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Ranking and Rating Every Concert I Saw In 2025

  • Writer: Andrew Doucette
    Andrew Doucette
  • 13 minutes ago
  • 19 min read
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42. Valerie June (C)


I actually got free tickets to this show from a record store, so I mainly just went because of that. She has a unique voice and a positive aura, but the music sounded just ok.




The main problem with this one was just that they had two openers, each of which went on for 45 minutes. So Sqwerv didn’t come on stage until at least 10, and I was just tired at that point. All of the bands sounded good, especially Zoofunkyou’s cover of “Whipping Post” with the lead guitarist from Sqwerv. It was still an enjoyable show, just a bit basic and unmemorable with how many great shows this year had.



40. Lane 8 w/Ashibah (C)


I mainly went to this show because I got a ticket for $6, so I’m not necessarily a fan of either artist here. What I found interesting is that they lock your phones to try and create a dance atmosphere where people can be themselves without judgement. Now, maybe if I found house music more interesting, I could’ve joined in more. But I still stayed for around 100 minutes of Lane 8, so I still enjoyed it enough. 


39. Marc Rebillet w/Capyac (C)


This was kind of a trainwreck, aside from Marc. Capyac was missing one of their members, who was attending a family member’s wedding, so they did a weird DJ set/variety show thing. Marc’s positivity is infectious, even if I wasn’t fully able to receive it at the time. It was just a really weird experience that I wish was better, but I still recommend Marc’s live shows quite a bit, because it was much more a me thing than a Marc thing.




I mainly went to this one because it was at an art exhibition in Madison, but I enjoyed myself! Ryan’s a great songwriter, so it was still enjoyable with just him and a guitar. Just seeing a show in a new venue was pretty cool. We’ll talk about Ryan later too with his full band, but he was still good as an acoustic artist too.


37. Hot Like Mars & Ratboys (B-)


I don’t usually put festivals in here, but this doesn’t feel like an actual festival. Hot Like Mars and Ratboys were the headliners of Orton Park Festival, a local Madison festival put on by and for the neighborhood. I have seen Ratboys before, and they sounded just as great as always, and Hot Like Mars provided a pretty decent soul/funk jam session!




This was the release show for Boxing Day’s debut album, and it was super cool to see them even get to this point! This release show was in what felt like a big living room, so it also was my first house show. Boxing Day sounded good, and both the openers weren’t bad either. It’s definitely nowhere near the top tier of shows I saw this year, but I’m glad I saw it. 




ZZ Ward’s been to town a few times, but there were just cheap resale tickets this time that made me more interested to go this time compared to the other times. She’s a good blues singer that used to do more genre-blending stuff, but is now doing more straightforward blues music. I can’t say this was one of the more memorable shows of the year, but it was enjoyable enough to see once. 



34. Food House w/Folie & Skymall (B)


Gotta love a packed hyperpop show inside a small club! After returning back from their nearly five year break, I knew I had to see Food House, especially after the new album was fantastic! This show was exactly as I expected, but I enjoyed it quite a bit. 




Open Mike Eagle was just as personable and charismatic as I hoped! His brand of “trauma bops” worked perfectly in an intimate live setting. Cavalier was an interesting opener too, lots of personality in his show. 



32. Michelle w/Ayoni (B)


After the band Michelle got me free tickets for their opening slot for Still Woozy last year, I knew I had to repay the favor and go to their headlining show in Madison this year! Unfortunately, the band ended up disbanding later this year, so this was the last time I saw them, but they were still awesome! They not only sold out the High Noon Saloon, but had everybody there entranced with these catchy songs and campy choreography. Even though I wished they did more music, at least they still put out multiple albums worth of great material. Also, Ayoni had probably the best voice of any opener I saw all year! 




I wasn’t even going to see Queens of the Stone Age at Bonnaroo this year, but after the festival got canceled, this show in Madison was helpful in easing that pain. I didn’t know much of Queens’s discography, but they performed fairly well for a band that’s been around for close to three decades! They also performed for about two hours too, which is always nice!



30. Quadeca w/Rozey (B)


This was a bit of a last second idea, as there were cheap resale tickets the day of, but it was a nice show. A lot of Quadeca’s best material comes from him being a great producer and arranger, and the show brought justice to his best arrangements. He mentioned about starting to lose his voice during the show, and you were able to tell a little bit, but the crowd was able to sing every word along with him, which helped. I can’t say I would travel anywhere to see Quadeca, but it was a pleasant show in town for cheap.



