Realized I did things a little out of order, as I like to post the year’s Retrospective after all my “Best Of” lists are done. Well, woops. I still had to list out my favorite concerts I saw in 2024, of which there are a few!

Below you’ll find my Top 10 favorite shows of 2024, organized alphabetically, plus a bunch of rogue favorite memories / moments from the other shows I went to. Overall, this was a great year of shows – the most I saw since before the pandemic. Getting back out there! If you see an artist coming to your town sometime this year, take the plunge and go see them, even if you have to go alone! Live music is soul-filling, and helps our new music ecosystem.

10 FAVORITE SHOWS OF 2024,
LISTED ALPHABETICALLY:

Charli XCX @ Madison Square Garden

Starting off this list with maybe the best show I saw all year. The SWEAT Tour was all it was cracked up to be, with Shygirl kicking the night off well, then transitioning to a blend of Troye Sivan and Charli XCX performances. Let’s be real, the energy level in MSG was night and day when Troye + Charli were out there, which is funny since Troye is overwhelmingly more popular on a streaming / fans basis than Charli. But she commanded the whole arena all alone on stage, careening through brat tracks along with hits from her recent past. I’ll say it again, though. The ENERGY in the arena for those songs was unmatched. This culminated in the biggest pop-off I’ve ever witnessed live, which was when Lorde came out for her verse on “girl, so confusing”. I’ve linked it above, but I don’t think I’ve ever been in a louder arena than when she appeared out of the tunnel leading from below the stage. This was my second time seeing Charli (the last time being on the Charli tour in 2019), so I knew she was an incredible performer, but this just pushed her case even further. Unstoppable.

Dawn Richard & Spencer Zahn @ National Sawdust

If you haven’t had the chance to see Dawn Richard sing live yet, please fix that. This was my first time seeing her and I was gobsmacked. I knew she could sing, but hearing her range performing songs from her collaboration with composer Spencer Zahn showed that she could have been a star in any era. She could have been a ballads merchant in the 50s and 60s, a powerful soul singer in the 70s, a pop R&B singer in the 80s, a pop singer in the 90s, and then gets to the 00s when she caught fire. She’s really incredible, y’all. The band around her was sublime, but Dawn’s magnetic personality was the star. This show was criminally under-attended. Please change that, dear reader. If you see Dawn + Spencer, or just Dawn Richard coming to town, please catch them.

Emma Ruth Rundle & Ora Cogan @ Public Records

The winner of the “bought this ticket on a whim” contest was Emma Ruth Rundle & Ora Cogan at Public Records – no contest. I had been a casual fan of Rundle’s since 2014 from her album Some Heavy Ocean. When I saw she was doing shows celebrating the release of this record, with Ora Cogan, an artist I was tangentially interested in opening, I thought it was gonna be a good excuse to get out of the house for some live music (like I don’t do that enough). Ora Cogan opening the show was great in her own right, with her band laying down some dusty, Western-touched doom folk blues, complete with a few dueling fiddle moments. You know I love that stuff!

Emma Ruth Rundle was a force, though. Armed with only her guitar and voice, she had Public Records enraptured in silence, watching in silent admiration. It was so quiet that Rundle commented that she was weirded out by how silent was. “Real Big Sky” as the encore was also incredible, Rundle’s voice carrying through the room so well that she didn’t even have to use a mic. Scorched earth, beautiful and cathartic doom folk. Doesn’t get better than that.

Fcukers & Lip Critic @ The Creek and the Cave

The final show of my SXSW 2024 was the best of the week: a showcase put on by NYC venue Baby’s All Right and newsletter Perfectly Imperfect brought together artists like Chanel Beads, Godcaster, LUCY (Cooper B. Handy), voyeur, a Frost Children DJ set and more. The final two artists at the indoor stage were Lip Critic and Fcukers, two groups I had seen earlier in the week and knew I needed to see again. It also helped that I work with them at my real job.

An added element was that this showcase was supposed to be an “official” one, where a badge or $15 cover was required. Because of SXSW’s accepted sponsorship from the US Army, many artists dropped out of performing, and there was at least one pop-up protest show. This show ended up being turned into a free “unofficial” show, with the Palestinian flag hung behind each stage. Nice to see that solidarity at the end of the week.

