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Lana Del Rey review – mid-century melodrama as mindblowing stadium spectacle

The US singer-songwriter graduates to the UK’s biggest venues with a theatrical show to match, featuring a house on fire, Allen Ginsberg recitals and some very real tears

Forever Now review – timeless stars shine among grab bag of 80s nostalgia

Public Image Ltd deliver a thrilling set and the The can still enthrall, but it is the techno-symphonies of headliners Kraftwerk that remain truly peerless

Iron Maiden review – 50th anniversary tour as near as uncompromising band get to greatest hits show

The newest song might date from 1992 but that matters little to fans of their fast and intricate heavy metal

Brandi Carlile review – country for the marginalised excels on the big stage

Elton John was a constant silent presence as versatile Carlile veered from crooner ballads to hot-rubber-and-leather vibes

Dua Lipa review – dance-pop icon keeps the energy hotter than hell

Amid exercise videos, confetti cannons and guest star Jamiroquai, Lipa maintains an old-school superstar steeliness as she works up a sweat in the summer heat

Loyle Carner: Hopefully! review – rap sweetheart faces family, fear and the feels

The Londoner’s trademark sentimental sweetness is balanced by a new unaffected singing style – his fourth album is his most impressive work yet

J Hus review – rapper touched by genius can’t quite channel his energy

After a cancelled arena tour, expectations are high for J Hus’s return – but for all his swagger and melody, he ends up falling short due to sound issues and a lack of vision

Mazeppa review – Tchaikovsky’s blood-thirsty opera is a wild and gruesome ride

David Pountney’s striking staging of this timely tale of a Ukrainian warlord battling Russian power unsettles the stomach as much as it titillates the ear

Outbreak festival review – hardcore and pop hooks collide in impeccable genre-fluid lineup

Turnstile headlined with soaring high-tempo energy while Speed went route-one punk, Jane Remover caused pandemonium and Have a Nice Life electrified their fanbase in this most free-thinking of festivals

Haim: I Quit review – the messiest breakup album of recent times, in every sense

(Polydor)The three LA sisters dwell on the bitter end of a relationship in tracks that range from replayable valley-girl rap to plodding country-pop

Pitbull review – like a children’s party, but with loads of booze

With a hedonistic seize-the-day message, the pop-rapper resembles a cult leader or motivational speaker – and his followers are willing to overlook the faults in his live show

Pulp review – Jarvis Cocker’s captivating comeback turns a rapt crowd rapturous

On a kitschy 1970s chatshow set, the Sheffield band play hits from across their career – and fans welcome their just-released album tracks like old friends

Addison Rae: Addison review – 2025’s most refreshing star revels in pop’s shallow pleasures

The one-time TikTok dancer’s remarkably cohesive debut spans Jersey club to R&B, and defies an obsession with ‘lore’ to suggest that the best pop isn’t that deep

Witch: Sogolo review – Zamrock originators in joyously punchy form

After the band’s 2023 reunion and a revamp of members comes this imaginative and playful set showing 74-year-old Emmanuel ‘Jagari’ Chanda’s undiminished vocal power

Lionel Richie review – larger-than-life legend delivers a lesson in charm

The perfectly ’tached singer rolls out some raw and funky versions of his hits, from Hello to Brick House to All Night Long, with a roaring-along crowd

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  • Lala Lala: Heaven 2 review – brooding alt-popper fights the urge to run
  • Tomeka Reid: Dance! Skip! Hop! review – an early contender for jazz album of the year
  • Harnoncourt: Mendelssohn, Wagner, Schumann album review – revelatory readings from the late revolutionary
  • Pekka Kuusisto: Willows album review – luminous, inventive and penetrating
  • Gorillaz: The Mountain review – a late career peak haunted by ghosts yet glowing with life
  • Bath BachFest review – joyous and mesmerising music making
  • BBC Total Immersion: Icelandic Chill review – ambience, flowerpots and drones in varied day of new music
  • Sacconi Quartet review – new Freya Waley-Cohen work reveals ensemble at their finest
  • Tamara Stefanovich review – inspired and insightful programme celebrates Kurtág at 100
  • Hedera: Hedera review – Cornwall, Georgia and Bali combine on joyful debut
  • Hen Ogledd: Discombobulated review – a manifesto for collective action from Richard Dawson’s folk-rockers
  • HK Gruber: Short Stories from the Vienna Woods album review – still quirky after all these years
  • Johann Ludwig Bach: The Leipzig Cantatas album review – this distant cousin’s music is a remarkable discovery
  • Saul review – Purves didn’t just chew the scenery, he swallowed it whole
  • The Streets review – semi-theatrical staging of A Grand Don’t Come for Free resurrects a British classic
  • Mitski: Nothing’s About to Happen to Me review – mordant, melodic melancholy from the best songwriter of her generation
  • U2: Days of Ash review – six new tracks reaffirm the band as a vital political voice
  • Raye review – dazzling display of range from old-school Vegas to Euro-dance
  • Cardi B review – ambitious spectacle and sizzling choreography
  • Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny review – big and brash staging for Brecht and Weill’s whisky-soaked dystopia
  • Gillian Welch and David Rawlings review – phenomenal duo put on an exquisite show
  • BBCSO/ Rustioni/ Davóne Tines review – Black-tinged Anthem spins US nationhood
  • Deftones review – alt-metal veterans sound exceptionally fresh 38 years on
  • The Great Wave review – Hokusai opera sounds and looks beautiful but skimps on drama
  • Charli xcx: Wuthering Heights review – atonal, amorous anthems that more than stand apart from the film
  • Fred Again review – guest-heavy homecoming for the golden boy of UK dance is an eclectic triumph
  • Converge: Love Is Not Enough review – metalcore veterans’ rage remains fresh and furious
  • Joshua Chuquimia Crampton: Anata review – an ear-splitting haze that heals as it hurts
  • Ensemble Intercontemporain: Unsuk Chin album review – rich and strange music of kaleidoscopic colours
  • Handel: Sosarme album review – Marco Angioloni makes the case for this little-known work

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