29. Tape B w/MPH & Super Future (B)


Gotta love a show with lots of wubs and lasers! While Tape B was able to utilize the full visual spectacle, MPH’s set was definitely my favorite, musically. Something about his upbeat UKG music really hits for me, and this live set was no different! It provided a nice contrast as well to Tape B’s bass-heavy dubstep. I was a bit iffy on the show going in, but it ended up being a super fun night!




Dogs in a Pile has gotten better each time I’ve seen them this year, but even though this was the first time I saw them, it was still pretty good! There were a couple really awesome jams towards the back half of the show, and an interesting cover of Lorde’s “Royals”. Still a show that was well worth going to!



27. Geordie Greep w/Nnamdi (B+)


This was a show that had been sold out for a while, but cheap resale tickets leading up to the show made me end up going, and I’m glad it did! Geordie Greep only has one solo album that’s a little over an hour in length, but this show was easily over two hours long! It was full of jazzy-jamming added onto Geordie’s theatrical singing and unique song structure. Nnamdi was also a weird, fascinating opener. 



26. Smino w/Samara Cyn & Mamii (B+)


Smino always puts on a good show, and this was no exception! With him performing for one hour and forty-five minutes, it’s easily the longest rap show I’ve ever seen that wasn’t in an arena. Both him and Samara Cyn had great stage presence as well, which is always nice. If they’re your favorite type of music, then I don’t see any reason why you wouldn’t have loved the show!




This was a last second decision, as tickets opened up that were in the middle of the venue in the second row for cheaper than they were originally selling the balcony tickets. So I thought it was a cool experience to go to, especially since my Dad is a big fan, and it ended up as a fun experience! Jon’s super talented, and his old-school New Orleans influence came through wonderfully! There were a few nitpicky things about the show, like how it seemed like he expected a standing ovation after every song, but there was so much talent on stage that it was hard to be that annoyed!



24. Levity w/Milano & Tazu (B+)


This was my first EDM show at The Sylvee, and it couldn’t have been a better one! This was a 360° show, so they were actually performing in the middle of the crowd. You were even allowed to walk on the usual stage to watch the show! Levity’s shows always have tons of lasers, and this was no exception! I do wish they gave a bit more production to the openers, but I understand why they didn’t, as it then hit harder when everything was finally turned on. All in all, this was an awesome first, big venue electronic show to see!



23. Bob Dylan (B+)


This was a show that was a part of a small tour he was doing in support of his 2020 album, Rough and Rowdy Ways. He did nearly the entire album live, but as usual, the songs themselves were played differently live than the recordings. Most of them were better, or at least the same quality as the studio versions, but there were a couple that were worse. Either way, it’s still cool to see a legend of this caliber no matter what the context is!


22. Outlaw Music Festival (Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Sheryl Crow, Waxahatchee) (B+)


Especially considering we got $25 tickets, this was a super fun time! I’m sure none of them are at their peak when it comes to performing, but each of them have more than enough quality tracks to make a show entertaining. We only saw a few songs of Waxahatchee, but she was awesome as always. Sheryl Crow was probably the objectively best performer! Bob Dylan was his usual weird self, but he did do “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright”, so that’s nice! Willie Nelson could barely sing, but his guitar playing was still good enough. It was also cool to hear “On The Road Again” in the rain, that might be the main memory from this show. I’m not sure I’ll see the show again if they come near, but the show was definitely worth seeing for $25!



21. Dogs in a Pile w/Sneezy (B+)


I think this was the better of the two Dogs in a Pile shows this year! Not only did they do two full sets of music, but they seemed much more comfortable to sit in the quiet, spacey jams. They are very talented musicians, and it’s pretty apparent from their live show. Not much else to say about this show. The cover of “Bennie And The Jets” was a nice surprise too! 




This was my first ever show at the Shitty Barn, a venue in Spring Green WI that is literally a barn. This show was significantly better than the other show of his I saw this year, both because there was a full band and the new album had come out by then. Ryan’s voice is immediately unique, and his writing style is so distinctive. I did also really like the venue, but I still probably wouldn’t go there unless there was someone I’d want to see again. I’m always down to see Ryan Davis whenever he comes around, as long as he keeps putting out great music to go along with it!




