Concerts and gigs in 2026: what have you been to and what is coming up?

[PlanetOftheApes]

The live music calendar this year has been genuinely strong from what I can tell, though I have not been to as much as I would have liked. Part of that is cost, part of that is the increasingly brutal ticket purchasing experience, and part of that is just the logistics of adult life creating friction around spontaneity.

But I have been to a few things and I know others in this community have too. What have been the standouts and what are you looking forward to?

[BrightCanopy]

Saw something in February that I had waited years to see and it absolutely delivered. The venue was small enough that you could feel the room change when they played the thing you had waited for. That specific feeling is irreplaceable.

[Pixel Jay]

Nothing yet this year which makes me sad when I write it out. The ticket prices for things I want to see have reached a level that requires actual decision-making rather than impulse buying. This has made me more selective and less spontaneous.

[QueueDay]

I went to something completely on a whim because a friend had a spare ticket to a show I knew nothing about. Came out with a new favourite artist. This is the best way to discover live music and the least planneable.

[Kernel]

Festival coming up in August which I have been waiting for since January. The anticipation is its own pleasure at this point. The act I am most excited to see is someone I have never seen live despite years of listening.

[Apogee Seb]

Something in a tiny venue, maybe 150 people, where the artist played for two and a half hours without a setlist. The opposite of the production-value spectacle that most large shows are. Completely different experience and in some ways better.

[Slay40]

The ticketing ecosystem is genuinely broken and I want to express that clearly. The face value, the service fees, the presale queues, the resale market. The process of buying a ticket to something you want to see should not require this much stress.

[TheGame_Fan]

Went to a classical concert for the first time since school and found it completely absorbing. No phones, no talking, just the sound. I did not expect to feel that way about it but I am going back.

[SammyZayn]

Local shows, small venues, no queues, five pounds on the door. The ecosystem of grassroots music is still there if you look for it and the quality is often extraordinary.