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

Kelsey Lu: So Help Me God review – strange, graceful songs drifting from pop’s edgelands

Aided by Jack Antonoff, Kim Gordon, Sampha and more, the cello-playing singer-songwriter’s abstracted yet tuneful second album is worth the seven year wait

St Vincent review – majestic orchestral transformations of jagged art-pop

The mercurial artist reworked her catalog with technical mastery – and playful dance moves – accompanied by the Boston Pops orchestra

Taylor Swift: I Knew It, I Knew You review – giddy up! Song for Toy Story cowgirl Jessie is Swift’s best in years

Full of handcrafted care and the rootsy soul of her country origins, this gently elated song is a reminder of what fans love about Swift … and the film series