Top Concerts of 2025
Beyoncé
May 15, 2025 @ Soldier Field
By Dave Miller
Green Day succinctly summarized 2025 during its Riot Fest performance when it flew a blimp over the crowd emblazoned with the following two words:
BAD YEAR.
That may be putting it mildly, or at least as mildly as a blimp traveling over a sea of concertgoers can be. As we found ourselves in unprecedented times, Chicagoans looked upward at Blackhawk helicopters flying across the area while down below masked people kidnapped immigrants and even American citizens off the street, firing tear gas and pepper bullets at gathering crowds, making neighborhoods look like war zones. Due process disappeared, too. How did we get here? Why is it being allowed to continue?
Where live music fits in the middle of this I don't know exactly. For me, it depended on the day. Sometimes it was tough to leave the house. When I did get out to a show I was always glad I did. When I heard Illuminati Hotties' Sarah Tudzin sing "Love me, fight me, choke me, bite me, Donald Trump is a fucking Nazi" at the Do Division Street Fest at least I felt like I wasn't alone in my outrage. I saw just over 100 full sets this year, including a dizzying stretch of 51 sets over 16 days thanks to the Evanston Folk Festival, the inaugural Sound & Gravity festival and Riot Fest bumping up against each other. I won't forget listening to BettySoo play "Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos)" before a hushed crowd in Dawes Park in Evanston and her saying in the middle of it that she carries her passport at all times now. Strange days, indeed. Later that day there, Margo Price sang what I think is good advice: "Don't let the bastards get you down."
In that spirit, here is a list of the best concerts I saw in 2025, dedicated to the departed Joe Ely (who played the best shows I've seen at FitzGerald's), Jill Sobule, Todd Snider, Brian Wilson, Sly Stone, Jimmy Cliff, David Johansen, Steve Cropper, Clem Burke and Thommy Price:
1. Beyoncé, May 15 at Soldier Field - Not even a heavy storm can throw Beyoncé off her game. The rain pushes the start time to 10:15 p.m., but she doesn't stop until 1 a.m. after singing 40 songs and throwing in snippets of even more in a spectacular show that a book or even college course could be devoted to it. The entertaining and artistic presentation is next level in a way I haven't seen. Top-shelf singing, a small army of dancers, a magic dress that turns into different dresses, Beyoncé floating above the field on a giant horseshoe, her driving a car over the crowd, bracelets for attendees that turn the stadium into an ongoing light show, and a dazzling array of attire are all part of it. There was deep art, too, centered around her country-themed Cowboy Carter album that's received overwhelming acclaim -- except by people who can't handle a Black woman playing country music much less experimenting with it. You'd think that two members of country's Mt. Rushmore, Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton, being on the album would open doors to closed minds, but apparently not. And here's perhaps the most awesome thing about Beyoncé: she doesn't give a fuck about those people. The show's overall message is an empowering one: Don't seek permission to do your thing. She does it to such an amazing extent that she renders the haters irrelevant. Outside of a brief moment of playing TV news clips of critical hosts that exposes them to be completes jokes, she ignores the unfounded hate and performs with powerful confidence and joy. And she finds times to play tribute to some of her heroes. (My favorite, Chuck Berry, someone who also liked and played country, too, appears on the screen on a couple occasions.) The performance is divided into eight blocks. Everything in the show is done with intention. Even the screen interludes are artful and entertaining. A knockout opening salvo of "American Requiem," "Blackbird," a Hendrix-ified "The Star-Spangled Banner," "Freedom" and "Ya Ya"/"Why Don't You Love Me" is one of the best starts to a show I've witnessed. By its end, I think it could be the greatest concert I've seen.
