BTS review – pure joy and astonishing versatility at K-pop titans’ first UK show in seven years
Fans and cynics are putty in the boyband’s hands as the lads lark their way through a catalogue of tracks that ricochet from hard rap to buttery pop
The Rolling Stones: Foreign Tongues review – stomping blues and anti-Musk politics make this another late triumph
Continuing the rejuvenated sound of 2023’s Hackney Diamonds, there’s touching vulnerability from Keith Richards while Jagger confronts war and autocracy
Joan Jett and the Blackhearts review – rip-roaring rock history, but why is she playing Gary Glitter?
In her first UK headline show in 16 years, Jett has a terrific knack for a cover version, though she’s a touch nonchalant – and there’s a real misstep
Sienna Spiro: Visitor review – will she be the ‘new Adele’? Not with this merely competent debut
Amid signs of greatness, the already hugely popular British singer fails to live up to her potential, lacking vocal agility and lyrical subtlety
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