Gigs Gigs Gigs Gigs Gigs Gigs Gigs …..2025

As 2025 draws to a close, Keith Goldhanger highlights a few of the many gigs he’s managed to witness over the past twelve months, and reminds us all that there are even more fabulous new bands arriving that are just as great as the ones already in our collections – that you don’t need to pay a fortune to get into, or prepare six months in advance for.

For someone who struggles with the nostalgic side of the music spectrum, it feels slightly ironic that one of the best shows I saw in 2025 was Sparks at The Hammersmith Eventim Apollo (or ‘Hammy Odeon’ as one or two people still like to call it). Featuring songs from the past half a century alongside those from the magnificent 2025 album Mad!, we asked ourselves why one or two other bands couldn’t give us at least one new tune to chew over once the tickets had been sold and venues sold out – but some, unlike one or two of us, seem more interested in hearing the familiar than anything new that can still be achieved by the individuals involved today.

Tribute bands (whether they contain original personnel or not) in 2025 seemed to be gaining more shilling than original bands, and in some cases, of course, these bands help keep afloat the venues we love to visit. Different horses for different courses as the saying goes. However one cannot help but think that many people are still missing out on what some of us still rely on to withhold our own enthusiasm: new music, new faces and new sounds that complement the current time are what some of us were drawn into when we first began our obsession. Looking forward not back, maintaining the same buzz we had as teenagers and not behaving like our own parents (and grandparents) when it comes to digesting these new soundtracks.

There are still moments of huge gratification to be experienced at the current time, and even though this may not be of much use for people outside the capital, in many cases throughout the year the entry fee for witnessing what some of us believe is top notch musical entertainment has been a big fat zero.

East London venues such as The Shacklewell Arms, Dalston Victoria, MOTH Club and the Old Blue Last are venues worth keeping an eye on (and preserving). For tourists who still consider Camden Town to be the centre of the musical universe, in 2025 The Elephant’s Head has been added added to this list of places we can simply walk into for free and witness acts that we expect may soon fill stages at the summer festivals and larger establishments.

Elsewhere in London, The George Tavern, Sebright Arms. Brixton Windmill, Lexington, The 100 Club and The Social, as well as those already mentioned, are filling diaries with not too over the top ticket prices for bands with releases that can still be counted on one hand but are expected (and in many cases succeeding) to also fill larger establishments in the future. The new music scene is as healthy as it’s ever been, it doesn’t cost an arm or leg to witness, the quality of the bands can be researched in advance, and, although it’s inevitable that one or two bands may disappear never to be seen again, it’s arguably these shows that many will remember more than the ones that require a speedy internet connection, healthy bank balance and the foresight that you’ll still be equally excited about the band many months down the track.

Adult DVD, Nadine Shah, Dry Cleaning and The Murder Capital are just four names that some of us think of when remembering free shows in the past, and during 2025 the list seems to have increased in size. Bathing Suits (I can be a Freak above), Fat Concubine, MPTL Microplastics, Gans, Ellis- D, Lemonsuckr, Knives and the fabulous BBBBBBB from Japan have all entertained enthusiastic crowds during 2025 for free.

Many of us of course enjoy days out visiting various venues within a short stroll of each other at events such as Brighton’s Great Escape, Cardiff’s Sŵn Festival, Bedford’s Ceremony Festival, Reading’s Are You Listening?, or many of the events held around Bristol during the year such as Ritual Union, Outer Town, Simple Things and Dot To Dot.
Punchbag‘s energetic breathtaking performance at Bristol’s Ritual Union in March was a highlight of 2025, as we now reach for our diaries to wonder how we’ve not managed to give these a second look yet. Gurriers seemed to play at every event some of us attended this year, and Westside Cowboy seemed to get better and better as we witnessed them playing in front of increasing numbers of people every time we caught them.

But it’s Cardiff’s annual Swn Festival that still sits top of the pile for one or two of us. Bristol band Morn, whose Modern Man (below) sits at the top end of some of our tracks of the year, have proved themselves to be contenders for ones to watch in 2026. Canadian four piece Piss will hopefully return to impress anyone unfortunate to have missed any of their brutal and compelling shows in 2025, and 3l3d3p from Los Angeles impressed at this year’s Wide Awake Festival before a second performance was witnessed in the downstairs venue in Cardiff’s Clwb Ifor Bach during Cardiff’s Sŵn festival, complementing the fabulous General! album that came out in October.

Whilst South London’s Wide Awake Festival got us in the mood for the summer ahead, plenty of other open spaces accommodated an array of familiar and unfamiliar names who entertained some of their largest shows to date. Sports Team at Truck Festival were amazing, as were Fat Dog, Lambrini Girls, The Last Dinner Party and Kasabian. Adult DVD at Green Man proved that playing a similar set of songs in a small venue can work equally as well in a large field full of highly charged punters just before bedtime. Westside Cowboy were also seen at their best a day or two later, and, whilst owners of new bucket hats seem more than content going to see Oasis again, there were some of us equally as excited about seeing Factory Floor again (Green Man), Courteeners (Truck), The Libertines (Gunnersbury Park) and of course The Maccabees‘ triumphant return (All Points East).

Had one of us been there this year, we’d probably be heaping even more high praise on Self Esteem‘s Glastonbury appearance on the Park Stage, which provided the TV highlight of the year, closely followed by Wet Leg, CMAT, Charli XCX, Amyl & The Sniffers and Nadine Shah, who all proved to be more than capable of headlining events such as this in the not too distant future.

Live music in the UK remains one of the best and cheapest activities one can experience at the moment. We just need to continue our support for these venues that are responsible for serving up this entertainment, and recognise the promoters who have a great ear and ability to highlight bands that will catch the attention of people such as us here at Louder Than War who continue to look to the future (which, as someone once wisely stated, has only just begun).

There’s so much to look forward to, try not to waste too much time looking back. Happy New Year and see you down the front…

~

Words by Keith Goldhanger. More writing by Keith on Louder Than War can be found at his author’s archive. You can also find Keith on Facebook  Instagram and Bluesky

Sparks photo by Naomi Dryden-Smith