London newcomers Palace well and truly rocked the North with a compelling performance in the heart of the Northern Quarter at Soup Kitchen last night.

Originally Swedish pop star Tove Styrke was performing a headline gig at Manchester’s Sound Control but it was postponed after Years & Years reached out to her to support them on their massive UK tour.

There will be a new track and older track in some way related to the new track, a track from a recently released album, a track somewhat related to the week just past, and a track by an artist playing in Manchester in the coming week.

Later this month, one of the continent’s most intriguing bands will be bringing its ‘dark, electronic, cinematic soul’ to Manchester.

Sir Charles Halle has been honoured with an archive exhibition in Central Library.

As I made my way out of the Apollo on Wednesday evening, the delighted guy walking in front of me declared to his friend that ‘I am gonna buy a ticket for the arena tour when I get home’.

Lucy Rose’s gig last night was certainly one to remember, including a subdued encore amid a musical hypnosis, followed by a win for authenticity, friendship and loaves of bread.

Modern day electro-pop is sometimes accused of being empty and forgettable – such descriptions cannot be applied to the genre’s latest sensation Years & Years.

If all of Spector’s songs are, essentially, cries of existential angst from frontman Fred MacPherson, they are more fun than most.

Don’t Miss A Beat is here to recommend five tracks a week. Rather than being a standard ‘five new tracks you must hear’ it will comprise a selection of music that fall into five categories.

I’m not a fan of Major Lazer, even less so after their newfangled irony Peace Is The Mission, but they thrillingly entertained last night, albeit a show filled with blood, sweat, and musical lobotomy.