CD: The Fall - Sub-Lingual Tablet

Another fine disc to slip under the tongue

The Fall has always delivered great album titles, and Sub-Lingual Tablet is right up there with the best – Witch Trials, Hex, Caustic, Are You Are Missing Winner… The song titles, too, have a medicated, sub-lingual ring that no other artist could pull off – “Junger Cloth”, anyone? – guaranteed to wipe away all psychiatric waste...

Whitworth Art Gallery Reopens with a Meteoric Bang

WHITWORTH ART GALLERY REOPENS WITH A METEORIC BANG The Manchester gallery celebrates its past and looks to its future

The Manchester gallery celebrates its past and looks to its future

The Whitworth Art Gallery was showered with meteors in a spectacle devised by the artist Cornelia Parker on its reopening weekend – appropriately Valentine’s Day. The £15m project (architects MUMA) has doubled the exhibition spaces, reclaimed the Victorian Grand Hall from offices, added state-of-the-art on-site storage and more space for conservators.  

Peter Kay's Phoenix Nights, Manchester Arena

PETER KAY'S PHOENIX NIGHTS, MANCHESTER ARENA Live stage version of the hit sitcom is great fun

Live stage version of the hit sitcom is great fun

Due to unfortunate circumstances I am unable to give a star rating to this show; 15 minutes into the second half a cast member collapsed on stage and the performance was cancelled. At the time of posting Ted Robbins (extreme right in the picture below) was recovering in hospital, in a stable condition, and we wish him a speedy recovery.

CD: BC Camplight – How to Die in the North

Philadelphia singer-songwriter is reinvigorated after moving to Manchester

Decamping to Manchester from Philadelphia after a personal crisis seems an unlikely move. But this is what Brian Christinzio – who is BC Camplight – did in 2012. How to Die in the North was recorded in Bredbury, near Stockport.

Little Shop of Horrors, Royal Exchange, Manchester

PHILIP RADCLIFFE ON LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS Phil's final review took him to the Royal Exchange where puppeteers brought horrible plant brilliantly to life

Puppeteers bring horrible plant brilliantly to life in the round

With a bloodthirsty, corpse-devouring plant called Audrey at the centre of events, we can only be in the Little Shop of Horrors. It’s a far cry from Jack and the Beanstalk, but the Royal Exchange is known for providing alternative and, usually, zany seasonal entertainment. And they don’t come any zanier than this, especially under Derek Bond’s zippy direction.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Royal Exchange, Manchester

CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF, ROYAL EXCHANGE, MANCHESTER Tennessee Williams revival is more lukewarm than hot

Tennessee Williams revival is more lukewarm than hot

No one is more prescriptive than Tennessee Williams when it comes to stage and set directions. As he got older and wiser he made allowances for directors and actors to have their say. “The making of a play is, finally, a collaborative venture,” he concluded. What he would make of the Royal Exchange’s self-styled “bold adaptation” of his favourite play, winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 1955, is debatable.

The spooky and the bold in the art of contemporary China

Asia Triennial Manchester showcases the biggest exhibition of contemporary art from south of the Great Wall

In China there are more than 100 million fans of Manchester United. At least that’s what I’m told when I get to the the city's National Football Museum. And in a sartorial decision unusual in the art world, we are greeted by artist Chen Wenbo wearing an Arsenal football scarf. In sport, as in contemporary art, the Chinese are often playing the same game as us.

Meyer, BBCPO, Storgårds, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester

MEYER, BBCPO, STORGÅRDS, BRIDGEWATER HALL, MANCHESTER Nielsen's Clarinet Concerto and Shostakovich 4 open the season with a bang

Nielsen's Clarinet Concerto and Shostakovich 4 open the season with a bang

Staying close to his Scandinavian roots, John Storgårds, principal guest conductor of the BBC Phil and chief conductor of the Helsinki Phil, is gearing up for the celebration of Carl Nielsen’s 150th birthday next year. Being the seventh child of 12, Nielsen battled his way from poor beginnings to musical eminence, serving his time on the way as a military bandsman and, for 16 years, as a violinist in the Royal Danish Orchestra. He, too, always stayed close to his roots, even writing Danish popular songs to the end.

Mullova, Hallé, Elder, Bridgewater Hall, Manchester

No dancers but much drama in Daphnis et Chloé, plus ravishing Russian violin

Sir Mark Elder has a penchant for taking on large-scale works in Manchester, from operatic concert performances of Wagner and Verdi to Hollywood musicals. Following that line, he kicked off the new Hallé season with Ravel’s Daphnis et Chloé ballet score in its entirety, described by the composer as “a vast musical fresco faithful to the Greece of my dreams”. We are used to hearing the odd suite, but rarely the whole work.