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Must see touring artists?
What artists are touring currently or in the near future that are really good ? Recently I've seen Ne Obliviscaris, Marcus Miller & Chelsea Wolfe that were awesome, super professional, skilled musicians with good show(wo)man ship. I try to follow stuff on songkick but I often miss out.
Irrespective of how much you like the music/genre, I've had incredible experiences with the following artists live:
A lot of people say Taylor Swift. It just wasn't for me. A lot of the big EDM artists play incredible shows with absolutely insane energy in the crowd. If you haven't tried that before, that's an experience. I'd love to see a huge kpop group live. People say that's also just a completely different experience to what you normally see.
If a classical orchestra is playing like movie music for a film you love or similar, that pretty much always seems like it's something folks in my circle enjoy immensely, although they've never enjoyed classical music before.
Can 100% corroborate RAtM. Incredible show.
I saw Audioslave 20 years ago as my first real concert. Mind-blowing, didn't know that would be the best show I would ever see. In the mosh pit too. Chris Cornell nailed the Rage songs, wouldn't even know it wasn't Zac on the stage.
I'll add:
Pearl Jam
Flaming Lips
Cake
My Morning Jacket
MGMT
Tame Impala
Caribou
Especially Flaming Lips. There is no show like their show. I'm not even a huge fan but that was an unforgettable concert.
The Battle of Alpine Valley (as they put on the merch) is a core memory for me.
Quick list off the top of my head of artists who put on amazing shows. Probably a bit of recency bias going on as well as my general concert preferences which favor smaller venues over stadiums
I've been to a good number of hip hop and electronic shows as well but generally speaking, I find them fairly uninteresting though I do have tickets to see Isaiah Rashad tour on the 10 year anniversary of his Cilvia Demos with OMA backing him up which sells rap shows for me. Basically if it's a rapper and his DJ, it's going to be a hard ask. As for electronic music, I'm not an EDM person in the slightest and was a bit bored when I saw artists like Flying Lotus and Baths.
JPEGMafia is a great shout. I saw him November of 2019. it was definitely a wild time and quite a small crowd since he was just gaining traction at the time. Distinctly remembering the show being over, house light coming back up and he comes back out and disassembled his set up solo, no stage hands or roadies at all.
I’ve been to more energetic shows (Death Grips) but JPEG’s show was electric and intimate at the same time. I think the whole crowd felt a connection when I saw him in 2019. Saw him perform last year at a much larger venue, I missed the intimacy but the energy was there. Great performer.
I worked a Flaming Lips concert and it was a really fun show with lots of audience engagement. They handed out laser pointers to everyone and turned off all the lights so that we could align them on Wayne Coyne’s silhouette. He then brought out a mirror to reflect all the lasers into a smoke cloud. He also crowd surfed inside a giant bubble-boy hamster ball, among other antics. Got to meet Wayne as well and he seems like a genuinely nice guy.
I saw a 3D audiovisual experience with Flying Lotus that was pretty cool, but I can understand if his music otherwise isn’t the most compelling concert.
Ah yea, I've seen Flaming Lips twice at festivals and absolutely love their visual flair : the Coyne ball, the giant laser hands, the giant clouds of color smoke. It's great, even for someone who really only knows their music that came out between 1999 and 2009.
As for FlyLo, the funny thing is I absolutely love his music. I saw him and Thundercat around the time Cosmogramma (or maybe "You're Dead!"?) came out and I was hoping to see something wild but it was just him in front of a projector with his computer set up. He even did some Captain Murphy stuff which was fine. Just not the most engaging set.
Deafheaven puts on such a good show. I've seen them twice now -- once right after Sunbather came out and then just this last year when they did the 10 year anniversary of Sunbather tour.
When the guitars kicked in on Dream House, the hairs on my neck stood up and didn't settle back down until the end of the set.
Not sure if you dig death grips but if you do then try catch them live. It's relentless. No talking just playing for about an hour solid.
Yea, I've never given Death Grips a proper shot though I've seen other american grime artists like B L A C K I E. I hear their shows are great but over time, stories about a portion of their fans seems keep popping up and I'm just like, meh, I'm too old for this shit. I think Danny Brown mentioned it as well, saying too many are like perpetually online 4channers.
Oh dang iv never seen that but I wouldn't be surprised. Iv only seen them once and it was a fairly normal gig fans wise. I guess it depends where you are. On the topic of weird hip hop. Clipping are also great live.
I've seen she's touring in Europe, but dates aren't so good for me sadly.
I may be getting old, I've only heard of a couple of these 😂
My go-to recommendation for everyone is Sunn O)). Don’t let the metal genre scare you. I’ve brought non-metal heads and they loved it.
It’s more of a meditative experience than what you might expect. Like being vibrated by overwhelmingly loud monolithic chords. It’s like feeling tectonic plates shift or glaciers carving the earth. Bring ear plugs, spring for a ticket with a chair.
They aren’t touring at the moment, but they tour regularly. Occasionally they’ll play gothic cathedrals in Germany or caves. If you’re in an area to see one of those I’d be envious.
I think they came in my town once, I didn't go but could hear the vibration from outside xD I'll keep an eye for them.
I haven't seen a lot of live music, TBH, simply because I have unusual tastes in music and it's hard to find ones that will do live performances I like and who will do it in my area.