2. Patti Smith and Her Band, Nov. 18 at Chicago Theatre - Punk's godmother celebrates the 50th anniversary of her album, Horses, and starts the show with it. Is there a better opening line on a debut album than "Jesus died for somebody's sins, but not mine"? "Birdland" with its lengthy improvisational lyrics stuns. The close of "Horses/Gloria (reprise)" continues to be a thrilling close to one of rock's greatest albums. During it she riffs intensely about how we're fucking up the planet, mentioning how the glaciers are melting before eventually bringing it around to declaring the only good ice to melt is ICE, which draws a big smile from her right-hand man, Lenny Kaye. "Chicago, the city of resistance!" Smith spits out in respect and solidarity. Her stories through the evening include Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Television and her late husband, Fred "Sonic" Smith. "Peaceable Kingdom" for the Palestinians features a reciting coda of "People Have the Power," which later receives its rightful full band treatment to end the night on an inspirational note. Through the years, Smith has regularly expressed her delight about returning to the city of her birth. After the show concludes and final bows taken, she lingers onstage, posing for a picture, accepting flowers and enjoying the crowd's adulation. Her band leaves before her daughter, Jesse, practically has to drag her off the stage. If this was the 78-year-old's final performance in Chicago, it was a wonderful goodbye.
3. Sima Cunningham, March 21 at Robert's Westside - Finom's co-frontwoman plays the second of her three-show residency at the Forest Park venue that features her 10-years-in-the-making album, High Roller. Her band, which includes drummer Spencer Tweedy and her husband, Dorian Gehring, on guitar and pedal steel, gives her country-tinged release an empathetic touch. If you want to say the April 18 finale was the best of the residency, I won't argue, but this is my choice. Cunningham closes with five songs on the piano that's stationed on the floor against the side of the stage (with her dad seated feet behind her). The final number, "Adonai," packs an emotional wallop. She wrote it about her gay friend who committed suicide when he was 18. She talks about him in detail before admitting she's conflicted about play the song. "America," she says wistfully, nodding her head side to side. "America!" The end of the song sees an extended, rousing mantra: "It got better, yes it did." As Cunningham sings the line over and over and over, it's as if she's trying to will the song's original declaration to be true again. You can hear the silent crowd processing the cruel turn our country has taken. A standing ovation follows.
4. Ana Everling, Sept. 1 at Hungry Brain, Sound & Gravity - The Moldovan singer who now calls Chicago home and her telepathic band give a dream-like performance that's hard to believe even while witnessing it. Everling melds Romanian folk, the improvisation of jazz, and experimentalist sound into music that's both of the moment and timeless. Accompanists Hunter Diamond (drums, woodwinds), Kenny Reichart (acoustic guitar) and Edinho Gerber (electric guitar) are with her every step of the way. If Everling's spellbinding and versatile vocals aren't enough, she's also charming and funny between songs. The inaugural Sound & Gravity proves to be an artistic success over its adventurous five days and would have been on this enchanting show alone. It shows magic can be found when you open a door and walk into a dimly lit bar with a stage.
5. Jack White, Sept. 20 at Douglass Park, Riot Fest - White takes the assignment seriously and opens with a cover of "T.V. Eye" by The Stooges. It's a sign of what's to come. The guitar hero is focused. He's come to rock the rioters and that he does for a breathless hour as he prowls his part of the stage with the restlessness of having an urgent message to deliver. White airs The White Stripe's "Icky Thump" and emphasizes its lyrics: "White Americans, what? Nothing better to do/Why don't you kick yourself out? You're an immigrant too." The breakneck performance reaches a zenith on the closing "Seven Nation Army." White plays it on a beat-up guitar that looks like it was rescued from the dump, an example to the punksters that you don't need a fancy instrument to make a big noise.
6. Neil Young and the Chrome Hearts, May 27 at Huntington Bank Pavilion at Northerly Island - After his last date in town with Crazy Horse was cancelled at the last minute a year ago, Young returns with a band of relatively young guns, including Willie Nelson's son, Micah, on guitar, along with organist Spooner Oldham. One veteran of Young concerts says before the show that the new band has re-energized the 79-year-old and the performance plays out just like that. Not only does Young play material from throughout his career with gusto, he also debuts a new protest song called "Big Crime" that includes the following lyrics: "There's big crime in D.C. at the White House," "Don't want soldiers on our streets," and "Got to get the fascists out, got to clean the White House out." Young still means it, man.
