The Five Greatest Gigs of 2025
Whilst we weren’t at everything this year we saw some absolutely cracking gigs. Here are the five best.
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Gans at the Facebar Reading
Was Reading ready for the intensity of Gans? At the Facebar 25th November.
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The Hives Storm Alexandra Palace
The Hives have been coming to the UK for 25 years but this is by far their biggest headline event and an evening to remember on November the 29th.
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Sons of Town Hall
This fictional band is like a country and folk Spinal Tap crossed with the amazing harmonising of Simon and Garfunkel.
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The Lottery Winners Keep On Keeping On at The Oxford Academy
The Lottery Winners are back out on the second leg of their KOKO tour bringing the sunshine to the stage with them.
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Benefits at the Facebar Reading.
Benefits start a new tour in Reading and drag Dan Le Sac out of live retirement in the process.
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Turnstile Bring the Fireworks to Alexandra Palace on Bonfire Night!
The world’s premier hardcore punk-rock band come to town and the results are spectacular.
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Ghostwoman bring the spirit of rock and roll to The Garage London!
With Halloween parties going on all around, the Garage crowd bought a mix of treat and trick with them on the 1st of November.
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Gurriers lead a top Irish double bill at O2 Academy2 Oxford
Gurriers and Nerves were in Oxford to highlight Irish Indie Superiority on the 24th of October.
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Nova Twins biggest headline show is a rock riot!
Nova Twins held their biggest headline show to date, at the 02 Forum Kentish Town, on the 18th October.
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The Bellrays at the New Cross Inn London
There is nothing purer than a healthy dose of unreconstructed garage blues rock, and The Bellrays are grand masters of the art.
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Bonnie Trash at The Grace London
Canadian post-rock horrorgazers Bonnie Trash impress on their debut UK tour on the 29th of September.
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Lord Huron Excel at Brixton Academy
Lord Huron brought their high quality Americana to London on Wednesday 24th September.
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A Grand Day Out at the Readipop Fiesta!
A fantastic day was had by all at the Reading University Student’s Union on Saturday the 13th of September courtesy of the wonderful local charity Readipop.
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GANS back up the hype with their debut album Good For The Soul
An album and live review all rolled into one, it is hard to discuss GANS without talking about their phenomenal live presence. Good For The Soul is released on September 19th on Strap Originals.
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Reading Festival Sunday: Travis Scott takes centre stage whilst new artists impress
On the third day of the festival rap came to the forefront and one of the biggest artists on the planet came to town.
Keep readingReading Festival Saturday: Bring Me The Horizon show us the future of headline sets!
Rock and metal take-over at Reading on Saturday!
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Reading Festival Friday: British Indie shines in the sun before the Readingmenomenom conquers all.
Friday at Reading was a triumph with excellent sets all over the place.
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South Facing Festival: Mogwai and Lankum
Exclusive South of England performances by Mogwai and Lankum headlined a stellar day on the 7th of August.
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The Sick Man Of Europe Album Launch Show
A remarkable album launch show for The Sick Man of Europe at The George Tavern on the 8th July.
Having heard all the singles and been enjoying the album since before it came out, I still wasn’t prepared for how good a gig this was going to be.
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An inspired clash of Shakespeare and Radiohead: Hamlet Hail To The Thief
With theatrical heavyweights Christine Jones and Steven Hoggett on board this was always going to be an essential piece of theatre. I remember well when Hail To Thief was released in 2003. I went to see Radiohead on that tour in Dublin, at the Olympia Theatre, as all the UK…
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A rare appearance from Beth Gibbons at The Roundhouse
Whilst not at Glastonbury we did get into Portishead singer Beth Gibbons Glastonbury warm-up show!
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Youth Lagoon and Clara Mann at the Islington Assembly Hall.
We were there on the 19th of June for this fantastic double header of two very special artists.
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Brigitte Calls Me Baby at The Sebright Arms June 11th.
We have been excited for this one for ages. Brigitte Calls Me Baby have all the makings of a very special band; their debut album was one of the best of 2024.
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Sports Team at Rough Trade East
Just who are the real Sports Team? We pop along to this record store gig to get more of a sense. May 27th 5pm.
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Turin Brakes at The Bullingdon Oxford.
Part of their record shop tour, this one happened on the actual launch day for the new album: Friday, May 23rd.
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Christian Lee Hutson at St Matthias Church London June 5th
A magical evening of indie-folk from a well-connected US singer-songwriter.
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Jasmine.4.t and Grandmas House at The Lexington
We are in London to catch the sold out headline set on the 27th May from the maker of our favourite album of the year so far.