Onto the tunes though: Lip Critic was absolutely furious as they ripped through their set, both drummers crammed on the small indoor Creek and the Cave stage, while the two on electronics could have been speaking in tongues by the amount of shaking they were doing. The crowd was electric, fully going wild to every song. My tired legs and blown-out brain were energized for another round, which was Fcukers, who I had already seen twice that week already. They were the final act for the showcase, so all the freaks from NYC who had come down to ATX congregated together. It really felt like a NYC show, with “Mothers” finishing off the set and stirring everyone into a frenzy. We exited the venue into the rain at around 3am, feeling very accomplished for finishing another week of SXSW.

Julie Byrne & Mary Lattimore @ Storm King Art Center

I surprised my partner with a trip to Storm King in upstate NY to see two of our favorite artists, Julie Byrne & Mary Lattimore. Neither of us had been to Storm King either, so it was a nice little day trip to a museum, a show, and in the morning… donuts from the best vegan donuts around, Peaceful Provisions. It started raining midway through Mary’s set, but sitting out on a great lawn in the rain listening to Mary’s music in the middle of the summer – a fleeting moment of peace that was hard to come by this summer.

Laura Marling @ Bowery Ballroom

Any time I see Laura Marling it will be in my top shows of that year. She is an incredible performer with a crystalline voice, but her guitar skills really shine when you see her live. She opened the set with her usual suite of five songs from Once I Was An Eagle, which is worth the price of admission alone. She then went into songs off her new album Patterns In Repeat, which cut me so damn deep and made me tear up a time or two. This was also my partner’s first time seeing Laura live after me talking nonstop about how good she was after I saw her in 2021. Always, always, always a good show.

Mitski @ Beacon Theatre

One of seven(!) Mitski NYC dates on this tour. Absolutely nuts. This was also my 11th time seeing her so… that’s pretty wild in its own right. I went in expecting more of what I saw at Radio City in 2022, but got one of the best performances I’d seen from her. First off, the stage: Mitski sang on an elevated, circular platform in the middle of teh stage, flanked on all sides by her seven-piece band, who all played multiple instruments throughout the show, save for the drummer. To call the arrangements of songs that stretched across her whole catalog lush would be an understatement. Every song sounded great, with the newer songs off The Earth Is Inhospitable… sounding fresh, but she also reworked older tracks to fit better into the whole spectacle of the show, like “I Don’t Smoke” turning into a rootin’ tootin’ cowboy burner.

I also want to shout out the choreo, which has been present since the Be The Cowboy tour, but has been elevated to fit these larger stages. The majestic mobile that came down from the ceiling on “My Love Mine All Mine” is obvious social media bait (and it works, and is beautiful), but her routine during “Heaven” where she danced with a spotlight beam made my partner and I tear up. I thought I’d been burnt out after seeing Mitski this many times, but it’s so awesome to see her take those next steps up as an artist and deliver new idea-packed, theatre-worthy shows.

Mulatu Astatake @ Sony Hall

In a show that was not on my bingo card going into 2024, I got to see the father of ethio-jazz, Mulatu Astatke, in an under-promoted show at Sony Hall, essentially a basement in Times Square. Astatke was joined by an incredible band of performers that blasted through his hits, filling the dungeon with mind-melting ethio-jazz funk. Most of the time Astatke himself was more of a bandleader, letting his players lead the way. He was also frequently making eye contact with people closest to the stage, checking in if people were having a good time. This was a show where I felt the most in-tune with the fellow audience members: we knew that we were here to celebrate a legendary figure and his legacy.

Slowdive & quannnic @ Brooklyn Paramount

I’d seen Slowdive before, but that was back in 2014. I had somehow neglected to see them again in the 10 years between, and I’m so glad I finally pulled the trigger and got a ticket to see them in 2024. They still sound as good as ever, with their hits like “Catch The Breeze”, “When The Sun Hits”, and “Machine Gun” blowing me away. I was MOVING during this show too, which in turn I think lead a lot of other people around me to groove in place, instead of standing stoic, or recording every second on their phones. Also want to shout out my buddy Jesse who I hadn’t seen in a while, and the opener quannnic for being really awesome, too!

