YOUTH KNOWS NO PAIN

Tonight we saw Lykke Li at Manchester Academy 2 and she was absolutely fantastic. We apologise if you're currently sprawled on the floor, blown away with the intricacy, depth and profoundness of our prose but there's no other way we can really put it. Well, apart from what we're about to write. We've seen Miss Li before, a few years ago at Latitude, and even then we were totally shaken with how overflowing with energy, fun and magic her performance was. Tonight proved no less different, and we were enormously impressed with the creativity and spark of the set. A drab, miserable stage in the students' union was transformed into a blustery, apocalyptic landscape (alright well not quite a landscape but just go with it) and song after song after song segued into one another proving just how high the standard of quality of her two albums are. If you were to listen to her albums alone you'd be forgiven for thinking she would be quite laid back on stage, but she very rarely stood still - wailing, shaking and grinding from one side of the stage to another. For £12 fucking pounds and 50 pence. Absolutely ridiculous. Lykke Li is an incredible artist, but an even more incredible example of why live music is important.