Our Annual Report continues as we celebrate the Best Concerts of 2023. We’ll be honoring all the best in music, film, and TV of the year all month long, so find it all in one place here.
Live music has been under quite the spotlight over the past few years. The effective shutdown of the industry in 2020 and efforts to keep it alive in 2021 rallied concertgoers everywhere, leading to the snapping of the rubber band that was 2022, when live music returned with a vengeance. But as the light of attention grew brighter, hotter, and more intense, the worst aspects of the landscape became just as blinding as its best.
While live music discourse in 2023 has taken many forms, its presence has been near constant. The conversation surrounding Ticketmaster/Live Nation’s practices peaked as the calendar year tipped over, culminating in January’s Senate hearing and a series of seemingly generous but no less controversial moves on the part of the company. Then, thanks to one of the coolest motherfuckers Jeff Rosenstock, touring economics fell into focus, with specific questions arising regarding merch cuts. Not wanting to be left out, audiences nabbed (or, perhaps, forcefully took) a short time in the hot seat as well, as incident after incident after incident after incident made everyone wonder if people will ever be able to behave in a crowd again. Yeah, it was a weird year.
And still, the power of live music persists. Despite all of the conflict, callouts, and assholes in the audience, 2023 saw some of the grandest musical showcases of the decade. Rock ‘n’ roll legends proved the genre’s legs; pop stars hit peak levels of spectacle; underground legends reminded fans just how powerful community can be. Undoubtedly, concerts — and the music industry as a whole — remain at best unsustainable and at worst broken, but standing before speaker stacks (hopefully with earplugs) and pyrotechnics (hopefully tastefully employed) serves as an undeniable reminder of why live music is worth fighting for.
So, for a fleeting second, join us in taking a moment to celebrate the miracle that is live performance as we recount some of the biggest, most mind-melting, and best concerts of the year.
— Jonah Krueger
Editorial Coordinator
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Beyoncé’s “Renaissance World Tour”
Beyoncé, photo by Kevin Mazur/WireImage for Parkwood
There is no other showman working right now like Beyoncé. She’s the queen for a reason, after all, and the hours of dedicated work that went into putting the dancehall joy of RENAISSANCE onstage was immediately clear to anyone lucky enough to score a ticket — even before her documentary digging into that very process dropped. While her most recent album was the star of the show here, Beyoncé dipped into familiar favorites throughout. From the visuals to her backup dancers to ever-impressive vocals, everything worked. — Mary Siroky
BLACKPINK at Coachella 2023
BLACKPINK, photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
BLACKPINK knew they had a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity when they began conceiving their headlining set for this year’s Coachella — and it’s safe to say they seized the moment. The performance was an ecstatic whirlwind and featured everything that made BLACKPINK so beloved in the first place: their infectious confidence, powerful vocals, and remarkable showmanship. When the show broke open halfway through to have each of the four members command their own solo performance, it felt like we were witnessing a star being born four times over. They came back together for several more explosive hits at the end of the show, and #pinkchella was etched into the history books. — Paolo Ragusa
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band 2023 Tour
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, photo by Ryan Bakerink/Getty Images
How wonderful when the man matches up to his legend. On a balmy summer night in Chicago, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band took the stage for three rambunctious hours, never tiring, never breaking. Springsteen himself set the tone, the tireless septuagenarian, leading Wrigley Field from hit to hit as if on a personal mission to make sure the music didn’t stop. It took stamina, technique, and above all, effort — the kind of effort only made possible by genuinely enjoying yourself. We saw Springsteen the artist, Springsteen the athlete, and Springsteen the fountain of joy. — W. Graves
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Foo Fighters’ Return to Touring
Foo Fighters, photo by Josh Druding
