TWO of the UK’s most promising new music acts entertained crowds of shoppers in the North-East at the weekend.

Lula and To Kill A King performed a gig at Middlesbrough’s Cleveland Centre shopping mall yesterday afternoon.

Self-taught on piano and guitar, Lula is a graduate of the Brit School, which also spawned Adele, Jessie J and Amy Winehouse.

Her set showcased folk and pop influences, complementing the sounds of To Kill A King, an orchestral-folk band whose music is receiving regular radio airplay throughout the country.

Cleveland Centre manager Debbie Anderson said: “I have listened to both acts and they are fantastic – contemporary, talented and very much of the moment.

“It’s a real coup for the Cleveland Centre as I’m sure both Lula and To Kill A King have exciting musical careers ahead of them.”

While they were in town, the acts also played sets at designer department store Psyche and the Mink Tattoo Coffee Bar.

Lula and To Kill A King were in Teesside ahead of their autumn tour, which will see them play Middlesbrough’s Westgarth Social Club on Saturday, October 20.

Tickets are available online from ticketweb.co.uk or by calling 08444-771000.