Music Moments in 2026 That Have Given Me Goosebumps (So Far...)
- Andrew Doucette
- Jul 10
- 9 min read
This is what made me want to make this post. If you don’t know, Fred recently put the full two hour set he did with Thomas Bangalter online in high quality, and I can’t stop listening to it! Thomas Bangalter, for those that don’t know, is one half of the iconic electronic duo, Daft Punk! The duo itself is no longer working together, and haven’t done any live shows since 2007 of their music. Thomas did one last-second DJ set at the end of 2025 (also with Fred and a few other people), but this 2026 show was the first time since the 2000s that any of the guys from Daft Punk had played their music live. So the fact that Fred got Thomas not only to do a B2B with him for a couple hours, but managed to have him feeling so comfortable that he stood up on the table during the final version of “One More Time” is genuinely mindblowing. This is somebody who wore a mask throughout the whole time Daft Punk was a musical project, and here he is playing his biggest song while dancing on top of the DJ table.
While that was the most iconic and goosebumps-inducing moment of the set, the whole thing is full of moments like that. The combination of “Billie (Loving Arms)” by Fred Again with Daft Punk’s “Digital Love” that was played around the 48-minute mark had me emotional at the sheer beauty of what I was hearing, whereas the combination of “Aerodynamic” and “Victory Lap 5” around the one hour and six minute mark is one of the wildest, banger mashups I’ve heard in a long time! There is also the moment where Thomas plays a song by his son, who is standing behind him and he bursts into tears at hearing his song played in a venue like this. It’s a moment that doesn’t work as well without the visual, but with the visual, it’s arguably the most heartwrenching moment of the whole show. And of course, Fred playing the extended version of “Delilah (pull me out of this)” also always gets me close to tears, and hearing it here was no different. So while this may not be the objectively best mixing or flow to a DJ set, surely this will go down as an iconic moment of electronic music of the 2020s. And to think that Fred uploaded the whole thing in HD without any ads is just the cherry on top. Also, the set is now available to stream on Apple Music, if you use that platform!
Well, this one is obviously hard to translate compared to most of the other ones here. All the other moments here have high quality videos to go along with there, whereas all this one has are my videos I took (they did say they were going to put the show online in a few months, but I guess not yet). They were advertising that this show was going to break the record for the most lasers at any North American show, and they broke it with 330 different lasers! Needless to say, the spectacle was quite the sight to see! It was a 360 degree show, so they were in the middle with something called the lasership that would shoot lasers to the top of the arena, along with multiple layers of lasers that stretched the length of the venue! There were also a few moments where they made it “snow” on the audience, since it was a part of their special Snow Days they do in Chicago. As for the music, they played over 2 hours of originals, remixes, and unreleased tracks. They even ended the show with a special 20-25 minute set of Levity b2b Griz b2b Crankdat, where they just improved a collection of bangers! The addition of the special guests was just the cherry on top after the entire spectacle that the show had been up to that point! This is probably the one that will translate the least to most people, because you likely had to be there to fully experience it, but man was this show something incredible!
While this is arguably the most easily enjoyable track on the new Gorillaz album, it still doesn’t reach the heights of other iconic Gorillaz hits. But what this song does have that those other hits don’t have is the heartfelt core. While the other hits are subtly about social issues, this one is about a universal emotion, grief. The hook of the track is, “You know the hardest thing is to say goodbye to someone you love. That’s the hardest thing.” It’s not a complicated line, but to hear that come from someone who often writes fairly nonsensical and convoluted lyrics to instead write something so emotionally concise, it says a lot. The line is also vague enough to both be relatable to losing someone because they passed away, or even just because you’re both going your separate ways. And for Damon, this song is likely about both, with his father passing away and him and his partner separating after 25 years of marriage within a couple years of each other. Even without all that added context, there's something comforting about this chorus and how universal it is, even if it’s about something dark.
Gotta love a song about wanting to burn society down. They originally wrote the song during the 2020 BLM protests after George Floyd’s murder, and were using the ideas of fire not just being destructive, but also cleansing and helpful to suscitate new life. And of course, just seeing how the current administration has gone about doing things these past 15 months or so, there are definitely moments where it feels like a societal reset could be nice, which is where this song comes in. It’s not just the meaning that makes this moment special, it’s the blistering guitar solo from David and the building drums behind it that only amplify what the song is about even more. The way those two instruments build is what really makes this track special, musically. “Burn It Down” is here for you whenever something happens in the government that makes you feel like you’re going crazy, so might as well put it on next time you check the news.
Rosalía is one of the best performers I’ve ever seen, so it’s no surprise that this incredibly high budget, award show performance with Björk was incredible! It’s not a surprise though considering how orchestral and maximal her most recent album Lux is that it would translate well to a live performance, especially when you have a classically trained voice like Rosalía does. I don’t even have to say much about that part, just listen to her sing, and the same goes for Björk’s verse. She’s Björk, all she has to do is open her mouth and she sounds incredible! And then, as if it wasn’t enough to have two of the best singers in music flexing their voices over the first 3 minutes, it goes into a then-unreleased techno remix with dozens of dancers going crazy on stage! It sounds like a song that would be played in the actual Berghain club and not the opposite of the original Rosalía song. As if I couldn’t be any more excited to see the Rosalia show in June, this performance somehow made me more excited!