This was an impulsive decision after resale tickets got slightly under $40, but it ended up even better than I expected! Weird Al performed for slightly over two hours, and did seemingly every one of his hits. The vibes were just so positive and hilarious the entire show. Hearing 9,000 people singing along to Weird Al’s version of “American Pie” about becoming a jedi was wild to hear. It was nice to have a couple hours of pure stupidity and happiness this fall. 




This is both the Beet Street Festival and the afterparty. Os Mutantes headlined the free street festival. It’s a bit of a wild pick to have a Brazilian psych-rock band who started in the 1960s headline a festival in Milwaukee WI, but that’s what made it so cool! The lead singer couldn’t walk without a cane, so I’m glad to now be able to say I saw them. And Ninajirachi is now significantly bigger than the Cactus Club, so it was awesome to see her come back and DJ in a sweaty, 200-person room. I don’t know if I’ve ever been in a sweatier room than that night! The whole show was just the icing on the cake for an enjoyable day!




I thought Daniel Donato was pretty good at Bonnaroo, but this show really sold me on the group! Not only is Daniel an incredible guitar player, but each member of the band had standout moments that showed their own prowess as well! This show was also on Halloween, and they went all out with this theme of farmers and aliens and having an overarching story throughout the 3-hour show. Don’t get me wrong, the story was about as good or deep as a children’s story, but it felt right for Halloween! Pretty much the only annoying thing at the show was that no one seemed to respect anyone’s personal space. I know that’s a stupid complaint to have about a concert, but this was easily the show this year I had the most people bump into me for no reason. But still, drunk adults couldn’t damage a show with this much incredible musicality!




I’m so happy to see Magdalena Bay getting more popular! A couple years ago, they were playing a venue a fourth of the size and I bought tickets day-of. Now, they sold out a 2,400 person venue four months before the show! As for the show itself, it was just as great as last time! Their stage design was so detailed, and Mica interacted with the crowd quite a bit during the show. They also were more instrumentally dense, which was really cool to see translated live well. The duo is only getting better, and I hope that they only get more successful!



15. Mt. Joy & Goose (A-)


This was a co-headline bill that headlined the Kohl Center, but let’s be honest, I was mainly there for Goose. The biggest new jam band of this generation has put out two fantastic albums this year, and the show lived up to their hype! The setlist they chose for this show was also nearly perfect for my taste of their music! Mt. Joy was also good, especially the keyboardist. The two groups also came together and did three songs for the encore, which was pretty cool to see! I hope I can catch a full Goose show at some point, because those 80 minutes were elite!




I’ve always wanted to see experimental hip-hop trio clipping, but with Daveed Diggs’s acting career taking off, I always assumed they wouldn’t ever come to Madison. Thankfully, they finally did this year and it lived up to the hype! Jonathan and William orchestrated all the sonics beautifully, whereas Daveed’s rapping was so clean! Cooling Prongs was an interesting opener, which started with a four minute video of Ice T tearing apart a Macbook until he said “Cooling Prongs”. I hope they end up coming back to town, but even if they don’t, I’m glad I got to see them once!




Seeing two of my favorite artists in one night was, unsurprisingly, a wonderful experience! I knew that Danny was a fan of Underscores, but I never thought they would actually tour together! I have seen both a few times before, so neither of the performances were that surprising. I liked Danny’s minimalist stage design, especially since it allowed the crowd to focus on how great of a performer Danny is. Underscores was definitely more electronic focused this time compared to the Wallsocket shows, but that was also expected given what she’s released in 2025. They also performed both of their collabs on Danny’s album live, so it was also nice to see them both on stage at the same time! Femtanyl was also a cool opener too, but the crowd didn’t offer her much energy to feed off of. Still though, this show was a can’t miss for me and was definitely worth it!




JID always delivers! He’s been touring for so long that when it comes to his performance, there’s no doubt that he’ll be able to perform great! This show had a larger stage design than anything I’ve seen him do before, so that was nice! This was the tour for his new album, so it was nice to hear those new songs performed live, as someone that’s heard all his older tracks already. He still did something that I’ve seen him do after every single show, which was to go down to the front row and sign things for his fans. He was still signing things 15 minutes after the show ended! It’s one thing to do that after a show for a couple hundred people in a bar, but it’s different to do it in a multiple thousand person venue! I hope he continues to come back to Madison, and I’ll likely continue to go every time!