Suzanne Ciani & Time Wharp @ Church of Heavenly Rest

Another concert I knew I had to get a ticket for was Suzanne Ciani performing Seven Waves at the Church of Heavenly Rest, in full quadrophonic sound. They had speakers oriented in each corner of the venue, so the washes of sound flowed around us to make us feel like we were awash in a bath of beautiful buchla energy. Plus there were mesmerizing psychedelic visuals projected on the back wall of the church. A magical evening to say the least, plus the genius of Time Wharp opening up the show. Some geniuses at work that night! Shout out to my buddy Carmine who also saw the show, I walked him and a friend to the train and we were just like “holy smokes, that was amazing” the whole walk.

MORE MEMORABLE MOMENTS IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER:

• BIG shout out to beabadoobee, who had the guts to repeatedly tell a room full of music conference attendees to stop talking during her set. It was an outrageous level of noise in that room, and anytime a performer sticks up for themselves like that and tells people to shut up? You get a medal in my book.
• Every member but one of Black Country, New Road bringing out recorders for an unreleased song.
• Throwing up devil horns at Blood Incantation felt like a spirit-cleansing ritual.
• HUGE bucket list checked off when I saw Camera Obscura. Seeing one of my top favorite songs of all time “If Looks Could Kill” was great and all, but seeing them finish with “Razzle Dazzle Rose” made me tear up. Also my partner and I were among the younger people in the audience. Rare shout out to Gen X.
• Seeing some of tracks off Swim at the Caribou show brought me back to 2010/2011. Made braving my least favorite venue (Avant Gardner) somewhat worth it.
• Any time you see Charlotte & Bolis they deserve a shout-out. Usually for “HAHA”.
• Arriving a bit late to the free Chuquimamani-Condori concert and being stuck in line, relying on a one-in, one-out system for letting people into the venue. The opener ended and I was able to get in right as they were starting. Also held up a Palestinian flag at the end.
• Finally seeing Cults for the first time and seeing one of my first Warm Visions favorites, “Go Outside”, performed live.
• DJ Shadow completely exceeding my expectations on how his live show would be, also illuminating that he has so many amazing music videos, which played on a screen behind him.
• Seeing Erika de Casier helped me appreciate her new album more. Also this crowd was so locked in and having a good time. So many people shouting along to each song, wagging their fingers, getting hyped, lots of movement. I was grooving too, of course.
• Mentioned Fcukers at SXSW above, but I can’t not mention the drained rooftop pool rave in the early spring. After catching them three times in Austin, I convinced my friends to get tickets to this “secret show” happening a few weeks later where Fcukers performed in a drained pool atop this health + wellness center in Bushwick (the building was likely, almost exclusively, a spruced up warehouse. It was definitely the coolest show I went to.
• Shout out Fontaines D.C. for starting the first mosh pit in NON-COMM history. Granted it was mostly the younger promo folk in the mix, along with some of the weirder old guys, but it was a rare moment of youth supremacy and energy that’s all too rare.
• Had been wanting to see Glasser since 2010 – seeing “Home” was a nice circle-closing.
• The ill peach show itself was fine, but shout out to some very spirited teens in the front row who drove to NYC to Chicago just to see that show, along with another teen who flew an undisclosed amount of hours to see the show with them. They were singing along to every song, and it was a heart-healer of a sight.
• Getting charmed as hell by the Joanna Sternberg family band, which was basically their dad performing bluesrock standard with their brother on drums and their dad on guitar / American songs, etc. their own set was great too, of course.
• Saw Kassa Overall four times at SXSW in 2024 and guess what. I would have seen him and his all-star band a fifth time if I had the chance. Shout out Tomoki Sanders for being a nimble little guy and running all over the room and the audience with a cowbell.
• Shout out to the large man openly crying to “Home” at the Kokoroko show. I teared up quite a bit too.
