I Went to Over 20 Concerts in 2025. Here Are My Top Five

As 2025 comes to a close, I want to reflect on the concerts I've been to this year. In total, I have attended 23 concerts and two festivals, some in outdoor venues, some with a capacity of 50, and some with a capacity of 18,000. Regardless of the venue and although it was hard to narrow it down to just five, I want to share my top concerts of 2025.

5. Mac DeMarco - August 30th at Greek Theatre in Los Angeles, CA

I have a strong connection to all of the artists on this list, but especially Mac DeMarco. To help me destress and prevent myself from panicking, I always put on Another One, which featured a couple of songs on the setlist despite being an older release. I was super excited to finally hear him live for the first time, properly (minus the surprise appearance at Vada Vada Fest 2024)! DeMarco announced that his North American tour leg would begin at the end of August, just days after the release of his album, Guitar.

DeMarco was my last concert with friends before moving to Seattle this year — what better send-off than traveling to see a concert at the Greek Theatre?! I’d heard so many positive things about the venue and was excited to experience it myself. The outdoor amphitheatre is part of Griffith Park, the largest municipal park with an urban wilderness area in the United States. This made it a perfect environment, in terms of atmosphere and acoustics, for DeMarco. There are very few artists who sound the same, if not better than, their studio recordings, but DeMarco is one of them! Additionally, since there was a quick turnaround between the show and album release, he sandwiched his older songs between tracks off the new album, which helped engage new and old fans alike throughout the show.

4. Turnstile - Mesa - October 11th at Mesa Amphitheatre in Mesa, AZ

After I saw Turnstile’s visuals, which combined individual music videos for each song into a theatrical release for their 2025 album, Never Enough, I became a fan. I am a sucker for artists and bands with clear creative direction, and Turnstile is no exception! Announced just four days after the album was released, the North American leg of the Never Enough tour spanned most of September and October. I saw Turnstile live twice — first in Seattle on October 7th, then four days later in Mesa.

For most of the tour, there were three openers at each show. At both Turnstile shows I attended, Jane Remover, Speed, and Amyl and the Sniffers opened. The three acts were amazing across the board, and each had a distinct sound with very little overlap in their fan bases, which made this a fun way to discover new artists! While I had fun at both shows, the Mesa show in Arizona was a better experience. The main factor was the crowd, which, despite the 90% humidity and muddy amphitheatre ground, was more engaged. When you watch Turnstile live, you can tell that each member is truly enjoying themselves and what they are doing. Picking up on this, the crowd was dancing and moving around.

3. Matt Maltese - October 19th at the Moore Theatre in Seattle, WA

Each year, there is always one concert that brings me to tears, and this year it was Matt Maltese’s tour titled “Tour for You My Whole Life.” Earlier this year, Maltese released his sixth studio album, Hers, including the single, “Pined for You My Whole Life,” which the tour’s name references. While I have been listening to Maltese’s music on and off since 2022, this was the first time I was really into it and grew so excited to see it live. Shortly after his album release, he announced a North American tour, and I snagged a fifth-row seat at the Moore Theatre.

Like DeMarco, Maltese sounds exactly like he does on his recordings, especially his vocals on “Curl up and Die,” the song that made me tear up. Another one of my personal highlights of this show was going alone. It was the last show of a three-day concert bender for me, and I loved being able to scope out the gorgeous venue, stand in the ridiculously long merch line, and cry to the love songs as a single woman amongst all the couples around me. Solo concert dates are almost reminiscent of “choose your own adventure” games, where you can decide what your night looks like and what you choose to take away from the show. Going to concerts alone is scary, but you should go!

2. Frost Children - October 28th at Barboza in Seattle, WA

One of my most anticipated albums and concerts of the year was from pop duo Frost Children, which consists of siblings Angel and Lulu Prost. The “SISTER TOUR” (later coined the “SISTOUR”) was announced almost in tandem with their third studio album, SISTER. Fittingly, my sister (aka the Lulu to my Angel) first put me onto the duo in 2022 after another one of our favorite artists, George Clanton, hosted Electronicon 2022 with them as part of the lineup! Since then, the two of us have seen Frost Children open for multiple artists, but this would be our first headline tour. She had seen the duo at their Phoenix show a week before they came to Seattle and warned me that I would be hurting the day after.

Because I’d seen Frost Children perform before, I knew what amazing performers they are, but I had not seen the full potential of a Frost Children headlining show. Although I would normally be skeptical of a varying setlist from show to show, it made each stop on tour feel special. My sister was not particularly fond of this because she did not get to witness the songs “Sister” and “BL!NK” live, as I did. Frost Children explained that they wanted to play whatever felt right on any given day, which helped make each show a unique experience. Frost Children has always been great at crowd engagement, and encouraging fans to jump and sing throughout the performance helped amp up the lackluster crowd around me.

1. Jane Remover - May 22nd at Crescent Ballroom in Phoenix, AZ

If you have been around me for more than 5 minutes in the last year, you’d know I haven't been able to shut up about emerging underground artist Jane Remover. I first discovered Remover in 2023, not long after the release of their sophomore album, Census Designated. However, I rediscovered their work in early 2025 as they began the rollout for their most recent album, RevengeSeekerz, which was a surprise release on April 4th. After the album came out, I immediately bought tickets for the Phoenix date of the “TURN UP OR DIE TOUR,” as I anticipated it would sell out soon (and it did).

The concert was at my favorite venue: Crescent Ballroom, a 500-capacity venue with an attached restaurant, bar, and bleacher-style seating in the back for the over-21 crowd, away from the under-21 standing-room-only section. For the two openers, Lucy Bedroque and Dazegxd, I sat with a friend in the bleachers, but as soon as Remover went on stage, I bolted to the general admission pit. The show’s setlist consisted of all but two songs off of RevengeSeekerz and then three songs from previous projects, including “movies for guys” (the first song of theirs I had ever heard), "Flash in the Pan" (a fan favorite), and “homeswitcher” (their most popular). For my friends and me, this meant a full hour of jumping, singing, and dancing with our eyes closed.

- Hayden Wisneski