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Man/Woman/Chainsaw at Are You Listening? Festival
This bunch of pleasant and enthusiastic future stars are given the job of closing out the live music at Are You Listening? 2025 at The Facebar.
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Shelf Lives, Coach Party and Big Special at Are You Listening? Festival
It is on to Sub89 to catch Are You Listening headliners Big Special.
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Explosive Live Performances by Skunkworm and Truck Violence at Are You Listening? Festival
Keep your lighting bars firmly screwed down, these were two of the most high energy sets of the day!
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Human Interest at Are You Listening Festival 2025
In the first major clash decision of the day, we take a punt on Human Interest over Joshua Idehen. It pays off.
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The Raw Energy of Benefits: An Are You Listening? Festival Set Review
This was the one we were most looking forward to before the day and the Middlesborough based duo did not disappoint.
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The Amazons at HMV Reading
The Amazons in your local HMV, it is a Thursday evening treat for sure!
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House of Women at Are You Listening? Festival 2025
The Purple Turtle is absolutely rammed for this show from the Hackney based rock band and they do not disappoint.
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Ziyad Al-Samman at Are You Listening? Festival 2025
It is a quick stop off as we have places to be, but we loved a number of his mad disco tunes when researching the line-up and we have to try and make sense of it all.
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Kah’Nya at Are You Listening? Festival 2025
Pay attention to the name, this is an artist who could make a big impression on the music scene and on the charts.
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Y at Are You Listening? Festival 2025
The indie-funk outfit got to kick off things at St Laurence Church for AYL?2025.
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Are You Listening? Festival 2025 Warm-Up.
After months of waiting it is finally here !!! Yaang, Mandrake Handshake and Sprints are all present to kick it off!
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The Lathums Live at Pryzm Kingston: A Night of Missed Opportunities
Monday 28th April 2025 saw The Lathums showing up as part of their ‘Matter Does Not Define Intimate Record Store Tour’ in association with Banquet Records, , support coming from Laurie Wright.
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The Lottery Winners Celebrate the Album Success of KOKO with a Memorable Live Show
The triumphant band are in the mood for a party to celebrate the success of their number one album KOKO at The Bullingdon in Oxford, 20th April 2025.
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Frank Turner at the 02 Academy Oxford April 11th 2025
We are in Oxford for Frank Turner gig number 3019, supported by Amigo The Devil and Averageginger.
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Exclusive Interview: Nothing Rhymes With Orange
We were back at the Turtle on the 2nd of April 2025 for another quality line-up and to interview the excellent Nothing Rhymes With Orange.
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HotWax at the Face Bar Reading 31st March 2025
A quality line-up of young guitar bands at The Face Bar courtesy of Heavy Pop.
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Badly Drawn Boy 02 Oxford March 15th
Has it really been 25 years since The Hour of Bewilderbeast was launched?
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Alffa Review: Welsh Rockers Live at The Purple Turtle March 10th.
A fine evening of free rock at the Purple Turtle! Reading Indie Life are starting to get twitchy about all these amazing free gigs at the Purple Turtle. We get to see really good bands… and we don’t have to pay anything? There must be a catch, perhaps we have…
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Inside The Ting Tings’ 2025 Comeback Concerts: Bush Hall March 2nd
It’s The Ting Tings Jim, but not as we know them… The Ting Tings in a delightful 450-capacity venue in Shepherds Bush, yes please. Only £20 a ticket, hell yeah! However, in their long absence they have been reincarnated as the spirit of Fleetwood Mac… ummm, okay? Coco and The…
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Fat Dog’s Electrifying Performance at O2 Academy Oxford
The Londoners deliver an intense and barking mad 55 minutes on the 16th of February.
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Ex-Vöid showcase ‘In Love Again’ at The George Tavern London
Reading Indie Life feel like interlopers at this intimate gig full of the band’s family, friends and elements of the Gob Nation collective… but are blown away by the brilliance on display. I have been to a lot of venues but never The George Tavern before. The current building was…
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Baby Said Rock Reading!
It was an amazing free gig at the Purple Turtle on the 10th February with three young bands showing they all have bright futures. Top talent spotting from Heavy Pop! The Certs It was another very solid performance and more hearts and minds were most definitely won over by the…
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Exclusive Interview: The Certs
Mad about ‘The Certs’ boys? You soon will be. Reading Indie Life heads to The Purple Turtle to find out more.
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Idles Deliver Powerful Performance at Alexandra Palace
On November 30, 2024, Idles performed alongside Lambrini Girls and Battles in a lively gig. Lambrini Girls showcased their punk feminism with energetic performances, while Battles offered complex math-rock. Idles delivered a two-hour set, exploring themes of connection and loss, culminating in a powerful finale.
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