In light of the Spotify Wrapped season and fall semester of 2024 coming to an end, I thought it would be a good idea to recap all of the concerts I’ve been to this year. However, after receiving my own Spotify Wrapped… surprisingly, none of the artists I saw live this year were listed.Â
Concerts started slow in the beginning of the year, as did 2023, but as soon as summer hit, they all flew by. To start the season off, it was the summer of boy-band lead singers going solo. I first saw Luke Hemmings, the lead singer of 5 Seconds of Summer, live in June at the Royal Oak Music Theatre for his Nostalgia 2024 Tour. Even though the album for this tour was his newest one, “boy,” I hoped to hear “Starting Line” from his previous album “When Facing the Things We Turn Away From,” which I did! I didn’t have high hopes for his show due to it being my first time seeing only him, it was a smaller show, and his album was much more chill. However, Hemmings blew us all away with his performance. Not only is Hemmings exploring his individual music production, but so is 5SOS drummer Ashton Irwin, as he also released his own music this past year.Â
Then in July, I saw my favorite cardigan-loving singer, Niall Horan, an ex-One Direction member, for his The Show Live On Tour at Pine Knob Music Theatre. As most of my pre-planned concerts go, this one was very last minute. I had initially planned to go see him, but his ticket sale went live more than a year in advance, as most artists do now, and I wasn’t sure where I would be for the summer. Luckily, a good friend, who is also a One Direction and 5SOS superfan, had one more ticket and asked if I was still interested. Not only is Horan just great, but to add to the ambiance of the show, there was a downpour all night. As I sang along about love in my blue rain poncho, hooking arms with my friends, not only did we get to experience new Horan music, but he also surprised the crowd with the One Direction song “Stockholm Syndrome.”Â
I saw two live shows this early fall and it was a perfect way to wrap up the summer. First up was Wallows for their Model Tour at the Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre. You may recognize one of the members of the band, Dylan Minnette, who is known for his acting, especially as Clay Jensen in the Netflix series “13 Reasons Why.” Wallows’ third album, “Model,” talks about all of the candid events relating to relationships, love, heartbreak, and more. As their lyrics may resonate with you, they even got up close and personal during their show with their appearances jumping with the GA crowd, walking through the aisles, and talking with audience members as they jumped on a smaller stage in the middle of the seats for an acoustic performance.Â
About a week and a half later was Cage the Elephant at Pine Knob Music Theatre for their Neon Pill Tour. As a band who has been around since 2006, I have only recently started listening to their music this past year, and they ended up being one of my favorite bands. The new album, “Neon Pill,” doesn’t have the usual backstory or meaning behind it as the rest of the albums mentioned do. Lead singer, Matt Shultz, wrote this album to discuss more about his experiences with his past struggles of addiction and acceptance. Despite his personal struggles, he still put on a good show, with a broken leg and in a scooter for the whole performance. That didn’t stop him from rocking out with his fellow band members and putting on a loud and bright show for his fans. Â
In between my two alternative, indie-rock bands, was a blues rock performance at The Fillmore in Detroit by Kaleo for their Payback tour. Kaleo is an Icelandic, rock band who I happened to stumble upon through smart shuffles on Spotify. You may not know of them, but you would most likely recognize one of their top hits, “Way Down We Go.” With the band only having two albums out, the tour was a mix of both along with a couple of new singles that came out earlier this year. The band started the show with the newer single, “USA Today,” and ended the show with (my favorite) single, “Rock N Roller.” Many more of my favorites were also played, especially songs from the album “A/B.” Typically, for a rock performance, it’s hard to hear the singer as the acoustics are usually dominating the live sounds. However, Kaleo and their lead singer, Jökull JĂşlĂusson, did a phenomenal job at balancing the acoustics with the singer, clearly hearing both. The show had a good balance of acoustic and electric, with sneak peeks of new, unreleased songs mixed with known hits or songs from either album. This was one of my best and most fun shows of the year. Â
To end the year, my next and last concert of 2024 is Suki Waterhouse for her Sparklemuffin Tour, on Dec. 17 in the Royal Oak Music Theatre. Not only will this be my first show seeing Suki Waterhouse live, but it will also be my first concert as a solo audience member! Usually I try to find a friend to go to shows with, but Suki Waterhouse seemed to have been a niche music taste artist, but I wouldn’t want to miss it after resonating with her newest album so much.Â
2023 was also a good year of concerts as artists slowly came back on stage post-pandemic. My favorites were Taylor Swift, Noah Kahan, and Greta van Fleet. To wrap up my concert experience of 2024, this is an honorary shout-out for the concerts that I sadly couldn’t go to, but would have loved to: Luke Combs, Conan Grey, Maggie Rogers, and The Foo Fighters. For 2025, so far I have three different concerts lined up: Hans Zimmer in Columbus, Ohio; The Driver Era at the Michigan Lottery Amphitheatre; and Kendrick Lamar at Ford Field.