2025 Recap

December 28, 2025 • 3 Comments

Once again this is the time of the year where I remember I have a blog section to my website, and so I will use it to do a giant dump of what the year had in store. And 2025 didn't seem to let up, which is never a bad thing. By my count, it ended up around 405 different performances, in 60 different venues, scattered over six countries and 16 different cities. (For the sake of argument I didn't differentiate between cities in Massachusetts).

Fans at Slift, Desertfest London
As always, I could never do this just on my own, and I want to thank Jack at The Big Takeover and Rob at Culture Beat for letting me do my thing and covering bands I am interested in. I was also happy to hook on with Metal Talk this year, a large UK-based site. Thanks Steve for letting me join the team! Also big thanks to Sarika, Reece, Holly, Chris and the team at Desertfest London, I always have a blast at each event and and happy to be part of the photo team with Jessi and Sam. And a shout out to Ryan at Widowmaker too, Hopsmoker is a super good time even though I only squeezed in one day this year, it's always a really fun and quality event with great bands and delicious beers. Lastly, the publicists and band management deserve kudos for approving me for press credentials most of the time, and thanks for kicking in a +1 when you can as well, much appreciated.

Atmosphere at Desertfest London

Like last year, I'll do a dump of some of my favorite gigs and photos from them and write an additional post capturing all of the reviews I wrote up as well. 2025 was a pretty strong year! Bring on 2026!

Best gigs of 2025, in pictures:

note: click on the photo and you'll open the gallery of all my photos from the show (well, the ones I liked enough to edit).

I can't say that I am a huge Pulp fan but I couldn't pass up the band's first local appearance in nearly 30 years, and even the rain couldn't dampen the spirits of the band and the fans. Incredible performance by Jarvis Cocker and the rest of the band.

Pulp in concert

Stereolab put out one of my favorite records of the year; it's pretty astonishing how consistently great this band has been and continues to be.

Stereolab in concert

One of the highlights of this year personally was having a handful of my photos plastered all over Fu Manchu's The Return Of... Live double LP, and they totally crushed their set at The Sinclair with an excellent choice of Year Of The Cobra as support. I've seen Amy recently as the new bass player in Amenra but hadn't caught her main band since the first Psycho Las Vegas event. Also cool to catch up with Scott Hill after the show, who gave me a copy of the LP signed by everyone in the band. Never miss them when they come to your town (or state, or country).

Fu Manchu in concert Year of the Cobra in concert

I can't imagine what it must have been like to see The Stooges in their prime. I've seen Iggy a few times now, both with The Stooges (RIP, Ashetons) and as a solo performer and it's always an electric thrill right down the spine. This show was supposed to also feature The Sex Pistols but after Steve Jones broke his wrist, the show was moved from The Stage at Suffolk Downs to Roadrunner, which worked out great since cool rain decided to come down that night.

Iggy Pop in concert

Another one of my all-time favorite front men paid Boston a visit too, with Nick Cave bringing along his Bad Seeds for the first time since 2017. It was a slight drag that St. Vincent had a migraine hit that prevented her from playing, but the hours of standing around melted away once Nick hit the stage.

Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds in concert

Queens of the Stone Age (well, at least Josh, Troy and Dean) served in the backup band for Iggy Pop back on the 2016 Post-Pop Depression tour, and they are a staggeringly great band in their own right. Boston lucked out with three shows from them, two as 'regular' shows (I caught the 2nd night) and one as part of the Catacombs tour, a stripped down affair with song selection that suited the mood and arrangements. Pure beauty.

Queens of the Stone Age in concert

Elder's been one of my favorite bands since I discovered them via a Meteor City compilation that came out in 2010. Lucky for me, they lived in Boston so I got to see them a lot before Nick relocated to Berlin. This year I'd be fortunate enough to catch them twice, playing Lore in full. No filler, all killer. "Legend" is one of those songs where the goose bumps refuse to go away. Bonus points for getting a photo with original drummer Matt at the Middle East gig.

The original lineup of Elder

Elder in concert

One of the benefits of living in Boston is that I generally get to see Major Stars play a few times each year. This year, I just managed the one and it was the first time the band played as an instrumental unit since Noelle was overseas for a business trip. No matter, they leveled Deep Cuts (thankfully the building was reconstructed in time so that Landowner and FACS could also play; this was one hell of a bill).
Major Stars in concert

Mogwai was another band I got to see a couple of times this year, but the second show in Malmö got the edge as I finally got to see them play "My Father, My King" again, only the second time in 15 times seeing the band.

Mogwai in concert

I'd managed to see The Drones three times but kept missing out on Tropical Fuck Storm... missed the 2019 Boston show for unknown reasons and I also screwed up my dates for when they played in Dublin that year. I was approved to cover the show but forgot my flight home was the same night. But 2025 was finally my time, and I couldn't have been more floored. The band is tighter than a Swiss watch and gives it all they have, every show. You can't ask more from a band.

