MAH17: Breaking the Sound Barrier: The Delia Derbyshire Legacy at the John Rylands Library

Explore the ways in which Manchester helped shape and reinforce the ideas of the fathers of communism, Friedrich Engels and Karl Marx.

Foundational British synth-pop band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark play in Rochdale, with support from Peter Hook and the Light and A Certain Ratio.

For fans of early Black Country New Road, Champion Trees render stalled lives and small defeats in exacting, wry and self-deprecating detail.

Greg Freeman mines local history for character-driven tales of violence, loss and epiphany on his second album, Burnover.

Gothic country ballads, psych-folk drones and pedal steel drawn long and slow. Ora Cogan brings her witchy country to Now Wave’s new (old) pub.

Victory lapping the best album of their career so far, there hasn’t been a better moment yet to catch these North Carolina rockers.

Catchy songs, colourful characters and sharp social satire combine in one of the most talked-about queer theatre hits.

O2 Apollo becomes Pysch Fest’s main stage for the first time, with Billy Nomates and bdrmm heading the final wave.

Manchester’s premier concert hall celebrates 30 years with the debut of a new orchestra and guest artists drawn from Manchester’s grime, dancehall, drag and jazz scenes.