7. Sharon Van Etten & the Attachment Theory, May 9 at Salt Shed - Touring behind her seventh album, the first mostly co-written with her band, Van Etten remains exploring front and center. Where the show I caught on her last tour saw her come out like she was playing in a Berlin underground club, this time she's more like a futuristic goth. It all works. She pours herself into every song and the band sounds great. The 100-minute performance sees the new material featured in the first half followed by her solo work. She's emotionally invested and talkative through the night and shares that the band had a big hug backstage after the main set as it soaked up the crowd reaction, saying Chicago has always embraced her and allowed her to be vulnerable dating back to shows she played at Schubas and the Empty Bottle. An encore of a solo "I Wish I Knew" and then "Fading Beauty" with the band elevates an already top-notch performance.
8. Bonnie Raitt, Sept. 9 at Chicago Theatre - "Hello Chicago, army free!" Raitt greets a sold-out crowd. "I'll ice you down, baby." And with that, she's off and running with jacked-up energy, bad-ass attitude and swaggering confidence. Raitt acknowledges Mavis Staples, who's watching from the wings, and raves about her, the city, many of her early blues influences including Buddy Guy, the theater, John Prine and even local photographer, Paul Natkin. She's feeling it and her energy bounces to the crowd and back to her all night. I can't imagine her putting on a better show. She brings out opener Jimmie Vaughan and his Tilt-A-Whirl Band for a big duet near the end before closing with a sly commentary on the state of our country with a cover of Talking Heads' "Burning Down the House."
9. Amy Rigby, Oct. 17 at Friendly Music Community - You can see a lot of wonderful musicians do their thing, but when you return to one of the greats you're reminded how music can ascend high enough to hang with the masterpieces in the Art Institute. Such is the experience here. Rigby hits town to read from Girl to Country, her autobiographical follow-up to her acclaimed Girl to City, and play selections from an ever-increasing gold standard songbook, including ones from her latest album, Hang in There with Me. She opens with the new "Hell-Oh Sixty," and by the time she wraps up 100 minutes later with "Rode Hard," it's like watching the triumphant closing scene of a biopic.
10. Arooj Aftab, June 22 at Old Town School of Folk Music - The Pakistani-American stops in Chicago before embarking on a tour of prestigious European festivals. The Grammy nominee is a big fan of the night and dubbed her new album Night Reign. This is the second of two shows on the day at the venue. Aftab says the 4 p.m. first one was too early for her and that she didn't speak to the audience until before the last song. She promises this 7 p.m. concert will be the best one. It's stunning. Darkly lit, the performance takes you into the night and beyond with her unique blend of cultural influences and minimalist compositions that mix jazz, classical and indie. Her backing trio channels her and reaches a higher consciousness. Aftab sings primarily in Urdu, but some in English, too. The common thread is soul. She is downright chatty, open and funny between songs, but never panders.
Honorable mention (in order): Hurray for the Riff Raff, July 18 at Old Town School of Folk Music; Green Day, Sept. 21 at Douglass Park, Riot Fest; Marc Ribot, Sept. 6 at Dawes Park, Evanston Folk Festival; IDLES, Sept. 21 at Douglass Park, Riot Fest; Molly Nilsson, Sept. 2 at Empty Bottle; DeeOhGee, July 5 at FitzGerald's, American Music Festival; Lambrini Girls, Sept. 21 at Douglass Park, Riot Fest; Universal Togetherness Band, May 31 at Do Division Street Fest; Ruthie Foster, Sept. 7 at Dawes Park, Evanston Folk Festival; Finom, July 20 at Compound Yellow; Caylee Hammack, Nov. 13 at Carol's Pub; Cathy Richardson Band, May 16 at FitzGerald's; The Linda Lindas, April 13 at Metro; Margo Price, Sept. 7 at Dawes Park, Evanston Folk Festival; Boybrain, Dec. 19 at Liar's Club; Rilo Kiley, Sept. 19 at Douglass Park, Riot Fest; Zero Boys, Sept. 21 at Douglass Park, Riot Fest; Body/Head, Sept. 13, Beat Kitchen, Sound & Gravity; Nibihah Iqbal, Sept. 12 at Rockwell on the River, Sound & Gravity.