11. St. Vincent w/Gustaf (A-)


For some reason, I always thought of St. Vincent as a bit off-putting. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, most of the older rock stars have this feeling of them knowing they’re better than you at this that borders between confidence and arrogance. While I can’t speak for everyone, that tends to hold up the barrier between artist and fan a lot more solidly than most artists today. I always expected St. Vincent to uphold that barrier, but she did the opposite. She was open with the audience, speaking off the cuff about seemingly random things throughout the set. And that barrier was literally broken down by her coming into the audience, saying hi and having small conversations with fans along the way, before singing the ballad “New York”. Maybe it was just an off show like this one fan expressed, but I don’t know. It was cool to see a different side to her! Sure, I wish the show was a bit longer, but it’s hard to complain about a show like this! 



10. Clipse w/Earthgang (A-)


This show was an hour of two of the greatest rappers performing their first album together in 16 years, which also happens to be easily the best rap album of the year, what’s not to love! Their performance of “The Birds Don’t Sing” was genuinely one of the most moving things I’ve seen on stage. I don’t want to go too deep into it, but all you have to know is that it’s a song about their parents passing, and each brother took a verse dedicated to each parent. Having Earthgang as an opener was also a great choice, as Earthgang are some of the most seasoned performers around! This show was exactly what I expected in the best way possible!




Geese has had one of the biggest music ascents I’ve seen all year! This was also evident when the show sold out almost instantly, and when after their new album came out, the resale tickets were going for $300 a piece. Thankfully, they lived up to the hype once again! After seeing them twice last year (one headline show and one as an opener), I knew what to expect from them, musically. I figured the crowd would be a bit more intense too after the year they’ve had, but this was one of the most taken crowds I’ve seen all year! They hung onto every word out of Cameron’s mouth, and even took over duties for the chorus of “I See Myself”! Racing Mount Pleasant was also a quality opener too, just a bit softer than most of Geese’s material. I don’t think anyone there needed convincing that Geese was one of the best new rock bands, but if they did, surely this performance was good enough to convince them!




Tyler’s shows have only gotten bigger and bigger each time I’ve seen him, and this was no exception! This time, he was able to sell out Fiserv Forum almost entirely in only one day! I was going to wait and buy tickets at a later point, but when I checked the day they went on sale, they were almost already gone. Not only that, but so many of his new fans are young. I saw so many high schoolers that looked like they were going to their first concert without their parents, and I was even sitting next to a family that included a kid that couldn’t have been older than 12. As for the show itself, it was fantastic! Tyler’s never anything less than fantastic though, he’s easily one of the best performers in hip-hop right now. Having Paris Texas open for him was also pretty cool, though Lil Yachty was a bit middling to have in between the two great artists. If you haven’t seen Tyler before, he’s a great first hip-hop artist to see live!



7. FKA twigs w/Koreless (A-)


I had very high expectations for this show, and while FKA twigs herself lived up to the hype, the show itself was slightly lacking. The show was delayed a few months due to a visa issue, and then the show on the day was delayed as well due to technical issues. Also, when the show was going to be in March, it seemed that her shows in Europe right before were 2 hours long, whereas this one was only 75 minutes. There were also a bit of difficulties during one part of the show too, so that wasn’t 75 straight minutes of music. Twigs herself was fantastic though, both as a singer and a dancer! It just could’ve been one of the best shows of the year, but logistics held it back. I still feel pretty grateful to finally see FKA twigs after all these years though! She’s playing in Chicago during spring break next year though, so maybe I’ll end up wanting a redo.




This was very likely the greatest light show I’ve ever seen! Coldplay is definitely up there for their wristband light show, but in terms of using things on stage, Justice takes it! Just the sheer willpower of everything that was on stage and the intensity of each light was almost too intense at times! And, of course, both Justice and Kaytranada were fantastic musically! Kaytranada played all of his hits and danced the audience through a 90-minute party, whereas Justice mashed up their songs into edits so good that I can’t believe they aren't released yet. Sam also provided a quality opening set, which set the vibe nicely for Kaytranada. I’m definitely grateful I made the trip down to Chicago for this one, especially after their Bonnaroo set got canceled!




This was yet another hit parade from The Weeknd, but he also took it back to his older days more this show than the one a few years ago. He ended up doing nearly half of the songs from his debut mixtape, and one of the most iconic R&B projects of this generation, House of Balloons! Hearing a song like “High For This” and the title track live was more than worth the price of going to see him again! As for the rest of the show, The Weeknd was his usual, iconic, popstar-self. Playboi Carti opened the show with a short, but high energy set that included a surprise appearance from Travis Scott! This show was just as amazing as The Weeknd’s show from 2022, and probably even a little better!




