Reverberations

10 great gigs I experienced in 2025

Last Saturday, I was up early and scrolling The New Yorker app. I read an article about the phrase “six seven”, the Word of the Year according to Dictionary.com. I still don’t understand the phrase, nor have I ever heard anyone say it in-person. (Maybe it’s a North American trend?) What kids are doing and saying has no interest to me any way, but what grabbed me in the article were some brilliant theories on collective experiences from sociologist Randall Collins. Since the article might be paywalled if you don’t subscribe, here are my three favourite quotations:

“A ritual, Collins explains, ‘is a mechanism of mutually focussed emotion and attention producing a momentarily shared reality.’”

“Rituals do more than lend structure to our days, Collins argues; they also create ‘emotional energy’ which is something we crave. We want to feel alive, valued, connected, ‘charged up.’”

“What holds society together?” Collins asks. The answer is ‘groups of people assembled in particular places who feel solidarity with each other’ – and who then find ways of sustaining that solidarity across space and time, using symbols and rituals that help them feel it even when they’re not together.”

Source: “Is ‘Six Seven’ Really Brain Rot?” By Joshua Rothman, The New Yorker, 14 November, 2025

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2025 was a challenging year for me in many ways, but the most rewarding aspect was the plethora of incredible concerts I attended. Live, dynamic and collective music experiences rejuvenated me this year. The best concerts elevated me long after the PA faded out, and far beyond the club, concert hall, or park.

I particularly love it when a song or lyric, experienced live, gets imbued with a new meaning and it sticks. Sometimes a live rendition of a song amplifies my appreciation so much that I re-hear the album version with new ears. I carry the song memory with me for months and years afterwards, like a Polaroid in my wallet or the scent of a lover on an old sweater.

As I wrote about on my birthday in February, seeing Radiohead for the first time, in August 2001, still shines brightly in my memory. It was a life-changing experience that reverberates twenty-four years later. Dozens of formative concert experiences in my first two decades sent me on this lifelong mission: seeking new memories, surprises, and changes of perspective via live music.

Here are the 10 best gigs I experienced in 2025, with an accompanying playlist of one song — live versions where available — I heard at each gig.

1. Sigur Ros at Royal Albert Hall, 1 October

One of my all-time favourite bands. I’ve seen them 10 times because their live show is consistently captivating, a magical and otherworldly sonic spectacle. I was a little disappointed by their tour in 2022, as it was virtually the same setlist and visuals as I’d seen them perform previously, so I wasn’t sure I needed to see them this year. Then it was announced that their four shows at Royal Albert Hall were with the London Contemporary Orchestra, and my FOMO grew too great to ignore. The RAH is easily the most beautiful venue in London, if not the world. Sigur Ros brought an expanded band and a 60-piece orchestra – plus, they were joined for the final three songs by the organist Andrew Forbes and the Cardinal Vaughan Memorial School boys’ choir. The ensemble were a floating island of white light, buoyed and shimmering in the vast ocean of the Albert Hall. This concert was my rescue boat in a year full of storms. The best show I’ve attended in years. I’m still afloat from it.

2. LCD Soundsystem at Brixton Academy, 20 June

LCD has been my obsession for the past five years. They’re my go-to music for an emotional uplift when alone, or an impromptu dance party with pals. During the most recent five shows of theirs I’ve attended — four at Brixton Academy, one at Victoria Park — a strange thing occurred each time: certain lyrics that James Murphy sang hit me like a sucker punch. I swore he was singing directly to me, imparting advice that I needed to hear right in that moment. (I think I’ve only ever experienced this previously with Radiohead, and their lyrics are less direct.) Lines like, “you’re afraid of what you need” and “I can change, if it helps you fall in love” and, most punchy, “everybody makes mistakes, but it seems it’s mine that always keep on stinging.” I keep returning to LCD concerts like I return to therapy. Thank you Doctor Murphy.

3. Oasis at Wembley Stadium, 30 July

I loved Oasis as a teenager and my fandom has actually increased since moving to the UK in my late twenties. When the reunion tour was announced last year, I wrote about my excitement, and my past disappointments when seeing them in 2001 and 2005.

A Tale of Two Brothers

Despite my previous experiences with Oasis live, I couldn’t miss the most hyped gig of the 2020s. To my (and everyone’s) great relief, the hype was justified: Oasis live ‘25 was an incredible experience. The band far surpassed my expectations – Liam’s voice, in particular, sounded better than ever, and the setlist included enough Noel-sung songs to satisfy me. Although Oasis has never been known for their onstage displays of affection towards each other or the audience, the Gallagher brothers appeared unified and appreciative of their rabid reception. (Or maybe they were just appreciative of the billion-pound payday. Probably all of the above.) My favourite aspect of the show was how excited the crowd was – young and old, most people sporting multiple articles of Oasis merch, everyone singing along to every word. The experience is best summarised by the chorus in “Acquiesce”, the second song in their reunion tour setlist: “because we need each other.” Indeed, we do. And Oasis needed their audience again. You’re welcome.