• Elizabeth Powell aka Land of Talk seems like a really fun person to be friends with. They loved to banter in between tracks and seemed very goofy.
• Gotta hand it to L’Imperatrice – they’re continuing on the tradition of immensely entertaining and elaborate French electro pop groups a la Justice & Daft Punk. So much so they incorporated Daft Punk’s “Voyager” into a medley they had put together. Plus, their live-only encore / set-closer was legendary, featuring a super sick acid house breakdown, insane light shows, early 2010s bedroom EDM breakdowns, and tons of grooves. Fantastic live band.
• Finally got to see Macula Dog live. Not going to elaborate more than that, but if you ever see them coming to town, please make it a point to see them. I guarantee you’ve seen nothing like it.
• My friend Kate and I have been going to Yo La Tengo’s Hanukkah shows nearly every year since 2017 together, and every year we’ve wanted to get “the big artist” that year. Granted she got Low in 2021, so she’d already won once. One big L we took was going to the night before Beach House opened. This year we got debatably the best guest opener with 2024 darling MJ Lenderman kicking the show off. Didn’t care too much for his most recent album (which he played nearly exclusively from), but it was still great to both see a hot act on the year.
• Getting sardined into Terminal 5 for maybe the most packed show I’ve ever been to at Mk.gee. People love to see a weird little (in this case, tall) man shred. Dude nearby tried his best with small talk with other people nearby, and it turns out a lot of people around me discovered Mk.gee from the NYT feature, enough to come to the show. Print is not dead?
• Major, MAJOR shout out to Eric M. for pulling some strings and helping me get into ML Buch + Chanel Beads, a show that had been sold out for at least three months. Seeing “Working It Out” live was just as magical as I’d hoped.
• I saw PJ Harvey in 2023 but in a strange arrangement. Finally got to see my first proper show of hers and she delivered. Just a masterful performance.
• My partner nearly missed a chunk of this set but got there in time (albeit stuck behind a forest of tall people), but solo Robin Pecknold at Bowery Ballroom was a near miss of my Top 10 favorite shows of 2024. He seems like such a nice guy, and some of these Fleet Foxes songs were solidified as classics hearing them stripped down like that. Also people singing along with “Mykonos” (getting in on the backing vocal melody / refrains) was so cute.
• Watching people sway and jerk about to Still House Plants – some mind-blowing synergy between the guitar and drums, too.
• The vibes were very strange at Thee Sacred Souls @ the Brooklyn Paramount. Multiple people in the GA fainted, the fire alarm lights were going off in the balcony, and at a certain point, two dudes got into a fight and one nearly threw the other one off the balcony, going to close as to the guy’s back hanging off and the people below boo’ing.
• The TRANSA live event, bringing together Beverly Glenn-Copeland, More Eaze, Anajah, Niecy Blues and more, celebrating the new record from Red Hot Org. It was a beautiful scene, with Glenn-Copeland opening the night.
• The Michigan pride swelling within me as I got to see a rare NYC performance from Dearborn, MI’s own Windy & Carl at the kranky Records showcase.
• She has likely under 10 songs out period, but opening for Jamila Woods, I’d never seen an artist win a crowd faster than Uwade. Her voice is great and all, but the elongated applause she garnered after her opening set was not only well-deserved, but it could have gone on longer.
• You know I always have to shout out seeing Yo La Tengo for their Hanukkah run. We got a pretty good setlist this year, with Joey Spampinato from NRBQ, along with his wife Kami Lyle being the encore guests, and Steve Shelley of Sonic Youth (and hey, Winged Wheel), joining on drums for the whole set. Getting “Ohm” in this year’s set felt like a cosmic message (that I cried to), and other notable first-timers on my “Songs I’ve Seen YLT Play Live” playlist include “Nowhere Near”, “What Can I Say” (the first song I’ve seen from Fakebook!), and “Deeper Into Movies”.
• If I were to include 11 shows on the list above, I would have included Young Fathers. A complete and total mind-explosion of a show.

