1 Justin Bieber
The tween-star-turned-EDM-pop-force nears the end of his Purpose world tour with a return to the UK. Controversies aside, Biebs is at the top of his game, as the millions of Instagram followers, billions of YouTube views and a string of recent features for Daddy Yankee, David Guetta and DJ Khaled attest.
RDS, Dublin, 21 June; touring to 30 July
2 Glastonbury festival
Wellies on: it’s Glasto time, and your final chance to wade through Michael Eavis’s fabled muddy paradise until 2019. Everyone from Foo Fighters to Barry Gibb, Shaggy to Lorde, Radiohead to Katy Perry, Dizzee Rascal and Angel Olsen are on the bill this year. Plus, everything else that makes the festival such a delight, from Strummerville to Shangri-La.
Worthy Farm, Somerset, 21-25 June
3 Little Mix
The 2011 X Factor winners jumped up a gear with their last album, Glory Days, a polished pop record that saw the four-piece harness on-trend electro and house à la Justin Bieber. As part of their Summer Shout Out shows – a warm-up for a larger arena tour later in the year – catch their winning formula in the flesh.
Newmarket Racecourse, 23 June; touring to 16 July
4 The Maccabees
After a 14-year career, the south London guitar rockers announced their split at the end of 2016. “We are not leaving the group behind as a divided force,” they said in a statement, although that will come as little consolation to the 00s indie kids not ready to let them go just yet. Perhaps, though, these final shows will help to ease the pain.
O2 Institute Birmingham, 22 June; O2 Academy Glasgow, 23 June; touring to 1 July
5 Maggie Rogers
Hailing as she does from rural Maryland, it’s unsurprising that heartfelt folk is at the heart of this rising 23-year-old’s sound. With a backing band, electropop flourishes and the occasional outing for her electric guitar, Rogers puts a modern spin on familiar chords.
Electric Brixton, SW2, 21 June