After such a tumultuous 2022 for Dave Grohl and the Foo Fighters, the rock ‘n’ roll giants were certainly feeling the weight of loss and grief. It seemed strange to imagine the band on stage without Taylor Hawkins, and even stranger to think of them leading a show with any mood other than “Let’s Rock!!!” However, when the band announced their album But Here We Are, subsequent tour, and Josh Freese as their new drummer, it became clear that the Foos had to get back on the road, if only to honor their fallen brother. Their 2023 shows were life-affirming, full-band testaments, with Grohl vowing to close every show with “Aurora” in memory of Hawkins. It’s magnificent every time. — P. Ragusa
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Genesis Owusu at Boston Calling 2023
Genesis Owusu, photo by Ben Kaye
Three months before Consequence named him our August 2023 CoSign, I caught Genesis Owusu at Boston Calling. I’d loved his sleeper debut, Smiling with No Teeth, and BC’s own booker had personally hyped him, so I was intrigued to see what he brought to a festival set. I hadn’t anticipated it becoming my favorite live performance of the year, a show making him the unquestioned favorite for that artist of the month accolade. It was an art piece constructed only of the performer, three backup dancers, and some BDSM rope. Brash without being aggressive, simplistic while remaining bold, the frenzied energy broke the barrier between performer and audience — literally, as Owusu jumped into and with the crowd. — Ben Kaye
Kendrick Lamar at Lollapalooza 2023
Kendrick Lamar, photo by Josh Druding
Sometimes artists’ most revealing sets unveil nothing about themselves. At Lollapalooza 2023, Kendrick Lamar appeared in sunglasses, a hat, a thick beard, and a handkerchief over his ears — less a concert fit than a castle made of clothes. You could hardly see the rapper, which is just how he liked it. He took almost no time to address the audience, allowing his backup dancers to sketch out a metastory of conflict. It projected an overwhelming sense of personal turmoil without a single personal detail. The show was big and tightly engineered, and like the Great Wall of China, we could marvel at the construction without seeing the battles that made it necessary. — Wren Graves
Metallica’s “M72 World Tour”
Metallica, photo by Johnny Perilla
When the biggest metal band in the world launches a new tour, it’s a major event, but in the case of Metallica’s “M72 World Tour,” the experience was downright monumental. The Rock and Roll Hall of Famers and Consequence cover artists took on the challenge of playing “no repeat” sets over two nights (Friday and Sunday) in each city. And as Heavy Consequence experienced at the North American kickoff at New Jersey’s MetLife Stadium on August 4th and 6th, Metallica more than lived up to the task. Performing in the round, Metallica delivered explosive shows on each night. Throw in opening sets by acts like Pantera and Five Finger Death Punch — not to mention an array of Metallica-themed activities — and you have a complete Metallica takeover. — Spencer Kaufman
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Paramore’s “This Is Why Tour”
Paramore, photo by Taylor Hill/Getty Images
It’s not often a band exists simultaneously as festival top-liner, arena-filling headliner, and supporting act. Yet the eternally great Paramore checked all those boxes in 2023, topping bills from Bonnaroo to Boston Calling, selling out venues like Madison Square Garden, and helping Taylor Swift kick off her “Eras Tour.” With new record This Is Why in tow, Hayley Williams and crew brought an electric show to every stage they took, where they were also joined by everyone from rappers to political figures to NBA stars. Williams is 2023’s quintessential frontwoman (and Dolly Parton interviewer), a figure of such joy that it’s nearly impossible for Paramore to deliver a subpar performance with her at the head. — B. Kaye
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RAYE’s “My 21st Century Blues World Tour”
RAYE
Building off of the energy of her excellent album of the same name, RAYE brought the glamour and drama of an old-school supper club to her “My 21st Century Blues World Tour.” With a robust horn section and a portion of the show where the audience became RAYE’s personal back-up choir for “Buss It Down.,” she used every minute of this stellar tour to the fullest. Watching this set felt like watching a star fully come into her own. — M. Siroky
Rina Sawayama at Glastonbury 2023
Rina Sawayama, photo by Shirlaine Forrest/Redferns