4. Joe Armon-Jones at Hackney Church, 24 Oct

I’ve seen Joe Armon-Jones play keyboards many times in Ezra Collective, the Mercury Prize-winning bombastic jazz quartet from south London. He always appears onstage as the shy, music geek of the group; head down, his long, blonde curls bobbing over the keys. For some reason, I assumed this gig, in a church in hipster central Hackney, would be Joe at the piano, solo, improvising free jazz for an hour. Wow, was I wrong! He joyously led his highly skilled band and whipped the audience, especially me, into a jazz-reggae-dance odyssey. The most unexpected fun I’ve had all year.

5. Massive Attack with Air, Victoria Park, 6 June

I saw MA for the first time at a festival in Portugal last summer and it was, in a word, INTENSE. Deep sub bass that echoed throughout my intestines. Hypnotic, heady beats rattled my grey matter. The ~10-piece band bathed in darkness (I could barely make out, let alone count, them all). The sound was amazing, but what was most striking about the gig were the visuals on screens behind the band and the sides of the stage. A rapid onslaught of disturbing war imagery — victims, perpetuators, lies and destruction — for the entire show. It was horrific to watch; I was glad the messages were written in Portuguese. This year’s show, in my favourite park in the world, was even more intense because I could read all the text. I had to look away from the stage when it became too stark and real and depressing. I admire Massive Attack for speaking against injustices to their mass audience, and I fully agree with their political positions, but I left the show wondering if the messages overpowered the music. Not all concerts can be cathartic, I know, but this show was too dark for such dark times.

Conversely, support act Air were a light, menthol-flavoured inhale. Three middle-aged French gentlemen, dressed all in white, made a sweet, sexy sound. A much-needed Vogue cigarette before Massive Attack’s harsh hash joint of a show.

Great gig. Weird bill.

6. Morcheeba with DJ Shadow, Crystal Palace Park, 6 June

Shadow is my favourite DJ ever, but his catalogue jumps genres in quite a jarring way. His mixological dexterity is reflected in his live show; he often changes grooves and vibes within the same song. Collaborations with hip hop legends De La Soul (“Rocket Fuel”) and Run The Jewels (“Nobody Speak”) are accessible, fist-pumping anthems live, particularly at this show since Shadow was on stage before dark.

Morcheeba earned their headline slot, with an upbeat, soulful, psychedelic sound. Lead singer Skye Edwards conveyed elegance and range, best exemplified in the encore: jazz standard “Summertime” into David Bowie’s “Let’s Dance”. An easy, breezy dance party to kick off the London summertime.

7. Maribou State, Alexandra Palace, 14 February

A new favourite band, my first time seeing them live. Alexandra Palace is a huge, historic venue, but I’ve always been underwhelmed by the sound and the lack of atmosphere in such a cavernous space. This gig changed my opinion, as the band delivered an epic set — backed by guest vocalists, a choir, and orchestra — that matched the grandeur of the room. Beautiful and sublime for Valentine’s.

8. Deftones with Weezer, Crystal Palace Park, 29 June

I love Deftones, and I regularly listen back to early Weezer. What an odd double bill, though. Fortunately, both bands smashed through their dozens of hits, festival-style. My favourite aspect of this show was seeing such a wide range of Deftones fans – lots of parents with their kids, of all ages – and everyone shouting along to lyrics and riffs.

9. Jambinai + London Contemporary Orchestra, Barbican Hall, 5 October

An unexpected throughline of my favourite gigs this year was bands accompanied by orchestras and choirs (see #s 7 and 1). Jambinai is a loud, intense, Korean post-rock quintet, featuring two traditional string instruments alongside heavy guitar, bass and drums. Hearing an orchestral string section amplify the tension of their songs, and a choir occasionally screaming manically in Korean (I think), were the coolest, weirdest sounds of the year.

10. Caribou, The Roundhouse, 8 February

I danced like a fool and tripped out from the crazy light show, especially during “Sun” and confetti-strewn closer, “Can’t Do Without You.” Unbeknownst to me in February, this show was the positive energy boost I needed to propel me into 2025.

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In conclusion, I don’t know what 2026 holds, but I will hold onto the fun, spontaneity, surprises, and catharses I experienced at live music gigs in 2025. The shared reality of being in an audience, feeling the emotional energy and solidarity, are some of my most cherished moments every year. It’s the experience I constantly crave, and I spend a ton of my time and money satiating, happily.

Here’s to more reverberations, and less tribulations, next year.