My 20 best gigs of 2025

The good, the bad and the ugly, eh? Nope. Just the good, the good and the er, also good. That's right, it's the Niluccio on noise annual round-up of 20 scintillating gigs from the past year. Yes, a score of blistering shows from 2025, as your humble correspondent blithely went out to watch live music while the world around him continued to fall apart. Twenty of the best (unranked, none of that infantile "countdown to number one" stuff here). True, there were some other very good gigs which could easily have made the list (all told, there were numerous excellent shows this year), but there just ain't room for all of 'em. So, here they are. Read on ... 

Melter: Bird's Nest, London, 1 February

It was a minor miracle I caught this Melter gig. It was freeeeeezzzzzing cold, trains between Hackney and New Cross were cancelled (thanks TfL), and the band started achingly late. But - staunchly - I was there. Yep, standing down the front to catch the entire 11 minutes of bitter-sweet new wave-y pop: choppy guitar, dinky keyboards and a vocalist who sounded like a regretful abusive partner ("yeah yeah yeah, yes I adore ya"). They played all four songs from their excellent Holding Court tape, plus a cover (unrecognised by me) and that was it. Their first ever gig and … they didn’t linger. As Andy Warhol used to say, always leave them wanting less. 

Eleven minutes and not a second more: Melter keep their eyes on the clock

Starter Car: Shacklewell Arms, London, 12 February

"I was wrong, I was wrong when I said you were right": one of the lyrics from Starter Car's excellent show at the Shacklewell Arms. I hadn't checked 'em out online ahead of time so it was a pleasant surprise when they started up (ahem) with a Neil Young/Big Star-style country-rock dirge, sweet but not too sweet. A relaxed twang, some attractive guitar patterns, a loping semi-bluesy groove that could have come straight off On The Beach, Starter Car had the gear. I suppose it was the vocals that made it really work (Young-ian/Alex Chilton echoes), but all in all a very pleasant ride. 

Mirror, signal, manoeuvre: Starter Car in Dalston

Ensemble 360 String Quartet: LSE, London, 13 February

Yeah man, this was one hour and ten minutes of super-intense string action (three violins, one cello), with the furious foursome playing Janáček's String Quartets No2 and Shostakovich's String Quartet No3. The Janáček was particularly frenetic (the players sawed away maniacally), while Shostakovich managed to be both intense and supremely gloomy. Given it was a midweek lunchtime concert on the sixth floor of an LSE building, I thought there'd be approximately 15 people in the audience. Instead, there were about 130. Probably my biggest gig of the year. Who knew this stuff was so popular?   

Otala: Dash The Henge, London, 20 February

Hushed art-rock played to an instore audience of about 18 people. The lead singer/talker meandered his way through spoken-word poetry (or something adjacent) and the band ticked over around him: two guitars (no bass), keyboards, muted drums and a rather nice sax weaving in and out of things. They were apparently "trying something different" at this gig, which presumably means they're louder and more rock in larger venues. Behind them a projection of Withnail And I played at about 0.75 speed. Not a great film, but nice in this context. Otala concluded as W&I drove out of London and onto the motorway in their battered old jag. Things speeding up …

Eye-popping stuff from Otala

Bo Gritz/Ghost Car/Fashion Tips/USA Nails: Strongroom, London, 22 March

Phew, another Strongroom noise all-dayer! The bands making an impression in the Shoreditch gloom this year: Bo Gritz, with their taut, vaguely Killing Joke-like noise-rock, including the chesty singer declaiming away with heavily-reverb'd vocals; Ghost Car, with their entertaining up-tempo indie rock stuff, including pleasing sci-fi keyboard effects; USA Nails, blasting the place apart with their full-on noise onslaught; and - best of all - Fashion Tips, with their short, sharp riot grrrl business, featuring a singer in a Kill Rock Stars t-shirt. Meanwhile, during hours of semi-deafening noise there was a lone bloke down the front tirelessly dancing away, injecting an almost funky element into this sprawling rock jamboree.

Kill rock stars: Fashion Tips taking no prisoners

Mass Lines: Dash The Henge, London, 29 March

Another of Dash The Henge's excellent Saturday afternoon instores. A bracing noise-rock show that worked for me because of how it slightly differed from the usual noise template. There were real rawk elements (was it the guitar?), plus even a touch of blues behind some of the sound onslaught. The singer's voice was interesting as well, "harsh" but not a grindcore growl. There were also a lot of leg slides and arm throws from the singer who was pretty much in perpetual motion and vaguely Elvis-like. Cool.  

Whole lot of hip-shaking goin' on: Mass Lines

Autofiction: Shacklewell Arms, London, 3 April

Self-described as "east london shit talk ghost rock", this equated to jerky, unpredictable art-rock from a guitar/bass/drums three-piece. Fine by me. The vocals veered almost into Joni Mitchell territory, there was spindly near-funk drumming (excellent) and bass with a very rough/jagged tone. The bassist also had a strong look: a leather jacket and pulled-down tie, with hair in front of his face throughout. They ended with a long rock freak-out but I reckon Autofiction were ghost rockers playing with the form.