On the heels of her sophomore album, Hold the Girl, Rina Sawayama became the name on everyone’s lips at this year’s Glastonbury Festival. In addition to sharing the stage with Elton John, she turned in her own excellent, star-making set. Confident, thrilling, and as musically sharp as she’s always been, she also used the platform of one of the world’s biggest festivals to call out the music industry’s all-too-common microaggressions, including turning the lens on the consistently problematic Matty Healy — while interpolating Korn and Limp Bizkit, no less. It will go down as a landmark show in her career, not just for demonstrating her fierceness and nu-metal’s new relevance, but for showcasing her immeasurable talents as a performer. — M. Siroky
Slowdive’s “Everything Is Alive Tour”
Slowdive, photo by Ingrid Pop
Over their 30-plus-year history, Slowdive have managed to unite both Gen X and Zoomers alike. Their North American tour in support of their moving new album, everything is alive — one of Consequence‘s Top 50 Albums of the Year — featured attendees of all ages, with just as much fervor for their fresh material and 2017 comeback record as their landmark 1993 album, Souvlaki. Their live show is a stunning, emotional experience; it can be tantalizingly serene and powerfully intense in the span of just a few moments. With time away and decades of life experience between them, Slowdive proved they’re still capable of producing the ultimate shoegaze show. — P. Ragusa
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SZA’s “SOS Tour”
SZA, photo by Kyle Gustafson for The Washington Post via Getty Images
SZA has a reputation for being relatively reserved and introspective, but in her Consequence cover story, she revealed that she finds the act of touring “healing.” Putting one of last year’s greatest albums (don’t let any list tell you otherwise) on stage certainly seemed to lower her inhibitions, as the “SOS Tour” was one of the grandest, most powerful shows of the year. Split into three acts — aboard a boat, shipwrecked in the ocean, and finally undersea — the concerts were a thematic showcase for SZA’s artistic vision and talent. An outsized experience, the production provided its own response to frequent closer “Good Days”: “Tell me I’m not my fears, my limitations.” SZA, you’re most certainly not. — Ben Kaye
Taylor Swift’s “The Eras Tour”
Taylor Swift, photo by John Shearer/TAS23/Getty Images
Part of the thrill of “The Eras Tour” is the surprise each night holds. While the vast majority of the show is meticulously planned, the inclusion of surprise songs promises variation between stops. Overall, though, Taylor Swift has crafted something truly masterful with her take on a greatest hits tour — and anyone lucky enough to have powered through to make it to their seat at the trek’s first rain show, which took place in Nashville in May, can confirm how jaw-dropping she is in her commitment to this show. And it’s clearly paid off — literally — not only with its economy-boosting, crew-benefiting revenue, but its record-setting concert film. — M. Siroky
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Unwound’s Reunion Tour
Unwound, photo via artist’s Facebook
When Unwound announced a reunion tour in late 2022, it seemed like an impossibility. A handful of 2023 runs later, and it still seems impossible. And yet, there they were, AV Clubs’ “best band of the ’90s” back on stage, abusing their instruments for the first time in two decades. The magic of the performances extended far beyond experiencing soul-rattling post-hardcore compositions like “Kantina” or “Abstraktions” in the flesh, however, as the shows functioned as touching memorials for late Unwound bassist Vern Rumsey. For fans new and old, watching the band toss flowers into the crowd as set closer “Were, Are and Was or I” rung out was as powerful as a live experience gets. Who knew walls of feedback could be so profoundly moving? — J. Krueger
U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere
U2’s U2:UV Achtung Baby Live at Sphere, photo by Rich Fury/Getty Images for Live Nation
There were a lot of impressive shows this year, but few hinted at the technological (and financial) future of concert-going the way U2 at The Sphere did. From its bubbly structure, to the thousands of LED-lights both inside and out, to the futuristic interiors of the lobby, The Sphere is a show-stopping venue in and of itself — with a wallet-emptying entry fee. But with its floor to ceiling screens surrounding the stage, it was built for once-in-a-lifetime experiences, and U2’s opening residency has delivered on that. Performing all of Achtung Baby from start to finish, U2 adds a classic touch and gives consistently strong performances in a venue that threatens to swallow artists whole. — Maura Fallon