Thursday 15th November 2012 by Grace Carroll | Photos by WENN

Tags: The xx

The xx are to play a series of tiny concerts for less than 100 people as part of the Manchester International Festival.

The band, who won the Mercury Prize in 2010, have been confirmed as one of the headliners for the bi-annual event. The festival has previously been described as the "biggest staging of world-class artists and one-off events," with some venues including a former church and a converted industrial building.

The xx are due to take over a secret space in the city centre, and will play 17 shows. Audience members will have to show up at a meeting point where they will then be taken to a secret venue - and hopefully won't spoil the surprise for anyone else.

Festival director Alex Poots told The Guardian, "We will appeal to our audience's generous sides to keep it a secret."

He went on to say that the band will be working with a "very smart creative team" in order to create a 'strong visual element' for the concerts.

The xx - expect exciting theatrics for the Manchester Festival shows.

Headliners last year included Bjork, Sinead O'Connor, Damon Albarn and Snoop Dogg. The full programme for this year's festival will be announced in February next year, with tickets going on sale in January.

Poots said to the BBC, "We continue to make ambitious and engaged work with some of the world's greatest artists and thinkers, while taking the festival - and our audiences - in new, unexpected and challenging directions."

Manchester City Council's executive member for culture and leisure, Councillor Rosa Battle, was quoted by Mancunian Matters as saying, "Manchester International Festival has now established itself on the world's cultural stage and as the first details of the fourth festival are revealed it's clear that the festival has lost none of its appeal, creativity or edge."

Watch the video for The xx's single 'Chained' below:

Florence + The Machine, The xx kick off Bestival 2012