I had seen Rosalia a couple times before this, so I knew the show was probably going to be incredible, and it was! If this gets passed for my favorite show of 2026, I’ll be shocked! But probably my favorite part of the show wasn't something from the Lux album that she was touring, but in fact a song from her previous album, Motomami, and how she reinvented it on this new tour! The album Lux was recorded with the London Symphony Orchestra, so when it came time to take the album on tour, it was only right that Rosalia brought along an orchestra! (Well, I think it’s a new orchestra in every city, just with the same conductor). So while they would have obvious parts on all the Lux songs, all of her other songs were rearranged with the orchestra involved, which leads us to “Cute”. This was instantly a standout from Motomami, with its swirling percussion during most of the song, except for these piano ballads that would’ve been perfect for the orchestral addition. Instead, when she did the song live on this tour, there was no ballad section, it was only Rosalia’s powerful voice with the recorded percussion and these powerful strings. The visual during this part of the show was also incredible, as expected! It was just a giant, swinging box of some sort that was above her emitting smoke while slowly swinging higher and higher. It’s always harder for something like this to really hit the listener if you don’t already know the song and were at that point in the concert, but man was it one of the coolest reinterpretations of a song I’ve ever seen live!
MJ Lenderman’s Cover of “My Life” By Iris Dement
This one’s a bit more of a try-not-to-cry vibe than the goosebumps impact of the other songs, but I had to include it because it’s such a powerful cover, and song in general. I first heard the cover at his show with Waxahatchee in Milwaukee, where this started out the encore. The entire show was fantastic, with them trading off performances while the other sang backup, but this moment especially absolutely floored me. I should’ve expected it considering both him and Waxahatchee talked more introducing this song than any other, but wow. It really wasn’t even Lenderman’s voice, but the words themselves that really stood out to me. The song looks at different viewpoints on being alive, while it alternates between these self-depreciating verses and an optimistic chorus. After calling their life a September that no one will recall, the chorus goes, “But I gave joy to my mother. And I made my lover smile. And I can give comfort to my friends when they're hurting. And I can make it seem better for a while.” I shouldn’t even have to say anything, just really sit with those words. Human connection and the impact we have on each other is what makes life worth living, and this song is yet another heart-wrenching call to appreciate these minuscule moments.
I feel like it’s only now, about two and a half weeks removed from the show, where I’m finally starting to process what I witnessed that very early Friday morning. This whole thing was tailor-made for me. I’ve been joking with people that for my music taste, this is the equivalent of fan-fiction come to life. Not only did Skrillex put on a heck of a headlining show before this additional set, but it was also a week after he dropped a new album! It was only when we were close to arriving on The Farm the day before that people were seeing signs around the venue indicating that something special might be happening after his solo set. And not only did it end up being another 2.5 hours of Skrillex DJ’ing, but he brought out two of my other favorite electronic artists that weren’t even on the lineup, ISOxo and Knock2. In fact, Skrillex and ISOxo are probably my two favorite active EDM artists, and Knock2 would definitely be in the top 5 (Justice is probably third). So having Skrillex, ISOxo, and Knock2 mess around for 2.5 hours on stage playing all sorts of released and unreleased bangers they’ve accumulated throughout the years was something that will be a special moment for me for a long time. It’s something that you couldn’t even prepare yourself for, let alone even dream about, so now that it actually happened, my mind is still a bit blown that I was lucky enough to be there.
I know, it’s a generic pick to have the one Cameron Winter or Geese song that has been put out in 2026 on here, but sorry, it’s great! It is mainly the instrumental here that gets me though. Sure, it’s nothing without the lyrics and story of the track, but these pulsating strings that are most of the instrumental build so wonderfully during the final verse that it gives me chills. I hope that people don’t take for granted how weird and moving it is to have a newer rock star actually pushing the boundaries of what rock music can be.
If you’ve seen the movie Sinners, you should know exactly the scene I’m talking about, but they somehow managed to recreate that scene fairly well on stage during the show. As someone who loves blues music, I really enjoyed all of the love it got in that movie, but this song was, and always will be, a standout. Both the moment when the two guitarists come in and the final belted note from Mile are easily some of the best moments in music I’ve heard all year, even if they originally came from a movie in 2025.
There’s not really much to say about this one besides that it was a wonderful tribute to one of my favorite artists of all time suddenly passing away towards the end of 2025. As great as all the guest performers were, it really just shows how special D’angelo was, because they clearly aren’t on his level. I do like how Raphael Saadiq was playing D’angelo’s guitar though. That was a nice extra tribute from someone who worked heavily with him.
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