Live music is my kryptonite. I spend hours on end patiently absorbing every inch of an album, culminating in seeing it live. I love seeing the way albums are transformed, how artists display their discography, and what remains unplayed.
As summer came to a close this year, I embarked on what would be my month of concerts, getting to bask in the experience of live music and ignoring the damage to my bank account. Here are my unprofessional, unwarranted, and passionate opinions on each one.
- Olivia Dean
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To ring in my month of concerts, I saw Olivia Dean perform her album The Art Of Loving on her “Art of Loving” tour at Madison Square Garden. Her simple and elegant staging, set, costume, and demeanor were very clearly a nod to the old-school music era, along the lines of Aretha Franklin or Tina Turner. Dean’s performance was magnetic, meticulous, and touching, with gratitude and genuineness radiating throughout. She carefully balanced the songs on her recent album by weaving in songs from her previous albums.
Although many of her songs are slower, the concert always felt full of energy, and the care she gave to each one was contagious. The element of girlhood was so unifying, watching everyone in their polka dots passionately sway, belting lyrics about what it means to love and grow along with Dean. Although the album came out a year ago, its songs and performances are timeless.
- Bruno Mars
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In all honesty, I was originally the least excited for this concert, but boy was I wrong! Held at MetLife Stadium, Bruno Mars sold out the roughly 80,000-person venue. He had two concert openers: Anderson .Paak, performing under the name “DJ Peewee,” and RAYE.
DJ Peewee felt like what would happen if you gave a middle school boy free will and a stadium to entertain, playing random songs like “Dancing Queen” by ABBA or “Sweet Dreams” by the Eurythmics, intermingling the TikTok “fahhh” audio in every song, and ending the performance with “Unwritten,” joined by Natasha Bedingfield herself.
RAYE effortlessly flaunted her flawless vocals, performing songs off her album, This Music May Contain Hope. Unfortunately, she did not stray from this album, but given that she only had roughly 45 minutes for her set, I can understand why she didn’t.
In one word, Mars was electrifying. He played 26 of his greatest hits with fireworks, dancers, disco lights, and props to accompany each one. Despite the sheer size of the venue, his performance reached every corner of the room. I was seated close to Jesus, and I still had the time of my life. Watching Mars was like reliving my childhood. It immediately sent me back to when I listened to songs such as “24K Magic,” “Uptown Funk,” and “Locked Out of Heaven.”
- Harry Styles
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Going to the third night of Harry Styles’ “Together Together” tour was life-changing. I had absolutely loved “Love On Tour” in 2022, so to say my expectations were through the roof would be an understatement. Obviously, he exceeded them.
The first thing that captured my attention was the set. It was the simplest yet most expansive stage I have ever seen. The stage was a long, oval LED outline with a circle in the middle for the band. The entire stage almost looked like the outline of an eye. Those marathons he’s been running must be working because, other than the times he was at the piano, he was always in motion. He made all of Madison Square Garden feel seen, dividing his attention among the whole arena.
He reflected on his old songs with new arrangements, playing some of his concert classics, like “Medicine,” with a modern twist. The entire room was dancing and discoing as the stage lit up with the new songs. His range, from big hitters, where he was running around, hooting and hollering to “Watermelon Sugar,” to being able to rein it back for an intimate and personal version of “Sweet Creature” with just him and a piano, with all his new disco songs in the middle, is a testament to his ability and deftness.Â
I also loved the way his residencies felt personalized to the city they were in, reflected in the New York-based string choir accompaniment and the Knicks-themed Together Together jerseys.
- Kacey Musgraves
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To say I am a country fan would be a lie, but I think Kacey Musgraves is perfect — she is mother.
For as simple as Harry’s stage was, it was insane to watch the arena transform into a “Middle of Nowhere” Texas three nights later. The stage was a mock Texan trailer backdrop, with a path of hay leading to a star-shaped center stage with a conveyor belt. It seemed like the budget was endless.
The range went from simple, with the room lighting up in rainbow colors for her song “Rainbow,” to extravagant, with a mechanical drone butterfly flying around the arena for her song “Butterfly.” At one point, the entire conveyor belt rotated for her song “Merry Go ‘Round,” and she was lifted into the air on literal disco balls as she sang her song “Rhinestone.”
Her tongue-in-cheek lyrics were matched by her fun energy, and the whole room was having the time of their lives. Her angelic voice and southern charm lasted the entire hour and a half. She also performed a touching tribute to Dolly Parton, acknowledging the impact Parton had on country music. I will say, I found it interesting and fun, but also a little strange that the final song of her tour was George Strait’s “All My Ex’s Live in Texas.” I do wish it was one of her songs. That being said, Middle of Nowhere is a perfect album and show, so I digress.Â
- Charli XCX
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As we left the venue, my roommate muttered, “I always knew God was a woman.” I think that’s the perfect summary of this concert.
Charli XCX’s “Music Fashion Film” tour was a religious experience. Charli towered over the stage on a massive boombox, doing a complete 180 from brat and leaning into the rock-and-roll persona she created for this album. However, she effortlessly switched back to her iconic brat hits as the concert went on.
I loved that she played the remixed versions of some of her hits and kept the parts with her collaborators, like Lorde and Billie Eilish. It felt like people were just there to have a good time, jumping and singing all around. It was reminiscent of a rave rather than a standard concert.
What made this concert stand out was how much it felt like a singular expression of an artistic experience, beyond a catchy vocal performance. With the tagline “Oblivion is Freedom,” her performance felt like a question about mainstream celebrity and what it means to be immortalized through your art.
I will say, when she played “House” from the Wuthering Heights album, I did think I was going to “die in this house.” That was frightening.
Sonja Flemming/CBS ©2025 CBS Broadcasting, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Ultimately, when I originally set out to write this article, the intention was to rank the five concerts I went to, but I eventually realized this was not possible. Each concert was so different from the next and truly encapsulated what it means to bring an album to life.
I would recommend anyone to go to any of these concerts, each one an example of true musicality and artistry.
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