Tropical Fuck Storm in concert

Sebadoh was another band I'd seen a bunch not in a while, in this case a dozen years. They got together to play Woodsist Fest this year and decided to play shows in NYC and Boston as well, since they got together to rehearse and get ready... why not? The 1-2 songwriting punch of Lou and Jake is the perfect complementary blend. That old generation of electric white boy blues still resonates. Bonus points for Minibeast opening, they always put on a burner.

Sebadoh in concert Minibeast in concert Melvins are another band who put the work in and don't fuck around. The first show was cool since I finally got to see Napalm Death, but it was the tandem show with Redd Kross where both Dale and Steve pulled double duty that took the laurels.

Melvins in concert Redd Kross in concert Melvins in concert

Viagra Boys put out a great record this year and since I wasn't approved for their Royale show a few years ago I was pretty psyched to see them on this tour, with bonus points for bringing along Die Spitz.

Viagra Boys in concert

Die Spitz in concert The 4/20 weekend blast that Widowmaker puts on as Hopsmoker is always a fun time. Ryan and the crew brew some really tasty beer, they get the local metal community together and pull some great bands. I'd seen Castle Rat at Desertfest NYC before as well as Howling Giant but will never say no to another dose of both. Bonus points for the self-made hot sauce you can snag at Howling Giant's merch table.

Castle Rat in concert Howling Giant in concert

Slift was nearly a religious experience at Desertfest London this year. I'd finally seen them last year and the unrelenting attack is a glorious thing.

Slift in concert

Another highlight was getting back to Melbourne (and having my day job pick up the tab once again). I really loved the ~6 weeks I spent down there, and while the trip in March didn't coincide with as many gigs as the previous one, the first night I landed, I got to see Pallbearer and Conan (thanks to Chris for the list spot) was loud enough to shake off any jetlag.

Pallbearer in concert

Conan in concert There were a couple of other shows that I caught in Australia in March but by far the best one was Jerkfest 10, put on by Anti Fade records. A full day of bands on two stages in Geelong, about 45 minutes west of Melbourne. Had the good fortune to hitch a ride with Michael Beach and his friend Chris who used to play drums in Spray Paint and is now in Exek as well as Screensaver, which also includes his partner Krystal and she came along as well. Loads of bands I knew nothing about, but the big draws for me was to finally see Constant Mongrel and Possible Humans play, and both were huge highlights. Great vibe to the event and met some cool people over the day (esp Brian and his son as well as Gavan who I met on last year's trip when I hit the excellent Licorice Pie record store).

Constant Mongrel in concert Atmosphere at Jerkfest Atmosphere at Jerkfest Constant Mongrel in concert Possible Humans in concert Lost Animal in concert at Jerkfest Optic Nerve in concert Guitar Wolf in concert

I saw a ton of bands at Desertfest London and the best part was when I had a little downtime I got to hang with some Boston friends. I've already mentioned Elder but both KIND and Worshipper were also playing. Those late döner kebab sessions ruled.

Atmosphere at Desertfest London Atmosphere at Desertfest London KIND in concert

Worshipper in concert

One of the more unusual shows I saw this year was the Uncle Acid and the deadbeats show where they played Nell 'Ora Blu in full, their homage to giallo. It was more like a play than a concert and obviously a lot of thought went into it. Bonus points for the special beer Widowmaker brewed for the event.

Uncle Acid and the deadbeats in concert

Jonathan Hulten in concert

Bowery Boston and local label Run For Cover pulled together a two day, two stage event at Roadrunner this year and it was so good they've pulled together another one. Highlights include a mesmerizing Slowdive set with incredible sound, and my first time seeing Gouge Away and Mannequin Pussy will not be my last.

Mannequin Pussy in concert Slowdive in concert You don't need a big production to have a good time; just a bunch of friends with some ripping good songs is all it takes. The second installment of the GBV-inspired Forever Since Heedfest held in Carrboro NC was a great time with loads of laughs, and Pittsburgh-based Cul De Sac Kids leader Gary Smith also pulled together a great weekend just before Halloween, featuring a bunch of bands and late night horror cult classics (I finally discovered where Lilacs & Champagne pulled that sample from). And earlier in the year, a bunch of Boston local metals donned some wigs and blasted through some cover sets featuring The Runaways (as Hit And Run), Black Sabbath (as Black Salad), and Motörhead (as Iron Fisted) to raise money for the Dio cancer charity. And of course there's the annual trek to the mythical land of Dayton Ohio. Bob Pollard has officially hung up playing live, but a couple of cover bands bashed some excellent Pollard songs and two highlights were a short (first-ever) solo set by drummer Kevin March, Doug Gillard sitting in on a Cash Rivers song and Mitch Fucking Mitchell playing "Motor Away." This is what good times look like.
Hit and Run in concert