FULL LIST OF SHOWS + STATS:

• 80 non-festival shows
• 152 unique artists seen in 2024
• 175 individual performances seen in 2024
• 109 artists seen for the first time in 2024
• 12 artists seen more than once in 2024
• 52 & 15 performances seen at SXSW & NON-COMM, respectively

+++

• Allah-Las @ Webster Hall
• Angélica Garcia @ Elsewhere Rooftop + Scholz Garten (SXSW) + Swan Dive (SXSW)
• BALTHVS @ Mohawk (SXSW)
• beabadoobee @ World Cafe Live (NON-COMM)
• Been Stellar @ World Cafe Live (NON-COMM)
• Black Country, New Road @ Brooklyn Paramount
• Bleach Lab @ The Creek and the Cave (SXSW)
• Blood Incantation @ Elsewhere
• Body Meat @ Cheer Up Charlie’s (SXSW)
• Brandi & The Alexanders @ Casa Youngblood (SXSW)
• Brittany Davis @ Austin Convention Center (SXSW)
• Camera Obscura @ Webster Hall
• Caribou @ Avant Gardner
• Cassandra Jenkins @ Music Hall of Williamsburg + Public Records
• Chanel Beads @ The Creek and The Cave (SXSW) + Elsewhere Zone One + Mohawk (SXSW)
• Charli XCX @ Madison Square Garden
• Charlotte Adigery & Bolis Pupul @ Prospect Park Bandshell
• Chris Cohen @ Baby’s All Right
• Chuquimamani-Condori @ David Rubenstein Atrium at Lincoln Center
• Cigarettes After Sex @ Madison Square Garden
• Coco @ Baby’s All Right
• Corinne Bailey Rae @ Blue Note
• Corridor @ Austin Convention Center (SXSW)
• Claire Rousay @ Knockdown Center
• Crumb @ Brooklyn Paramount
• Cults @ Warsaw
• Dawn Richard & Spencer Zahn @ National Sawdust
• death’s dynamic shroud.wmv @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
• The Decemberists @ World Cafe Live (NON-COMM)
• Deeper @ World Cafe Live (NON-COMM)
• Dehd @ World Cafe Live (NON-COMM)
• Discovery Zone @ Brooklyn Paramount
• Divorce @ Swan Dive (SXSW)
• DJ Shadow @ Webster Hall
• Dry Cleaning @ Austin Convention Center (SXSW)
• Ebi Soda @ Swan Dive (SXSW)
• Elmiene @ World Cafe Live (NON-COMM)
• Emma Ruth Rundle @ Public Records
• Eric Copeland @ Union Pool
• Erika de Casier @ Warsaw
• Fabiana Palladino @ Seven Grand (SXSW)
• Fat Dog @ Mohawk (SXSW)
• Fazerdaze @ Brooklyn Steel
• Fcukers @ Cheer Up Charlie’s (SXSW) + The Creek and the Cave (SXSW) + DROM + SAA Rooftop + The 13th Floor (SXSW)
• Fontaines D.C. @ World Cafe Live (NON-COMM)
• Gareth Donkin @ British Music Embassy (SXSW)
• Geese @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
• Girl and Girl @ Casa Youngblood (SXSW)
• Glare @ Mohawk (SXSW)
• Glass Beams @ Knockdown Center
• Glasser @ St. David’s Episcopal Church (SXSW)
• Godcaster @ The Creek and the Cave (SXSW)
• Hermanos Gutierrez @ Casa Youngblood (SXSW) + Scoot Inn (SXSW)
• Hiatus Kaiyote @ Brooklyn Paramount
• Horsegirl @ Brooklyn Paramount
• Horse Jumper of Love @ Cheer Up Charlie’s (SXSW) 
• HotWax @ Swan Dive (SXSW)
• Hurray for the Riff Raff @ Music Hall of Williamsburg + Racket + St. Mark’s Church in the Bowery
• IDLES @ Bowery Ballroom
• ill peach @ Elsewhere Zone One
• Iron & Wine @ World Cafe Live (NON-COMM)
• Jack Powers @ DROM
• Jade Bird @ World Cafe Live (NON-COMM)
• Jahnah Camille @ Racket
• Jake Blount & Mali Obomsawin @ Joe’s Pub
• Jamila Woods @ Webster Hall
• Jerry Paper @ Brooklyn Made
• Joanna Sternberg @ Bowery Ballroom
• Jordan Rakei @ UMG HQ