Charli’s never been the objectively best performer, but this was one of my favorite shows this year! A big part of it was to hear her perform the best album of 2024 live, yes, but a bigger part of it was the audience and atmosphere of the show! With Charli’s popularity skyrocketing last year, I was worried that the crowd was going to be just a bunch of annoying people that didn’t know anything other than Brat. On the contrary, I was around people who had each also seen Charli multiple times before and were so welcoming that they included me in all their conversations for the evening. The singing along and party atmosphere of Brat translated perfectly in the arena! Charli’s performing has also gotten better each time I’ve seen her, and this was no exception! Her singing was improved, her stage presence was one of the best I saw all year, and the material she was performing was top notch! This show definitely wouldn’t be this high to people that don’t love Charli and the album, but for someone who does, this was perfect!



3. Kendrick Lamar & SZA w/Mustard (A)


After the mammoth 2024 that Kendrick had, he decided to embark on a stadium tour with SZA! This was billed as a co-headlining show between the two. Between her solo songs and the songs they did together, SZA was out there for about half of the songs, and Kendrick was out there for a little over half of the songs. There were people around me that were pretty clearly there for one artist over another, and the format of the show wasn’t the best for these people. Kendrick and SZA kept switching off every 20-30 minutes for about 3 hours. So if you wanted to only see one of the artists, half of the show was spent sitting through the other’s catalog. It was a bit of a vibe switch going from west coast hip-hop bangers to R&B hits, but as someone who loves each of their discographies, I was fine with it! I’m curious to see if they do a stadium tour next time they decide to do a solo tour, because I’m sure they could in some markets (Chicago being one of them), but I don’t know about others. Either way, the show was a phenomenal victory lap for two greats!



2. Remi Wolf’s Insanely Fire 1970s Pool Party Superjam (A)


Yeah, this was definitely helpful in not having the Bonnaroo weekend this year end up as a complete failure. The Superjam is a unique Bonnaroo set where an artist, this time Remi Wolf, orchestrates a full set worth of covers and guests where everything and anything is possible. Many of the guests scheduled did end up showing up here, but there were some drop outs and a couple surprise additions. Being able to see this show in a 1,000 person room only added to the gravity and uniqueness of this show. The crowd was very clearly almost entirely made up of Bonnaroo people. The positivity and uniqueness of Bonnaroo were present in that crowd, including singing “Just a Friend” and sneaking in totems into the venue. There were so many incredible moments; a few of which being the stunning cover of “Jolene”, Hayley Williams coming out to do a couple incredible Chaka Khan covers, and every guest coming back out to sing “September” to end the show. I won’t ever forget this show, and I know I’ve said this quite a few times earlier in this post, but I feel genuinely privileged and lucky to see this show after the way the weekend turned out. 



1. Beyoncé (A+)


Beyoncé is the greatest performer alive! At this point, I have a hard time figuring out how anyone would think otherwise. The singing, dancing, bravado, stage presence, and catalogue are only a few of the aspects where Beyoncé excels at the highest level! The show was also full of symbolism, ranging from the phrase “Never let someone take what belongs to you” popping up during the first act, to the Statue of Liberty with a bandana face covering and braids that shows up in the last act. Don’t let that fool you too, there is still so much fun to be had that isn’t symbolic of anything. The sing-along medley to some of her biggest hits was a nice surprise, and the slowed down version of “Crazy in Love" are just two examples! As with the other show of hers from 2023, part of what makes her shows special is that you do see that human aspect that rarely comes through publicly. The easiest example of this is seeing how her kids are involved in the show now. Blue Ivy is now a featured dancer in the entire show, after getting a song or two on the previous tour. When Beyoncé sang “Protector”, a song about protecting her children, both Blue and one of her younger kids came out and Beyoncé sang the song to them. Of course it’s meaningful, but it’s also adorable to see a 7/8 year old on stage waving to everyone in the audience. Beyoncé also gave a heartfelt speech about the crowd being so supportive, even though it felt like 41° outside. It’s just really cool to see someone that is so protective of her image and portrays this otherworldly confidence to be very human in certain moments, even if it is calculated human-ness. 



 
 
 

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