All Girls Arson Club/Big Break/Ex-Vöid: Delicious Clam, Sheffield, 17 April

Exile on Exchange Street! Another good DC gig, with old faves All Girls Arson Club and Big Break, and on-tour pop monsters Ex-Vöid. AGAC did their joke-y/quite touching thing: sharp, rudimentary drumming, little wails of guitar and doubled-up vocals. This time I noticed a touch of Kimya Dawson in the vocals ("I do my best to stay hy-dra-ted"). Big Break played a less "rowdy" set than on previous occasions (though plenty lively) and included some newbies (not, I must admit, immediately registering with me). Then Ex-Vöid, sounding better live than on their new In Love Again LP. Stand-out features were the very nice guitar parts from Tubs guy Owen Williams and the way his low-key winsome vocals sat underneath the main singer's (Lan McArdle).

Lobby: Shacklewell Arms, London, 19 April  

"It's more important than ever to stand with your trans siblings. Fuck the courts. Fuck terfs. Fuck JK Rowling." Yep, this was just one of the on-stage announcements from Lobby, who were er, lobbying the audience for all they were worth at this gig. Music-wise it was a show of quiet (seething?) intensity, a kind of slowcore math-rock. Angular, cascading guitar-bass interplay (shades of Durutti Column) and low-key vocals, including from Leather.head's always-watchable Toby Evans-Jesra. Very engrossing. 

Bleach Fields/Strange Devotion/Fatberg: PVC, Coventry, 26 April

Three decent bands in a promising new venue in Coventry, plus yours truly playing between-the-bands tunes as amateur DJ: what's not to like? Bleach Fields' shoegaze-y rock was OK by me though their 45-min set was arguably 15 minutes too long, while last year’s faves (my faves) Strange Devotion sounded particularly good here: complex, keyboard-centred arrangements, rough-toned vocals and an all-round feel for the ebbs and flows of classic pop romanticism. Fatberg (with SD's Rhys Davies on drums) had a rollicking garage rock sound made distinctive by a vocalist who came across a little like Spinal Tap's Nigel Tufnel: non-macho, slightly camp, very personable. Good music in CV1. Is Coventry finally rising from the ashes of its disastrous City of Culture year? Maybe.

Coventry's victory over the devil (of state-sponsored culture)

The Bad Plug/Brak/Louse: FOA Boccaccio, Monza, 11 May

Una sera calda a Monza. Yes, we were in the sweat-soaked cantina of FOA Boccaccio. Milan's The Bad Plug did a sort of "evil Spizzenergi" thing: raspy vocals, manic stabs of keyboards, rockabilly drums. With the keyboardist wearing a super-tight biker jacket throughout (despite the heat) and impossibly sci-fi shades, TBP were funny as well. Buonissimo. Brak, another three-piece (from Berlin), were solid noise and indecipherable wails and screeches (cue mosh-pit frenzy). Then Newcastle’s Louse: more moshpit-friendly noise mayhem, with a super-sized singer pouring cans of beer all down his ginger beard before screaming like a maniac in front of a wall of steadily riffing guitars. For me it was Milan's latter-day Spizzers who stood out. Where's Captain Bad Plug? 

Where's Capt Bad Plug: hot stuff in Monza

My Drug Hell: Biddle Brothers, London, 29 May

A throwback to the late-90s when this band were on my faves list, I went to this show with a feeling of ... foreboding. Surely after all this time they'll be terrible? Nope, they were decent. Psychbeat with a bit more pop-soul to them than I recalled. Un-showy and serious. I liked the singer/guitarist (Tim Briffa)'s way of gently swinging his guitar as he dug our his riffs and choruses, his quietish voice disappearing into the wah-wah pedal effects. Old hat or not, an audience of 15 people plus two dogs (the bar's, I presume) could certainly dig it.  

The Rebel: The Holloway, Norwich, 31 May

Yep, him again. It seems that every bloody year I include a Rebel show in this top 20 gigs list (it's becoming far too predictable). Anyway, it was the usual miserabilist twisted-country drone-noise (or whatever the hell it is) and ... that's fine by me. In a very small, dark basement with just one light, we (again) heard crunching, popping beats from Gameboys and other gizmos, nagging guitar and bile-soaked singing/anti-singing. You know the score. Also decent at this gig: Jas Eade (himself quite Rebel-like) and Elenwen (amusingly chaotic karaoke-style singing/story-telling). Excellent venue as well. PS: saw The Rebel a couple more times later in the year, including a a good set at Brixton's The Windmill where he did Iran's Nuclear Threat just after the USA had bombed Iran. Scary stuff. 

Howdee partners: The Rebel, still a fixture in the Top 20

Doom Club: Shacklewell Arms, London, 29 June

James Murphy is playing at my house ... yeah, a pretty ambitious LCD Soundsystem-inspired dollop of shouty dance-punk in the heavily-air-conditioned Shack on a hot Sunday night. Er, cool. Not too many people there (about 25 max) and the singer/Murphy soundalike (Liam Duane)'s rather plaintive "I'm not seeing enough dancing, come on, there's plenty of room" largely fell on deaf ears. Also, there were technical hitches, though their jerky stop-start electro-squall made it hard to tell whether it was actually part of the set. Good stuff though. Check 'em out. 

