John Cooper Clarke at the Palace Theatre

In a turn of events that many thought may never happen again, John Cooper Clarke is set to play at the Palace Theatre next May. The original punk poet, JCC has given his hometown a wide berth of late, having not performed in Manchester for over three years. During this time, his stock has continued to rise, with Arctic Monkeys’ Alex Turner recently citing him has a key influence, rapper Plan B asking him to appear in his directorial film debut, Ill Manors, and Q Magazine last month naming him its Poet Laureate. John has hand-picked the Palace Theatre himself as it was a performance there by Bob Hope in the 1960s that inspired him to try his hand at show business. Tickets, priced £16 to £36, go on sale at 9am on Friday 15 November.

Sat 24 May 2014, Palace Theatre, 97 Oxford Street, M1 6FT, Tel: 0161 245 6600, £16 – £36, www.seetickets.com