiin Bey, Bootie Brown and Fatoumata Diawara
Ibeyi: Offering review – French twin sisters master the balance between mysticism and edge
Newly independent and proudly self-sufficient, Naomi and Lisa-Kaindé Diaz mix ancient lore with heavy bass, and harmonies with distortion, to incantatory effect
Myles Smith: My Mess, My Heart, My Life review – faceless, formulaic mush of Mumfords, Sheeran and Coldplay
He can write a decent rousing chorus, but the Stargazing hitmaker’s influences couldn’t be more obvious if he tried – right down to a ghastly Galway Girl sequel
Lily Allen review – West End Girl’s marital collapse is superbly evoked at arena scale
Expanding on her recent theatre tour, Allen’s one-woman performance of her zeitgeist-dominating album is full of catharsis and high camp
Ariana Grande review – glittering hits and powerhouse vocals in stunning return to stage
The pop star’s first tour in seven years brought the house down with emotive ballads and clubby bangers delivered with saucy wit
Olivia Rodrigo: You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love review – who’s she singing about? Who cares when the songs are this good
Gossips have rushed to the lyrics for details about her personal life, but the rest of us can just get on with luxuriating in Rodrigo’s funny, Cure-infused craft
Lola Young review – buoyant, brilliant return from British pop’s great oversharer
The Messy hitmaker is back after taking time away from live performance, and this charming, relatable set shows why she is such a gen Z icon