King Gizzard are amazing in concert. They're eclectic enough that you might just enjoy them regardless of your tastes in music, and they really don't need a flashy set or dancers to be fun. The show I saw was something like 3+ hours long, and it never got dull - not even once.
Dadi Freyr recently announced a new tour for this year. I was on one of his last tours and even though it was a small show (he's not big in the US), it was way better than I was expecting. He's a big guy and he has a lot of presence. Electronic music is hard to do live IMHO, so it was really impressive how well he played the room.
I'm seeing King Gizzard this summer and I'm very excited.
I'm also seeing KGLW in September. I am so hyped. They're my favorite band of all time, they experiment in all of the right ways! I can simultaneously groove AND care about the planet!
If you need something to listen to, check out Sketches of Brunswick East. It's jazz/psychedelic and very revolutionary. Plus it's a collaboration with Mild High Club.
Standout tracks:
"Spider and Me"
"Tezeta"
"You Can Be Your Silhouette"
I haven't seen her solo show, but Lauren Mayberry from CHVRCHES is playing some shows, iirc. I have seen CHVRCHES live and they're incredible, Lauren is an incredible performer too.
Personally a big fan of Taylor Swift, but obviously right now her tickets are incredibly expensive lol.
Not live right now:
I watched Rage Against the Machine and Run the Jewels live at MSG and it was incredible, it's a shame they're not touring anymore, I really wanted to join the pit.
King Diamond or Mercyful Fate.
The stage and theatrics are amazing.
I only had the opportunity to see Mercyful Fate and it's awesome, but King Diamond solo is another level with actors and stage props.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who was going to mention King Diamond. Easily one of the best performers.
Some of his live albums are downright awful so I probably got lucky, but Bob Dylan was one of the best shows I've seen. It might depend a lot on what kind of backup group he has with him; the ladies singing harmony definitely added a lot.
I've also really liked U2, Matchbox Twenty, the Wallflowers, and Counting Crows, although I think Counting Crows would have been better if it wasn't the end of the tour and a mile above sea level because they were definitely a little worn out.
Wheein, from the Korean girl group Mamamoo, is touring the US right now. She is a supremely gifted vocalist, and is the best dancer from Mamamoo as well, if you like kpop dance routines.
Mamamoo and Wheein both have a more mature sound than you normally find in kpop, and Wheein's voice is particularly good at R&B tracks. Don't know which songs she's been using in this tour though.
One other thing... unlike most kpop groups, the members of Mamamoo prefer to sing live. With a backing track in concerts, yes, but you get live performances from them, and not just lip-syncing.
Jpegmafia was already mentioned but his shows are always great and high energy
Gogol Bordello is always a lot of fun but the roster seems to rotate a lot
I saw sabaton as an opener and they upstaged the main act so hard that I dont even remember who they were opening for
Danny Brown is a lot of fun live too, he was really supportive of his openers which was great to see
Jacob Collier's audience choir participation makes for a pretty unique live experience!
It’s a little more niche, but I saw the Black Pumas play several years ago, in a small venue, and their show was phenomenal. They’re touring now, in case you’d like to catch something a bit different.
KMFDM was a blast, even after 40(!) years.
Authority Zero comes through a lot, and it's always worth it- Jason had bronchitis once, but he did his best for a bit and then turned it into a sing-along, no one seemed disappointed in the slightest.
Gogol Bordello upstaged System of a Down once, lol. Eugene is nothing but enthusiasm, Gogol is always such a joy to see.
Jeff Rosenstock, see above. 110%, all the time, every time. If you're in Brooklyn in August, they're playing the Warsaw like, every night until they stop selling out (so that everyone who wants to gets a chance to go). Genuinely nice dude, and passion for days.
I've never seen anyone else mention Authority Zero before, and I'm sad I missed them the one time they came to my city. I haven't dabbled into their new stuff but one of those random bands I still put on every now and then, passage in time and andiamo are front to back albums for me.
Honestly, they're worth going out of your way for, if you can swing it; the last time we saw them they weren't even headlining and it was still worth it. They always start and end tours in Phoenix/Mesa, and usually hit Albuquerque on the way in/out/both, so if you have any interest in visiting the Southwest, highly recommend planning the trip around one of their tours!
Bruh, checking back in on this thread. I would kill (in Minecraft) to see KMFDM. Especially with some of the Symbols material.
Lol I missed them 10 years ago and never really got over it. Worth the wait, though!
Three of the top four concerts I’ve ever been to were Peelander Z shows.
Side question for anyone in here. I know someone mentioned Eminem up there, but does anyone have any other good experiences with rappers? I have been a hip hop fan for 25+ years and I cannot stand seeing live rap on say a YouTube video or the award shows. They bring all their buddies up on stage and yell into microphones, most of it you cannot understand.
I’ve never seen that at live shows. If you don’t go to huge shows, I think there’s a very small chance there will be extras. I’ve gone to Common, Talib Kweli, De La Soul, RJD2, but all at small venues. Those shows have been awesome and generally worth it for me. Snoop Dogg was the only negative experience: he didn’t show up until 3 hours of waiting, at which point I was already heading home.
I went to some sort of Monsters of Rap show circa 2017. Snoop headlined and while on time, had ?clearly? over indulged in his indulgence of choice before coming out on stage. Cypress Hill were great. Method and Red absolutely stole the show. Definitely not a fan of the live rap yelling-into-mics phenomena. Best I can say is 'not all live rap is bad'... but there's definitely a lot of bad live rap out there.