• Julie Byrne @ Storm King Art Center
• Kassa Overall @ Lazarus Brewing Co. (SXSW) + Scholz Garten (SXSW) + Scoot Inn (SXSW) + Swan Dive (SXSW)
• Kathleen Edwards @ Casa Youngblood (SXSW)
• Kim Gordon @ Knockdown Center
• Kokoroko @ Le Poisson Rouge
• LA LOM @ Prospect Park Bandshell + Webster Hall
• Land of Talk @ Elsewhere Zone One
• Laura Marling @ Bowery Ballroom
• L’Imperatrice @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
• Lip Critic @ Cheer Up Charlie’s (SXSW) + The Creek and the Cave (SXSW) + Music Hall of Williamsburg
• Lomelda @ Elsewhere Zone One
• Lo Moon @ World Cafe Live (NON-COMM)
• Los Bitchos @ Bowery Ballroom
• Loving @ Le Poisson Rouge
• L’Rain @ Brooklyn Paramount
• LUCY (Cooper B. Handy) @ The Creek and the Cave (SXSW)
• Lunar Vacation @ Brooklyn Steel
• Macula Dog @ Brooklyn Made
• Madi Diaz @ Casa Youngblood (SXSW)
• Maria Chiara Argirò @ Marlow (SXSW)
• Mary Lattimore @ Storm King Art Center
• Meagre Martin @ Seven Grand (SXSW)
• Meernaa @ Baby’s All Right
• Mica Levi @ Knockdown Center
• Midwife @ Elsewhere
• Mitski @ Beacon Theatre
• MJ Guider @ Public Records
• MJ Lenderman @ Bowery Ballroom
• Mk.gee @ Terminal 5
• ML Buch @ Elsewhere Zone One
• MRCY @ World Cafe Live (NON-COMM)
• Mulatu Astatke @ Sony Hall
• Nabihah Iqbal @ Scoot Inn (SXSW)
• Nathalie Joachim @ MoMA
• The National Reserve @ Webster Hall
• Niecy Blues @ Public Records
• Nilüfer Yanya @ DROM
• NNAMDÏ @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
• Ora Cogan @ Public Records
• Pan•American @ Public Records
• Paul Spring @ Baby’s All Right
• Peter Cat Recording Co. @ Irving Plaza
• PJ Harvey @ Terminal 5
• Poolside @ Brooklyn Steel
• Porij @ Casa Youngblood (SXSW)
• Promiseland @ DROM
• quannnic @ Brooklyn Paramount
• Reyna Tropical @ Casa Youngblood (SXSW) + World Cafe Live (NON-COMM)
• Ride @ World Cafe Live (NON-COMM)
• Robin Pecknold @ Bowery Ballroom
• Rosali @ Knitting Factory at Baker Falls
• Royel Otis @ Racket
• Ryley Walker @ Union Pool
• Shallowhalo @ DROM + Elysium (SXSW)
• Shannon & The Clams @ Austin Convention Center (SXSW) + Parish (SXSW) + Warsaw
• Shygirl @ Madison Square Garden
• Slowdive @ Brooklyn Paramount
• Snacktime @ World Cafe Live (NON-COMM)
• SPRINTS @ Music Hall of Williamsburg + Scholz Garten (SXSW)
• Still House Plants @ Knockdown Center
• Suzanne Ciani @ Church of Heavenly Rest
• Tagua Tagua @ Heaven Can Wait + Hotel Vegas (SXSW) + Scholz Garten (SXSW)
• Thee Sacred Souls @ Brooklyn Paramount + Prospect Park Bandshell
• Time Wharp @ Church of Heavenly Rest
• Tirzah @ Knockdown Center
• TOPS @ Racket
• TORRES @ Elsewhere
• Toro y Moi @ Knockdown Center
• TRANSA NYC Ensemble: Beverly Glenn-Copeland, More Eaze, Anajah & more @ Performance Space New York
• Uwade @ Webster Hall
• Vacations @ Brooklyn Steel
• Villagerrr @ Cheer Up Charlie’s (SXSW)
• voyeur @ Cheer Up Charlie’s (SXSW)
• Waterbaby @ Swan Dive (SXSW)
• Windy & Carl @ Public Records
• Winged Wheel @ Union Pool
• Wishy @ Cheer Up Charlie’s (SXSW)
• Yaya Bey @ Mohawk (SXSW)
• youbet @ Baby’s All Right
• Yo La Tengo @ Bowery Ballroom
• Young Fathers @ Brooklyn Steel
• Yukimi @ Le Poisson Rouge
• Zsela @ Gary’s Electric Studio