 

Autocamper: Just Dropped In Records, Coventry, 22 July

One of several Autocamper gigs I caught this year, this was as good as any: fast-and-slow jangle-pop played with seriousness and intensity in the record-tastic surroundings of JDIR. See this blog for further groovy thoughts on this groovy band. 

Everything is gonna be alright: Autocamper 

No Peeling/Roo Stafford & The Innits/The Wameki/Teo Wise: JT Soar, 11 September       

A fun gig from start to finish. First up, the newly-formed No Peeling. Bursts of frantic, jerky new wave-pop, with lots of scratchy guitar from Soar mainman Phil Booth. Next, weirdo-hardcore antics from Roo Stafford & The Innits. Raspy, screamed lyrics, oddball intros and a semi-unhinged quality throughout. Also, a great ending: a mini-diatribe about how Jack Kerouac's On The Road "fucking sucks" (hey, don't diss Jack). Then Tokyo's three-piece The Wameki, with a near-indescribable stew of punkoid free jazz with elements of blues and heavy metal. Fiercely-syncopated drumming (just snare, hi-hat and kick drum), a sort of rap bass and an over-stimulated singer/ranter, bouncing around doing delirious vocal blurts, growls, coughs and what have yous. Intense and rather brilliant. Last, Teo Wise took us back into groovy egg-punk territory, with a side-order of Morricone-esque spaghetti. A packed menu!

'We are The Wameki, from Toky-ooooooooooooooooooo!'

#STDRUMS: Shacklewell Arms, London, 17 September   

Hot on the heels of Tokyo's The Wameki, this was more Tokyo-derived stuff from one-man drum monster, #STDRUMS. Energetic rock drumming enlivened with backing tapes of (near-) house beats and assorted drones. Best of all, though, was the way that every now and then #STDRUMS would rise up from his drum stool and bellow-scream into the mic. Evidently, he also likes to get out on the streets and busk to the bemused tourists of Brick Lane in London. A cool dude. 

Computer: PVC, Coventry, 11 October

An excellent - almost epic - noise blast from this Vancouver six-piece, which included sax, electronic effects and keyboards. Gusts of angsty noise, with some pleasingly flat-toned vocals and lots of twists and turns, some into neo-grunge territory. I especially liked how the noise avalanche would suddenly abate leaving just a few gentle guitar chords in its wake. Also good at this gig: Slugman, with their gnarly, brooding (part-improvised?) take on clenched-teeth blues and soul. Like a slow version of the Birthday Party in places, they ground it out.

Computer booting up in Coventry

Norman D. Loco: Shacklewell Arms, London, 13 October

An innovative Americana/grunge/drum 'n' bass mash-up (or something like that) from Norman D. Loco at this pretty well-attended Monday night gig in Dalston. A couple of their songs had elements of Low-esque cool, while elsewhere they veered into grunge-rock assault. The gum-chewing singer-guitarist, gold-rimmed glasses low on his nose, let loose a few grunts and chopped-American vocals, and they wove in several drum 'n' bass interludes and other sampled bits of of noise/vocals. A really good, no-nonsense 25-minute set, ending with a low-key "Thanks, that's it".

Brett Wolfe/Sunglasz Vendor/Glasshouse Red Spider Mite: PVC, Coventry, 20 November

Three good bands in icy Coventry on a frozen night the barometrical equal of the Melter gig up top. First, Brett Wolfe with their innovative mix of soulful neo-pop veering toward improv-jazz, including bursts of violin from a bloke with a waistcoat, a cloth cap and a Freddie Mercury moustache. Next, Sunglasz Vendor doing an impressive art-rock thing: moody slow builds, subdued vocals, crescendoes of noise and screeches. And nice backing vocals from the drummer. Finally, Glasshouse Red Spider Mite. Bathed in a constant red light, they dished out intense slowcore sounds with an Americana feel, gaining extra heft by restricting audience interaction until about halfway through; instead there were snippets of between-songs audio: archival voices and stuff apparently ripped from films or adverts.

Two Hands Will Reach Out: Sebright Arms, London, 25 November

"Glasgow newcore", apparently, but don't let that put you off. This was another band doing an interesting variation on the slow-into-heavy guitar/drums/bass freakout, with lots of long vocals-less passages and a sense of things building or deconstructing. One song featured jagged bursts of guitar over thumping drums before the whole thing decelerated and quietened down. The drummer wore a Teenage Fanclub t-shirt but more interestingly a bloke in the audience (one of London's ultra-regular gig-goers, a guy I know by sight) had a t-shirt which declaimed: "STOOGES? VELVETS? SPACEMEN?" What did it mean? Who knows ...

'Glasgow newcore' in east London

And that, dear reader, is that. Cold nights and very sweaty hot nights - I braved 'em all. And so on to 2026. This time next year will I be able to report back on another 20 top-class gigs at crumbling pocket-sized venues around the country (or in other countries)? Hopefully.